Chapter 43: Bored Games

Nusha had guessed right: Caph didn't go after Ran because he knew Nusha would follow him. He wanted to avoid a confrontation between them.
And as much as possible, Caph wanted Ran to have nothing to do with Nusha.
For all he knew, Nusha might have known about the attack on Eridanus.
If she was privy to his father's schemes, it would be detrimental to Ran if Nusha knew she met up with an ex-member of her pack and now knew everything.
It had taken all his willpower to resist going after Ran.
She had seen something unsightly. He wanted to explain.
She was pissed. He wanted to watch her get jealous.
She wanted him to go after her. He wanted to go to her.
Her wolf was calling for him.
But he couldn't answer her cry.
He had to make sure Nusha was preoccupied for the rest of the day.
Thinking about what he overheard from Ran's conversation with Fang was something he'd have to do another day.
The bus lurched and Nusha threw herself at him for the umpteenth time. He gently pried her fingers from his arm and wrapped them around a handlebar.
He smiled tersely at her, his gaze stern.
'You're angry with me,' Nusha said.
'Yes. I am.'
She picked at her nails. 'You've never gotten angry with me before.'
'I'm angry because I care.'
Her yellow eyes were wary.
The bus stopped outside The Citadel and Nusha alighted with him.
She was about to say goodbye when Caph grabbed her arm.
'You ruined my date,' he said. 'Take responsibility for this.'
She examined his playful blue eyes to see if he was still mad at her.
Then, with Nusha hanging on to him like a leech, Caph returned to Cassiopeia.
What should he do with her for the rest of the day?
He wanted to go back to Ran.
He wanted to be alone to think about what his father had done.
He ended up playing board games with Nusha.
By the time Nusha was bored of flirting and playing with him, the sun had set and Ran was still not home.
They ate dinner without her.
'She didn't run away, did she?' Celphus asked, his voice laced with suspicion. 'Acamar warned me she might.'
Caph smirked. 'She'd never do anything to shame Eridanus. She cares about her pack's reputation as much as you do.'
His father grunted. 'This is an order. Take Ran to visit the pack elders tomorrow. Say your greetings and pay your respects.' He addressed the rest of the family, 'When she gets back, ask her to see me. I want to have a word with her.'
But Ran didn't return that night.
Caph waited for her sprawled on the ancient wood sofa in the main hall.
At some point, he fell asleep but a faint creak of the window in the breeze jolted him awake instantly. He had no intentions of letting his father talk to his bonded mate before he had a chance to.
Eventually, the sun rose. Morning came.
No Ran.
Caph's first thought was that a certain someone had intercepted her, so he went to her house in The Village.
Her parents were confused to see him. Nusha had told them she would spend the night at the castle.
Fear made his hackles rise.
Where had Nusha gone?
What had she done to Ran?
She couldn't have hurt Ran. Caph was sure of that.
Ran was physically stronger than her.
So what happened then?
What could she have done?
Did this have anything to do with his father's plot or was she acting independently?
Celphus barely acknowledged Nusha's existence—he treated her well because she was like a sister to his sons but otherwise paid no attention to anything she did.
Caph wasn't even sure his father knew about Nusha's feelings for him, although it should be quite obvious.
He recalled Nusha's appearance at the bus stop at New City Central, how she had told him what he already knew (that she dropped out of college) and then insinuated that Ran would leave him for someone else.
A chill ran down his spine. He felt his bones turn cold.
What if she meant to insinuate that Ran was going to disappear instead?
He raced back to the castle praying he was wrong, that Ran had just spent the night sulking and returned just as he went looking for her.
But he knew the truth even as he kicked the old doors of the ancient Cassiopeia stronghold open.
She wasn't there.
'Did you find her?' Celphus growled. He was anxious as well, for a different reason.
'No,' Caph panted, heat washing over him as he prepared to shift into his wolf. 'I think Ran's been kidnapped.'