Chapter 30

NATHANIEL 

Growing up in a pack that didn’t want you there hadn’t been easy, but my father had been willing to stick out for my mother’s sake. He loved her, after all. Her father was the Alpha of their pack, and she was the only heir. 

When she’d found my father, she had planned to rule with him by her side, but fate had other plans. My grandfather would never accept a demon as his heir. Even though he hated my father, he still loved his daughter dearly. So, he kept the secret of my father’s true identity from the pack.

“He didn’t want them to know for obvious reasons,” I told Ayra. “They were all prejudiced against demons.”

I couldn’t blame them, though. As I grew older, I understood why they spoke about demons with so much contempt. The war had ruined lives and had caused many werewolves to be homeless. Even I had hated demons when I read about the war.

Looking back now, I could only laugh. How could I hate was I was? What *my* father was? Granted, I hadn’t known at the time. My first Change had happened on my fifth birthday. A few of the pack members had seen me, and soon the news had spread throughout the entire pack.

“I remember standing rooted to my spot in the garden, confused as hell as I stared at my hands, wondering what the fuck was going on. My parents hadn’t been home. They went on their occasional dates, so I had been the only one there to deal with their wrath.”

They’d chucked rocks at me, spitting vile words at me. My grandfather joined the crowd, and stupid me had thought he’d come to save me. I didn’t know why I’d thought he would. He never liked me, and when I told my mother, she’d wave me off, telling me how I was the most precious thing in the world, and how no one could ever hate me.

“She’d been wrong,” I said, trailing my hand up and down her back.

What I had seen in my grandfather’s eyes that day was pure hatred and disgust. He spat at me, calling me a monster like my father before he walked away. I sat in the circle for hours, waiting for my parents to come home. I knew everything would be alright the moment they did.

Barely hours after the assault, we were fleeing the pack. My mother kept on staring at me like she was expecting me to break down in tears. I didn’t cry. I was just confused.

“Fast forward to some years later, and we were living in another pack with my uncles. I already had my brothers by then, and we’d met Dalia’s mother. Dalia and Aiden were as thick as thieves, but she didn’t know we were more than just werewolves.”

To this day, Aiden never told anyone how Dalia found out the truth about us, or how he knew she’d been the one to spread the news about us being demons, but it had happened. 

“The pack grew furious, and in their rage, they burned Aiden alive. He was only a kid. He didn’t even know how demons worked yet. The Change hadn’t come upon him by then.”

Ayra gasped, lifting off my chest to look at me. “They burned him alive? He was just a child!”

“It wasn’t a normal fire, and we had more than werewolves in the pack. Sorcerers lived there, too. They were the ones to make the fire. It was no ordinary fire. It left scars on his body. They’ve healed over the years, but there was a time Aiden’s face was unrecognizable. Like the last time, our parents weren’t around. So were our uncles. I was there, and I lost it.”

I’d blacked out in rage, and when the rage finally cleared from my mind, I had a wolf by his neck. The look of horror my mother had on her face was forever imprinted on my mind. I’d laid waste to almost everyone in the pack.

What we didn’t know was that a sorcerer had called for backup. These sorcerers called themselves the Brothers of Doom. They were ruthless in their punishments. That was the day my family was torn apart. 

I lost my father, my uncles, and my cousins. Somehow, I’d been able to get away with my mother, my brothers, Dalia, and her mother. We moved from place to place, seeking refuge for only so long so we didn’t get caught.

Eventually, our luck ran out. The Brothers of Doom found us. Only this time, I wasn’t as weak as I’d been. It was also the first time I grew wings. I’d been faster and stronger than they expected. 

“I provided enough distraction so my family could escape. When I caught up with them, Dalia and her mother had taken a different route, and that was the last time I laid my eyes on them.”

“They sought refuge with the vampires. I found the letter she sent to your mother.”

“You understood what she wrote?” I asked. I’d spent years trying to understand what she wrote, but I’d failed.

“Yes. Am I not supposed to?”

“It’s a secret language they developed to protect the messages they sent to each other.”

“Oh. I interrupted you. Go on.”

“My mother died a few years later, leaving just the three of us in our family. I’d been mourning her loss when I met Benjamin.”

He said he’d sensed the aura around me, and he could tell I was a demon. I’d been reluctant to confirm his suspicion until he revealed his true form to me. He introduced me to his father, who’d been the leader of the lair. Things finally started to look up.

His father passed, and he made me the leader before his demise. I didn’t know back then, but it had crippled Benjamin with jealousy. I made him my right-hand man, but that was never enough for him. He wanted to be the leader. The funny thing was I would have stepped down had he told me, but he’d let greed corrupt his mind. 

“He successfully turned the pack against me. It was winter period, and we had nowhere to stay, but a woman took us in. Before that, we’d feed on the fruits that grew in the wild, and hunt down animals. We didn’t eat the most palatable food, but we got by. The woman died a year later, and that was when we met our uncle we thought had died with the rest of his brothers. The rest, as they say, is history.”

“You’ve been through a lot, and you’ve made something of yourself. I’m sure your parents would be proud of you,” she murmured, her lips brushing against mine softly.

“I didn’t do all the work myself. I had my brothers every step of the way.”

“But without you, none of this would have happened. Don’t try to downplay your success. You’ve done extremely well.”

“Thank you. I was scared you wouldn’t take any of this well. It’s one reason I used to insist I fuck you from behind, so I didn’t risk him appearing out of the blue.”

“And the other reason?”

I clamped my hand down on her ass. “You’ve got a perfect ass, and I loved looking at it.”

“Can I ask you a question?”

“Sure. Are you up for skinny-dipping in the pool?”

***

AYRA

“Strangely, this reminds me of the waterfall where I found you that day. You lunged at me when I came close to you.”

“If I recall correctly, you were smiling.”

He shrugged, tugging my head back to give him access to my neck. “I thought it was cute.”

“I could have killed you.”

He raised his head so his eyes could meet mine, and when they did, they were filled with amusement. “Yeah. You could have.”

“I could!”

“Mhm. I’m not denying it, babe.”

“You are without being asshole-ish about it. Matter of fact, I think you’re just being cocky.”

“Confidence and cockiness are two different things, and they’re often mistaken for each other.”

“Purpose of this lesson?”

He grinned at me. “Just putting it out there.”

“It’s time for the questions.”

He groaned, pulling away from me to sit in the shallow part of the pool. I hopped into the water when he held his hand out to me, sitting between his parted thighs.

“Okay, shoot.”

“Why does the guesthouse have a huge-ass, transparent window that the world can see through?”

He burst into laughter; the sound making my heart flutter. Was it cliche? Yes. But I loved hearing the deep sound of his laughter; loved knowing I’d made it possible.

“That question has been on your mind since the day I watched you fuck yourself with your fingers, huh?”

“Don’t say that!” I hissed, embarrassed at myself.

He laughed again. “You’re embarrassed? I’ve seen you come around my cock more times than I can count. Don’t even get me started with how loud you get when it’s my fingers fucking you.”

I cringed. “Again, don’t say that.”

“You’re weird, Ayra. I’ve seen you naked, and you still blush when I say shit like fucking?”

“Your mouth lacks any filter. I get the appeal of cursing now and then, but you’re crass.”

“You love it.”

“That’s still up for debate.”

“Back to the window. There’s a remote control you could have pressed that would turn the glass opaque. I guess the girls didn’t tell you.”

“Oh.”

“Oh. You’re not the only one who has been in that room. Do you think I’d want to see someone walk stark naked every morning?”

“Fair enough. Next question, what happened on the night of the anniversary party?”

“I lost Acheron. Damn, it feels good to finally talk about it with someone who isn’t my brother.”

“Acheron is your demon, right?”

“Yes.”

“How does that work? You’re a wolf, and you’re a demon sharing the same body.”

“Nathaniel is the wolf, and Acheron is the demon. Two separate entities with a link between them. They share a body.”

“What determines what name they call you?”

“My most dominant entity at the time. When I was in the lair, they called me Acheron, but with my pack members, it’s Nathaniel. That’s why some demons refer to me as Acheron, while others call me Nathaniel as a symbol of the difference. My demon had already taken a back seat.”

“So, how did you lose Acheron?”

“Right after I drank that champagne meant for you, I felt the cord between us snap, and my insides were on fire. Sandra planned to sever the bond between us, but I took the fall instead. Ishmael said he made it a temporary thing in case Seth ever regretted his decision to break the bond he had with his mate. Of course, he didn’t know that was a lie.”

“Why did Acheron leave, and not Nathaniel? That should’ve been a possibility, right?”

“I guess it depended on who was dominant at the time. Any more questions? I’m dying to fuck you.”

I caught his hand before he could slip it between my legs. “Behave. You haven’t clarified everything that happened at the party. Why did you tell Kimberly to tell the Enforcers to take me home?”

“I lost Acheron. They must have felt the loss of his presence in the demon world because they sent a demon after me. Luckily for me, Ishmael rendered help in the middle of the fight. I told them to get you home because I couldn’t risk them hurting you. Are we done with the questions now?”

“Gee, impatient much?” I teased.

“You guessed right.” He pushed me against the side of the pool, wrapping my legs around his waist.

“We can, you know, we can… “

“We can what?” He asked, his cock poised at my entrance. 

“We can do it from behind, if that’s what you’d prefer?”

“No. Do you want me to?”

“No. I was pissed about it without knowing the reason, but now that I do—” 

He filled me with his cock in one roll of his hip, sending my eyes rolling to the back of my head.

“You’ve clarified that you’re not scared of me. I have nothing to hide from you. Plus, this is a pleasant change. That time in the bathroom was the first time I felt him stir within me.”

“Oh-okay. I need you to move now.”

He smiled. “You are one demanding female.”

“And don’t you just love it?”

I felt the change immediately. The surrounding air shifted from warm to cold. Goosebumps pricked my skin, my nipples hardening from the cold.

“Acheron,” I whispered.

Gone were the green eyes that saw right through me. Those green eyes had bled to black, but I found myself unafraid.

“Little she-wolf.” He trailed his cold fingertips along my cheek. “We finally get to meet with no secrets between us. Nathaniel was afraid you’d run for the hills if you learned about the truth.”

 “He sure enjoys thinking he knows it all,” I panted.

His lips curled up in a smile. “But here you are. Oh, how I have longed for this day. To touch you, feel your bare skin pressed against mine. Fuck you.” He enunciated the last part with a hard thrust. “To feel your tight, wet heat around me.” Another thrust. “To feel this cunt come harder than ever before, and most importantly, to give you my mark.”

I moaned in protest when he pulled out of me, making him chuckle.

“We should take this to the bedroom.”

Before I could speak, I found myself on Nathaniel’s mattress with him above me. “How did you do that?”

“There’s a lot you need to learn, but first, turn around and stay on all fours until I say otherwise.”

The room was dark save for the moonlight streaming in through the balcony, so I couldn’t tell what he was doing behind me as I got on my hands and knees.

“I can’t see you.”

“You don’t have to. Just feel.”

He sure acted like Nathaniel.

His icy fingers slid ever so slowly into my core, allowing me to feel every inch of his fingers against my walls.

“No teasing,” I groaned.

He pulled out of me, delivering a sharp slap to my pussy. “You’re going to take whatever I give to you, and you will not ask for more. Understood?”

I bit my bottom lip to stop the moan from escaping, bobbing my head furiously.

“I can’t hear you, princess.”

“Yes,” I whimpered.

“Good. You liked that, didn’t you? Do you want more?”

I was about to say yes, but I stopped myself. Acheron got off on control, and a part of me could tell that had been a trick question. “I’ll take whatever you’re willing to give me.”

“Good girl,” he drawled in appreciation.

He dealt a series of sharp slaps against my clit, drawing uncontrollable moans from me. I never thought I’d be into pain, but here I was, eager for more.

“You’re ready.”

That was the only warning I got before he filled me, my walls clasping around him. He held my hair in his hand, pressing my head to the mattress as he pounded into me mercilessly, fucking me like he hated me.

This was the part of Nathaniel that I always felt like he kept concealed when we were intimate. He was rough with me most of the time, but never *this* rough.

He yanked me up roughly, sinking his fangs into my collarbones like he did the last time. The pain mixed with what he was doing with my clit had me coming uncontrollably, everything around me blackening out.