Chapter 23

Reject her

**************Nero Pov************

The silence in the hall was loud as Blake glared at Luna and said, "There! Is that enough proof for you!"

After her remark, I could feel Luna's eyes on me, but my gaze was on Blake as I tried to make sense of the kiss and get my anger under control.

Swaying her focus off Luna, she glared at Noble and said, "I'm fine with the mate that I have, and there is zero attraction between your son and me. But I hope he finds the one for him. However, it's not me!"

"I, Killain will not take such disrespect from the Hayes family! Do you sis" Killian shouted, pausing when his father threw him a side-eye.

But I wanted to hear the rest of his statement because it seemed like he had a problem with Luna too, and I wanted to know what it was.

"Seems like we have overstayed our welcome, and I think it's better for my family and me to leave," Noble said with calmness in his tone, yet his eyes gave it away that he was angry.

"Come on, Noble. You don't have to leave in such a sour mood. How about we grab a bottle of champagne and chat somewhere quiet?" Loki abruptly said.

Two names that I knew were on the list were Noble and Loki because these two when back from the very beginning, and if the weren't more names on the list, I would have already murdered the two of them.

"How could I refuse my leader's request?" Noble said, his expression a bit smoother. "Please lead the way."

Placing his focus on his daughter, Loki looked a bit hesitant before mumbling, "Blake"

"I got to go," Blake said, swaying her focus off him and on Jason. "Ready to leave?"

In that instant, Jason's eyes met mine, and there was a shade of disappointment on his face. Then he drew his eyes off me, stared at her, and said, "Sure."

Was this it? The solution to fix the mess that I made, have Jason be with Blake, and I can focus on the mission?

A part of me didn't like the idea, not a single bit. But as I watched her hold Jason's arm and walk away with him, I knew it was for the best. Maybe this was the sign I needed to know that she is not the one, the one to break the curse.

"Babe," I heard Luna whisper, and I looked down at her. "Ain't they cute together. It's funny because I always thought I would get marked before Blake."

There are only a couple more days until the new moon, and then it will be safer when my mark fades from Blake's neck, to mark Luna.

Before coming here, I thought things were going to be simple. But it seems like this is going to be a long-term game that I have to play if I want to avoid the nightmare of the past that haunts me at night. So, I can not keep dodging marking Luna if I want to use her.

"Don't worry, just because your sister got marked first that doesn't mean that you wouldn't bear my mark," I mumbled, smiling softly at her, even though I felt numb inside.

When I raised my head, my gaze locked with Killain's death stare, and I was confused about what his issues were or if he was just an ass.

After Jason's scent faded from the villa, I waited for a couple of hours, forcing myself to go through a small conversation with Luna's family from her mother's side, even though it was Loki that I wanted to speak with.

But he and Noble had suddenly vanished from the villa, although their scent was still in the building. Yet, I couldn't pick up their voice.

Finally, at twelve o'clock I arrived home and headed straight for my room, hesitant to check on Blake.

The moment I got changed into something comfortable, I heard a knock on my door, and Blake's soft voice followed after, "Nero, are you in?"

Although I wanted to ignore her knock, I knew we had to talk now or later, and I wanted to get over it.

"Nero?" Blake whispered, her heart pounding so loudly that I knew she was freaking out.

After heading over to the door, I opened it, and our eyes instantly locked as we held back our words.

"What is it?" I mumbled as Blake lowered her gaze to the floor.

Then she stretched out her hand to me and whispered, "Here's your card."

"It's yours. I don't need you to give it back to me."

"But"

"Take the card, Blake, and go to bed."

When she said nothing for a few minutes, I turned to head back into the room, but her voice stopped me, "About Jason and I"

"You are his problem now, not mine," I said without looking at her.

But when I heard a soft sniff, I raised my gaze to stare at the look of hurt in her eyes.

"I'm not an object for you to give away after you get tired of using," Blake mumbled in a choked voice.

"Who was using who here, Blake? This, us, it wasn't supposed to happen. I told you that." I said, striving not to give in to my emotions. "You choose to lie about Jason being your mate! You decided to kiss him!"

"You know why I did those things!"

"Yes, and it's better that it stays that way. You are free to be with whoever you want to be with, and if my beta is your choice. Then go ahead! Be with him."

Keeping silent, Blake took a long look at me and then muttered, "Is that how you truly feel?"

With my gaze focused on her wet eyes, I huffed and said, "Yes, that's how I feel."

A teardrop stroke down Blake's cheek when her lashes gently touched each other and she mumbled, "You are cruel,"

"I'm not going to deny that," I said as she darted her gaze away from me.

Closing her eyelids, Blake took in a deep breath, wiped her cheeks with the back of her hand before opening her eyes, and said, "You might have never laid your hands on me, but you have scarred me just like they all did. I guess my wolf was wrong, you are not a lesser douchebag than them. You are just like them."

This wasn't supposed to hurt. But it did. I felt something from the words she said, and I wanted that to mean something. Yet, I didn't know what to make of what I felt. Was I just sorry that I hurt her, or was I hurting because she was?

With a shaky smile on her lips, Blake looked directly into my eyes and said, "I know what attracted my wolf to you. But I don't know what lured me towards you. To me, you are toxic. Yet, was it what drew me in deeper, or was it that you cared."

"Blake..." I mumbled, struggling to put my feelings into thought, so they can be words.

"I don't recall when I fell for you or the exact time I knew that I loved you. But that's the best part because if I can't remember something as important as that"

"Let's not do this!"

"It will be very simple for me to forget you and move on with my life."

Silence fell between us, and I tightened my fist before letting out, "Stop!"

"What! You can hurt me with words, but I can't?" Blake asked, her tone cold.

When I didn't answer, She stared, deep wrinkles formed on her brow as she said, "If my words made you feel like you are suffocating and can't inhale and exhale even though you are breathing, then you know exactly how I feel right now."

Without looking at me, she walked away, squeezing the credit card tightly to an extent that I knew it was hurting her.

As I moved my lips to call her name, my phone buzzed, distracting me for a second. Then a sigh escaped my lips, and I headed back into the room, slamming the door shut.

Once I had a hold of my phone, I went numb as I gazed at my father's text on the screen, "How's your progress with Loki's daughter?"

"A bit slow." I texted back.

"What's the hold-up?"

"She wants me to mark her."

For a couple of minutes, he didn't text back, and I brushed my palm against my face, drawing a breath.

"Do you have any sort of feeling, like care or lust for Loki's daughter?" My father finally texted back.

Which one, father? If you mean Luna, the answer is simple. But if you mean Blake, it's complicated. But you won't understand. That's why I'm glad that you meant Luna.

"No, father." I wrote and sent.

A few seconds went by, and then I saw this on my screen, "Good. Then mark her. Once you have achieved your goal, you can reject her. The pack does not have a use for a Luna that shares the same blood as our enemies."