Chapter 45

Olivia

I woke up in a dimly lit living room, the remnants of sleep still clinging to my senses.

Nathan was no longer sleeping beside me. Instead, a cozy blanket was tucked around me, courtesy of Nathan's thoughtfulness.

As I yawned and stretched, a wave of recollection washed over me, reminding me of my afternoon spent with my childhood best friend.

I couldn’t help but smile a bit as I remembered spending the afternoon enjoying the foods that we used to love as kids and watching movies, and the memories of Maria’s awful soup and horrible words felt like mere fragments in my mind.

The pizza and the movies weren’t the only things that were lingering in my mind, though. I laid there for a moment in the dark living room, smiling up at the ceiling as I remembered the feeling of Nathan’s arm slipping around me.

He was so warm and comforting. I couldn’t deny the fact that I craved being caught inside his arms again after we spent that last night together in his bed, when I was hearing bumps in the night and needed company to be able to sleep.

I had hardly stopped thinking about it since then, in fact. Every time I looked at him, it felt as though I saw his strong arms wrapped around me while he slept…

Damn it, Nathan, I thought to myself, shaking my head to dispel the thoughts. I can’t let you do this to me.

We had a deal. We were just friends, friends who found themselves in an unfortunate scenario that practically forced us to create this facade of a relationship. But we weren’t in any sort of real relationship, and we likely never would be.

“I have to stop this,” I whispered to myself, feeling like a fool now. I decided then and there that I would have to put an end to it as soon as possible. There would be no more cuddling on the couch, no more hugging intimately, no more nervous glances…

I let out a sigh and finally sat up, running a hand through my hair.

It was much later now; when I picked up my phone, I saw that it was almost nine o’clock at night. I hardly felt sleepy anymore after spending so much of the day dozing off, but I figured that some stretching and a few hours of reading in bed, or maybe even a walk, would allow me to sleep through the night.

I crawled out from under the warm blanket on the couch, then headed toward the stairs to go to my room.

However, as I made my way towards the staircase, a flicker of movement caught my attention.

Curiosity compelled me to pause and glance towards the back porch. “Nathan?” I murmured, wondering if he was sitting outside and getting some fresh air. But when I went to look through the window, I didn’t see him.

“Hm,” I muttered to myself, drawing my sweater more closely around my shoulders. “Must have been a trick of the light.”

I had to chuckle at myself as I started to walk away. I could be so jumpy at night sometimes.

But then, movement caught my eye again. I knew that I didn’t imagine it this time, and I whirled around with wide eyes to see what — or rather, who — it was.

I felt my stomach drop.

Through the big window, my eyes widened in horror as I saw a chilling face staring back at me. Not just one face, actually, but two. It was two people wearing hideous, grotesque masks. They stood still like statues, with only their eyes blinking slowly through the masks.

A scream tore through the silence, escaping my lips before I could even comprehend what I had witnessed. Fear coursed through my veins as adrenaline kicked in, and I felt my heart pounding in my chest.

“Nathan!” I cried, almost feeling as though I was leaving my own body from the fear.

The two figures disappeared into the night, startled by my shrieks of terror.

Within seconds, Nathan came bounding down the stairs, his eyes wide with concern. "What happened? Are you okay?" he asked, his voice filled with urgency. His hair was a mess and he wasn’t wearing his shirt, as though he had just been sleeping.

Under any other circumstance, I likely would have fixated on the appearance of his chiseled abs and bulging chest muscles in the moonlight, but I didn’t seem to register any of that at that moment.

Unable to find my voice, I could only manage to point towards the back porch, trembling with fear. Nathan's gaze followed my shaking finger, his expression turning from worry to determination.

“I saw two people,” I said, my voice coming out choked and hoarse. “T-They were looking right in the window at me—”

Without hesitation, Nathan rushed outside, his protective instincts taking over. I stood frozen for a moment before my own instincts kicked in, propelling me forward to join him. As I stepped onto the back porch, I could hear the sound of footsteps retreating into the darkness.

Nathan and I were not alone in this pursuit. The gardener, alerted by my scream, appeared by our side, his face etched with concern. "What's going on?" he asked, ready to lend his support.

"We saw someone outside," I managed to gasp out, my voice shaky with fear. "They were right at the window, staring at me."

Determination gleamed in Nathan's eyes as he turned to look at Clint. "We need to catch them. They can't get away with this." With that, the three of us set off, chasing after the intruders who had invaded our sanctuary.

The darkness enveloped us as we raced through the night, fueled by a mix of adrenaline and a desire for justice. The gardener, in his sturdy stride, kept pace with Nathan despite his age, his eyes scanning the surroundings for any sign of the trespassers.

Suddenly, a break in the chase occurred as the intruders veered the wrong way. They didn’t seem to know the layout of my aunt’s haphazard garden of finely pruned hedges and rose bushes, and so they cornered themselves with nowhere to go.

The three of us ran up behind them.

“Stop right there!” Clint yelled, causing the two masked figures to cower in the corner.

Nathan cornered them, his voice firm and authoritative. "Take off your masks," he ordered, his eyes ablaze with determination.

The tension hung heavy in the air as the intruders hesitated for a moment. The two of them slowly looked at each other, their chests rising and falling rapidly as they panted heavily beneath their masks.

“Now,” Nathan demanded angrily and powerfully, folding his arms across his chest.

I glanced over at him as he stared down at the two slightly shorter figures. There he was again, looking like a spirited and strong Alpha…

Stop it, I thought to myself, biting down hard on my lower lip to keep the thoughts from floating through my mind. Now is not the time. Damn you, Nathan.

Finally, the two figures lifted their hands up to their masks simultaneously.

They removed their masks slowly, revealing faces filled with a mixture of embarrassment and contrition.

All of our eyes widened as we finally saw just who these two fearsome intruders were.