Chapter 5

Nixon Edington

“I’m not great at cooking,” I told Miranda. She was sitting down on a stool- still wearing my clothes- just staring at me.

I had asked what she wanted to eat, but I couldn’t really make anything- even if it was something as simple as scrambled eggs.

Being prince and living in the castle- there was never a reason for me to visit the kitchen.

“It’s cool, I’ll make it,” she said, getting up and walking toward me.

The teasing smile on her face showed the amusement she felt at my lack of cooking skills.

“Are you going to let me go today?” Miranda asked.

We were currently sitting in the dining room, eating.

“I’m doing this for your safety,” I replied, knowing fully well she wouldn’t understand what I meant.

“I’ve been pretty safe before. Actually, I think I feel in danger right now. You know, since I’m kidnapped and all,” she sarcastically remarked.

“Don’t tell me you felt safe with your no good Rogue father?” My tone was hostile, and I hated that. It wasn’t my intention to speak to my mate in that manner.

“My dad hadn’t done anything bad. Even if he had, at least he doesn’t go around kidnapping people,” she snapped, getting up from the table.

Miranda stomped out of the dining room, looking furious. It took me a moment to realize she was gone.

I ran after her to find she was once again trying to escape.

“I thought you understood I’m not letting you go,” I said, catching her hand that was about to turn the knob of the front door.

She didn’t look surprised that I caught her before leaving, but disappointment was clear in her face.

I sighed, trying to move her to stand in front of me.

“I’m not doing this on purpose Miranda. I wish you understood that,” I told her, wrapping one of my arms around her waist.

She felt so right in my arms. I couldn’t help the thoughts crossing my mind by having her pressed so close to me.

“Who are you?” She asked me, her beautiful green eyes staring at me with a curiosity in them that made me change my mind.

I had already made the mistake of calling her my mate, but she wasn’t ready to know about our world yet.

“If you want to go, you can. I won’t stop you,” I said to her, regretting my words as I spoke them.

A strange pain started to form in my chest. I couldn’t really describe it. Miranda must’ve noticed it because soon after she was looking at me with a worried expression.

“I’m fine,” I told her, putting a hand on my chest, willing the pain to go away.

“I’ll drop you off wherever it is that you’re going,” I offered, not really thinking of giving her another option.

She didn’t seem fazed by my words at first.

“Miranda, I’m letting you go. Given, you were not kidnapped,” I said to her.

She finally seemed to snap out of her daze, because she started grinning at me.

“Really? You’re not joking or anything? Or saying that you’ll let me go and then killing me?” She asked, her tone playful, but I knew she wanted me to assure her that I was really letting her go- no strings attached.

“Yes, you are free to go. But, I’m dropping you off at your home.” It was a big risk to take her home, but it was the only thing I could do. There was a chance that her home was Craven’s house as well. I just couldn’t bring myself to let her go and not know where she was at all times.

It was probably safer for her to go home either way. I didn’t want anyone from the kingdom finding out that I had found my mate- especially if she was a Rogue. I was going to keep that a secret until I found out how to deal with it.

“You giving me a ride there beats having to walk all the way back,” she said, shrugging her shoulders and turning to run upstairs.

“You don’t live with your father?” I asked, looking at the apartment complex I was parked in.

It looked fairly luxurious, but I had been expecting her to lead me toward the forest area- which was about an hour from where we were.

“No, I moved out because I’m going to school this fall,” she said.

I hadn’t thought to question her age before. It was until now that I noticed how young she looked.

“How old are you?” I asked her, hoping she was old enough for me to take to the Island without feeling guilty.

“I’m 18,” she answered. I smiled, thinking that if she was allowed to live alone, she must’ve been old enough.

It still surprised me that Craven let her live away from him. In a way, it didn’t sound safe for Miranda to be all alone.

“Well, I guess this is it,” she said, looking excited. I didn’t say anything, only nodded at her.

“Thanks for letting me go, and not killing me,” she added the last part, opening the passenger door.

“I would never hurt you,” I replied to her comment, with a frown on my face. I knew she was joking, but it bothered my Wolf that our mate thought we could hurt her. If Miranda knew how much control she had over me, I’m not sure what she’d do about it.

She was already climbing out when I got out of the truck and rushed toward her side.

I moved faster than a human was capable of, but I didn’t care to hide what I was.

I was standing in front of her by the time she was closing the door. Maybe it was wrong, but I held her in my arms, pressing her delicate frame to my chest.

I inhaled as most of her scent as I could- nuzzling my nose on her neck. My Wolf was reveling at how amazing it was to have Miranda with us.

“Here,” I told her, handing her my phone.

“What do I do with this?”

“Keep it. If you need me, call this number. I’ll text you my number as soon as I get a new phone,” I explained.

It was the temporary cell phone I had bought for our stay here. Knowing where she lived wasn’t enough. I wanted to have her within reach at all times.

She could easily dispose of the phone right after I was out of sight, but I could only hope that she wanted to speak to me too.

I crashed my lips with hers, not asked her for permission.

I was playing with her lips, trying to get them to move with mine. They felt so soft, it was almost a caress to be kissing them.

At first, she stood motionless.

Little by little, she responded to me. I had my arms tightly around her waist, wanting to press her as close to me as I could.

The electricity running through us satisfied me like nothing had before.

I wanted to stay standing in the parking lot, with Miranda’s lips on mine, and with her in my arms- but I had to pull away.

I pressed my forehead on hers, calming down my breathing.

“Do you feel it too?” She asked in a whisper, her voice almost hypnotizing me and begging me to take her back with me and not let her go.

She was talking about how she was feeling- what her Wolf was probably trying to tell her.

I didn’t answer her question, only placed my hands on the side of her face.

“I will call you, and I expect you to answer,” I told her, and kissed her lips one last time.

Miranda looked completely stunned. She didn’t reply anything back.

When I finally got in the truck, I didn’t waste a second to take off. I didn’t’ really know where I got the strength to pull away from her.

I should’ve claimed her last night. Everyone would know that Miranda was taken- that she belonged to me.

But, I had a job to do. I needed to capture Craven and Zander. Then, Miranda and I would be free to live our lives happily, and rule the kingdom.

At the moment, I needed to release myself, but I would have to take care of that on my own. The idea of being with any other girl repulsed me to no end.

Miranda’s tempting figure didn’t leave my mind. Since I couldn’t have her yet, I would have to make due.

Miranda Bonham

I stood in the same place where Nixon left me as he drove away.

I had no clue what had just happened, but it was amazing. I didn’t know why I let him touch me, or kiss me- but my lips still felt the warm feeling on them.

My body felt the heat from when he was holding me. All my thoughts were jumbled up, and I shook my head- hoping to clear up my mind.

My Wolf was begging to be let out, but I didn’t give in to her. She only wanted to chase after Nixon and beg him to mate with us.

The thought excited me as well, and that in itself was confusing.

I thought about getting rid of his phone, but I couldn’t bring myself to destroy it.

I held it close to my chest and even went as far as placing a soft kiss over it- knowing it belonged to him.

It wasn’t like he had really hurt me, and he did let me go. The connection my Wolf and I felt with him was impossible to deny.

I walked into my apartment to find the lock broken. My instincts kicked in and I prepared myself to attack the intruder.

I tried scoping out the scent in the room and caught an all too familiar smell.

“You didn’t have to break my door!” I yelled out.

I walked into the living room of my apartment, to find my brother sitting on the couch, looking not too happy.

“I came to look for you late last night. You didn’t answer the door so I waited for you to get home. Surprisingly, you never did. Now, you appear wearing a man’s t-shirt, late in the morning- the next day,” Preston said, getting up from the couch and stalking toward me.

I didn’t move as he approached me angrily.

“Is that why you wanted to leave home so badly? To get a chance at seeing what the world has to offer, while staying out with God knows who?” Preston asked, sounding hurt.

“I’m sorry,” I said, looking at the ground.

I didn’t think he would come and check on me.

“Andy,” he said, sighing. “I’m not trying to scare you. You freaked me out when you didn’t come back. I had some men looking out for you but no one was finding you anywhere.”

“Does dad know?” I asked, panicking.

“No, I was going to call him if you didn’t appear in a few hours,” he replied.

I let out a sigh of relief, and settled the shoulder of a couch.

“Where were you? You left your phone here, so calling you was pointless. And you were completely blocking me out of your mind,” he said.

I hadn’t even thought about calling anybody to help me through the mind link. I had unconsciously blocked Preston out, and probably everyone else as well.

“I was at the University library. When they closed up at 2:00, I left to the café where I usually hang out. I was there till a few hours ago. Some guy spilt coffee over me so one of the workers let me burrow his shirt,” I said, completely lying on all counts.

Preston seemed to think about it for a minute, before finally getting a relaxed expression.

“That is so you Andy. But now that you’re here, alone, you have to carry your phone around at all times. These city people- they’re different from us,” he said, flicking my nose and half-hugging me.

“Hey, I’m a ninja. You know I can take on human boys,” I said, smirking at him.

“Yeah well, now there’s more out there to watch ourselves from,” Preston said, as we both sat on the couch next to each other.

“What are you talking about?”

“Look, dad hasn’t told anyone in the pack, but me and a few other guys. He doesn’t want to worry the people,” Preston said.

“What is it?”

“There’s a Wolf who’s from the city who went out toward pack territory. He’s the son of one of dad’s friends.”

“So?” I asked, not seeing the problem with that.

“His name is Zander,” Preston continued.

My eyes widened in surprise at recognizing who he was.

“Dad knows Zander?” I asked Preston.

“Do YOU know Zander?” Preston asked me, cocking an eyebrow.

“I met him yesterday at the café,” I replied.

“Well Zander and dad are talking about possibly joining packs. It isn’t like many Wolves exist either way. But he and dad want to bring the few that do, together. His pack is small- only about thirty Wolves, all from the city, or farther away. With Zander joining our pack, our numbers will bump up to a hundred and forty-five Wolves,” Preston said. It did make sense, but I wasn’t sure if having a hundred and forty-five wolves in one area was a good idea.

I didn’t know about Zander, but my dad was a great leader. He wouldn’t combine the packs if he didn’t think it was for the best.

There weren’t really many Wolves, so maybe having us all together was a good idea.

I thought about Nixon and the guys with him. Where had they come from? Were they part of Zander and his pack? I needed to ask him that the next time I talked to him.

“That’s not all,” Preston said, his expression turning solemn.

“The next part sounds like bad news,” I told him, not really interested in knowing.

“Dad and Zander had a closed door meeting last night. Since I’m next in line for Alpha, I was allowed to attend.”

“What did they say?”

“Zander heard a group of Wolves are coming after us. More specifically, they want to kill dad, Zander, and a few more,” Preston said, sounding bothered.

“What? Why?” I asked, thinking it was stupid that someone wanted to kill them. My dad hadn’t done anything.

“I don’t know Andy. But mom and dad were talking last night. They want to bring you home.”

“What? No way! I’m not going back. I just left home. Besides, I’m not involved in any of this,” I said, getting up from the couch and crossing my arms over my chest.

“Look, I know you don’t want this. But these people mean business. Zander said we have to be ready for anything.”

“Zander this, Zander that,” I said, getting mad at all the ideas he was giving to my family.

I took a seat back in the couch, resting my head on it, and letting out a loud sigh.

“Why does dad always do things to screw with us?” I asked, feeling annoyed.

“C’mon Andy, he doesn’t do it on purpose,” Preston said, putting his arm around my shoulders and letting me rest on him.

“I know, but it still sucks,” I said, blowing a raspberry in the air.

Preston let out a chuckle and squeezed my shoulder in an area he knew would make me laugh.

“You’re such a little girl,” he commented.

“I’m 18, loser. What do you expect?” I asked, shuffling around to be able to slap his head.

“Well, I am older than you. It’s noticeable how more mature I am,” Preston replied, looking unaffected by my slap, and trying to act all high and mighty.

I laughed at him, shrugging his arm off my shoulder. I rested my back on the shoulder of the couch and propped up my legs- putting them over Preston’s lap.

“Oh, shut up. You’re only two minutes older than me,” I said, fake scowling him.

“See? Two minutes make a whole lotta difference,” Preston remarked, shaking his head at me.

“Whatever,” I told him, kicking high in his lap and making him groan.

“Damn Andy, any harder and you are left without nieces and nephews,” he said, his face looking slightly flustered.

“Ah Preston, don’t be such a little girl,” I said, using his own words against him.

I spent the rest of the day with Preston. I thought he might leave back home, but he seemed hesitant to go. I knew it was all because he didn’t want to leave me alone, and I appreciated his efforts.

After fruitless attempts at convincing him I was fine, I went to go shower- trying to clear my mind off.

I heard a phone go off somewhere in the house, but I assumed it had been Preston’s, since mine didn’t have such a boring ringtone.

When I came out of the restroom, my brother was waiting right next to the door, holding the phone that Nixon had given me in his hand.

“Would you like to explain the call I just received by a pissed of guy asking why a “man” was answering your phone?” My brother said, clenching his jaw as his eyes shifted to a dangerously dark color.

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*Andy is Miranda's nickname.