Proven Heart

Thirty-Two: Cloaking

Selena had never seen it rain feathers before.

Though they were soft and fluffy, they were the color of a black abyss.

Everywhere he stepped, Selena wobbled and followed him. He was still silent and terrifying but warm to the touch. He brought her into a washroom, securing the door and making sure it was locked, even going as far as to check the stalls.

“Nathaniel.” She said. “What was that back there?”

His response was a deep, rueful grumble.

“I let myself be consumed by anger.” He said.

The wolf cautiously took her broken hand, grimacing at the sight of her blood. He was looking back and forth at her and her hand, looking equally pained as she was.

Nathaniel brings her hand under a faucet and lets warm water run on it, all the while massaging it, meticulously inspecting each of her fingers from the base to the tip.

It was the calmest thing Selena had seen for so long. Not the ominous silence, but it was soft, kind, and full of love. Her mate gently inspected her hands, even the one that wasn’t injured.

His actions made her forget temporarily what he had done.

His brutality.

She drew her lip into her mouth, contemplating whether she should speak about it. After a moment of trying to arrive at the correct decision, she braced herself and finally spoke.

“My wolf, you hid that from me. Why?”

He looks at her, his stone-cold face making another appearance.

“Does it still hurt?”

Selena’s heart skipped a beat, horrified at what she had just witnessed. While he did look at her, Nathaniel avoided her eyes.

She gritted her teeth.

“Nathaniel…”

“Was it only Kayla that laid hands on you?” He asks.

Selena nodded her response. Finding her mate’s reluctance to speak about the situation was quite frustrating.

“Yes.” was her curt response. “My mate, speak to me.”

Nathaniel shook his head.

“What were the Albrichs doing there?”

She groaned.

“Why are we talking about the Albrichs and not what you did back there?”

The Stormwind rendered himself into a frozen slab of ice in an instant. He was unable to speak, causing disappointment to rumble through her veins and straight into her quaking heart. His obvious avoidance made her fume.

He was trained to be heartless and cruel, yes, but she didn’t know he would use it against her.

Selena wondered if he knew he was hurting her. After all, he was not trained to peer into the eyes of the wolves around him. But what if he did? His blatant effort to completely eighty-six the whole thing had made her believe that was the case.

“We’ll talk about this, moon. I promise.” He murmured coldly, still trying to not look into her eyes.

He was right.

Despite wanting answers and wanting them now, Selena could not get them now. If they stay hidden for much longer, the wolves downstairs would begin to wonder what happened and wander out to look for them.

So she relented, despite knowing how much this was going to hurt her.

But even after that, she poised herself, shaking the fear out of her bones, and looked at the mirror, staring into her reflection. Behind her was Nathaniel. She saw his abyssal gaze. Empty and drowning in shame.