♥

"Again, Nathaniel!" My dad bellows from across the clearing.

I lurch forward and attempt to swing at him but my body is slack from exhaustion and minimal sleep. It's now been a few days since seeing Milo at the party. A day since finally discovering his name.

I didn't want to know his name. If I didn't know that about him, it meant I could distance myself but now it makes it real–so incredibly real.

"What is up with you, son?" He grumbles, storming towards me.

I place my hand to my forehead and I wipe back the sweat that is now beading there. "Sorry," I say pathetically. "Nothing's wrong. I'm just tired."

His dark eyes analyse my own. He's trying to find a way in to see if I'm lying but I've thrown up my guards. I hear him huff out a sigh and he retreats again.

My father has been training me since a young age. As my father is the beta of the pack, he's training me up to become next in line after him. He's always been quite forceful in his training sessions, wanting me to be the best.

Despite how brutal he can be, I wouldn't call him abusive. It's more like tough love.

He'll still hug me when I need one and tell me that he loves me. It's very bitter sweet.

It's been this way since I can remember.

My dad lunges forward and knocks me directly onto my back. Fuck. I can't concentrate for a single second. I groan against the floor as my back muscles begin to spasm, I didn't even bother to warm up today.

He towers over me, blocking my eyes from the gleaming son. "I don't know what the hell is going on with you, Nate, but you need to sort it out."

There is no way I could tell him about Milo. Not yet anyway.

Not that he's ever told me who I should be with, man or woman but because I know what he'll say and he's the last person I want nagging me about it. It's something I need to sort through by myself, in my own time.

My dad hasn't focused on me finding my mate like most parents do for their children, all he cares about is making me into a strong leader that will help the future Alpha. He wants his strong beta line to carry on and he wants me to lead as an example.

I've always feared letting him down. Especially after all the effort he has put into training me, guiding me, supporting me. It's not like I even got a chance to decline the idea, it's set in stone what I'm destined to do and part of me is petrified because I don't think I'll ever be ready for it.

"I think I need to call it a day," I admit.

There is no point going on like this. It's just pathetic and I don't want my dad getting the wrong idea. I push myself up from the floor and stare into his eyes.

"Tomorrow," I heave out. "I'll be on form tomorrow."

He stands tall, at least three inches taller than me. We come from a family of giants and my dad has always looked like a warrior with his broad shoulders and dark blonde hair that has now started to grey. Despite his age, he's still one of the fittest and most determined in the pack.

This family means everything to him. He will live, die, breathe this pack until he has to depart and I admire him for his strengths at keeping us all together, even when times have become tough.

"Fine," he rasps. "Tomorrow nice and early. You're dismissed."

I bow my head and glance away before he changes his mind. I prowl through the woods back to the pack house, desperately needing to take a long hot bath and drown in anything that isn't my own thoughts.

As I walk through the back door and storm past the kitchen, I take one quick glance. I wish I didn't. My eyes latch onto Elin and his mate, Zade, laughing and kissing in the kitchen.

My stomach lurches at the sight of them.

Happy. They're so damn happy.

I am too–happy for them but after everything that went down with Milo, I can't help but feel jealous at how things played out. That meeting Milo wasn't the walk in the park I thought it would be.

Elin rubs his nose against Zade's and he kisses him again, deeply.

I sigh and rip my gaze away before I fizzle to nothing inside. Practically I feel like nothing inside because my heart has fallen from my chest and I am now without any feelings towards the matter.

When I get upstairs the first thing I do is run myself a bath and lock myself away. No doubt Viola will be up soon to ask how I'm doing. She's been checking in an awful lot which I am grateful for but right now, I want to be alone.

Training with my dad doesn't take my mind off anything, it intensifies it because I can't focus on anything else but Milo and those sapphire eyes with a hint of silver. Even when I close my eyes to sleep, I still see him in all his beauty.

I don't know how long I lay in the bath for but the water turns cold at some point and I realise I need to get out or I'll end up becoming part of the metal itself. When I dry myself and get changed into something comfortable, I lay across my bed staring blankly at the ceiling.

Hey. Are you there?

Milo's voice floats into my mind and I curse to myself, turning on my side and wrapping my body up into a ball. I can't even deny that his voice makes me feel a certain way because it makes me feel like I am the only wolf to exist and that I am made for him.

I know that I am but inside I struggle with the idea. Not after knowing his past.

Nate... he trails off quietly. I don't know how to make this better.

My lips purse painfully, squeezing my eyes shut. I want to block him out but I can't, I don't have the strength to right now.

Please will you come and see me so that I can explain? Or I can come to you.

I don't respond.

If you come and see me once and you decide that you never want to see me again– he pauses as if the words are cutting straight through his heart. Then I will respect your decision and stop mindlinking you. You can end it. But I'm just asking for one chance, one chance to explain. Please. Ple–

Alright. I cut over him.

My eyes have begun to water because my wolf is shuddering at the sound of his perfect voice.

Do you want me to come to you?

And risk him meeting my father or anyone else for that matter? Absolutely not.

I'll come to you. Maybe.

Maybe?

I'm busy right now. I lie.

Okay. He then proceeds to tell me where he lives. I'll be waiting for you.

Nothing more is said and I roll onto my back again, digging my fingers into my eyes. Maybe this is what I need, closure. Meet him again and decide that it's not going to work and we can both move on.

He asked for one chance and I'll give it to him.

♥

I approach the address that Milo sent through mindlink earlier. I didn't bother to contact him again to say that I was on my way, I didn't want to hear his voice again because it makes me feel things that I can't control.

Their pack house is beautiful–beyond beautiful. I've never seen anything so grand and posh. The outside of the house is painted to the most perfect shade of white, along with hedges and a front garden that looks like it's attended to daily.

I can't see much past the gated community, guards standing tall at the entrance.

"Are you here to see the Alpha?" One of them bellows as I approach.

"No, I'm–" I take a second and the guard glares at me. "I'm here to see someone else."

The guard waits for a few moments before he nods. "The Alpha will be down any minute."

I suck in a breath and take a step away, pushing my hands into my pockets as I wait. I don't know who the Alpha is, I don't even know if they know who I am in relation to Milo.

The gate swings open and I watch a very tall man approach from the white painted steps, strolling through the meadow of flowers and trees that cascade over their house. He has blonde hair swept back and he walks like a man who knows everything. Wise beyond his time.

But when he moves even closer, I stare back into those ocean blue eyes and I recognise them instantly.

"Hello," he says warmly but he takes a quick look at me with suspicious eyes. I drop my hands from my pockets and keep them at my sides. "Is there something you need?"

"I'm Nate," I blurt. "I'm here to see Milo."

The man nods and takes a step back. "Yes. Of course. Come in."

My eyebrows crinkle a little but he doesn't see. Milo must have explained the situation. He gives the guards a nod who let me through the gates, which are then firmly shut behind us as we walk towards the house.

"I trust you found the pack house easily enough."

I flick my eyes to the Alpha. I don't know why but I just study him. He looks exactly like Milo but with different coloured hair and different body shapes, but everything else seems almost identical.

"Yeah, I did." I say after a few moments.

"I'm Everett by the way," the Alpha says loudly. "Milo's brother."

I curly nod once. "I see."

Makes sense why those eyes have given me a slight flashback and now I realise that I actually have to face Milo, again. For the first time since the party. Oh God, my stomach flips inside me multiple times. Why did I agree to this?

"Milo has been expecting you today. I think he was concerned you weren't going to show." Everett says boldly but his tone isn't harsh or rude, just genuine.

My hand flies through my shaggy blonde hair. "Yeah... well he said to give him a chance to hear him out and I-I," my mouth becomes increasingly dry as I think about the fact we're going to have a conversation and I don't know if I can do it. "I want to hear what he has to say."

That's not a lie. He said that if he gives me a chance to hear him out and I decide that this isn't good enough, then we can call it a day. He'll stop contacting me and we can carry on with our lives as if nothing has ever happened.

It'll be hard but it might be the right choice. And my insecurities will not stop for anyone.

I look down to the gravelly ground and I feel Everett's eyes on the side of my face. "Milo is a good person. I'm not saying he's perfect but who is? He never wants to hurt anyone. He's devastated, you know?"

His words almost make me flinch because if he's devastated then what am I?

I turn towards Everett and stare him directly in the eye, the pressure behind them building and I tell myself not to get upset. Not here. Not in front of them. "So am I."

"I get that," Everett nods as we walk up the steps. He welcomes me into their home which is delicately decorated and beautifully elegant.

We walk through the house and Everett points towards a door at the end. "I'm sure he's in here."

Everett opens the door and I step behind him, my nerves spiking suddenly because it's happening now and I can't run. Technically I can but I have to see this through. I have to.

Loud pop music floats into the hallway as the door swings wide, my head ducking inside to find Milo dancing with a blonde haired girl. They're holding hands and grinning at each other wildly. I've never seen anything so unhinged.

But then my eyes gravitate back to Milo and he almost looks like a different person than what I saw at the party. Not that his appearance has changed but something about his aura is different.

His scent hits me like a truck as I stare back at him. He smells like white roses and fresh rain that has just fallen across the forest floor.

Everett clears his throat from beside me and Milo jumps apart from the unidentified female. Milo takes a glance at his brother and then catches eyes with me.

The glance is so intense that I almost fall backwards. Those goddamn eyes.

"Nate," his mouth falls open.

It's obvious that he's in shock that I'm here. He truly didn't expect me to come.

Everett and the female don't move, the room turning agonisingly silent. But that's because we can't stop staring at each other–also because I have no idea what to do now.

My knees twitch at the sight of him. He's almost too painful to look at, I want to close my eyes but I can't. I'm stuck in a trance of–him.

"Hi," Milo mumbles, blinking over and over. "I-I didn't think you were going to come."

The female takes a step away from the living room and walks towards Everett, the pair of them leaving us by ourselves.

Milo walks towards me but I hold up a hand to stop him. Goosebumps are already vibrating against my skin. "Sorry," he whispers and stops dead in his tracks.

I study him again, inhaling a little too deeply for my liking because his scent crashes over me like a wave and my wolf is crying inside me to do something.

"Do you want to go for a walk?" He suggests.

"A short one."

Milo's throat clenches as I speak. "Of course. Let's head out the back."

We walk through the house in silence, he opens the back door for me and we head down the steps and into the forest.

♥ ♥ ♥

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Author's Note

Hello my loves. What did we think of this chapter?👉🏼👉🏼👉🏼

We get to see more of Nate's background. What do you guys think of his father?

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