Chapter 95
NADIA.
The last three weeks have just flown by so fast. Beta Dominic and Jenny just returned home from the Black Shadow Pack, as well as Gamma Sebastian from the Gamma Assembly he attended, so Riley and I took the afternoon off.
We went to the neutral city together with Alpha Darvin just to kill time and to observe the human territory.
We were at the center, and I was checking things in the outdoor marketplace when I heard a woman calling after my mate. My head tilted as I looked at the woman with dark, curly hair approaching Riley.
A human.
“Riley! Hi! Do you remember me?” She asked chirpily, but her eyes drifted to Alpha Darvin and stayed there for a while before shifting her gaze back to my mate.
Riley’s eyes darted to me before he returned his attention to the female smiling in front of him, shaking his head at her as he sent me a mindlink. ‘I swear to the Goddess, I don’t know this female. I never had a relationship with her or anyone.’
I almost choked at the seriousness of his voice. He was terrified I might get jealous.
“Of course, who will remember me? Anyway, Andrea is my friend. I work at the reception at Andrea’s dormitory.”
My brows hiked up as a smile graced my lips, seeing Riley’s face turn paler.
‘Baby… I can explain.’ Still in our mindlink.
I didn’t reply to him but instead walked up to them to take him out of the awkward situation. Only then did I realize that Alpha Darvin had moved back, and his gaze was focused on the ground as if he wasn’t interested in what was going on.
“Hi!” I approached them and snaked an arm around Riley’s waist. His arm flew automatically over my shoulders as he pulled me closer to his side.
The female’s eyes widened as a red tint crept on her face.
“Hi!” She said when she finally found her voice.
I extended a hand and smiled at her. “My name is Nadia. I’m Riley’s wife.”
“Celeste. My name is Celeste. It’s nice to meet you, Nadia.” Her eyes shifted to my stomach as a wide smile graced her lips. “Congratulations on the baby!”
“Thank you! I heard you mentioned you’re Andrea’s friend. Do you live around here? I haven’t seen you before.” I asked her just to keep the conversation going.
“I’m just visiting a relative. I saw Riley, and I thought maybe he knew where Andrea was. I haven’t seen that girl since she left the boarding school without saying goodbye to me.”
“Oh! If you want, I can forward your contact number to her. Of course, only if you want.”
“Really? That would be lovely. I’m staying here for a week, so I hope I can catch up with her.
” She rummaged in her handbag as she continued talking.
“Are you sure it’s okay? That I’m not giving you additional work?
Oh shit!” She was in a hurry and some of the contents of her bag spilled on the ground.
I was about to nudge Riley to help out, but Darvin was already there, crouching on the ground and picking up her things.
My gaze followed them as their eyes locked while the Alpha handed her her things. Celeste smiled at him before saying her thanks without taking her gaze off him. It was Alpha Darvin who dropped his gaze and moved back behind us again.
Celeste turned her attention back to me, smiling shyly as her cheeks blushed. “Here’s my card. If you can give Andrea, or at least give her my number, I would really appreciate it.”
“I will do that.” I looked at the card in my hand, and by the time I raised my head to look at her again, her eyes were already behind me, at Alpha Darvin.
“You know him, right?” She was asking in almost a whisper, and I had no idea if she was terrified of Darvin or amazed by him.
“Yes, we know him. Celeste, this is Alp..” Riley cleared his throat, cutting me off from saying Alpha.
Oh, Goddess! I forgot that the female in front of me is human.
“... This is Darvin, Riley’s friend.”
“Oh great! It’s a bit awkward if he’s standing behind you and you don’t know him. Me and my mind. I’m sorry.” She smiled apologetically at me before turning to Darvin and extending her hand to him. “Hi! My name is Celeste. Thank you for helping me pick up my mess.”
Darvin’s hands were inside his pockets, and I saw him swallow multiple times before he lifted a hand out and took Celeste’s.
“Darvin,” he said curtly before pulling his hand right away as if Celeste’s touch burned him.
Celeste returned her gaze to Riley and me as she stepped backward. “I’m not going to disturb you more than I already did. Thank you, and nice to meet you.”
I smiled at her and watched as she turned around and walked away from us.
“Nadia…” It was Riley’s, and I knew that tone.
I tilted my head up to look at him. “I’m okay. No harm done.”
“About her knowing me, I used to visit…”
“I know…” I placed a hand on his chest as I smiled lovingly at him. “I saw pictures of you at Andrea’s boarding school.”
His forehead creased. “What do you mean you saw?”
“Zahra has many photos of you. Some of them were taken with Andrea in her boarding school.”
“I’m sorry you have to see that.”
“I don’t see any problem with that. Relax. I won’t be throwing any tantrums soon.”
‘Instead of being worried about me, maybe you need to check why Alpha Darvin suddenly became too quiet.’ I told Riley through our mind link.
Although Alpha Darvin and I were never really friends, I had seen him around his sisters and with Riley.
He would always be smiling and joking, despite whatever the circumstances were.
He and Riley were exact opposites. Riley would be the one frowning, while he always had an inviting aura on him, so seeing him not giving Celeste a smile was a bit off.
“Do you need more time to go around?” Riley asked me, his hand tucking my hair behind my ear.
I shook my head. “No. I’m done for the day.”
“Darvin, should we go and check the store we were discussing earlier?” His gaze was on him, but he was still holding me in his arms.
“Nah. Maybe next time. If your Luna is done, then let’s call it a day.”
“You okay?” He asked him.
“Yes.”
“Do you want to drop by my packhouse? We can grab something to drink.”
“Next time. I just want to go home.” Alpha Darvin answered as his eyes darted in the direction where Celeste had gone. He then closed his eyes for a moment and turned around before urging us to follow him back to the parking lot.
RILEY.
Nadia and I were already driving back to our territory after spending the afternoon with Darvin in the neutral city. And as much as I wanted to ask Darvin if something went wrong, it seemed he didn’t want to talk about it. So I let go, but I already had my hunch about the human, Celeste.
But I was not sure. But it was a possibility. Darvin was not the one who got his tongue-tied. In fact, he talked way too much. So there must be something about Celeste that got into him.
Shifters being mated to humans are rare but not unheard of. Humans, unlike shifters, would never be able to smell or feel the sparks of the mate bond. So the only way to identify if humans were mated to a shifter would be through the claim of their own mates and the unexplainable attraction.
If Celeste were Darvin’s mate, he might be having second thoughts about letting her know because of his condition. But I ought to find out. Whether he had a wolf or not, he deserved to have his own mate. And maybe it was for the best that the Goddess mated him to a human.
I tried to shove Darvin out of my mind at the moment since I had another matter I needed to discuss with my Luna.
“By the way, my love, open the dashboard there and pick up the envelope inside.” I broke the silence between Nadia and me as we threaded the road going back to the territory.
We were alone in the car, but one car followed us with three warriors inside—just for added security.
Nadia pulled out an envelope and scrutinized it, but there was nothing written on it. “What’s this?”
“Open it. It’s an invitation from Jacob and his Luna. They will have a blessing ceremony for their pup, as well as his Beta and Gamma’s pups.”
She nodded her head as she beamed at me. “It’s about time I meet other Lunas and other females.”
“Caspian and Andrea are invited as well,” I added, my eyes focusing on the road ahead because I was not sure how she would take it.
“You’ll be okay if they’re there?” She asked me, and I just realized we have the same concern.
I smiled and clasped my hand with hers before bringing them to my mouth, kissing the back of her palm. “I’m okay. Will you be okay?”
She smiled at me and nodded her head. “I’m with you. I can face anyone as long as you’re beside me.”
“Good. But we are invited to be there a day earlier. Just us. Jacob wanted you to meet everyone first before the ceremony.”
“Oh, that would be lovely! Is the Beta coming with us?”
“No, but Sebastian and Jenny are coming. And then Jenny’s mother will be moving to our pack, so they will take her home with us after.”
“Wow, that’s lovely! Jenny has been wishing for that.”
“And I wonder why she never told me.”
“She probably didn’t want to add anything to your shoulders.”
“But it’s nothing to be a bother.”
“Don’t think about it anymore. I’m just glad she’ll be reunited with her mom.” Nadia let out a sigh before her gaze turned to the window beside her.
I knew she was disappointed that she still had no clues about her father. Two weeks ago, Darvin found her aunt, and the information was forwarded to us. Nadia and I paid her a visit, but we got nothing out of it but more heartbreak for my mate.
Her aunt, Samatha, still held a grudge against her already dead sister, and she didn’t stop herself from throwing hurtful words about her at Nadia. And if Nadia hadn’t stopped me, I would have already twisted her arm and broken her bones.
She told Nadia how much she hated Veronica, Nadia’s mother, for always being the center of attention while they were growing up.
And that she hated Nadia because she looked exactly like her mother.
She told Nadia she didn’t know who her father was because she left their pack after mating with Salvodor.
And the only reason she took Nadia when she was five years old was that her mother’s fated mate, who took care of her when Veronica died, couldn’t take care of Nadia anymore but left a large sum of money for her.
Nadia asked for the name of her mother’s mate, but Samantha just laughed at her before telling her that her mother’s mate had taken his own life the same day he left her with her.
Nadia’s world collapsed that day, and it only fired up my desire to find her father.
And I think I found him. All I needed was a confirmation but I knew it would happen soon.