Chapter 55
NADIA.
Ididn’t have a training scheduled for today, so I spent the whole afternoon with Katya. We talked about Zahra, Riley’s mother, as well as other things I needed to learn as a Luna.
Before I left today, I told her that I thought I was ready to have the Luna Ceremony even if I didn’t think I was capable of being one.
She hugged me tightly and told me that I didn’t need to worry about being capable, because this was my fate, and I was meant to do this. And that she would be there to help me as I transitioned to my rank.
I couldn’t be more grateful for her.
I couldn’t wait to tell Riley the news. I was hoping he would get as excited as I was.
I was almost at the packhouse when I tried to reach Riley. His mind was closed, but I just shrugged it off. He might be too busy with work and didn’t want to be bothered.
I parked the car carefully in the big parking space Riley allotted just for me, since I was still having a hard time parking in a tight space.
It had been days since I was able to drive on my own. I was still not that confident, but I guess everyone knew the car I was driving, and no one was trying to drive near me. I was just driving within a ten-kilometer radius. Hopefully, I can get the hang of it and drive further.
I slipped the key inside my jeans pocket and skipped my way up the stairs. It was dinner time already, and I was expecting Riley to be at the table, but he wasn’t there.
“Where’s Riley?” I asked everyone after I acknowledged their greetings.
“In your room. He’d been there for hours now. I asked him to come down for dinner, but he said he was not hungry. He was probably tired and resting.” Beta Dominic answered.
I just nodded my head before flashing him a smile. “I see. I’ll go check on him then.”
“Do you want me to ask someone to bring dinner for both of you?” Jenny asked.
“No need. I can come down later. Just save something for us.” I winked at her before I turned on my heel and headed for the stairs.
I wondered why he retired early to our room today. Riley never went to bed early unless we were fucking in the middle of the day. But rest? That man was a walking machine.
I hoped he didn’t tire himself out. He had been working too much since I came here, and the only rest he would get would be at night or whenever we were together, but there were times he would still work with me, just watching him or sitting on his lap.
I was panting by the time I reached the fourth floor from all the running I did to hurry up. I was so worried that something was wrong with my Alpha, and he wasn’t saying anything.
I turned the knob and pushed the door open. The receiving area of our room was fully lit, and I walked past it and headed for the bed.
It was empty, but I could smell and sense him.
I turned my body around to scan the whole room and found him at the side of the bookshelves, his shoulder leaning on it as he sipped a glass of bourbon.
Goddess, I missed him.
“Isn’t it too early for that? You haven’t had dinner yet.” I smiled at him and walked toward him, wanting to wrap myself in his embrace.
But instead of welcoming me into his arms, he moved away and went by the big door, leading to the balcony, and drew the curtains closed.
I bit my lower lip and let my eyes follow his movement. My brows furrowed in confusion.
He turned his attention back to me, but he wasn’t talking and was just watching me from the other side of the bedroom.
My heart thumped loudly as I stared at him, baffled by his actions. “What’s going on? Are you mad at me? I was just with Katya. I didn’t go anywhere else.”
“What other thing are you not telling me?”
“Can you be more specific? I don’t understand you.”
“Tell me, Nadia. What was your real plan on the night of the full moon when I met you?” His eyes were swirling black, and if I didn’t know he loved me, I would have been terrified.
“Real plan? I was running away… You know that.”
“Really? Weren’t you supposed to meet someone that night? And I got in the way? And the moment I fell asleep, you took off and left with him?”
“What?” My voice was slightly raised. “Where are you getting those ideas? You were the one who left me! I left you a note, and I had no idea why you didn’t see it.”
“Maybe because there was no fucking note. I went back to that cave the next day. If there was a note there lying somewhere, I would have seen it because I scanned the whole area for anything you left behind, torn clothes, shoes, or anything! And I found nothing!”
“Because I picked up all my things! Even my torn underwear! I didn’t want anyone to find out I was there! Or sniffing my belongings! I picked up the note, too, and threw it along the way out.”
“Stop with your fucking lies!” His ears were turning too red, and his anger was slowly getting into me, terrifying me.
“Where are all these coming from? I thought we were okay?”
“Do you love him?”
“What? Riley... What are you asking me?”
“Do you love Benedict?”
“No! You know that! I despise that man!”
“Really?” He moved away from where he was standing, and I thought he would approach me, but instead, he went to the bookshelves and took a manila envelope and shook the contents until they all fell on the floor.
Pictures. All of me. With Benedict in it.
“Now fucking explain to me what those are!” His voice was so cold that even if I wasn’t guilty of anything, a shiver of fear ran down my spine.
“Pictures, Riley. But they were old ones.” My hand flew to my mouth when it sank in what I thought was happening. “Do you think I’m cheating on you? I don’t even leave the territory at all or go anywhere far. You can ask the people I’ve been with. I never went anywhere alone.”
“Where were you for the last three months after the first full moon?”
“Orleans. I worked there. I told you about it.”
“You told me you were alone.”
“I was. What are you trying to say?”
“Was this part of your plan, Nadia? Pretending you didn’t know that the fucking idiot who marked you is an Alpha? And then make him fall in love with you so you can do whatever the fuck you want?”
“Riley! What exactly are you saying?”
He stepped forward, and the anger in his eyes was so terrifying that I moved back, only for my back to hit the wall behind me.
His hand snaked at the nape of my neck, tilting my head up to look at him. “What do you want from me? My money, my properties, my pack?”
I coiled my hands into fists as anger surged through my senses, and I started throwing jabs at his chest.
Instead of letting me go, his hand on my nape tightened.
“Fuck you, Riley! Fuck you! I hate you!” I kept hitting him hard until he loosened his hold on my nape and backed away.
“You could never hate me as much as I hated myself for believing all your lies! For believing you actually loved me, Nadia!”
“How could you say that? Look at me, Riley!” I held his face, trying to catch his gaze, but he took my hands off his face and moved away.
I clutched my chest, trying to stop myself from falling to my knees. I couldn’t stop my tears anymore.
“I accepted you and your past, even if a part of me kept saying that some people don’t change, that somewhere inside you is still the same Riley that Andrea was scared of! But I disregarded my logic because I love you!”
“Stop using that fucking word! You don’t love me, Nadia! You’re fucking using me for your own good! It’s no surprise that you just seem to accept that I am fucking messed up man, because you never cared about my past. You just need to do your fucking plan!”
Tears were just pouring into my eyes as my heart kept shattering into pieces. I didn’t know how I could make him see the truth.
“What plans? What happened to hearing it out before we lay judgment?”
“I don’t fucking need you! I’m capable on my own!” His hand slid into his back pocket, and he took out his wallet and tossed it on the bed before grabbing a piece of paper and a pen, scribbling something in there, and then throwing it on the bed too.
My eyes were just following his every move.
“Riley…” My voice was breaking as soft sobs escaped my throat. “I don’t know what’s happening. And here I was thinking of telling you I was ready for the Luna Ceremony.”
He let out a forced laugh that echoed around the room.
“Now you want the Luna Ceremony? Is that your last option? Bind yourself to me so I can’t get away from you anymore? That’s the fucking reason you didn’t want the ceremony in the first place, because you wanted to leave, right? When you’re done with your plan? So why wait? Just fucking go!”
My mouth dropped open at his last words.
“Take whatever you want. The code for my vault is written on that paper. Take every bit of money and jewelry you can find there and just fucking leave!”
“Riley…” My voice broke as I watched him leave the room and shut the door behind him.
My mind still couldn’t understand what was happening.
Is he kicking me out? What did I do wrong?
My knees buckled as my shoulders shook, making me drop my body to the floor as tears continued to stream down my face while my heart kept breaking.