I dropped my shields and reached for my trickle of power. My head was instantly clearer, and I relaxed back against the sofa. Nathaniel glanced at me, his brow lifting like I’d done something interesting.
He turned back to the wolf. “You know why you’re here.”
“Yes, Alpha.”
“Tell me.”
Matthew gulped. Fear radiated from him, and my opinion of Nathaniel plummeted.
I’ve spent my entire life suppressing my instinct to rebel against any and all authority. And yet, compared to my sister, I was the chill one. A few hours with this guy and she would’ve been planning how to make his life a living hell.
I rubbed at my chest, at the ache that was a constant presence. Sometimes, no matter how much you tried to forget about someone, everything you encountered reminded you of them in some way. It was a special kind of hell that could drive you crazy if you let it.
I turned my attention back to Matt. “I wanted to see Rebecca,” he admitted, his eyes wet. Nathaniel gave a heavy sigh, and Matt crawled toward him, his gaze on the alpha’s feet.
“You know the rules.”
Matt let out a whine that sent a bolt of fear through me. If he turned, I could be dead before I realized what had happened. I angled my body so I could reach for the knife in my boot. It would still take precious seconds but it was better than nothing.
Matt turned his head and gazed at me hungrily. Nathaniel tensed and the wolf immediately turned away from me, curling further into himself.
“I just wanted a glimpse,” he sniffed. “She was getting a tattoo. She’s always wanted one.”
“And if you’d seen her, and she had said something you didn’t agree with, you might have ripped her apart.”
Matt flinched and my chest tightened. If the woman had been getting a tattoo, she was a human, a mage, or a witch. Any other creature would heal too fast for the ink to stay in her skin. He’d been forced to leave the woman he loved so he could learn how to stay in control and not tear her apart.
Nathaniel sat further back in his chair. “We will discuss this later. What did you see in the parking lot that night?”
“Darkness,” Matt said with a shudder. “I cut through the park and I was waiting behind the restaurant between the parking lot and the tattoo shop. They had red Chinese lanterns outside, and I was sitting on the back stairs.”
His face turned pale and he shuddered. “It was dark, and I was hiding. I didn’t want to scare Rebecca, and she wouldn’t be expecting to see me. I just wanted to see if she was okay.”
He went silent and Nathaniel reached out, placing his hand on the wolf’s head. “It’s okay,” he said. “Tell me what you saw.”
“Darkness,” he repeated. “A darkness so encompassing that I knew if I got any closer, it would rip out my soul. I heard… laughing.”
“Male or female?” I asked.
“I couldn’t tell. It was… evil.”
“Anything else?” Nathaniel asked, and Matt shook his head.
“Rebecca hadn’t come out yet, so I ran,” he admitted. “I’m sorry. I ran.”
“You did well,” Nathaniel said. “If the evil had encompassed you, a new werewolf, who knows what would have happened? Do you see why the rules are in place now?”
Matt nodded, and I shifted uncomfortably as a tear slid down his face. “I just miss her,” he managed to get out. “I miss my wife.”
“I know. Follow Tobias now. We’ll discuss your punishment later.”
Matt got to his feet and glanced at me. “I hope you find whoever did it,” he said.
“So do I.”
He left, and Nathaniel took another of his long, slow breaths. His eyes were still ice-blue when he opened them once more.
“You think I’m a tyrant.”
