Chapter Thirty Four

"You're staying over?" Marco questioned from behind me, once again stepping out of nowhere and startling me.

"Stop scaring me." I hissed, holding onto my chest feeling my heart race rapidly. "And yeah, that's what Nicolas is discussing with Maya over there." I pointed in the direction Nicolas and Maya were standing in the distance.

"Yeah, I heard them, that's why I asked." He took the seat beside me on the logs surrounding the campfire crackling in the middle.

"I have been thinking about this for a while now, but what do you all do when you need to be in private? Out of earshot?" I wondered out loud as I stirred the content of the pot hanging above the fire.

"Are you trying to ask where do we have sex?" Marco retorted, chortling.

I chose not to reply, instead I focused my attention to keep the content of the pot from boiling over.

"Well, there are a few more free houses in that direction." He pointed toward the opposite side of the clearing. "Mates spend their heat there. It's quite deep in the forest, so it's completely out of earshot."

I looked in the direction he was pointing and I saw nothing but lots of trees in the dark. "What's it called?"

He hummed thoughtfully before answering. "I don't know. Maybe our elders had a name for that part but none of us ever heard it. Probably because none of us was old enough to know about it and then they never got the chance to let us know."

"I shouldn't have asked." I answered, regrettably.

Marco bumped his shoulder with mine before moving away. "You can ask me whatever you want."

"So, Nicolas will be staying there as well?" I questioned, hesitantly.

"Yeah."

I looked back at Nicolas and saw him still talking with Maya. I couldn't see any of their expressions because of the dark and I wondered what they were talking about. I looked over to Marco and saw him looking there as well with an unreadable expression on his face. I had never seen him looking so serious before.

"You okay?" I asked before I could've stopped myself.

He quickly changed his expression and smiled at me. "I should be the one asking you that. You must be nervous, right?"

"I'm trying not to think about it. I'm afraid I'll back out if I do." I responded, honestly.

Marco moved his hand over to my back and gave me a few pat. "I told you, heat or not, Nicolas will never do anything that might make you uncomfortable."

"I know that. It's not that I don't trust him. It's just..." I trailed off, not knowing how to explain my worries.

I was glad when Marco didn't reply. I couldn't even figure out how I was feeling in that moment much less explaining it to someone else.

"Where's everyone else by the way? I haven't seen any of them since we arrived." I questioned suddenly noticing the unusual quiet around us.

"Sleeping." Marco shrugged beside me. His gaze still in the direction where Nicolas and Maya were standing.

"Already?" I looked over to him in disbelief.

Marco nodded quietly. "Werewolves need more sleep than humans to function properly."

"But the last time I was here, they were all awake." I was puzzled remembering the last time I was around.

"They stayed up for you. If they had known you were going to stay over they still would've been awake." He supplied instantly.

"What about this?" I pointed at the pot in front of us.

Marco barely moved his gaze to look where I was pointing at before settling his gaze back in the distance. "Probably for you and Nicolas."

"But that's a lot." I reasoned.

"All for you, since we don't really like cooked food much." He stated with his eyes still focused in front of us.

Despite the fact that he had been replying to me without missing a beat, his gaze was still fixated at Nicolas and Maya.

"You, um, like Nicolas?" I faltered.

His head snapped back toward me at lightning speed. A look of horror was clear on his face. "What? No, I don't." He cursed under his breath before continuing. "Remember I told you he's my older brother? Though we aren't blood related, I've always thought of him as such, nothing else."

"Sorry. You just had this look on your face, I thought…" I said, clarifying.

"I swear I got goosebumps just hearing you say that." He shook his head as he looked at me again. "It's definitely not Nicolas. Don't worry."

"Then Maya? Because it sure wasn't nothing." I tried again.

He didn't say anything for a moment as if not knowing how to respond before nodding his head just slightly. Realization hit me and I felt myself relax inwardly.

"Does she…" I stopped myself when I noticed the look on his face and his eyes glazing over.

He dropped his head and uttered a quiet 'no'.

Letting go of the ladle I was stirring the soup with, I shifted closer to Marco. "I'm sorry." Resting my hand on his back, I tried to comfort him.

When Marco didn't reply, I felt my heart breaking for him. "Is there any way I can help?"

Marco shook his lowered head.

I tightened my hold on him and rubbed his back quietly.

It was saddening to see him with his back curved and head lowered, as if he just wanted to curl up and cry. I felt the need to comfort him since I knew that feeling all too well.

"Are you sure you don't want me to talk to her?" I asked again after a few seconds.

He shook his head again and I resisted the urge to sigh.

"Let me know if there's anything else-" My words were cut off from the sound of water sizzling loudly. My head snapped back at the pot and I saw the soup boiling over and dripping on the fire, putting it out almost immediately.

I cursed out loud before removing my arms from around Marco and reached for the pot's handle. A frightening growl resounded and stopped me in my tracks. A chill went down my spine and my whole body froze up. My hand got stuck mid air and I could hear my heart pounding in my ear.

The following quiet and the dark didn't help and I could feel myself tremble in fear. Beside me, Marco instantly turned on his phone's flash and I saw Nicolas walking over to us. It took me a few moments to pull my hand back before looking at his face.

He stopped in front of us and narrowed his eyes at Marco.

"It's not like that." Marco stood up immediately and distanced himself from both of us.

"Calm down. We weren't doing anything." When another growl was heard, he tried again, this time raising both of his hands above his hand as well.

Nicolas didn't budge, he just continued to glare at Marco while Marco kept trying to explain himself but to no avail. I saw Nicolas' fists clenching right in front of my face and I suddenly realised what was happening.

I raised my trembling hands and held his fist in between mine.

It took him a moment to recover from his anger and soon his eyes softened before he looked over at me. I tried to smile at him before patting the seat beside me where Marco was sitting just moments ago.

He quietly sat down right away and I heard Marco letting out a sigh of relief.

I shifted closer to him until our thighs were touching and took both of his hands in between mine as I waited for him to recover.

"Better?" I asked after Marco and Maya had retreated back to their respective houses after I had gestured them to.

Thankfully, Marco had left his phone on the log opposite us with the flash still on. I looked over at Nicolas and saw him staring at the still barely visible moon above with a blank expression on his face.

"I don't know what came over me." He whispered with his gaze still fixated above us.

I exhaled loudly before a real smile took over my face. "Won't lie, I was expecting something like this ever since the beginning."

Nicolas looked over at me in disbelief and I shrugged.

"I mean, since so many people believe you guys to be super possessive it must've started from somewhere. I guess this is where..." I wondered out loud before looking at his puzzled expression. "Forget it. But you should apologise to Marco. This was already the second time today. I've never seen him look so scared."

Nicolas nodded and fixed his gaze on our held hands resting in my lap. "I must've scared you too. I'm sorry."

"I was more surprised than scared." I admitted, truthfully. "I couldn't even see you, all I heard were your growls and it just caught me off guard."

"I'll not let it happen again." He slightly tightened his grip on my hands.

I gave him a reassuring smile. "I know."

We sat there quietly for the next few minutes. I figured he needed some time to get a hold of himself. So, I kept my mouth shut until he seemed willing to talk again.

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