Page 35

Nadia

Cole looks at me so seriously, his gorgeous blue eyes wide, his lips slightly parted.

I scowl and lean forward, smacking him on the shoulder.

“What?”

“You stop looking at me with those pity eyes, Cole Kincaid!”

“Well, it’s a sad story!”

“I know !” I growl, leaning forward to glare at him, leaning into my anger as I always do. “It sucks when someone you trust pushes you over and breaks your arm and calls you a crybaby and a sheep –“

“Oh my god, Nadia,” Cole growls, leaning forward to glare at me now – all traces of pity wiped away, which I much prefer.

“You’re seriously going to hold that against me?

The fact that I called you a sheep ? That’s not even like – a slur that wolves use against humans! That’s just Jude being an idiot!”

“It hurt my feelings!”

“We were eight !”

I scowl, crossing my arms and leaning back in my chair. He does the same, and silence passes between us like a living thing, angry and palpable.

“Look, I’m not just holding a stupid childhood grudge,” I say, doing my best to take deep breaths.

“That might have been the start of it – but humans hear this sort of shit that wolves say every day ! That we’re so much weaker, and that we’re prey, that we need to fear the other half of the population because they’re big, strong, scary wolves, and they could kill us with hardly any effort!

And the shit male wolves say about female humans.

..” I shake my head, angry again, letting him use his imagination.

Cole exhales, long and slow, his shoulders sinking. “So, what that nanny said? You hear that sort of thing a lot?”

“ All the time, Cole,” I say, leaning forward to him. “And maybe you just don’t hear it because you hang out exclusively with wolves!”

He clenches his jaw but lets me continue.

“And this is part of the problem! You think that everything is fine between humans and wolves because you’re in the position of power , Cole – you’ve got all the money, all the access, all the political and physical power. You have no idea what it’s like on our side.”

“Well, you can tell me,” he says, the words slipping from between his clenched teeth. “I’ve always made it clear to you that I want to talk to you – that I’m willing to listen!”

I press my hand to my chest. “That’s true,” I say, working very hard to stay calm and fair.

“But Cole, it’s not my job to educate you – you have the resources.

You have the press and the internet – I am not the only one making these claims!

Is it possible, at all, that people have been saying these things, and you just aren’t hearing it? Because it may not feel real to you?”

He clenches his jaw, stubborn and not liking my accusation.

“Think about it,” I say, moving to the edge of my chair to lean even closer, finally feeling like I’m getting through to him on my terms. “That was a horrible day for me, Cole – painful physically as well as emotionally. And you didn’t even know that I broke my arm.

I think it is possible that…you just haven’t noticed what it’s like being a human in this world. Or tried to look.”

He scowls and looks away. I can almost feel him giving in.

I slide back on my chair.

“I’m sorry,” he murmurs, uncomfortable. “I…didn’t think of it that way.”

“Okay,” I whisper, nodding, realizing that we’ve taken a step and that maybe that’s enough for now.

“But I didn’t shove you,” he snaps, turning his gaze back to me.

I raise an eyebrow, not believing it.

“It was Jude !”

“Oh, whatever -”

“It was! Nadia, I –“ To my surprise Cole laughs, low and frustrated, and slips suddenly forward off his chair.

He goes to one knee on the ground before me, his hands wrapping around my elbows.

I gape, and he gives me a tiny shake that somehow brings a smile to my lips.

“I swear Nadia – I remember it! Jude – that jackass – he played too rough, and he clipped you as he ran by, and you went down! I was so mad at him!”

I roll my eyes to the ceiling, but mostly for the chance to turn my face away from him and hide my growing smile.

“Please,” Cole whispers. I take a deep breath and look at him again – at this impossibly handsome Prince, kneeling before me.

Something about that is…quite nice, isn’t it?

“I am begging you to believe me or forgive me, Nadi. Either one. If you want to believe it was me, that’s fine - at least until I can strangle a confession out of Jude.

I’m sorry. But sixteen years is enough for this grudge. Please! ”

I narrow my eyes even though my heart has already agreed. I mean, I’m enjoying this whole groveling thing, and I don’t think I’m going to get more of it anytime soon. Nice guy that he is, Cole Kincaid has his pride.

“And I hear you on the rest,” Cole says, pressing a hand to his chest. “I’ll work on it, and I’ll listen and do my own research. But if we can find some common ground –“

“Oh fine !” I say on a hefty sigh, tossing my head back and giving in, unable to bear it anymore. “Fine, Cole, I’ll let it go –“

But I inhale a sharp gasp of air as suddenly gravity shifts beneath me.

A victorious snarl sounds in my ear as I find myself suddenly snatched off my chair and in his arms, Cole hugging me close like he’s so happy he can’t help it.

I burst out laughing, leaning against him for a second before starting to smack at him.

“Let me go, you big pig!”

“No!”

I laugh harder, smacking at him uselessly with my flat palm. “You can’t just snatch me up! My waffles are getting cold –“

“Screw your waffles –“

And then we’re both laughing so hard we can’t speak.

Cole falls back on his ass and takes me with him, holding me tightly but carefully against his chest. My laughter fades and I push myself slightly away so that I can see into his face.

Cole loosens his arms, letting me go, beaming at me, so happy it’s infectious.

“You won’t call me a sheep again?”

“I promise,” he whispers, bringing his face closer. “Besides, you’re more of a little lamb –“

I growl and smack him, but Cole laughs and absorbs it. We both know he’s kidding.

“New start?” Cole murmurs, more serious now and so full of hope that my stomach flips over.

“No,” I say, turning my head consideringly. “Not a new start – I’m not going to forget anything. I just…we’ll move on from it. Okay? I won’t hold it against you anymore.”

He nods, agreeing to it as I get to my feet and straighten my chair, a little blush coming to my cheeks as I realize that more people have filtered into the mess tent now. Not a lot – and no one’s looking at us but…

Yeah. I don’t know. My blush grows, and I take my seat, concentrating on my waffles, which are indeed cooler but still good. I chew happily for a few moments –

Until something horrible comes around and ruins everything.

“Hey Cole,” a too-cute voice says, a chair scraping across the ground.

I whip my head up to see Rose settling into it.

“Nope!” I say, pointing a finger right at her and then away – elsewhere – anywhere. “Out of here. Right now.”

She goes still and stares at me for a second before she huffs a laugh and turns back to Cole, utterly ignoring me.

“It’s not a good time, Rose,” Cole murmurs, glancing anxiously between us.

“Well, sorry ,” she says, her cutesy mood dropping, immediately replaced with frustration. “I need somewhere to eat, and this seat is free.”

“There are sixty empty seats, Rose!” I cry, waving around at the abundance, even as more people start to enter the tent.

“Besides,” Rose says, still keeping her eyes on Cole. “We have business. Real business – military stuff. I talked to your father.”

Cole sighs and looks between us again. I just snarl like an angry, confused little badger – or meerkat – or something equally unintimidating – and sit back in my chair, shoving what’s left of the waffles in my mouth, knowing I have no real way to make Rose leave.

“Elegant,” Rose murmurs, glancing at me and my too-full mouth, her lip curling in disgust.

I just start to chew harder, wishing she was dead.

“As I was saying, I just got off the phone,” Rose says, picking a tiny orange up off of her very scanty tray and starting to peel it with her long, polished nails.

I scowl as I swallow, wishing she weren’t so effortlessly chic in the morning.

“He wants us to go back to the Children of Solace and document more of what Slaken left in that office, as well as the basement.”

Cole raises an eyebrow, not countering her but obviously unhappy about that. “All right,” he says. “I’ll see when I can get someone to take you.”

“Tonight,” she says, smooth and prim, looking demurely down at her snack. “He says it’s a top priority.”

“Fine,” Cole says, a bit of a growl in the word this time. “I’ll check the list and see who is doubled up on guard shift tonight –“

“You are,” she coos, lifting her gorgeous blue eyes to his. “I checked. And she is busy.” Rose nods towards me. “So, it will be just you and me – like it was supposed to be.”