Free Web NovelChapter 146: Chapter 146
Nathan’s POV
My hand paused just for a heartbeat.
I said nothing. I just wiped my mouth with a handkerchief and murmured,
“I didn’t want it to go to waste.”
She hated that. I could smell the spike of irritation in her scent.
She put the plate down hard.
“Since you ate so much, this isn’t free. Take the dishes to wash.”
She grabbed Lana and turned to leave.
My wolf reacted instantly. Before she took two steps, my hand circled her wrist in a firm and unyielding. Her pulse fluttered under my fingertips, and my wolf growled low in my chest.
She tugged, but I didn’t let go.
“You’re a good cook.”
Her laugh was sharp enough to cut.
“I’ve been practicing for over a year. If I couldn’t cook, thanks to you, I would’ve starved to death long ago.”
That one hit hard.
My brows drew together. My wolf snarled inside me, not at her, but at that old guilt I kept trying to bury.
“Aria,” I muttered, “do you always have to talk to me like that?”
She looked at me, her eyes cold, gleaming with a threat my wolf hated.
“Nathan, you’re the one illegally detaining me and the child and you expect me to be nice to a criminal?”
Her disgust slammed into me like a physical blow. My grip on her wrist trembled, not from.anger but desire.
I forced myself to look away, swallowing my wolf’s instinct to pull her closer, to make her understand, to make her stay.
I hardened my voice.
“I have something to tell you.”
She didn’t care. Her gaze was fixed on my hand, demanding I release her.
Fine. My patience snapped.
“Francis is coming back to Asterfell soon,” I said, my voice flat.
“He wants to see you.”
The moment the words left my mouth, the air between us tightened.
Her scent became laced with a mix of surprise, fear, anger, all swirling together.
And my wolf...
My wolf hated every single one of those reactions.
Aria’s POV
The moment Nathan spoke Francis’s name, I was stunned.
My wolf, who had been pacing, snarling, resisting Nathan’s touch... suddenly went still. A soft whine echoed in the back of my mind, gentle and aching.
Francis.
For the first time today, my resistance loosened. Warmth...real, vulnerable warmth, slipped into my chest, softening the edges of my anger. fɾeeweɓnѳveɭ.com
When I got out of prison, I tried to find everyone I had once known.
Everyone from Hemsworth Group was gone. Everyone except Peter.
And Francis... my closest friend... had vanished overseas like smoke carried by wind.
I had come to Asterfell for Nathan years ago, leaving behind my pack, my family, my home. When everything collapsed, when Nathan threw me away, when prison swallowed over a year of my life...
I had no one left here.
Asterfell wasn’t just cold, it was a dead land to a wolf without a pack.
My eyelashes flickered.
A strange tightness clawed at my throat as I asked,
“When?” freēwēbηovel.c૦m
My wolf perked up, hopeful. If Francis was returning... I had to see him.
Nathan said, “I’ll let you know once the time is confirmed.”
For once, I didn’t refuse. My wolf didn’t growl or bite. We simply waited.
A knock shattered the fragile moment.
Nathan glanced at me, probably sensing the sudden change in my scent, then he went and opened the door.
And in squeezed a face that made my wolf bare her teeth.
It was Sophia.
Her scent hit me instantly.
Her smile was blinding, too bright, too forced.
“Nathan! Collins said you left work early,” she chirped.
“The legal department has a solution. I came to tell you—”
Then she looked past him and spotted me.
“I heard Aria has come back to Hemsworth Villa...Is Aria here now?”
Nathan’s jaw tightened.
“Work is over. We’ll handle it tomorrow.”
He tried to close the door.
Her smile cracked. Her eyes dimmed. She pushed harder.
“Wait, I—”
Before Nathan could block her, she squeezed in like some overexcited pup.
“Aria! Sister! You’re really back!”
I felt the pounding pulse of a headache forming. My wolf’s hackles rose so sharply it hurt.
Nathan sighed and shut the door behind her.
Sophia grabbed my free hand with both of hers, shaking it like we were long-lost sisters.
Her touch made my skin crawl.
To me, she wasn’t a woman, she was a carnivorous vine pretending to smell like flowers.
I yanked my hand free with a snap.
“My grandmother never told me I had a younger sister,” I said coldly.
Her smile froze. Her scent changed, souring with embarrassment.
“Aria, I know you misunderstood me—”
“There’s no misunderstanding.” My voice could have frostbitten her.
Nathan stepped in, tension in his eyes.
“Sophia, say what you came to say and leave.”
Her expression trembled...she hadn’t expected him to cut her off. But then something darker glinted behind her lashes.
“Nathan, are you going to tell Aria about Francis?”
