CHAPTER 82

CHAPTER EIGHTY-TWO
It was crazy how it all made sense now. That fight I’d had with Drake that first time in Nadia’s house, he’d mentioned something about Adrian but until now, it had struck me as anything important.

*“Well, then tell the wolf to get out right now or I might just be tempted to shred him into pieces,” he said.

Nadia inched closer to him,” No, you get out of my house Drake. I have no single idea of who you actually are or what you want from me. You cannot just storm into my life and think that you can take control of it. I’m not your puppet Drake, so fuck off before I lose it, “she’d snapped.

“Oh darling, you have no idea about the Whites but I’ll give you a hint. Adrian, your twin brother. I’ll see you tomorrow when I seal our mate bond on your birthday,” he smirked*

How could I have missed it? The funeral had ended and I already had group of our best sentinels out to find Adrian. If he had been the one really taking down our people, then he had to within town. I was confused, wondering what the hell was actually going on. On one hand was Nadia and on the other hand was her brother. I thirsted for the blood of one and was chasing something romantic with the other.

“Are you okay?” Danny whispered. Three other sentinels, him and I had taken detour, scouting the forests for any sign of caves where he might hide while the rest of the pack scouted the town.

“What do you think?” I questioned, my sharp eyes rotating around the area where it was mostly a stretch of green.

“How many time do you want me to say it? I’m sorry for spring it up on your like that. Thinking about it now, its not my fault. I tried to tell you before but you had that seizure-like moment. Besides, the pack is now proud of you and if the other packs get a wind of this, they will respect you. Take this as that one out of jail free card,” he said, tapping my shoulder before walking away.

NADIA’S POV
Grief was shaking me, a loop of my parent’s death playing in mind. I knew it had worked but now I was back to not being in control. The horrors of that night were in my mind, blinding any sane any thought in my mind. I closed my eyes, trying to shut out the horrifying images flashing in me but that didn’t seem to work. I had let him see a part of my life that I didn’t want to relieve but pain was the most intense feeling I’d experienced that could help induce a connection between us. Suddenly two wolves walked in, pulling me into a standing position before leading me out to where the werewolves were gathered around a large bone fire. On the right, there were seven dead bodies, hearts ripped out in the cruelest some manner. A sick feeling had my stomach walls twisting and it took every ounce of will in me not to retch at the sight.

“What? You can’t stand what your accomplice has done?” Xander questioned, never taking his eyes off the bodies.

I had been burning in rage after finding out what Carson did to my family and my friends, Mrs. Heathers and now Miranda’s parents, but I never stopped to think what it would feel like to take the life of another human. All this while, I had focused on my anger against the werewolves as a whole but this sight before me seemed to shake something inside me. I had never taken a life before and my brother was seemingly having an easy time doing so. Wait, why was I feeling doubtful now? No, I couldn’t back out of a war that Carson started. He was the maniac going around killing people aimlessly.

“See that woman over there?” He signaled with his chin to a heavily pregnant woman sitting at the corner of the crowd, dead eyes staring into the fire without blinking,” She is the wife to Richard, one of the men your accomplice mercilessly killed. She is due in a month and now she is a widow already. This kid would be born without a father. Oh, you should have seen the joy on Richard’s face. He always talked about how he was glad to finally be a dad. Poor man now won’t be able to see his kid’s face because he was murdered,”

He was playing mind games with me, using sympathy as the focal point to make me tell him who the assassin was. My facial expression remained indifferent even though on the inside something was shifting inside me.

“You see that little boy over there?” I felt my heart stop for a brief moment. The said boy reminded me so much of Harry except in his eyes were filled with grief as he looked at one of the dead bodies,” His mother died during childbirth and his father was all he had left. Now that he is gone, he has got nobody to call family,”

“What is your point?”

“Why is the assassin coming after us? What is it he or she wants that the only way is to murder innocent people?”

“Maybe you should blame Carson for that. He sure did know how to make lots of enemies when he was still in power,” I countered but then suddenly something sort of a portal opened. Before anyone could react, Collins walked through it, easily hoisting me over his shoulder and walking right back into the portal as it closed behind us. After what seemed like a few seconds of speed, we were back in my house and there was seemingly no one in it.

“You found me,” I whispered.

His brown eyes met mine but he said nothing as he went on to untie the ropes. Quietly he walked into the kitchen grabbing an icepack from the fridge and placing periodically against my wrists and ankles.

“Thank you,” I whispered and he still said nothing.

Silence filled the room and there was so much I wanted to ask him like how the hell he got there through the portal but I remained silent. This war; it was selfish and very consequential. I had let myself get immersed into it at the one time when I was at my most vulnerable state. All the anger I’d felt against Carson had made me loathe their kind but seeing those devastated people back at Xander’s park had me questioning everything. Was my anger against Carson worth innocent people losing their lives?

“I’m nothing like my father, Nadia,” he broke the silence.

“I know, “I whispered back,” I need to stop this war, Collins,”

His face jerked up, his eyes registering surprise,” Is this-Are you serious?”

“What your father did to my family and friends, is unforgivable but why would my anger on one man have to cost innocent people their lives? They have families, friends and probably colleagues at work who actually give a shit about them. I can’t let people go through what I had to go through,” I shook my head, swallowing down the bitterness.

He stared at me for a few second then suddenly reached forward, pulling me into a tight hug,” I knew you were different, Nadia. I’m glad I chose to believe you were still a good and considerate person despite everyone telling me it was just my infatuation of you talking. This is worth me walking out of my pack in the middle of a searching mission,”

“Listen, the assassin is-“

“Adrian. Yeah, Danny cracked it about an hour ago but now we have time to stop all this madness before it gets too far. You are right about one thing. What my father did is unforgivable and I promise you one thing; I’ll make sure he never sets his foot anywhere in this town if you ever chose to stay,”

Stay in WoodCave? It had never crossed my mind before but then again, nothing sane had crossed my mind for the past few days.

“Maybe we should stop this fight before people get hurt and then we can discuss about your father later. Can you help me with your phone? I’m pretty sure mine is probably a wreck right now,” I said.

Without a word, he retrieved it, placing it on my open palm. I groaned a bit from the pain in my wrist but quickly, I dialed Trina’s number and thankfully she picked it up.

“Seriously Collins? If this is you calling to negotiate I will-“

“Trina, it’s me,” I cut her off.

“Nadia? What the hell are you doing with his phone? Wait, is this some ransom call or bargaining chip call? If he has touched even a hair on your-“

“He actually saved me, Trina but that’s not why I’m calling,” I took a deep breath,” I need to call this war off,”

“Not a funny joke, Nadia,”

“I’m not joking. I know I’ve gotten hurt and we’ve lost people but what exactly is the point of this war? So that more innocent people can die? We were all angry at Carson but why make every single werewolf in town pay for it?”

“Is this about Collins? God! I knew you’d go soft because of him but anyway, its too late to stop it. The war is happening,” she pointed out.

“I can stop it. You just need to connect me to-“

“No, you can’t, Nadia. Its happening right now. There nothing about tomorrow. So brace yourself because the werewolves are actually going down tonight. Even if you were ever going to convince everyone else to stand down, trust me, your brother is one person you can’t convince. He is hell bent on killing the last wolf in town. Its too late, Nadia,” she answered.

Fuck!