Chapter 4: Last hope

It was raining when we arrived at the gates of Ophelia’s home. I made a move to open the car door so that I could open the gate. But as I shuffled in my seat, Nicholas placed an arm in front of me. I gazed at him questioningly and then he shook his head before saying, “Lovita will get the gate. It’s raining, you’ll catch a cold.”

He was right, it was raining and although I was extremely stubborn and occasionally spiteful, I wouldn’t spite myself. So, I leaned back and stared out the window as Lovita opened the large purple gate. Where I usually struggled with the heavy gate, Lovita moved it almost with no effort at all. She then stood to the side while Floran drove right through.

Once inside, I was ready to escape the car and get as far away from Nicholas as possible. But again, he held me back. Then, he stared out of the window, at the sky, and a look of concentration appeared on his face. I watched him closely and curiously. At first, his grey eyes remained stern and emotionless and then they changed suddenly. They were still grey, but it was almost as though I could see the clouds outside reflected in them, as if his irises were small, round mirrors. It was astounding to watch. Slowly, the grey clouds in his eyes began to disappear and were instead replaced by a stunning azure blue. I’d never seen something so… magical. And as I watched his eyes change colour, I felt a strange warmth against my skin. There was something about the look in his eyes that had my skin tingling. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it, but it was almost as though there was a part of himself trapped behind those relatively stern eyes of his, a part of him hidden away, just itching to break out.

Soon I realised that the beautiful blue colour of his eyes now matched the colour of the sky outside. My eyes followed every place where the rays of sunlight began to touch, from the overgrown and muddy garden to the wet stone path leading to the front of the grand, wooden doors. The water droplets on the purple walls of the house shone magnificently and so did the windows which were framed by thick, purple satin curtains.

I was awestruck. Although I’d known about King Nicholas’ weather controlling abilities, seeing them up close was something else entirely. But slowly, my amazement disappeared and instead, realisation replaced it.

I turned back towards Nicholas whose eyes had now returned to their nonchalant grey colour and then said, “You think not letting me open the gate and then clearing the skies is going to make me forget about what we discussed previously?”

He shook his head, sighed and then said, “I apologise. It seems I do a good job of offending you and that is not my intention. I would just like for us to get along, that’s all.”

I was surprised, to say the least. King Nicholas Carden, the Lycan King himself, wanted to get along with me? The idea of it was foreign and almost too unbelievable to comprehend. Especially since I did not want to get along with him. And so, out of curiosity, I asked him why it seemed so important for him that we get along.

“I think it would be beneficial for the both of us. We’re mates and so we’ll spend majority of our time in each other’s company.” The thought of spending most of my time with him made me feel sick to the stomach. He had an intoxicating and unwarranted sense of “saviour” about him. Not only that, but it was clear that he considered himself different from the other Lycans, better and more compassionate even. It was sickening to be around someone who lacked the self-awareness that he did. But my dislike for him was more complicated. As much as I willed and wanted myself to truly hate this man, my body liked him to the point where the idea of being away from him for too long now made me feel slightly uncomfortable. It was bearable, but not subtle enough for me to ignore and instead of putting the blame on my body for its reaction to him, I unashamedly put it on him. It was merely a drop of water in the ocean of reasons why I disliked him.

***

Nicholas knocked on the door a few times and then waited. Lovita and Floran waited in the car, but I could feel their fixed gaze on us, and it drove me to fidget with my fingers. I hated it when people watched me.

Although I had the keys to the house in my pocket, I dared not say anything. Secretly I hoped that today would be one of the days Ophelia would stay late at work and that eventually, he’d give up this whole thing about us being mates and we’d go our separate ways. It was a little fantasy I knew would never come to fruition. And just as I had predicted, my fantasy ended the second I heard the key twist in the lock and saw the door swing open.

“I know I said not to stay out too late, but this is ridicu-” she paused the moment her brown eyes landed on Nicholas. That was when I first saw Nicholas smile. It was soft and tugged at the corners of his mouth gently. The second I saw it on his face, I blushed involuntarily and then looked away. What the hell was wrong with me? This man threatened to destroy the comfort of my life as I knew it, and here I was, ogling over him like a fool.

“Ophelia, I didn’t expect you to be her mistress. Then again, it does explain her behaviour.” I was surprised that he addressed her so casually and seemed so familiar with her. Ophelia had never mentioned meeting the King, let alone knowing him well enough for him to go out of his way to extend a hand for her to shake. She gazed at it for a moment before shaking her head and saying sternly, “Don’t call me her mistress, I hate that term. How much of trouble did she get herself into? I will take whatever punishment you wish to inflict upon her in her stead. Though…” she paused and glanced between the both of us curiously before continuing, “you were never the punishing sort. You must be here for something else.”

Nicholas nodded before saying, “Perhaps we should speak inside.”

Ophelia nodded and then stepped aside. Nicholas motioned for me to enter the door first and so I did. Once again, Ophelia shot me a curious glance to which I responded with a shrug. If there was anyone who could possibly help me out of this situation, it would be her, and so I tried to refrain from interfering. After all, Ophelia was my last hope.