Tasting 62

62–Their Eyes On My Friend

Nora:

“What was that?” Ryker asked as soon as we were alone. I took a deep breath and turned to face

him, wondering what he was referring to

now.

“What?” I inquired.

“You and Silas. Do you have any idea what would happen if anyone else had caught you with him?”

Ryker hissed, mentioning that incident. I wasn’t very proud of myself, but it’s not like I had any idea

that would happen. And neither was I answerable to him.

“It wasn’t anything inappropriate. We were just wrestling,” I awkwardly tried to excuse, when I

should have been straightforward about Silas hurting me and then applying ointment. But wouldn’t

that have sounded even weirder?

“He had his mouth around your—nipples, Nora!” Ryker clenched hist jaw, emphasizing exactly what

state he found me in.

“He fell on me accidentally,” the more I tried to come up with an excuse, the more I messed up.

Besides, his angry glare was making matters worse for me. It was as if he was going to eat me

alive.

“Look at me. Just because you are in the mansion doesn’t mean you can go after your stepbrothers.

Don’t forget, Dad brought you in as our stepsister,” he continued, wanting to make eye contact with

me, probably to see the shame in my eyes, and I kept looking away to avoid that from happening.

“What do you think I am?” I groaned, finally frustrated by his questioning.

“My perception will depend on your actions,” he nodded his head, making me take a deep breath

before I glared at him. I didn’t like the way he was portraying me as this horny bitch going after her

stepbrothers. They were not any less either. They were the ones always instigating it.

“What? What are you staring at me like that for now?” he snapped his fingers in front of my face,

anger visible through his eyes.

“Nothing.” I hissed, folding my arms over my chest and looking away. I didn’t know how else to tell

him, but his perception of me really made me consider my own actions.

“Nora!” his tone was much softer this time when he said my name. I started up and watched him

stare at me with his head tilted and his beautiful eyes looking into mine.

“I’m only saying this because I know my brothers, okay? They hate you. They will not leave a single

chance to get you kicked out of the house. Don’t fall for their sweet words,” he shocked me with his

words. I didn’t expect that from him. If anything, I thought he would yell or call me names again. But

he was using a much gentler tone this time.

“And why do you care if I get kicked out or not?” I shrugged, keeping my gaze steady to be able to

look at his face. The way he watched my face after my question gave me a little goosebumps, but

then he quickly shrugged and clicked his tongue, looking around casually.

“You are right. I don’t care. But you have blackmailed me with the mate bond. I don’t want you to

use that to re–enter the house,” he finally answered, but his tone was different this time. Was it truly

why?

“Don’t worry about that,” I mumbled, giving my shoulders a shrug too.

“Good,” he echoed my action, and we both faced away before we saw Nash approaching us.

“I think we know what needs to be done,” Nash returned with Silas and Cain, his eyes mostly on

me.

“You’re not going to lure in the monster using me as bait, are you?” I raised my brow, watching them

not appreciate that I was joking in such a stressful time.

“I wish!” Silas commented under his breath, thinking he was being sneaky, but everyone heard him.

Or maybe he meant for everyone to hear it.

“Call your friend, we need her here,” Nash suddenly brought up Natalya, and I felt like the world had

been shaken from under my feet.

“Natalya?” just to be sure I was not hearing things.

“Who else? She fought with the monsters before. We will need her by our side,” Nash sounded

confident that he was making the right choice. I knew it would have been the right choice had

Natalya actually been telling the truth. I gulped and watched everyone’s face one by one, wondering

how the hell could I save her a*s now?

“But… her wolf is not very reliable. She comes out whenever she wants. I don’t think it’s a good

option to bring her here,” I bet my voice came out all broken and stuttering. I wanted them to

understand that Natalya should definitely not be here. But they seemed offended that I was

reluctant to bring in help.

“Why not? Do you not want Dad to be found?” Silas shook his head, probably showing disbelief

over my lack of worry for Lord Atwood.

Which was not true. If anything, I would love to give my all to find him. It’s just that I knew Natalya

would be a waste of time, and bringing her here would jeopardize her life too.

“She doesn’t really work that way. Her wolf wakes up whenever she wants. I don’t think she can do

anything other than maybe become a burden like me. One of you will end up taking care of her just

like you are taking care of me,” I tried, I really did, and it made them share a glance before looking

back at me. In fact, in order to save her, I made myself look so wrong that even Nash couldn’t help

but make a comment about it.

“This is not the right time to be jealous of her. Call her right now,” Nash demanded, making me

grunt inwardly.

“Nora! If you’re not going to call, we will,” Silas hissed, and at this point, I felt like my hands were

tied.

I thought about bringing her here but staying around her. One of them has to keep me safe for their

father’s sake, so if she stays with me, she will somehow end up with one of the brothers taking care

of me.

With that in mind, I gave her a call.