Page 39 of Midnight Deception

Throwing his hands in the air, he turns on his cousin. “It’s fucking true, and she should know it!”

While the two of them bicker, my attention falls on Kano. He’s frowning and attempting not to let me see what he’s truly thinking, but I can read it in his eyes that there’s more going on here. I just need to work out what it is.

“Did you know the queen had him?”

The room falls silent as I ask the question that’s been in the back of my mind. If Kano knew that the queen was organising to take Nicolai, and he chose to say nothing to me about it, then it will severely impact how I feel towards him. If he was somehow involved… I don’t want to think about the carnage that would ensue.

“No,” he answers firmly and confidently. “None of us did. I don’t know how she even managed to get him, especially without my knowledge.” He’s obviously disturbed by this, knowing little more than I do at this stage.

I mull over his words and glance at the other two, coming to the conclusion that he’s telling the truth. A sigh of relief leaves him as I dip my head in acknowledgement.

“Can I see him?”

Kano’s lips press together tightly at the question, and I know I’m not going to like the answer.

“The queen has agreed to let you see him tomorrow. There’s no point in arguing with her on this, trust me,” he warns with a raised brow. That’s exactly what I want to do, and I was already planning to storm through Haven and find him, needing to see with my own eyes that he’s okay.

“It’s late. You should get some sleep.” He takes in my expression at the suggestion and crosses his arms over his chest, as if challenging me to argue with him. “She’s ordered guards to stand outside your door, so don’t even try to sneak out and find him. It won’t end well for either of you. Just play along for now.”

The presence in me whispers that we could take out those guards, but I don’t want anyone getting hurt. Besides, Kano’s warning is clear. If I step out of line, Nicolai will be the one to suffer.

Kano must see this on my face, his stance relaxing as he nods and gestures for the others to leave. “We’ll leave you in peace and see you in the morning.”

Luna moves to the door, smiling at me tightly as she leaves, but Atlas stays by the side of my bed, his fingers slowly unbuttoning his shirt. At the look he gets from Kano, he raises his brows. “You can stay and watch if you want, but I’m not sure your sister would be too pleased about that.”

My half-brother doesn’t move, his eyes narrowed on my mate.

Atlas snorts and gestures towards me, where I’m weakly trying to swing my legs back up onto the bed. “You think I’m leaving her after that? She needs one of her mates, and I’m the closest thing we’ve got.”

Although I hate to admit it, he’s right. My bonds are screaming, and I need the comfort of my mates. I turn my silent, pleading eyes to my half-brother, and he relents with a sigh, rubbing his temples as if we’re giving him a headache.

“Laelia, are you okay with this?” he asks, eyeing where I’m slowly inching across the bed to be closer to Atlas. “I’m taking that as a yes. I’ll come collect you in the morning.” Shaking his head one last time, he leaves without saying anything else.

Unable to hold myself back any longer, my gaze snaps to Atlas. He’s already staring at me with a hunger that lights me up. Finishing the last few buttons on his shirt, he shrugs it off, his bare chest making my breath catch. He unbuckles his trousers, and my eyes track the movement as they fall to the ground, leaving him standing in only his boxers.

Eyeing me like I’m his next meal, he prowls towards me.

ChapterFifteen

Stopping at my side, he smirks as he gestures to where I’m sprawled across the bed. “Are you going to make room for me then?”

I force myself to sit up and shuffle over, acutely aware of how far away he is from me. He chuckles and climbs up onto the bed, and I take a deep breath to try to calm myself down so I don’t jump him the moment he presses against me.

This is no different from the last couple of nights when he was helping me with the sickness. At least, that’s what I keep telling myself as he tucks himself in behind me, pulling me back against his bare chest. Except, everythingfeelsdifferent. When he defended me against Maliki, something shifted for both of us. I know I can’t talk for Atlas, but it’s just a feeling that I get, as though he realised he cared enough about me not to have to suffer through the threats of someone he looked up to. He had a choice in that moment, and he chose me. Sure, we still have alongway to go, but that was significant, and frankly, I found it hot.

He wraps his arm around me, fussing with the covers and holding me closer. Settling against him, I give into the little part of me that’s demanding more contact and rest my cheek against the skin of his arm. My body begins to relax, the bond humming happily in my chest. Of course it would be happier if we were naked and fucking, but it’ll have to make do with this.

It’s not long until the physical touch is no longer keeping the frantic thoughts quiet. There’s so much going on in my mind, particularly around Nicolai being here and him beingalive, but there’s something else that’s sitting on my heart.

“I can practically hear your thoughts,” he drawls, his voice sounding sleepy. “What’s wrong?”

I have no intention of saying anything, but it just slips out. “You knocked me out.”

I feel him flinch, especially at how small my voice sounds. “I know, I’m sorry,” he murmurs defeatedly. “But only because I knew that if I didn’t, someone else would, and I had no way of knowing how hard they would do it. At least this way I could control it and cause as little pain as possible.” He’s still behind me, his arms loosened so I can move away if I want to, but I choose to stay put, listening to his explanation. Twisting to look up at him, I see his troubled expression. “You probably don’t remember, but the whole ballroom was shaking as you were pulling your power. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

I want to tell him about the presence inside me, and it’s the closest I’ve ever gotten to telling anyone other than my father. The words are on my lips, and his eyes light up with interest as he realises I might tell him what he’s beginning to work out. However, I panic at the last moment and face forward again, leaning back against him and hoping that he lets it drop.

Thankfully, he does, and we fall into a comfortable silence. We don’t mention the elephant in the room—that I tried to kill the queen—and for that, I’m glad. Being this close to him is helping with how awful I feel, the fatigue and pain slowly easing away. I can’t help but think about how things have changed between us over the last few days. We’ve gone from him not even being able to be in the same room as me to this. He’s not exactly singing me love songs and declaring his undying affection for me, but holding me like this, I can almost pretend that things are different, that we don’t have our huge cultural differences, and that even if he does get over me being part werewolf, there’s no way that I’m living without my other mates or contact with my pack.

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