Chapter 4 - Nicholas #3
Her jaw drops, fury lighting up her tearful eyes as she shakes her head. “You can’t be serious.”
“I am,” I say in a measured tone. “And it can’t be someone from Lunaris. You’d still be in danger there. He’ll know where to find you. It has to be someone outside your brother’s pack. Someone who can protect you. Someone you both can trust.”
Tyler’s eyes flick to me, realization dawning on him. “You mean…” his voice tapers off, and I nod briskly, having already decided without calculating the damages.
“Yeah. I mean me.”
Donna shoots to her feet from the log bench. “What?!”
Her voice echoes through the trees, as sharp as lightning and as shocked as thunder’s roar. My own pulse kicks up, but I hold her gaze steadily.
I have to. My inner wolf demands it because I have to protect her at all costs.
“It’s the best option,” I insist. “You’ll be safe in Wells, with Crescent Moon. No one will question the bond, and no one will come near you. I’ll make sure of that. Dom knows how secure my pack—”
“You can’t decide this for me!” she bellows, snapping her head toward her brother. “Dom, this is ridiculous. Please tell him that.”
Dominic turns to her with a drawn-out sigh, his tone soft but firm when he says, “Dons…Nick is right. Until we know who’s behind this, we can’t risk it.
You won’t be safe in Bar, or in the city.
” Donna tries to say something when she opens her mouth, but Dominic doesn't let her speak, continuing, “Tobias will know where to find you. Nick is an alpha and my best friend. There’s no one I trust more to protect you.”
Donna stares at her brother for a long moment, disbelief washing over her face and paling it. Her jaw hangs loose, and then, without another word, she suddenly turns and storms off into the night without another argument.
Without giving me a second look.
Without considering a second chance, my inner wolf whispers with sadness, anguish.
I don’t follow.
I can’t.
Not when the memory of that night comes crashing back, almost bringing me to my knees because, for the second time in my life, I’ve become the reason her heart is breaking.
I turn to Dominic with a long, drawn-out sigh, holding back the need to explain what that was about.
I know it's because of last summer, but that's not why I'm making this offer.
I have to protect her. My inner wolf demands it.
“She's furious,” I lament, feigning amusement with a nervous chuckle.
“Yeah, of course, she is,” Dominic responds with an equally nervous half-chuckle. “I'm literally selling her off to my best friend. She's bound to be livid.”
“This is for her own safety, Dom. I know what I saw out there, I know what I heard. She’s—”
Dominic stops me by placing a hand on my shoulder for reassurance, and that’s when I realize I’ve been rambling on. Only to hide the truth from my best friend. Only to hide my guilt, because I know why Donna ran off. I’m the only one who knows.
“I know why you’re doing this, Nick,” Dom sighs, his dark brown eyes softened with gratitude. “You’re my best friend, and you’re worried about my sister’s safety. There’s no one else I’d trust more than you to do this. Thank you for this selfless offer.”
Selfless?
There’s nothing selfless about my offer, except fulfilling my inner wolf’s need to protect its fated mate. Donna’s reaction was enough to tell me that she hates me for what I did last summer, and it was unforgivable. I can barely forgive myself.
But I can’t let her be in danger.
“Don’t worry, Nick,” Dominic assures me. “I’ll speak to her. She’ll come around.”
The group disperses slowly, everyone retreating to their tents with subdued murmurs. The air feels heavier now, weighed down by the latest revelation and Donna’s reaction to my offer. Even the forest seems to hold its breath the way I am, the usual night chorus fading into silence.
I linger at the fire pit for a moment, watching the spot where Donna had been sitting before she vanished into the dark, knowing that she’s scared.
Scared of me, maybe. Of what I remind her of. Of what we once were.
I nod slowly in recognition of this one detail, my jaw tight, the copper tang of my own blood still bitter on my tongue.
I sink onto one of the logs, pressing my palm to the wound at my shoulder. The skin is already knitting together, the pain dulling, but it’s not the kind of wound that matters. The real damage lies somewhere deeper, somewhere a wolf’s healing can’t reach.
I lift my gaze toward the skeletal canopy of the forest, watching the way the trees sway gently in the wind, shadows breathing in and out, and for the first time since I found Tobias in the woods, I let the truth sink in.
Tobias isn’t the enemy. Not in a true sense. He’s a pawn. Someone, or something, much darker is pulling the strings.
And Donna is at the center of it.
A low growl rumbles in my chest as my wolf stirs, restless again. Protect her, it urges. No matter the cost.
The vow takes root in the silence, heavy and unbreakable.
Even if she hates me for it.
Even if it breaks me all over again.
This is what I have to do.