Chapter 108: Snow
The hairs on Rodrigo’s arms stood on end. The room seemed to drop several degrees.
"What did you just say?" His brow lifted ever so slightly, his voice low and controlled.
Seven held his gaze. "The Luna’s mother was a witch." A brief pause followed. "From Hades."
Silence settled over the study. Seven took a few steps toward the desk.
’’And coincidentally, the witch Annalise had hidden the earthstone in Hades, and the Luna has also shown a strange interest in the earthstone," Seven added gravely.
Rodrigo’s eyes darkened. His hands slowly curled into fists, his knuckles whitening against the armrests.
Seven stopped talking when he saw the look on the Alpha’s face.
The Alpha had been smiling of recent, he had even played a game the night before. Something he had never done before, and this was because of the luna.
When the informant had told him the news, he had spent the entire time debating whether to tell the Alpha.
He fancied her, more than any other person.
The only other person he’d fancied ever since his father died.
More than once, he had contemplated keeping it from him. But if Rodrigo discovered later that he had kept something this important from him, he would never forgive him.
"I’m not saying there is a connection," Seven said carefully. "It just... seems strange. The pieces fit too well."
Rodrigo’s jaw tightened. "You’re reaching."
Seven remained silent.
’’Her dead mother’s past has nothing to do with her." His voice carried an edge now. "She’s never been to Hades..."
The words died on his tongue.
The abandoned house. The hades healer’s reaction when she touched her...
Rodrigo’s fingers tightened.
No. Those were coincidences. They had to be.
He shut his eyes, drawing in a slow, measured breath before opening them again.
"We cannot be certain until we have proof." His gaze settled on Seven. "Her mother died the day she was born. Whatever that woman was, whatever life she lived, it doesn’t mean Nina shares it."
The words sounded firm. But even as he spoke them, a sliver of doubt lingered at the back of his mind. He refused to let it take root.
After a long silence, Rodrigo spoke again. "Let no one find out about this."
Seven gave a single nod. "Yes, Alpha."
There was another long moment of silence in the room before Seven spoke up again. "Do I keep digging?"
Rodrigo didn’t answer. His gaze remained fixed on the window, his expression unreadable. The silence stretched long enough for Seven to think the Alpha hadn’t heard him.
Finally—
"No." Rodrigo turned to face him.
"Not until we have something more than coincidence."
Seven stared at the Alpha for a long moment, his hands folding into fists behind his back.
He had suspected all along, but now he was certain: the Alpha loved her.
His eyes lowered. He would not believe anything until he saw the truth for himself. Seven prayed earnestly that Rodrigo was right, and everything was more or less a coincidence.
"Understood, Alpha." he replied.
...
Nina stood outside the west wing of the pack house, pacing from one end of the courtyard to the other.
A few steps. Turn. A few more steps. Turn again.
Behind her stood Moreen, wrapped in a thick shawl as she quietly watched the Luna.
Night had settled over the mountains. A half-moon hung high in the sky, its pale light washing over the pack house. Thick clouds blanketed the heavens, swallowing the stars whole. The wind had grown sharper with every passing minute, carrying a biting chill that stung exposed skin.
Winter had arrived.
"Luna," Moreen called softly. "It’s getting late. The Alpha will return once he’s finished with whatever is keeping him."
Nina stopped just long enough to glance at her. "I’m not waiting for the Alpha."
The lie came a little too quickly. She cleared her throat. "I... just like the weather." she shrugged.
Moreen stared at her in disbelief. "Luna." Her lips parted. "You are freezing." She pointed at Nina’s face. "Your lips have lost all their color. What exactly do you like about this weather?"
Nina shot her a look before continuing her slow pace, putting one foot in front of the other like a stubborn little girl refusing to admit she was wrong.
"You can retire for the night," Nina said. She brought her hands to her mouth and breathed warm air into them. "I’ll stay a little longer."
The warmth disappeared almost instantly; the cold was relentless. Her eyes drifted toward the road leading from the eastern gates. It was empty. Not a soul was in sight.
Did he leave the pack house?
Moreen stepped forward. "Your shawl isn’t thick enough." Without waiting for permission, she unfolded the second shawl and draped it gently over Nina’s shoulders. "There."
Nina pulled it closer around herself. "Thank you," she mumbled, her teeth nearly chattering.
It had only been chilly earlier that evening. Now, the cold seeped through every layer she wore. She looked toward the road again. Still nothing.
Maybe he wasn’t coming tonight.
The thought made her heart sink into her stomach, a knot forming in her throat. She’d counted the minutes without meaning to, each one stretching longer than the last, until the cold had settled so deep into her bones she’d almost forgotten why she was still standing there.
Nina lowered her gaze. Her knees ached from standing so long, and her hands were white from the chill. Her eyes swept the empty courtyard, there was no one else in sight. Only her, and poor Moreen, whom she had kept outside.
Nina glanced towards the east gate for the last time, and then she turned towards Moreen, forcing a smile that didn’t reach her eyes.
"Let’s go inside." she said flatly.
Nina turned around dejectedly, her feet dragging as she began walking toward the pack house. Something in her refused to hurry, as though slowing down might buy her a few more seconds of him still arriving.
But she’d only taken a single step toward the entrance when she heard him.
"Nina."
Her feet stopped. The world seemed to still around her, the cold forgotten, the ache in her knees forgotten, everything narrowing down to the sound of her name in his voice.
Slowly, she turned.
Rodrigo was walking toward her.
He was there, unhurried, as though the two of them had all the time in the world and he intended to use every second of it. His grey eyes held hers still, and something in her chest folded in on itself, quiet and helpless, the way it always did when he looked at her like that.
At that exact moment, something soft landed against her cheek. Then another. And another. Tiny white flakes drifted lazily from the sky, catching in her lashes, melting against her skin before she could fully register them.
It was snowing...
Her heart stumbled. Badum. Badum. Badum.
Bathed in the silver glow of the moon and the falling snow, he looked almost unreal, the same way he had the very first time she’d laid eyes on him, when she hadn’t yet known how deeply she’d come to want him standing exactly where he was now.
"Snow..." The word escaped her lips in a whisper, barely more than breath.
A smile bloomed across her face before she even realized it, unguarded, helpless against the sight of him. Then, without another thought, Nina leapt towards him.