Chapter 499

Olivia

I threw myself down onto my pillow to muffle my sobs. The funeral guests still milled about below me on the first floor of the villa, but I just couldn’t stay down there for any longer. I had to get away. I had to be alone, at least for a little while.

As I laid there, the anger I felt toward Dan only compounded. I knew that it was misplaced—of course it wasn’t really his fault that my baby had died—but I couldn’t help it. Seeing him in my home, on the day of my infant son’s funeral, with that awful look in his eyes…

It just made me so furious.

I wasn’t alone for long, however, when the soft sound of the door creaking open caught my attention. A moment later, I felt the bed compress beside me. A familiar scent overwhelmed me—Nathan. I didn’t even need to lift my head to know that he was there.

Without a word, he slowly reached out and touched my back. I felt his hand stiffen and tremble slightly as he touched me, but neither of us pulled away.

No words were spoken as we sat there like that. There was nothing to say, anyway.

And in a strange sort of way, I think that was the kind of comfort that I needed the most.

…

The late March sun was out, bright and shining in the sky. I had the twins set up in their playpen outdoors, and I was sitting in the shade beside them as they played. Off in the distance, the sound of Clint’s hedge trimming shears echoed through the quiet yard.

It was two weeks after the funeral for our infant son, Alvin. I could still picture his tiny casket perfectly in my mind every time I closed my eyes, but it was getting easier to keep my composure.

After all, the twins needed me. I wasn’t about to let myself break, for their sakes. But things with Nathan had still been a bit distant.

Nathan had been spending more and more time in the office. It wasn’t that he was an inattentive husband or father, but I think that being home was just a reminder of what had happened. I didn’t stop him from throwing himself into his work, although I couldn’t bear to go out. It was enough just to force myself to get out to the grocery store, let alone the office.

“You know you’ll have to go back at some point,” Angela kept saying whenever I mentioned it to her. “I know it’s hard, but if you keep yourself cooped up like this for too long, it’ll just make it even harder.”

“I’ll go back soon.”

That was all I ever said: that I would go back soon. And I really did plan on it. But not today. No, the weather was too nice today, and I wanted to spend time with the twins. They were just as much of a rock to me as work would be.

As I laid there, watching the twins through my eyelashes under the warm sun, I heard the sound of approaching footsteps in the grass. I looked up to see a black suit jacket and a tawny head of dirty blond hair headed my way.

“Hey,” I said, sitting up a bit. “I thought you were at work.”

“I’m taking my lunch break.” Nathan came over to me and leaned up against the tree I was sitting under—the one with the treehouse—and stuck his hands in his pockets. We were both quiet for a few minutes as we watched Elliot and Aurora playing.

“I swear they talk to each other sometimes,” I said, nodding my head toward the twins. “Telepathically.”

Nathan smirked. At that moment, Elliot and Aurora looked intensely at each other, their lips unmoving despite their recent babbling. They had been doing that a lot lately.

“Werewolf twins are like their own breed entirely,” Nathan mused. “It could be that they have a proficiency for telepathy.”

“I wonder—” I began, but quickly stopped myself before I could let it slip out. I had almost said that I wondered what little Alvin’s abilities would have been.

But even though I stopped myself, it seemed as though Nathan knew exactly what I was going to say. He quickly cleared his throat and pushed himself away from the tree, scrubbing his hand through his hair as he did so.

“Hey, so, uh…” he began, now rubbing the back of his neck. “I have to tell you something.”

I straightened up as I looked up at him. “What is it?”

Nathan paused for a moment, opening and closing his mouth a few times as though unsure of how to begin, before he finally spoke. “I have to go up north for a summit with Dan this weekend.”

My eyes widened of their own accord. “So soon?” I asked. The mention of Dan still made my blood simmer beneath the surface, but I hid it well.

Nathan nodded slowly, looking a little embarrassed. “Yeah. I guess I sort of forgot during… everything.”

I was silent for a moment. I didn’t like the idea of Nathan going away so soon. “How long will you be gone?” I asked.

“A week.”

“A week?” I muttered. “That’s a long time.”

“I know.” Nathan sighed and bit the inside of his cheek for a moment. “I wish I could say no, but…”

His voice trailed off there, and I felt my heart clench. So it was beginning again, so soon after our son’s funeral. Dan’s demands.

I couldn’t help but wonder if he was dangling another check in front of Nathan’s face this time; after all, Nathan and I didn’t really talk much anymore, so there was no way for me to know.

“Is it because of the money?” I whispered.

Nathan quirked an eyebrow and finally looked at me for the first time since he had appeared. “What?”

“The money,” I said, standing and dusting myself off. “Is he offering you another stipend in exchange for doing this?”

For a few moments, my husband was silent and that was all the response I needed. Finally, he nodded and solidified my expectations.

“Some of our trade routes are failing, Liv,” he said softly. “The pack needs the money. It’s why I joined the association to begin with, remember?”

“Yeah. I remember.” I bit my lip and quickly looked away, back at the twins, who were now babbling happily once more.

“Liv, I—” Nathan reached for me. His cool fingers brushed the skin of my arm, sending a slight shiver down my spine. God, we hadn’t even made love in weeks now. I missed him. But at the same time, his touch made me recoil on an almost primal level.

“It’s okay,” I said, trying my best to keep my voice steady. “I understand why you need to go.”

Nathan pulled his hand back and let it drop back to his side. He looked at me for just a moment longer before he looked away, his sharp jaw outlined by the light of the golden sun behind him.

“I promise when I come back,” he said softly, “we’ll spend some time together. I know we haven’t been—”

“You don’t need to make promises,” I muttered, blinking back the tears that threatened to come because something told me that those promises would just fall flat anyway. “Just enjoy your trip.”