Crowned Wolf (Original)(Completed)

Thirty-One

"He's such a jerk." Audrey comments, letting out a loud sigh. Nathan tightens his hold on her, engulfing her in his warmth and she relaxes against him. "What happened to the pack that was attacking?"

Nathan tenses as Luke's eyes lock on his but he quickly manages to come up with an explanation without explaining the gruesome details. "They were taken care of. It was a short little spat with a few surrenders. Nothing compared to what's going to hit us soon, I'm sure."

Nathan can feel Audrey's suspicion growing. She knows Luke too well and can see that he's holding back some things. Nathan doesn't mind sharing everything with her but at this time, she has enough stress and he remembers she wasn't that great at war in the first place. Part of him fears of disappointing her if she finds out he killed Alpha Tate and most of the Tate pack was taken out by Melissa's pack with a little help from his own. The other half has faith that she'd understand. They grew up around warfare and it won't go away so easily.

Audrey glances at him as he leans forward to steal a kiss. She frowns and he can tell she knows that he's trying to distract her but he doesn't give up. His fingers falls under her shirt, touching her skin at the hip and he feels goose bumps rise on her arms. Smirking, he steals another kiss and she lets it go, leaning back into him and looking back at Luke.

"Then they were after us?" She asks.

"Not anymore." Luke shrugs. "Simon should be around here somewhere. He deliberately sent them towards us and I'm going to kick his ass for it."

"Don't worry about it." Audrey shrugs. "Most likely, he would've taken care of it himself but he felt too lazy and wanted to leave the hard work up to others."

Nathan frowns. "You think he could've taken on the entire pack by himself?"

She stares at him for a moment. her brain running with her own thoughts and then smiles. "Simon's pretty relentless. He's found himself in that situations lots of times."

"I don't like how you know that." Luke mutters and Nathan agrees. He moves his arms to hold her more securely, feeling his protective instincts rising and he rests his head on her shoulder, whispering against her ear.

"Please tell me that he did not put you in that situation."

"He didn't put me anywhere. He just showed up and defended me, is all. Ralph knows about it. That's the only reason he hasn't destroyed Simon. You know he wouldn't mind putting me in a few days shock worth if it got rid of someone he finds annoying. He just goes around pretending I'm the reason and Simon plays along for the sake of things." She argues, shivering from how close Nathan is. He enjoys making her feel like this. But right now, he's pissed that she was in a danger position before.

"Just how many times have you been in danger, Audrey?"

"Counting the time when you almost killed me or since then?" She asks. Nathan feels a sharp pain stab him and his inner beast whimpers at the back of his mind. Looking at her, he finds that she isn't angry but annoyed and he finds some comfort in that.

He doesn't regret his actions then. The idea of killing her makes him suicidal but back then, he was doing the right thing for his pack, regardless if she was his mate or not. Back then, he didn't care about finding his mate. He was focused solely on the war and expanding his territory for the pack's sake and she was just a prisoner who ended up escaping. He doesn't regret trying to stop her even if it meant he was going to hurt her. He's just glad it didn't happen and that fate got in the way of it. He's not happy about the scars she received or the wounds she got from that night, regardless if he delivered them personally or not. If he could go back knowing who she was, he wouldn't have gone through with it but then Audrey wouldn't be who she is today and he likes her spitfire attitude with him.