Mask | ✓

23

"What are you doing here?" Was the first thing I heard when the door opened.

Standing at the entrance with arms crossed over his chest, what the angry human from before. He stared at me with narrow eyes full of distrust and dislike. I was sure mine were shining the same.

"I came to talk to you. Not to fight," I said, emphasizing 'not to fight.'

Starting another problem for Tatum wasn't why I came out. I wanted to help him, not cause more problems for him. So I put my personal feelings aside and tried to remain calm.

"Can I come in?" The human looked like he wanted to say no, so I added, "I wanted to talk about Tatum."

Something flipped in his eyes, and he reluctantly moved to the side, allowing me to enter. As I did, the other man from before wasn't there.

"What exactly did you want to talk about?" He asked, taking a seat on the couch.

I followed suit and met his eyes. "Tatum isn't okay," I said as I watched his expression. His frown deepened, but he didn't look surprised by the news. "And now he's spiraling." That seemed to catch his attention, so I continued. "I've seen from day one that Tatum isn't okay, and yet, for some reason, it's like nobody else here can tell that, or rather, they don't want to admit it to themselves. They don't want to say that there's something wrong with their alpha because alphas can't be anything but strong all the time, right?"

There was a dry smile on my face. The human eyes grew sad as he stared off.

"Nobody expects him to be strong twenty-four seven. It has nothing to do with that; it's just...when people don't know how to help, they tend to drift apart, as fucked up as it sounds. They try to distance themselves because they think if they stay close, then they'll only cause more pain rather than help."

"Is that what you're doing?" I couldn't help but ask because it didn't make sense to me. I found it strange that there weren't many people in the pack that Tatum talked to or mentioned. I'm sure he spoke to his members, but there were different levels. It seemed like he had nobody who he actually let his guard down around. It didn't make sense to me.

Then when human—Cloud—and the other wolf, who Tatum called Raiden, showed up. Tatum told me they were good friends, so why weren't they there with him and trying to help him?

"No," came the narrowed reply. "I'm not trying to pull away from him. Honestly, it feels like the reverse is happening." The way he spoke was laced with sadness. "I can't blame him. I mean, how could I when I have no idea the hell he's going through? After everything that happened, I know it has to be hard for him, and I want to be there, but I don't know if that's what he wants."

"What happened to him?" I asked. I wanted to understand better. I wanted to be helpful.

The human froze, and he stared at me, seeming to try and figure out if I was being serious. "I thought you already knew," he said before shaking his head. "Sorry, but that's not my business to tell. If you want to know, then it has to come from Tatum."

I stared at him for a few minutes, but it became clear that he didn't plan on budging anytime soon, so I stood up and moved toward the door.

"By the way," I called out, glancing over my shoulder. "I'm sure he'd like it if you were there, and I don't mean that over the phone shit. Actually, sit down and talk to him."

With that, I left the house and began the walk back to where Tatum and my home was. As I walked through the pack, I tried not to bring too much attention to myself, but it was hard when I wanted to see more of the land. There were places I wanted to stop by, but I knew I couldn't today. One day, I'd have to get Tatum to give me a tour when he was better.

There were some people who looked at me, but the majority seemed to say a greeting and keep on walking. The smells from the nearby restaurants flooded my nose, and I immediately knew that when given a chance, I would have to come and try them all.

When I reached the house, I walked around and entered through the back door. Tatum had left early in the morning, so I wasn't expecting him to be back, but when I rounded the corner, there he sat. His eyes shot to me, filled with a flurry of emotions.

"Where were you?"

"I went on a walk," I replied. His green eyes stared back at me, and I doubted he believed me, but he said nothing. My brows furrowed, and I asked, "What's wrong?"

Was he still worrying about the same thing from before?

"You can go home," Tatum told me, and I froze.

"What?"

"You can go back to the Silver Night. Nolan caught the attackers, so you're free to return. He called earlier and was pretty excited."

I can go...

"No," I told him firmly.

I wasn't going to go. I refused to allow myself to be added to the list of people who left him. I wasn't going to go anywhere until I knew that he was okay—actually okay this time.

"No?"

"I'm not leaving you like this, Tate," I sighed.

My response seemed to anger him more than comfort him. "What? You have some duty to stay by my side?"

"I want to help you!"

"Go home, Nixon," his eyes narrowed. "This isn't any of your business."

"Then I'll make it my business!" I stared at him determinedly. His expression changed slightly, so I kept going. "Believe it or not, but I care about you. I'm not just going to leave when things get hard."

Tatum stared at me with an unreadable expression. Neither of us said anything as our eyes met, and the gap between us became more pronounced. Tatum stood from his spot, and his eyes trailed down my figure before returning to mine.

"Come here, Nix," was all he said.

And fuck, I don't know why but like a dog following a command, I did. It wasn't what either of us needed right now, but I walked toward him. Just when I was within reach, he pulled me closer, and in a flash, Tatum's lips were on my own.