Free Web NovelChapter 145: Chapter 145
Nathan’s POV
Hope flickered across the room, but inside me, only a splitting headache bloomed. My wolf growled losensing the storm rising.
My thoughts dragged backward.
To the last time Francis and I met before he resigned.His anger...His accusations....His defense of Aria.
The way everything shattered after that.
And now... only Aria could bring him back.
The room remained silent, heavy and suffocating.
Out of everyone, Sophia looked the worst. Her head was bowed, her curls hiding her face, but not the tension tightening her jaw.
My wolf paced restlessly under my skin. He was agitated, impatient and growling for action.
“Collins,” I ordered, my voice edged with Alpha authority. “Call Hemsworth Villa.”
He nodded immediately.
My gaze swept the room, sharp as a predator surveying a pack that had lost direction. “Francis will be returning to Asterfell in a few days. Once he does, we’ll have proof that the patent was originally ours. From this point on, the legal department takes the lead. Prepare for a lawsuit. We won’t tolerate this.”
A ripple of hesitation ran through the executives like a scent shift. Then one by one, they nodded. All eyes eventually drifted toward Sophia.
She looked up slowly. Red veins streaked her eyes. Her heartbeat was uneven, nervous, defensive... and laced with something else my wolf didn’t like.
She bit her lip before speaking. “Nathan... is it not too early? Will Aria really agree to meet Francis?”
The way she said Aria’s name cracked something sharp inside my chest.
People around us began shifting uncomfortably, their scents turning uncertain.
One executive murmured, “Yes, Alpha Nathan... shouldn’t we find more ways to prove our innocence? After all...”
He trailed off—because he, like the others, still remembered the incident at the hotel. They knew Aria and I had clashed, that I’d dragged her out, that things between us were... complicated. Torn, really.
And they believed Aria hated me enough to let this company burn.
My wolf growled in irritation. They didn’t know her.
I rubbed my temples. “You don’t need to worry about that.”
The meeting dissolved abruptly after that. Executives scattered, their scents thick with tension and uncertainty. Everyone dove back into their assigned work with the desperation of a pack trying to survive a looming threat.
I returned to my office and sank into my chair, pulling up the surveillance feed from the villa on my screen. Footage of Richard infiltrating Hemsworth Villa flickered to life. My claws nearly pierced the desk as I watched it again.
Then the moment he confronted Aria.
The camera couldn’t capture her directly, just the hem of her skirt near the window. But even from that, I could sense her agitation, the worry mixing with defiance.
Richard left with a storm on his face.
I shut off the footage before my wolf snapped the screen in half.
Collins appeared moments later, clutching his phone with visible unease. “Alpha Nathan... Luna Aria isn’t answering.”
My eyes slid to the screen...another disconnected call. My brows pulled tight. A cold unease seeped into my gut.
“Anything else that needs my attention today?” I asked.
Collins blinked at me, surprised. Then shook his head. “The company is completely tied up with the patent situation. Everything else has been postponed.”
He hesitated. “There are also online rumors circulating... some with fabricated evidence suggesting this isn’t the first time Hemsworth Group has stolen patents. The PR department is trying to contain it.”
A rumbling growl threatened to escape my chest. My wolf bristled with angry, ready for a fight.
“I’m leaving early,” I said. “Handle the legal department’s progress.”
I rose abruptly, grabbing the navy-blue suit jacket draped over my chair. Collins stared at me, startled.
Of course he was. Since taking over Hemsworth Group, I’d almost never left work early. My dedication was part of the legend people whispered about me. I was known as the relentless Alpha who rebuilt a corporation from ashes.
But right now, none of that mattered.
Right now, my wolf only wanted one thing—
Aria.
To check on her and confirm she was safe.
Collins quickly arranged the driver, respecting my silence. I headed straight to Hemsworth Villa.
The moment I pushed open the front door, a warm savory and comforting scent hit me...food.
Then I saw her.
Aria stood at the counter, wearing a ridiculous strawberry-patterned apron, lace tied around her waist. Her slightly curled hair was pulled back with a headband, a few long strands falling by her cheeks. She looked... peaceful. Too peaceful for someone who claimed to hate being here.
My chest tightened unexpectedly.
Calm down. It’s just the wolf...not you.
That’s what I kept telling myself.
But the world around me went silent anyway. The sizzling of vegetables, the hum of appliances, even the distant heartbeats of the guards outside was gone. My focus tunneled solely on her.
She didn’t even sense me behind her, which irritated my wolf. She used to always sense me first.
To keep her from running again, I’d doubled the number of guards at Hemsworth Villa. Cameras at every gate. Wolf sentries arranged in rotating shifts. I told her she wasn’t “restricted”... but she wasn’t stupid. She probably knew.
Lana sat in her high chair, kicking happily, her little wolf scent already faint but unmistakable. Aria tapped her head with a soft laugh.
> “Lana is still little. I’ll make it for you when you grow up.”
The pup babbled back, making my wolf rumble with unexpected contentment. freēwēbηovel.c૦m
Damn it.
Aria placed the dishes on the table—roasted vegetables and grilled chicken breast. It was simple but smelling good enough to make my wolf perk up. She rubbed her lower back and removed her apron, looking tired.
She tasted her food, her eyes widening in surprise.
That was cute.
Then, her mood dropped instantly. She shoved her plate away as though her appetite was gone, her shoulders slumping.
Seeing her like that... something inside me twisted.
Is being with me really that unbearable for her?
Before I could think better of it, I stepped forward. When she reached for the plates, I slid my hand over hers, taking them easily from her grasp. She pulled twice, but my wolf strength made it effortless to stop her.
She glared at me, fiery as always.
I tapped the table with my knuckles motioning for her to sit.
She didn’t, of course.
So I ate, all of it.
I ate fast, even though I tried to maintain a civilized pace.
Her stare burned into the side of my face.
“Alpha Nathan,” she snapped, “can’t you afford food? You’re even stealing leftovers?”
