Free Web NovelChapter 106: Chapter 106
Nathan’s POV
The moment the nurses words reached me, the tension draining from my muscles was almost embarrassing. My wolf, who’d been pacing and snarling inside my chest since the call came in, finally eased back.
Moon above... she was okay.
The relief hit harder than any blow I’d taken in a fight. As the adrenaline ebbed, exhaustion pressed against my bones. I rubbed my temples, surprised to feel them throbbing. Only then did it really sink in how scared I’d been. How violently my wolf had reacted the second we heard Aria was hurt.
Just a minor scrape, the nurse said.
I lowered my head, thoughts tangling like brambles. My brow furrowed, not because of pain, but because my mind wouldn’t stop replaying worst-case scenarios. My wolf kept pushing images at me, Aria bleeding, Aria unconscious, Aria not getting up.
Then soft footsteps stopped in front of me.
A pair of white canvas sneakers, scuffed, worn in all the places I remembered came into view. And then a scent drifted toward me. Her scent.
My lungs stilled.
My wolf surged forward so fast it knocked the air out of me.
“I’m fine,” Aria murmured.
Her voice brushed against me like cool fingers tracing through fur. My wolf whined softly, something I would never admit out loud. Just like that, the tight knots inside me eased, unraveling with embarrassing speed.
I cleared my throat, lifted my gaze, and forced myself to look composed, calm and controlled.
“Good,” I said evenly, “As long as you’re okay.”
“Nathan,” she called.
Just my name, in a simple and soft tone, but it hit me like claws dragging down my spine.
My fingers twitched. My wolf’s ears shot up.
She had disappeared after the trial. Served over a year behind bars. Then walked out without a word, no visit to the husband she had wronged, no explanation, no chance for me to see her. When I tried to reach out later, she shut me out every time. My wolf had taken each rejection like a wound. freeweɓnovel.cѳm
So hearing her say my name now... gently... willingly...
It threw me completely off balance in a good way.
Athena’s POV
My heart was fluttering so hard it felt like the wings of a trapped bird beating against my ribs. I tried to steady my breathing, but the moment my eyes drifted to the line of Nathan’s bodyguards standing behind him, each radiating dominance, the unease inside me sharpened.
Alpha Rowland had bolted from the hospital the second he confirmed my injury was only minor, but not before I ensured he got treatment for his hand injury too. He’d mumbled something about urgent business, but even with the little I knew about him, I could read that man like an open book. He was up to something.
And the nurses had been whispering nonstop about the golden retriever Alpha Rowland brought in for a full medical check. A dog in a werewolf hospital. That alone was strange. But combined with the way that poor creature had suddenly snapped, lunging as if possessed...
No, none of this was random.
A cold shiver crawled up my spine, dragging icy nails along my nerves. My wolf lifted her head inside me, her ears alert and uneasy. Something was wrong.
Today’s incident didn’t feel like coincidence.
It felt like being hunted.
I swallowed hard, my throat tight. I couldn’t shake the sense that an unseen force was slithering through my life, twisting normal moments into nightmares, deliberately shoving me off balance. Someone wanted to drive me out of control, maybe even out of my mind.
But who?
My heart thudded unevenly, fear and suspicion mixing like poison in my chest.
“Did you do this?” I asked. My voice came out sharper than I intended. My wolf leaned forward inside me, bristling. I lifted my chin and met Nathan’s eyes. They were cold, stormy and impossible to read.
“Nathan,” I said again, because if I looked away even for a second, I’d crumble. “Was it you?”
Surprise flickered across his face, only to tighten into irritation. His nostrils flared, and his wolf surfaced in his eyes, dark and offended.
“What?” he snapped.
“This is the third time,” I pressed, heat rising in my cheeks. “Like you said yourself, you’ve been there every single time I’ve gotten hurt. So?” My heartbeat roared in my ears. “Was it you? Or...”
My stomach twisted as another name clawed to the surface.
Sophia.
Could he have done it? Forced me into danger just to pull me back to Hemsworth Villa? If Nathan wanted me back so badly, he usually didn’t bother with subtlety. He’d just drag me home over his shoulder like a barbaric alpha. He didn’t need elaborate schemes.
Unless... No. No, that wasn’t him. But Sophia?
The thought made my face drain of color.
Nathan’s eyes flashed with fury. A low growl vibrated in his chest, soft, but unmistakable.
“You think I’d stoop to such a cheap trick?” he bit out, his voice low and lethal. “Aria, you’re way off base.” A humorless, cutting laugh escaped him. “I’m not going to break the law for you. You’re not worth the risk.”
The words sliced deeper than I expected.
“Why would I ruin my reputation and jeopardize the entire Hemsworth Group just to get you back?” His aura flared, his wolf rising fully to the surface. If another wolf had been near, they would’ve cowered.
He looked terrifying, but... truthful.
My wolf exhaled. The tension in my shoulders loosened slightly.
So it wasn’t him.
A shaky sigh left my lips before I could stop it. And then another thought burst out of me like a spark hitting dry grass.
“Then... was it Sophia?”
