Tasting

412–Just Stay!

Nora:

“How can she create something so powerful?” Nash was pacing around the room, asking me the right kind of questions.

“And how did you find out?” Ryker added, his curiosity piqued.

We had returned to my bedroom, but before that, we made sure to feed Daphne some sleeping pills and watched as the weeping guardians returned and disappeared. As long as she was asleep, they wouldn’t hurt anyone. But of course, we couldn’t keep her in a coma for too long.

I stood near the window, my eyes drifting to Cain, who was on the other side of the room, standing right in front of me. He was silently staring at me, not commenting much on the situation.

“I figured it out when she told me she hadn’t come across these things. I started wondering why she looked like one of the victims. It didn’t make sense. But then I confirmed something with Nash. Remember when you broke things off with her before? That’s when I first encountered these creatures. So, I put two and two together and brought her here to confirm it. The creatures didn’t even come after her because she’s their creator. They left to find some lone sad wolf to prey on,” I explained, noticing how the brothers were listening intently.

However, the minute Silas gulped, I knew he was up to no good. He turned to Nash and patted his thigh. The two had been sitting on the bed the whole time.

“You should marry her,” Silas suggested in the most calm and matter–of- fact tone.

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288 (Vouchers

412–Just Stay!

“Huh?” Nash slapped his hand away, glaring at him.

“Did you not hear what Nora just said? Every time you break up with her, she gets sad, and these deadly monsters come out and attack innocent pack members. Your pack members,” Silas said with a strange gleam in his eyes.

“Silas isn’t wrong, though. You’ve asked us to do things for the sake of others before. And you dated Daphne once because you wanted to save someone. So why can’t you do it again to save the entire werewolf race?” Ryker added, sending chills down my spine.

He dated Daphne to save me?

Of course, that’s what they were insinuating. But why would he date her to save me? He was an Alpha King; he could have saved me without dating her.

“That was different,” Nash groaned, looking away before turning his gaze back to me. “Do you think I should date her?”

I noticed the pain forming in Nash’s eyes. In that moment, everyone’s gaze turned to me. I knew I could find satisfaction in telling him to date her, but my wolf kept resisting, even with the ring on.

“Tell me, Nora, do you want me to date her?” Nash asked as he stood up, visible pain etched across his face.

I could have said yes, relished in his misery, and broken his heart, but instead, I opened my mouth and said, “No! That is not the solution to this.”

The second the words escaped my lips, I saw Nash let out a sigh of relief. But I was shocked—that wasn’t what I was going to say.

“See? She doesn’t want me to date her, so how about you all keep quiet?”

299 (Vouchers

412–Just Stay!

Nash snapped at his brothers, his tone harsh this time.

He didn’t stick around long and stormed out of the room, slamming the door hard enough to let us know just how mad he was.

“I’ll go after him,” Ryker scratched the back of his neck, sending me a quick, sneaky glance before he left the room—not slamming the door, thankfully.

“I should go and apologize–,” Silas started to rise from the bed, but Cain placed a hand on his shoulder and pulled him back down.

“Don’t you have something more important to deal with?” There was a silent exchange between them, like they were speaking through their eyes.

“Right now?” Silas whispered, and then, noticing me watching, he spoke up. “I mean, she’s pretty tired. We can talk about the weeping guardians in the morning.”

I wondered why Cain was so insistent on Silas staying behind to discuss this issue now. We’d already talked about it, so what else was left?

“Maybe you should figure out why Daphne is able to create these things? She’s not that special, so why her?” Cain’s grip on his brother’s shoulder seemed odd, like he was subtly pushing him to stay. But when I focused on Cain’s words, I nodded in agreement.

“That’s fine. I’m not that tired if you’re up for it,” I said to Silas, who glanced at his brother, almost like he was asking for help.

Was he afraid of being left alone with me?

“See? Now go help her out, and do it properly,” Cain pronounced every word with precision before stepping away from his brother,