His Little Human Mate

Chapter 17

Noella

I stared at my father, my brain mulling over the words so many times that the letters no longer lined up.

"What?" I asked, my brows scrunching.

He chuckled. "Little Flower." Shaking his head, he continues, "You always did trust too easily, you know that? You would talk to anyone and everyone wherever we went, uncaring that they were strangers. You started conversations with whoever would listen." A light smile bloomed as he dawned a faraway look, but then his eyes were back on me, sharp and precise. "I suppose old habits really do die hard."

I rubbed my temple, irritated with him, frustrated with myself, angry at the situation, terrified at what my life had fallen apart to. Too many riddles, too many puzzle pieces belonging to too many different puzzles and too many shapes that didn't fit in their moulds. It was just too much of everything.

"Would you stop speaking in riddles?" I almost begged. "What are you saying?"

I knew what he was saying, but somehow I had convinced myself that maybe if I heard the words again, they would be different. Maybe if he uttered the letters in a different pattern, then I wouldn't have to believe that Nixx lied to me.

Quint coughed again from his spot on the floor, and my father threw a disdainful look down at him before turning back to me and saying, "Nolixx is a werewolf, just like me. He can shift, just like I can, and he can turn into a wolf, just as I do."

Right, so I had heard correctly.

"You're lying."

I meant for the words to sound confidant, strong-willed and sure, but they wilted, coming out in a whisper that broke in the air.

He smiled sadly at me, the first show of affection he had given since coming down here.

"For your sake, Noella, I wish I was," he said sympathetically.

Another thought occurred, words leaving my mouth before the thought even had time to process.

"You didn't tell her either," I muttered, staring up at him in shock. "You didn't tell mother what you were, and that's why she left, isn't it?"

His jaw worked, eyes fading to midnight before rushing back to brown.

"That is a very brave assumption," he said with a clenched jaw.

I stood, walking up to the bars and gripping them with every ounce of anger I could muster.

"It's not an assumption, it's a fact! You lied to her! Just like you lied to me! All you've done is-"

"I was only trying to protect her!" He exploded. "The Forbidden Forest is not made for the weak-minded. It was not created with human sensitivity in mind! It is dangerous, and I was only trying to keep her safe! Trying to keep you safe!"

I glared, my eyes so hard I was sure they could cut through glass.

"You were only protecting yourself! You fear rejection so much that you would rather watch the people around you fall into your traps of lies!"

His eyes turned black, this time staying that colour, and Quint muttered a soft swear from his spot on the floor.

"You are so selfish that you would rather make someone love a mirage than explain to them what lies behind the illusion!"

His nails grew, sharpening and shining with a knife-like pierce.

"Noella," Quint murmured. "I think you should stop."

"I can't believe how many times I ate the bullshit that came out of your mouth about business trips and work vacations! How many times mom ate it too before she got so fed up she left!"

"Noella," Quint snapped. "Stop it."

"Well guess what! I'm fed up too, and if I wasn't trapped behind these damn bars I would be walking out that door, getting as far away from you as I could! Just like her!"

A tornado of pitch black filled the space between us, and then it was no longer my father standing there, but a snarling black wolf.

I screamed, adrenaline rushing back up from the surface, barely gone from the last time.

"Shit," Quint cursed, standing up slowly.

The black wolf snapped its teeth, fangs dripping with saliva, starving for human flesh.

For me.

"You just had to provoke him, didn't you?" Quint muttered, shaking his head as he crept closer.

The wolf's mouth latched onto a bar, and I watched in horror as he ripped it from the wall in one swift motion.

I gulped audibly, my feet scrambling to carry my body as far back as I could get, as far away from the monster as possible.

He ripped another, then another, peeling away my protection until his body was prowling towards me, low growls permeating the air with warnings.

His body, now close enough to feel the rough fur of his coat, was massive. His head touched at least five feet above my own, and his knees were level with my stomach.

"Please," I whimpered. "Please don't eat me."

His head reached down, nudging my leg as wet, sticky spit dripped onto my boots.

His fangs grazed my clothes, and a squeak escaped my mouth before I slammed my hands up over it.

His jaw opened, a gut-wrenching snarl filling the silence before his head lowered to my neck, teeth glinting, ready to destroy.

I closed my eyes, resignation blooming in my chest as I waited for the sharp pain.

And waited.

And wait-

A giant thump filled the silence.

I snapped my eyes open, only to see Quint standing over an unconscious black wolf, a tranquillizer gun in his hand.

A massive exhale left my chest, air finally travelling through my lungs again as I asked, "Why would you do that?"

He sighed, rugged blond hair falling into his eyes before he brushed it back.

"I don't like owing favours," he said. "You saved my life, and I saved yours. We're even." He gestured at the torn cage. "I didn't do that part, but I will look the other way if you decide you wanna use the opportunity to escape. There's a door in the back that leads to a tunnel, it shoots out right into the middle of the forest. I don't know how long you'll survive out there, but it will be longer than if you stay in here."

He turned around, doing good on his word, but I didn't move, instead asking, "Why do you stay with him? Why not find a different pack?"

He laughed quietly, but it was sad.

"Once you're rogue, life is not a pick-and-choose kind of situation. Rogue packs aren't sympathetic, and they don't like newcomers, especially from other outside packs." He shrugged, adding, "Plus, Foxley isn't such a terrible ruler when he wants to be one. It's his wolf that has no control."

"Won't he kill you when he wakes up?"

Quint twirled the gun in his hand before saying, "He gave each of his closest in command one of these, knowing that when his wolf came out, unlike other werewolves, Foxley isn't aware nor in control of what he does in his altered form. Once I explain, I'm hoping his anger will abate to relief."

"And if it doesn't?" I asked in a whisper.

He smiled sadly at me. "You don't have to worry about that. Get out of here, Noella, and pray you never come back."

He walked out of the cell, waiting until I was all the way out before smiling one last time at me and walking up the stairs.

I cast a last glance at my once father, asleep in the pose of a bloodthirsty creature. Black as midnight and terrifying as death, but still as the walls that surrounded him.

He looked peaceful, and that was the image I chose to keep instead of his fangs as they lunged at my neck. I chose to let the sleeping wolf stay in my head as I walked through the basement to find the tunnel door, and then I walked towards my freedom.

A/N
Thank you so much for reading!💜