Predator | 37

The rest of the day was uneventful, to say the least.

Nikolaj had spend the last few days at home and not once did he even leave the cottage for a second. He had practically been tied to his home the whole time, which surely must have been tiring and boring.

So it wasn't a surprise when he had asked April to go out for a walk and enjoy the fresh air. She agreed with him that he needed a change of environment.

They walked aimlessly through the area. April was freezing, despite the scarf she had wrapped around her neck. Nikolaj however seemed to enjoy the weather. He took a deep breath when he excited his cottage. Wild wind ruffled his hair into all directions.

They walked down the walkway near his cottage. Bare trees were on the right sigh and allowed soft sunlights falling over them, not not enough to warm both of them. Their feet scrunched over the leaves as they walked.

April pushed her hands into the pockets of her jacket, trying to avoid the cold wind biting her skin. Their walk was first silent and they just enjoyed each others company.

April then told him about the day when Lorena had knocked on her door and went with her to the neighboring town, looking for some new clothes. She told him how surprised she actually was to see her in front of her door.

Nikolaj was quite surprised as well when he heard her telling that she had spent the evening with Lorena. He told her that Lorena didn't like to have many friends. She always carefully chose who she wants to let in into her small circle of friends.

"She wanted to get to know me," April answered when he told her that. She figured that Lorena wanted to get to know her because she was involved with Nikolaj. Or she told her the truth and really wanted to get to know her. "What about you? Are you two friends?"

"I would like to think so, yes."

April smiles. She was sure they were, seeing as Lorena's voice was never laced in disdain whenever she talked about him. It seemed that she quite liked him. At least thats what she thought after her conversation with Lorena.

"I told her about-" April stopped mid-sentence. What was she supposed to say? She told Lorena that they were dating? Because that wasn't entirely true. Or should she bluntly say that Lorena knows they were secretly fucking? Neither of those two sounded right in her head. "I told her about you and me," she finally decided to say.

It didn't really sound good either, but better than the two other options. It was hard to describe their relationship. If they were in one, that is.

Nik stared at her oddly. He wanted to say something, but was hesitant about it. Instead he nodded his head and asked, "She was okay with that?"

"She was," April breathed. "She was cool about that. She also told me about her ex-boyfriend. He was a human. I think that is why she's okay with it," she explained and then cursed silently under her breath.

She wasn't supposed to say that. Lorena told her that only her brother knew about her past relationship and this only by accident. It wasn't her story to tell.

"I know," Nik admitted.

That surprised April and her mouth hung wide open. "You know?" She asked incredulously. "I though only Eric knew. At least that's what she told me."

A small but sly smile played on his lips. "That is what she thinks," he said. "She liked to keep it a secret back then, and I respected that. I never talked with her about it."

"Oh," she answers silently. "How did you find out?" She asked curiously.

"I saw them," he replied, casting her a sidelong glance. "They were so in love that they forgot to be secretive in public."

April gulped past the lump in her throat. It wasn't like she was in love with Nik, or he in love with her, but something about his words made her uneasy.

Silence passed over them and they continued to walk silently. When a breeze of cold air hit April in the face like a harsh slap.

"Let's head back," he decided when he noticed her shivering beside him. "You're freezing."

April shook her head. "It's okay. I'm fine," she lied.

He raised his eyebrows. "You didn't accept this answer when I had said the same words to you," he spoke accusingly and pulled her closer to him. "Let's go," he urged and smiled when she rolled her eyes.

"Okay, fine," she replied. It was indeed cold. She could never stand the winter, she would always freeze whether she had warm clothes on or not. That barely made any difference. "Let's eat something when we're back. I'm kind of hungry."

"Okay," he answered and then looked lost in his own thoughts. "I haven't had homemade food in a long time," he admitted, his eyes looking to nowhere in particular.

April eyed him, biting the inside of her cheeks. "Well, you have me now. I don't have the best cooking skills, but at least you won't get sick from it," she joked and tried to lighten the mood.

There was no doubt that he was upset. He possibly remembered something from his past. Something, he obviously didn't want to share with her. At least not yet.

Nik's lips stretched into a handsome smile. "That is not true," he disagreed. "You cooking is wonderful. I enjoyed the soup."

April made a grimace. "You don't really mean that, do you?" She asked. "I would have understood it if you liked the rice- but the soup?"

"I like soup," was his answer.

She scrunched her nose. She didn't.

As they walked back to the cottage, April noticed a head of long, blonde hair near the window inside the cottage.

Nikolaj seemed to have noticed it as well. He watched his place with a look she couldn't quite decipher. Surprise, maybe, she thought.

"Do you have a visitor?"

Nikolaj shook his head. "It's Natalya."

April had to think a few seconds before she knew who he was speaking of. It was the blonde woman she had seen the first time at Viktor's mansion back then when he had invited her to his place.

The second time was when she was at Nikolaj's cottage. She had a disagreement with Viktor and Nik was there to comfort her, if she recalled right.

April bit her lip anxiously. She didn't know what to think that she was there inside the cottage, waiting for Nik. Somehow, she got the feeling that Natalya wasn't exactly fond of her, though she could not understand why.

She didn't do anything that could have made her dislike her. April saw it in her expression the last time, when Natalya watched her with judgmental eyes.

The first time she saw her, however, she was the exact opposite. Back at Viktor's mansion, she appeared weak and scared. But at Nikolaj's cottage the last time she looked more confident, even though she had been crying back then.

She was scared of Viktor, that much April figured. She had to admit, that he kind of frightened her too. Not only because he wasn't human - Nik wasn't either - but because there was something odd about him.

Something, that made violent shivers run down her spine.

A feeling she disliked.

She had a bad feeling about him even the very first time when she had met him the first time, back at the police station when she was looking for her brother.

Back then, when she thought he was human and not a Lycan. When she didn't even know what a Lycan is.

And it didn't surprise her that she wasn't the only one feeling this way. Even Natalya - who was a Lycan herself - was afraid of him.

And Nick seemed to be cautious around him as well, even thought he did not admit it directly, it was quite obvious.

Nikolaj pushed the door open and they stepped inside. April breathed heavily. Her eyes fell on Natalya, who had made herself comfortable on the couch. She had her legs pulled against her chest.

Her arms were wrapped around her legs, her chin resting on her knees. She looked like a little girl in this position, but when her eyes fell on April, she suddenly didn't look anything like a little, helpless girl.

This could only be interesting.

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I hope this chapter isn't too bad! I wrote it all today and I almost wanted to give up and update it tomorrow. It is really late right now and I was so tired while writing, so I hope this chapter was okay. Thank you for reading!