Page 5 of Nick
“Thanks, Mila,” Nick muttered.
“Something’s on your mind,” Steele stated rather than asked.
Nick hesitated, the words catching like thorns in his throat.He could feel the familiar tug of old anger knotted with anxiety at the thought of Sarah.
“Sarah showed up,” he finally said, his voice strained.“She’s asking for help with trouble back at Sunburst.”
Steele’s gray eyes narrowed, a flicker of surprise within them.Mila leaned forward, her expression a blend of worry and curiosity.“Can you tell us more about what’s happening?”
Nick shifted uneasily on the sofa Mila had waved him to.
“Sarah played a part in my being run out of the Sunburst Pack.I was…we were close.”His words were clipped as if he was physically cutting each one from his heart.“But when push came to shove, she sided with those who wanted me gone.”
“Close how?”Mila prodded gently, her tone suggesting she already knew the answer but needed to hear it spoken aloud.
“Sarah was…is my fated mate,” Nick said, the words like ashes on his tongue.“I trusted her with everything, believed we had something real.But she chose the pack over me, over us.”
Steele remained silent, his role as alpha dictating a measured response, while Mila reached out her hand, hovering it over Nick’s arm as if unsure whether to rest it there.“God, Nick, I’m sorry,” Mila whispered.
Nick nodded, appreciation for her empathy warring with the old anger that never quite left him.He glanced away, fixing his gaze on a framed wedding picture—anything to avoid the sympathetic looks that threatened to unravel him.
“Betrayal is a hard thing to forgive,” Steele finally said.“Especially from someone so intertwined with your fate.”
“Forgiveness doesn’t come into it.”Nick shifted in his seat, the leather creaking under his weight as he leaned forward.
“What was Sarah’s motivation?”Mila’s gaze never left his face.
“I wish I knew,” he said with a heavy sigh.“All this time, and it’s still a mystery.She gave me no explanation, no reason…just betrayal.”
Mila’s brow furrowed, her lips pressing into a thin line.The room seemed to close in around them, the ticking of an antique clock punctuating the silence.Her fingers drummed on the armrest in a rhythmic beat.
“Have you thought about asking her directly?”she suggested.“Maybe it’s time to confront the past head-on.”
Nick recoiled, the suggestion igniting a spark of anger in him.The very idea of facing Sarah, of giving voice to the questions that had haunted his nights, set his nerves on edge.
“Ask her?”he repeated, his tone laced with bitterness.“After what she did?I’m not sure I want to hear anything she has to say.”
But even as he spoke, Mila’s words found a crack in his defenses, planting a seed of doubt.Perhaps there was more to the story, a piece of the puzzle he had yet to uncover.
The possibility warred with his desire to protect his heart from further damage.
“Sometimes,” Mila said, “understanding the why behind the pain can be the first step toward healing—or at least moving forward.”
Nick found himself considering Mila’s words, weighing them against the fortress he’d built around his heart.Moving forward.The concept felt foreign.And yet wasn’t that what he ultimately sought?To move beyond the hurt, beyond the past?Or was it merely inviting more turmoil into his already tumultuous life?
“Nick?”Steele’s voice was firm yet patient, a reminder of his alpha’s presence.
“I can’t just…,” Nick began, his voice a low growl born of frustration and an old, deep-seated anger that refused to be tamed.“I can’t face her.Not after what she did.”
“Sarah has clearly reached out to you for a reason.”Mila’s gaze was soft but insistent.
“Helping the Sunburst Pack would mean dealing with Sarah directly,” Nick added, the thought sending a fresh wave of bitterness coursing through him.
“I know this is hard for you,” Steele said, “but perhaps you need to consider the bigger picture here.You’ve been through hell because of her, we all know that.But it sounds like she might really need you.”
“What should I do?”Nick asked.“She’s asking for my help, but stepping back into that world, facing her…” He trailed off, unable to finish the sentence.
Nick turned away from them, staring out into the night, where the wild calls of distant wolves whispered through the trees.
