Wild at Heart
Chapter 48

I shivered in Nick’s arms despite the massive amounts of body heat his bare chest was giving off.

“Come on, little wolf, let’s get inside.” He ushered me in the house, and I gave no objections to his command. I was, however; surprised when he took me into the office rather than the living room or the bedroom. I sat in the chair across from his desk and he kneeled down in front of me. “Tell me what happened.” He whispered. I stared into his golden eyes and wondered how one Alpha could be so sweet and another so monstrous.

“I was going to go on a run to clear my head after I left the hospital.” I caught a glimmer of guilt in his eyes. “And I got hit with a dart. I don’t remember anything after that until I woke up in a cave.”

“Do you know where that cave was?” I shook my head.

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry, Emma.”

“It wasn’t our territory, and it wasn’t his. He was worried the rogues would come looking for us.” I tried to remember the drive, but it all looked the same in my memory. “There were two wolves there when I woke up. Grayson and Dimitri”

“Dimitri is the South’s Beta.” Nick said.

“Not anymore.” Nick looked at me with confusion.

“Dimitri forced Grayson to kidnap me as a gift for Stefan, but when Stefan got there, he didn’t take it as a gift.” I took a deep breath, knowing I would have to tell Nick about Dimitri putting his dirty paws on me, but now wasn’t the time. “Stefan killed him.”

“His own Beta?”

“Ripped his arm off and beat him to death with it to be specific.” I could see Nick’s wheels spinning. The relationship between Alpha and Beta is meant to be a sacred one. Like what Daniel and Nick have, not a game of power like what Stefan displayed. “Grayson is Beta now, but he doesn’t seem very happy about it.”

“I wouldn’t think so.”

“You know him?”

“I do.” I was shocked that Nick actually knew wolves outside of our pack, when they were just Omegas in another territory to me. “Dimitri is mated to Grayson’s sister. He’s an asshole and he likes people to know it, especially Grayson. He threatens Grayson’s sister to get him to do his dirty work and Grayson doesn’t have much of a choice. Grayson’s not a bad wolf, he’s just forced to do bad things.” Reginald once told me that not every wolf in the South was like Stefan, some just lost their way. Was Grayson lost? “We could use that to our advantage. A Beta that doesn’t want to fight in a war their Alpha started is a huge weakness in their defense.” I nodded. A knock at the door stopped our conversation short. We both looked at each other, neither of us expecting guests at this time. “Stay here.” I nodded again and Nick got up to see who was at the door. He was only gone for a minute before I got up and opened the door. I stood in the doorway and Nick turned to look at me, Daniel standing in the front door.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, worried that his unexpected trip wasn’t just to stop by and ask for a cup of sugar. Daniel looked at Nick and he gave him a reassuring nod. He turned back to me; his face saddened.

“Natalie told Alex she was ready to talk.”

“What did she tell him?” I asked.

“Nothing.” He said. “She refuses to speak to anyone, but you.”

“I guess I should get a shirt on then.” I was still wearing my jeans and bra from my kidnapping.

“You don’t have to do this right now, Emma.” Nick said.

“Yes, I do.” I said with a nod. “Natalie’s my friend. She was manipulated by a nasty prick, but she’s still my friend.” I was beginning to think that no one in this pack was going to trust any of my friends with the track record they’re adding up. “Besides, she could have some answers about where Stefan went after he dropped me off.”

“Okay,” Nick agreed. “Daniel, we’ll meet you there soon.” Daniel nodded and they said their goodbyes as I went to the bedroom to get changed. I would have loved a shower to get their scents off me, but I didn’t want Natalie to change her mind about talking by the time I got there. Nick and I got in his little silver car and made our way to the pack house. “Emma?” He turned to me as we drove.

“Yes?”

“The elders want a hearing for Natalie.” I knew this was coming, it was only a matter of time.

“When?” I asked.

“Tomorrow.” I nodded; it was sooner than I expected. Nick was going to be forced into making a life altering decision for her, and I knew I would have to just sit there and watch. Politics sucked.

“I’m not going to be able to save her, am I?” I asked him as I tried to steady my voice. “No matter what she tells me tonight, no matter how much she tries to make up for what she did, her sentence will be death?”

“I’m sorry, Emma.” Nick put his hand on my thigh and rubbed it gently. I couldn’t feel angry with him, I knew he had no choice but to follow the elder’s orders. I put my hand over his and gave him a reassuring squeeze back. I knew the guilt he was feeling was worse than mine.

Nick and I walked straight to the basement of the packhouse and I remembered Jake from the training center when I saw him guarding the doors. He nodded to us and let us go by without a single question. Daniel was standing beside the same room I tried to question her in the first day she was brought.

“She’s in here.” Daniel said.

“I can come with you if you want. Just say the word.” Nick said to me.

“I’ll be fine.” I promised. I took a deep breath and walked into the room. Natalie didn’t look like the Natalie I knew. She looked worn and exhausted, her hair was a mess, and her face was covered in a shine of new tears. I sat down across from her and she looked up at me, slight terror on her face.

“You smell like him.” She said. I didn’t have to ask to know she was talking about Stefan.

“How do you know what he smells like, Natalie?” I asked. She smiled weakly at me, and I could see it in her face that she had given up since she was first locked in here.

“I’ll tell you everything.” She said. “From the beginning.”

“I have all the time in the world to listen.” I encouraged her.

“I hooked up with Chase the first night he got here. Shocking I know.” She chuckled to herself. “But he wasn’t like the other guys. He stayed with me all night; he didn’t rush out to get home to his female like the other guys did.” I knew Natalie liked the company of males, but I didn’t often ask who she was spending time with. “We talked all night about anything and everything. He was so sweet.” A new tear dripped down her cheek and she didn’t bother to hide it. “We spent days together, we were inseparable. It didn’t take him long to tell me that Derek was his half-brother.”

“You’ve known this whole time?” I asked. She bit her lip and nodded but wouldn’t make eye contact with me.

“He asked me not to tell anyone. He said there would be too many questions on why they grew up in different packs. I didn’t push him on the matter, until he asked me to help him a few weeks ago.”

“What did he ask you to help him with?”

“He said his father called.” She said. “Stefan.” She finally looked up at me. “He said he wanted to see his father and he needed my help getting into the pack.”

“Natalie—” How was I so stupid to think that Chase’s grip on her wasn’t that tight? I was so angry with her that I didn’t even try to check in on her mental state.

“I knew I shouldn’t do it! I told him I couldn’t!” She insisted. “And he apologized! He said he shouldn’t put me in such a difficult position, but he was so upset. He said Reginald stole him and Derek when they were babies to punish Stefan and Derek tried to escape to go back home, but Nick wouldn’t let him.” She wiped some more tears from her face. “He said—He said Nick killed Derek to hide the truth. I’m sorry, Emma!” Her head collapsed in her hands as she sobbed. The truth of Chase’s lies finally hit her and she knew there was nothing she could do to take it back. “I’m so sorry, Emma. I wish I could fix this.” I didn’t know what to say to her, but I knew from experience there was nothing I could say to make her feel better about a loved one betraying you.

“How did Stefan get into the pack?” I asked her.

“When Chase went back to the East pack, he said he was going to come back with Reginald for a meeting with Nick and that was when he would meet with Stefan. He said all I had to do was give Stefan a place to stay until he got back.” She sniffled and tried to steady her voice in between sobs. “He said he sent some wolves to pose as rogues to create a diversion around the borders. Stefan slipped in and I was there to take him home. He stayed in my basement for a few days. I kept asking Chase when he was coming, I was so nervous someone would figure out he was there. But Chase never came. Stefan was just gone one night, and I don’t know where he went, I swear.” She sobbed again and wiped her face with her shirt. “Chase called me and said his father was still in the North pack and told him to attack Nick and use the wolfsbane. He stole it from Ophelia. He said he was going to scratch him with it and while everyone was worried about Nick he would run and escape back to the South with his father. We had a plan! They were supposed to wait for me at the border and take me with them. There wasn’t supposed to be a challenge, no one was supposed to die.”

“Your hearing is tomorrow, Natalie.” I told her. She looked up at me and her blue eyes locked on mine. “I’ll tell them you cooperated.”

“Emma?”

“I’m sorry, Natalie.” I reached over and held her hand. “I wish I could do more.”

“Emma? Am I going to die?”

“I’m sorry, Natalie.”