Nicolas POV
“This feels cozy, does not it?” Winking at me, Terra licked her upper lip and whispered. Upon my attack, Terra managed to miraculously shift back into a human. Ray came tumbling down on top of her, and we all ended up stuck in an old rotten tree stump tangled in some overgrowth. Now she was purposefully rubbing her nude body against mine, taking advantage of our vulnerability.
Ray became agitated by the second, and I let out an embarrassed sigh inwardly. When he growled at her to stop rubbing her body against him, she became even more determined to do so.
“I think Alpha Nicholas had enough of your childish games,” Ronan said, drawing nearer. “Is it not evident from his growl how irritated he is?”
“Irritated? That sounded more like a purr than a growl,” Terra remarked as she extended her hand to caress Ray’s head.
Ray growled, but Terra simply winked at him and withdrew her hand.
Ray moved his massive body uncomfortably, attempting to put distance between Terra’s and his bodies. However, Terra’s smile widened at that.
“That is alright, Alpha; you do not need to make room for me,” she said in a whisper, her eyes a little mischievous. “I enjoy the sensation of your sexy, masculine body against mine.”
I felt nauseous and wanted to gag. This was the last thing I hoped would ever happen.
With a mischievous gleam in his eyes, Ronan pressed his lips together to compress a smile. I will never stop listening to him talk about how funny, even hilarious, my prediction seemed to be to him!
“Thank the Goddess, there are no other witnesses around,” Ray sighed in frustration. “Can you imagine what kind of chaos this would cause if Zara had to witness it?”
“If I had told her what had happened, she would have understood,” I said, my hands in my hair.
“Yeah,” Ray growled, “after she had your head.”
“It was you who jumped on her and lost control!” I fired back at him.
“It was not me!” he snarled. “We are in this situation because of you!”
I sighed. We could not escape this predicament by arguing.
“If I were you, I would rather keep my hands to myself now,” Ronan cautioned Terra, and I turned back to face him. He must have realized Ray was growing irritated. “You do not want his wolf to snag your lovely face or body with claw marks, do you?”
Ronan came around us, trying to find a way to get Ray unstuck.
“Alpha Nicholas would never intentionally hurt me,” Terra confidently answered. “This alone is sufficient evidence of his love for me! His wolf would accept me as soon as we were marked. I am eager to mate with him!”
Astonished by this she-wolf’s reaction, Ronan raised his eyebrows.
Is she so naive as to mistake hate for love?
“Aside from that, I noticed the expression on his face when he saw Kitty,” Terra went on. “He is clearly interested in her and admires her size. I can’t blame him. She is a pure Delta wolf. I would accept a small scratch as a token of affection if he were to happen to leave one on me.”
“Delta wolf,” I whispered to myself. It was unbelievable to me that a wolf of that size could fit on such a small frame.
“Now you are showing a lot of interest in her?” Ray let out a disgusted sigh.
“Not in her!” I corrected him. “But in her lineage.”
“What makes that so intriguing?” Confusion gripped Ray as he asked.
“Very few she-wolves are fortunate enough to have a ranked wolf,” I clarified. “The gene would primarily be passed down to male wolves.”
“But Zara is an Alpha wolf,” Ray remarked, tilting his head to the side.
“That is true, but how many she-wolves do you see skulking around like that?” I stated. “Zara is one of a kind, if not more so.”
“That does not mean Alpha Nicholas is interested in you, Terra,” Ronan countered.
Was Ronan attempting to reason with her?
Was it working?
Is she going to listen?
“How much longer?” Ray sighed. “Being so close to her is unbearable. She smells….”
As soon as I recognized the scent, my eyes widened, and I looked down at Terra.
Help me now, Goddess! The fact that I was on top of her and she was lying nude beneath me roused the she-wolf!
“She needed to be careful not to get her fluids in my fur!” Ray hissed. “If not, I might simply reorganize her lovely face so she does not forget me!”
Before continuing on our journey, we will stop at the river and wash it off,” I proposed.
I could not go looking for Zara smelling like Terra. Ray was right; she would know that I was in contact with a she-wolf, and the idea made me shudder.
“Ronan, you better get a move on,” I mindlinked. “It is getting way too uncomfortable now.”
“Just give me a few more minutes,” he said, his lips forming a smug smile. “If not, feel free to shift back into a human on top of her.”
That will be the day!
“How do you know?” Terra flattened her eyebrows as though she had overheard me speaking to Ray. “Alpha Nic appeared quite delighted to see me.”
“I doubt that,” Ronan said nonchalantly in defense. “Alpha Nicholas has…”
“You dare not tell her!” Ronan’s eyes snapped toward Ray, who snarled at him over the link to stop him. “I will slit your throat right here and now if you dare tell her about Zara! This doesn’t concern her. Do you understand?”
“Yes, Alpha,” Ronan answered and visibly shivered.
“What does he have?” Terra raised her flawless eyebrows in question.
Ronan hesitated, not knowing how to respond to her.
“Go on, Beta. You can tell me. After all, I will be your future Luna,” Terra pleaded.
“Make something up,” I said, mind-linking Ronan.
“Alpha Nicholas is too busy to take a mate,” he whispered. “In addition to managing and keeping the pack safe, he also has a lot of businesses to manage and constant meetings to attend. He does not have time for that kind of amusement.”
Ray gave a frustrated roll of his eyes. Out of everything he could say, Ronan chose that weak justification.
“Yeah,” Terra said, “but I would not be just any mate. I could take care of everything for him and make sure he had time for a mate. Having said that, I would be the strongest Luna ever if we worked together. You do know there is a prophecy going around about a strong she-wolf that would find her mate among the silver packs and unite everyone. And I think I am that wolf!”
“Is that so?” Ray huffed.
“That could account for her fixation on me,” I whispered.
“I heard something about that,” replied Ronan. “I tell you what, how about we return to the packhouse and talk about this?”
“Why would I want to do that?” Terra inquired.
“I would really like to hear what you have to say,” Ronan clarified. “You can explain the prophecy to me; I do not know much about it.”
“What about Alpha Nicholas?” Her gaze returned to Ray as she asked. “I also want him to know.”
“He needs to attend to some urgent matters with the council,” Ronan calmly responded. “He is already late, and if he does not show up right away, he might get punished.”
Terra started to say something, but Ronan interrupted her.
“I swear, as soon as he gets back, I will tell him everything you told me.”
“Very well,” Terra answered, seemingly happily with the arrangements.
Ronan found a weak spot in the old, rotten tree stump and used his claws to tear it to shreds.
I felt a sense of relief when he removed the overgrowth and released me from my suffering.
“About time,” Ray said with a sigh. Without further delay, he hurried away from Terra.
“Thanks,” I mind-linked Ronan. “I owe you one.”
“Make that two,” he replied over the link.
“Two?” Ray snarled in frustration.
“Yeah,” Ronan said, with a pained expression. “I am going to be the one listening to Terra’s story.”
“Never mind,” I interrupted him. “You win. I owe you two.”
Ronan winked at me before assisting Terra to her feet.
“You better leave,” Ronan said, pointing up at the sky. “The sun is already setting.”
“Bloody hell,” Ray hissed, and he turned on his heel and ran in the direction of the cave.
However, I had no idea how drastically my life would change the moment Ray stepped into the cave.
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