Fated Connection (Book 1)

Chapter 31

NOVA

Leaving Nevada's room, it took everything I had not to shove my fist into August's face as I walked by. Mate or not, he was still a man that had treated her like shit for no reason which pissed me off. I knew I needed to let her handle the situation herself, seeing as how it was her life it affected most, but I really just wanted to beat the shit out of the guy and be done with it. This wasn't something I could save her from, no matter what I did it was out of my hands.

I started towards the kitchen but when I caught sight of Dominic leaning against the counter, I stopped in my tracks. We hadn't really spoken much since everything had happened. It seemed as if we had come to some sort of silent truce somehow, for the time being anyway. Snarky comments and indirect insults had been thrown at each other, which had also included August because I simply didn't like the guy. Ashira had promptly scolded us like children on multiple occasions for our bickering, at one point she had even made us go outside.

As I looked at Dominic, with his arms crossed and his head turned slightly to the side as he listened to Alana talk, I couldn't help but wonder what my life would have been like if he had come around. It was an image I had trouble forming, one that I wasn't even sure if I wanted to. I couldn't see any resemblance between the two of us, not at first glance, and I didn't actually know him to determine farther than appearance. 

Just as I was about to turn around, Dominic's eyes locked with mine and I couldn't bring myself to move.

"Hey, so-, uh, sorry, Nova," he began clumsily looking suddenly unsure of himself, "do you like chili?"

The randomness of the question threw me slightly off guard. "Uh, yeah, sure."

"Alright, good… that's good," Dominic replied awkwardly. 

"Uh, yeah." I had no idea what to say after that, the air quickly growing tense and more uncomfortable by the second. Thankfully Alana spoke up, breaking the silence.

"Food will be done in a little while if you'll be hungry," she said with a genuine smile on her face. "Why don't you see if Hatter wants to join us?"

Dominic scowled at his wife for some reason but Alana merely smiled innocently in response. Deciding not to comment, I gave them a curt nod and made my way outside. I didn't see Hatter anywhere in sight so I ventured further towards the backyard. Sudden nervous energy left me feeling jittery, my stomach twisting into knots just thinking about the encounter I was about to have.

I hadn't been alone with him since that last night at August's house and I didn't have the slightest clue as to how to be around him now. It was still hard to accept the fact that I had lost control to the point of nearly killing him, and then to have him kiss me… the kiss that I couldn't stop thinking about no matter how hard I tried. We needed to talk about it, I knew that much, but it felt so much more complicated now.

It wasn't just that I didn't like the guy, his cocky smirk and his easy going personality just rubbed me the wrong way for some reason. I didn't hate him, not by any stretch of the imagination, that much was obvious to me at least. There was so much I didn't know or understand about him and the things that Michael had said that night made that fact even more obvious.

Hatter had never mentioned having a mate before, or told the story of how he had been turned. Was that the reason why? 

I stopped at the end of the path that led to the lake, the gentle ripples of the water against the shore, and the singing of birds somewhere nearby, were the only things I could hear in the silent calm that surrounded me. Taking a moment to let my eyes travel over the surrounding area, I finally caught sight of Hatter sitting at the edge of the pier. He was as still as a statue, his shoulders slumped as he looked out across the lake.