Chapter 6

One Step At A Time. 

“We’lll be outside.” Mia and Ava said in a rush before leaving. 

Noah and I faced each other, with eyes gleaming with various inflections. I didn't want to believe that he of all people was willing to talk to me so calmly. I knew that he probably wanted to make things right which was a great idea and I respected him for it but at the same time, my heart kept on tilting towards disbelief. 

“You don't need to be afraid of me.” 

Fright was an understatement for exactly how I felt. 

I squared my shoulders, in a bid to be in control of my situation. 

“You don't need to also act strong. I know how hurt you have felt in the last few years when you thought you were abandoned. It is something to ponder on but I'm glad that you are not one of those girls who go about acting like the entire world is about to crash on them.” 

A little compliment which he wouldn't have given to me on a normal day. I sighed, “You know what? Why exactly did you come here again?” I asked, feeling a little uncomfortable by his quiet words. 

“I came here because of what has happened so far.” His eyes raked over my full form. “I came to comfort you. It's not easy being in such a position.”

I scoffed at his hilarious nature, “Oh, really? Is that so? What do you know about being in my position? I know that you are acting under the influence of the bond which I detest.” 

“My mother also betrayed the pack, I don't know how easy you think that is for us to get out from. It's not something that I'm proud of. If you know me you know that I am always one for integrity.” 

I gave an eye roll, “Yeah, right? The same way you treated me badly even if you came up with an excuse about why you had to do it. There were better ways you could have handled the situation so please do not come with that sob story and expect me to appreciate it.” 

He ran his hands through his hair in frustration, “there is absolutely nothing I want more than to be able to convince you that I had absolutely no bad intentions towards you. We were freaking playmates. Why did you think we suddenly changed?”  

I stuck my chin in the air, refusing to listen to him. If he wanted to talk about how we could take down his mother I will be down for it anytime any day, but trying to thaw my heart so that I could accommodate them was not going to happen. 

“Why don't we talk about something more interesting?” I chimed, “why don't we talk about how we can take down your mother? I want absolutely nothing else but that.”

At my request he's eyes gleaming with repressed anger, which was quite a surprise because he was the coolest kid out of the bunch. 

“Tell me what you want to know about her. I take it you have gone through the books and also shown them to your friends?” He nodded at the thick leathered book. 

“Yeah.” I said, wincing slightly because I kinda knew that I shouldn't have done that. 

“So what did you discover?” He reverted to business mode, shocking me quickly. 

“Yeah, I found out that there were a lot of discrepancies in the pack account and,...” I jumped on my bed, reaching for the book slightly.

“You're cute.” He breathed out, shaking his head slightly like he couldn't comprehend how cute I was. 

Of all the descriptions that he could ever make of me, cute was the last thing I expected. 

“Cute doesn't cut it.” I said, opening to the last page I had been reading before his arrival. 

I pointed at the red ink circling each money paid. “I realized that a few accounts had gone according to what it was intended for then at a point, there was a change which I can't quite fathom where that happened because it seemed like the page was torn out.” 

“Oh, right? I never knew that.” He responded while staring at me intently. “If the pages have been torn, how do we ascertain that we have the right information?” He inquired. 

I blinked under his intense gaze, it was almost as though he was seeing me for the first time which I knew wasn't true. 

“Can you reduce the way…”

His brows furrowed, “the way what?” 

“The way you look at me. Focus on what is more important.” I snapped, he didn't deserve any form of affection from me no matter how much he wanted to paint it. 

They had made my life miserable. What if I had committed suicide during that time? What would have become of me? 

“You are important to me.”

I scoffed again, tracing light circles around the suspected torn pages. “Oh, since when? Since you finally grew a conscience? Please.” 

“I don't know what I would ever say to make you realize how important you are in the grand scheme of things. We have not been able to function without you since we found out…”

“That was just the moon goddess playing tricks on us. I'm not obligated to accept you as mine. You promised that this was going to be with or without the bond so why are you reneging?” I snapped again

This couldn't have happened a few hours ago. 

He took steps toward me, but stopped just right when he was a few steps away. “You don't seem to understand this thing. It is hard for us to stay away. The lines would always get blurred no matter how you fight it. I'm going to advise you to let this play out easily.” He said, his scent wrapping me like a cocoon. 

“You can't tell me you don't feel it too.” His voice lowered a notch. 

I paused, watching him carefully, “What?” I replied breathlessly than I expected. 

I cleared my throat, watching him stare at me with even more intensity than I required. “What are you doing?!” My voice peaked as soon as his hands snaked out.

“I'm not going to touch you yet. When I do, I'll have you begging for it.” He winked. 

He freaking winked! 

“What the hell?” 

“One step at a time darling.” He winked again, and walked out leaving longing in his wake.