Chapter 376

Nina

“Well?” Mila asked, as if she were somehow sensing my trepidation. “How did you and Enzo meet?”

Where could I even begin? Enzo and I had met at the bar on the night that my ex-boyfriend cheated on me, we had a one night stand, and then proceeded to spend the following months not only pining for each other, but also battling werewolves, making undead friends, and fighting in wars that neither of us signed up for.

“We… met in college,” I said, choosing to keep it simple. College was neutral, uncontroversial, but even as I said it, I knew I was holding back an entire universe of complexity.

“In college? Really?” Mila smirked, swirling her wine around in her glass. “That’s what you’re going with?”

I blanched. “Well, it’s the truth.”

Mila grinned. “Aw, c’mon. There has to be more to it that you’re not sharing with us. Every romantic story I’ve ever heard is filled with sweeping gestures, love at first sight, and at least one serenade under a window.”

My cheeks tinged a light shade of pink. The scrutinizing way Mila looked at me made me feel like I was a specimen under a microscope. Our real story was too complicated, too intimate, too supernatural to be discussed over a casual dinner conversation.

Suddenly, Enzo intervened. “We actually met at a bar. I know, I know, it’s not a Disney movie, but it’s the truth.”

“A bar?” Mila feigned surprise but her eyes twinkled with a kind of knowing mischief. “I could never picture finding my soulmate while dodging spilled beer and bar fights.”

Enzo shrugged, taking the remark in stride. “Well, crazier things have happened. We met and had an instant connection, and the rest is history.” His eyes met mine, and he squeezed my hand under the table, but I could sense a hint of hurt in his eyes at my vagueness.

Mila leaned in closer. “So, Nina, you’re telling me that you found this ‘instant connection’ in a bar? I never took you for that kind of girl.”

I looked at Enzo, who shot me a supportive glance, then back at Mila. “Yes, I did,” I said, my voice lower and more timid than I wanted it to be. “And I’m glad I did.”

Mila set her wine glass down. “That’s so interesting. I must say, I’ve never been the type to pick up men in bars, but…”

“I didn’t ‘pick him up,’” I said, feeling my wolf bristle again. “But we did meet there.”

Mila opened her mouth to say something else, probably another snide remark. But before she could, Tim chimed in, his voice carrying across the table in that signature charismatic tone of his.

“Well, I think it’s a nice story,” he said. “I met my wife at a party in college, so it’s not all that different. And look at us now… Married for twenty years, two kids, and a couple of dogs to boot.”

“Hmm,” Enzo said, glancing at me again in that way that told me that he was a little hurt still. “We’ve got one kid on the way. Maybe it’s time to add a dog to the mix?”

With that, the conversation continued to flow again, and I finally felt like I could breathe. Realizing that I needed a moment to myself, though, I excused myself from the table, telling Enzo I would be back in a minute.

The restroom felt like a river of calm compared to the thinly veiled tension of dinner conversation with Mila. I bent over the sink, taking deep breaths, letting the coolness of the marble surface seep into my palms. I felt the early waves of morning sickness crashing in, tightening my stomach. I turned on the faucet and splashed cold water on my face.

“I don’t trust her,” my wolf spoke up, breaking the silence in my head. I looked up at my reflection in the mirror, my eyes momentarily taking on a golden sheen, a subtle manifestation of my wolf.

“You think I don’t know that?” I answered as I stared at my reflection. “She’s clearly fishing for something, probing for weaknesses. And she’s not doing a great job at hiding it.”

My wolf paced in my mind, just as restless and agitated as I was. “Should we tell Enzo? Maybe he doesn’t see it like we do.”

I shook my head, dabbing my face dry with a paper towel. “No, not now. I trust him, you know that. Besides, he’s so excited about this opportunity. I won’t throw a wrench into it because of my insecurities.”

“But she’s poking around, Nina. She could—”

“Could what? We’re fated mates, bound by something stronger than whatever petty game Mila’s trying to play. No one has ever come between that, and no one will. We know from experience, remember?”

My wolf seemed to settle at that, but not without a final growl. “Fine, but I’m keeping an eye on her. And so should you.”

“Always,” I promised. I turned off the tap, another wave of nausea washing over me as I did. “I just wish this morning sickness would give me a break.”

“Perhaps it’s your body’s way of telling you to be cautious. It’s not just us anymore.”

I placed a hand over my still-flat belly. “I know. And I’m not about to let anything harm our family. Not Edward, not the Crescents, and especially not some supermodel doctor from the city.”

Taking one last glance in the mirror, I re-adjusted my posture, squared my shoulders, and put on my most confident face. I was prepared now to go back out there and handle all of the bullets Mila threw my way in stride, because I had handled far worse.

I had fought in battles, allayed curses, taken a silver bullet to my leg. The scars were still there, and they would never fully fade. A few snide remarks from a jealous woman was nothing to me.

As I opened the door to step out, I couldn’t help but glance at the table through the small window that separated the restroom from the dining area. Enzo was in deep conversation with Tim, both men lost in the language of hockey.

And then there was Mila, seated exactly where I had left her, sipping her wine with an enigmatic smile. She turned her head at that moment, as if sensing my gaze, and our eyes locked.

She held my gaze for what felt like a fraction too long. A message without words, a challenge issued and received.

I didn’t need supernatural senses to know that she was going to be a complication, but as my eyes shifted to Enzo, I was reminded that we had already won the most crucial battle. We had found each other, against all odds, bound by something unbreakable.

I pushed the door open, returning to the dining area. Mila looked up, her smile as immaculate as it was insincere.

“Feeling better? she asked, her voice dripping with faux concern.

“Much better, thank you,” I responded, sliding back into my chair next to Enzo.

Enzo glanced up, and I softened a bit. There was that look in his eyes, the look that I had grown to love so much. I reached under the table for his hand and gave it a squeeze, reveling in how warm and calloused his palms were. As he continued his conversation with Tim, his thumb ran across my knuckles, soothing me.

But as the night wore on, I could sense something else in his eyes. Some hurdle that we would, no doubt, have to scale later.