Chapter 35

Your presence here is a shock to him

***********Jason POV*********

Another cancel call. That jerk is really serious about me leaving. My ticket was sent to my phone this morning, and now, he's ignoring my call.

For too long he has been treating me like his baby brother, even though he's just a couple of months older than me. Maybe it's time to remind him that we are both grown men, and I am not obeying him anymore.

Leaving my couch, I headed into the bathroom, and when I returned to my room, a knock on my suite door made me abandon my closet.

"Who is it?" I called out.

Within a split second a soft, familiar voice echoed from the other end of the door, "Harley,"

Immediately, I unlocked the door, gazing down at her nervous expression as she whispered, "I should come back later,"

As she was about to turn around, I grabbed her hand, and I might have yanked her too hard because she banged against my chest.

When I felt her palm on my skin, I looked down at her, staring wide-eyed at me, and the sound of her heartbeat was becoming really violent.

"I am sorry. Didn't mean to pull that hard." I said, waiting for her to withdraw from my chest.

"I" Harley whispered, her fingers slightly moving against my skin. "It's really solid."

Suddenly she violently shook her head and jumped back, darting her gaze about without focusing on me.

"Is there a reason you came?" I mumbled, trying to shallow this awkwardness with something else.

"Right!" Harley let out a bit too loud. "Mmmh, I wanted to check up on you. I guess you have heard what happened last night."

"Actually, no. What happened?"

"Well, Blake didn't end up with Killian."

"What?!"

Looking a bit relaxed now, Harley fixed her eyes on me and said firmly, "Apparently, Killian was Luna's mate, and Blake was forced by Loki to end up with this guy named, 'Nero."

"That bastard!" I blurted out before getting a hold of my tongue.

"You know him?!"

"Kind of. He's Blake's teacher."

"Oh,"

Silence settled between us. Then I gave her a soft smile and mumbled, "Thank you, Harley. I think I should change out of this towel."

As I was about to head back inside, her voice stopped me, "You are not going to do something stupid, right like, go after him for her?"

"Huh?" I mumbled in confusion.

"I know the relationship between you and Blake, but Loki was the one who said she should be with Nero. Maybe you should not intervene because our leader can get really aggressive if someone challenges him."

"Well"

"What am I saying!... If you love her then fight for her. Just don't get killed doing it."

Chuckling slightly, I watched the look of nervousness on her face and then calmly uttered, "I am not going to fight for Blake."

"Huh?" Harley mumbled, raising her lashes high as she gazed at me. "Why?"

"Well, this may sound confusing, but it's because I love her."

"Oh,"

"I should get going."

"Riright Ok..ay."

When I got back into my room, I heard over to my closet, took out something comfy, and got dressed.

Then I collected my phone from the bed and headed out of my suite. When I got to the hotel lobby and stared at the front desk, Harley wasn't there.

A part of me felt hesitant to leave without knowing her whereabouts, so I walked over to the counter and asked Tasha, "Where is Harley?"

"Oh, umm she went to use the bathroom," Tasha mumbled, looking about with a confused expression on her face. "Now that you ask, she has stayed a bit too long."

Gazing to her right, she smiled and said, "Oh, there she comes."

Then she snickered when Harley got closer and whispered, "Mr. Dickens was looking for you."

Without looking up at me, Harley sniffed softly and mumbled, "Do you need something?"

"Actually, no. I was just concerned that you weren't at your post." I told her, feeling slightly troubled that she would not raise her head.

When Harley didn't say anything, I tapped the desk and muttered, "Umm, I should go now."

After leaving the hotel and getting an uber, I dialed Nero again, and he answered before the second rang, "Are you on your way to the airport?"

"No. I am on my way to your house. We need to talk."  I uttered in annoyance.

With dominance in his voice, Nero shouted, "That's not what we agreed on! I told you to get your ass on that plane!"

"I never made an agreement with you!" I raised my voice at him.

There was a brief pause before Nero finally said, "I am on my way home."

Then he abruptly ended the call, and I knew he was quite pissed, but I didn't care because I needed to know what his plans were now that he was with Blake.

After an hour's drive, I arrived at Nero's villa, took off my shoes in the living room, and lay on the couch, shutting my eyelids.

Sleep ceased my body, and the next thing I can remember was someone tapping my leg, snapping me out of the feeling of dizziness.

"Nero," I whispered, gazing at him as he stood over me.

When I sat up on the couch, he took a seat beside me and grumbled, "You shouldn't be here."

"So you finally claimed Blake openly," I asked, feeling a dull ache in my chest.

"Kind of Things unexpectedly happened weirdly in our favor."

"Okay, does this mean you choose her over vega"

The sound of the villa doorbell echoed into the living room, interrupting me, and a sense of confusion swept through me as I whispered, "Are you expecting a visitor?"

"Blake should be moving back home today. But, I am supposed to pick her up after her classes." Nero mumbled as he woke from the couch.

When the sound of a ring repeated, I stood to my feet and followed after Nero. But it didn't take long to recognize the scent at the door.

When Nero opened it, my face dropped, and time stopped immediately as I gazed at Scarlet Knight, one of the strongest gammas from our pack.

"What are you doing here?" Nero asked coldly when she walked past him, entering the hallway.

"How did you even get past the gate?" I whispered without thinking my words through.

"I jumped over the fence," Scarlet said, eyeing me before looking at Nero. "Your father said that you need extra hands here, so Here I am. Ta-da!"

This is not good. These two had been going on pack missions together for the longestsince their teen years, and even though I am Nero's Beta, he chose Scarlet more often than me, especially for missions that he won't talk to me about when he comes back home.

She might just know him more than I do, or anyone else, and everyone in the pack thought she was actually going to be the one to break Nero's curse. But he only saw her as a gamma. Yet, it was no secret to all of us in the pack what Nero meant to Scarlet.

"I don't need extra hands," Nero mumbled, pulling his phone out of his pocket.

"Well, that's what your father said," Scarlet said with a frown. " I am only following orders."

The look of anger in Nero's eyes made the atmosphere tense quickly, and I peeked at Scarlet as she muttered, "It feels like I am not welcome here."

"Nahh it's good to see you, Scar." I mumbled to ease the pressure in the atmosphere.

Staring at me, Nero's face grew cold as he uttered, "Jason, take her to the hotel that you stay at and keep an eye on her until you receive words from me."

"You sound like you don't trust me, so why can't I stay here then?" Scarlet let out, glaring at him. "This place looks big enough to hold the two of us."

Not answering, Nero suddenly walked away with his phone pressed against his ear, leaving me along with her.

"Did I do something wrong?" Scarlet asked, looking at me.

"No! No. Not at all." I blurted out, knowing it was not my place to tell her about Blake.

"He doesn't seem happy to see me."

"You know Nero doesn't like surprises, and your presence here is a shock to him."

A glimpse of disappointment settled on her face as she whispered, "I thought his father informed him about my arrival."

"We should head over to my place and wait for them to settle things," I told her when I heard a door slam shut.

"Why do you not live here with Nero? He's your alpha. Staying beside him is your duty."

"My duty is to obey my alpha! We should leave!"

"It's no wonder I was asked to come."

Judgemental as always. I could never do anything right in her eyes when it came to protecting Nero. She is not my favorite person, and I actually lied when I said that it was good to see her.

Staring straight ahead, Scarlett frowned as she clutched onto her backpack handle, and then she walked ahead of me.