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“Fine, I won’t concern myself with your wellbeing anymore. Happy?”
“Ecstatic!”I yelled. “You should be more concerned about your own stress levels, because it seems I’m not the only one letting the pressure get to me.”
“Get to me? What’s getting to me is the fact that it seems everyone in this Hierarchy hates me.”
I pressed my lips together, my insides tightening. “We don’t hate you.”
“Then tell me.” His face darkened, eyes flashing gold for a second. “Why does everyone around here seem to base their opinions on me around your reactions?”
I choked. “Excuse me?”
“Don’t think I didn’t notice.” He braced his hands on the desk, bringing his face closer to mine. “Whenever we’re in the group, everyone looks to you, they gauge your reaction to whatever I do or say. Care to explain why that is?”
My eyes widened. I couldn’t help but be impressed at his examination, not only of the Hierarchy’s reactions to his arrival, but also mine. Clearly, he had been analyzing every little detail since his arrival—maybe even since the day we met in the tavern—and he remember them all.
Goddess above, he was an incredible investigator. Yet another thing I admired about him—my cheeks reddening at the thought.
“You know, this sounds like a private Faction matter, so I’m going to go,” Ollie said before the screen went black, leaving Nolan and me alone.
“You seem like a smart man, so can you explain to me how you can be so oblivious to other people’s feelings?” I seethed.
“Other people’s feelings? For the love of the Goddess, Kasha!” He dropped his chin to his chest, taking a few deep breaths before looking back to me. “All of you keep acting like I’m some kind of enemy who’s about to kill all of you at a moment’s notice. I try to get to know everyone, I invite people over for dinner or out to a bar or to train, and everyone in this Hierarchy seems to have an excuse as to why they don’t want to welcome me as a member of their Faction. And for the life of me, I cannot figure out what I could have done to warrant that behavior.”
“After everything you learned about us, and what happened this past year…”
“This past year?” His brows crinkled. “If you’re talking about your hospital stay…”
“Yes, that,” I cut him off, not in the mood or state of mind to be able to go into detail about that; I barely wanted to talk about any of this. “But also, with our last Alpha and how everyone reacted.”
He froze, the muscles in his arms tensing below the tight, long-sleeved tunic he wore. “What are you talking about?”
A chill swept through my body. “What do you mean, what am I talking about? What areyoutalking about?”
“I know nothing about your last Alpha, except that he transferred about a month before you came back to work.” He straightened. “Is there something else I should be aware of?”
My mind floundered for a moment. “Plenty. So much so that I amshockedthe High Faction was even able to find an Alpha who wanted to transfer here.”
He narrowed his eyes at me, his mouth gaping for a moment before he shook his head. “I wish I had a better answer for you, Kasha, but nothing in the Faction File made me concerned to come and work here.” He fell back into his chair, his fingers curling around his knees.
It didn’t make sense—that file should be stuffed full with unpleasant reports about all of our behavior, from an incident report I’d filed almost a year ago that led to a nasty investigation, to everyone’s behavior after I was hospitalized. We’d all rebelled against the High Faction and those involved. We should’ve been marked as one of the worst Factions to transfer to; we should’ve been considered anarchists in the eyes of the Onyx Guard. So why was Nolan acting like he knew nothing about it?
Something wasn’t right, and I needed to figure out what it was. Immediately.
I walked around the desk, kicking his chair leg so he faced me. “Give me the File, Nolan.”
“That’s not protocol…”
“I don’t care!” I could barely control my movements, blind fury taking over as I kicked the chair again before bracing my hands on the armrests, bringing our faces inches apart, his spicy warmth surrounding me. “You are too confused about our behavior, and trust me, we feel the same about you. My gut is telling me the answers are all in that Faction File. Now hand. It. Over.”
His jaw ticked, eyes hardening as he took in every inch of my face, gaze lingering on what seemed like every detail. I wasn’t sure if he was trying to read my reactions or what, but I didn’t dare move, even if my skin vibrated from the closeness, my insides trembling. I couldn’t back down, not when I had made this move in the first place. It would show weakness, and I wasn’t weak.
Finally, after what felt like hours, he sighed, his fingers gently brushing mine to loosen them from around his chair. I pulled away from his touch, straightening myself and wrapping my arms around my torso. He rummaged in his desk for a few moments before emerging with a file, standing up to face me; our chests barely grazed, his eyes downcast to stare at me. “Here. Whatever you’re looking for, I hope you find it.”
His low, rumbling voice sent a jolt down my spine, but I ignored it. This wasn’t the time to lose control.
I yanked the file from him, taking a few steps away to put the desk between us once again. I stared down at the folder in my grip, my first instinct telling me one thing: it was too light.
I shook away the thought, my eyes scanning each document as quickly as possible. With each page I turned and each note I read, my heart grew heavy, bile burning my throat and nostrils, my mind spinning to dark depths.
