Chapter 5

NIRVANA

What a jerk!

Prick. Prick. Prick.

I felt rejected. 

A sliver of pain pierced my chest. Disappointment seeped through within me. I didn’t know this guy, but his words hit different coming from him— they sliced right into my heart. And it felt like I’d known him for a long time, that he meant what he said. 

When Axell broke up with me, it didn’t hurt like this. What was with this man that caused me such agony? 

He was gone for a few minutes. His footsteps faded in the hallway, but his expensive taste of cologne still lingered in my head. 

When he knocked on my door, I was expecting an invitation, maybe a walk in the vineyards under the moonlight. Obviously, I was way over my head. But something must have happened after he left the dining room. 

I saw the rage in his eyes and the clenching of his jaw. Whatever enraged him that had twisted his boxers— if he wore one, had nothing to do with me. 

Maybe he just hated me. Perhaps he was just an ass. Whatever.

I picked up my phone and booked my first flight back to New York. I also arranged a cab early in the morning. I just didn’t know how to break it to Kailin. It seemed that that dick only treated his family right. Beyond that, everyone could go to hell. 

He was such a jerk.

I dialed my grandfather Case. 

“Vana, is that you?” His voice sounded far.

“Yes, Grandpa, unless you are waiting for someone’s call.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong, Grandpa. How are you?”

“Honey, you wouldn’t just call in the middle of the night. And I can feel it in your voice.” Sometimes, I thought Grandpa was a psychic, but maybe he just knew me too well.

I didn’t know how to tell him. As far as he knew, I would stay at least a week in California. He was pretty excited about my plan to take a vacation. 

“Um, I’m coming home. I booked the first flight.”

“What happened? Are you and Kailin have a misunderstanding?” The worry in his voice was palpable. He knew Kailin and I were like sisters. He also cared about her like his granddaughter.

“No. We’re good. It just feels like somebody isn’t happy with my presence. To be honest, Grandpa. I love it here. The vineyards are so beautiful, and some of these guys are awesome. I met Heartley. She’s so sweet. She even invited me for the wine tasting, but I can’t stay when someone might wring my neck while I’m sleeping.”

“I’m sorry, honey, your plan didn’t go well. Come back home. Maybe Italy is good for you, or France.”

“Grandpa, I don’t want to use my savings. Besides, I need a job.”

“I have money, Vana. And I thought you were going to help me around the restaurant.”

“That’s the plan.”

“Then come home, and we’ll talk about it.”

“See you tomorrow, Grandpa. Love you.”

“I love you, too. Good night, honey.”

I dropped my phone on the bed and went to the window, but the view wasn’t as pretty as Kailin’s. After drawing some deep breaths, I walked out of the room. If I only had one chance to see the vineyards, now was the time. 

It took me a while to get in there. It was a long walk, and my mistake was to put my stiletto back on. Nevertheless, it was worth the pain. 

The place was so spectacular that I had only seen it in romantic movies where lovers chased or spread blankets and had picnics or a vineyard wedding.

It was so peaceful around here, so serene, and nothing was more beautiful than a Californian night under the silver moon and the light of the stars. It was pretty romantic, but everything didn’t go as Axell and I had planned. 

The earthy, floral, and fruit scent lingered in the wind, and it suddenly got cold around here. 

I took fresh scents into my lungs as I walked through the lines of vines with white clusters of fruits hanging through them. 

I still wondered why they called white when they were actually green. I wasn’t an expert on when the grapes would be ready for harvest, but they looked ripe enough. 

Then I remembered Kailin. “Oh, God. I’m so sorry, Kailin.” 

I was ready to leave. I was so done with moping until I heard thuds and crunches a few feet ahead of me. Despite the moonlight, I couldn’t see through the thick rows of vines.

“Anyone there?” I bent over to see who was on the other side but saw no one. Until a giant brown wolf appeared that almost gave me a heart attack.

With my breathing stuck in my lungs, my heart pounded so hard, and my feet seemed rooted to the ground. 

My gaze was still glued to the wolf, and I had no idea there were wolves around here. 

And then the cracking sound of something broken pierced my ears— it sounded like bones crunching and excruciating. Goosebumps erupted all over my skin. 

Shocked, my eyes bulged out, but I couldn’t manage to blink or breathe until my lungs almost exploded and my chest began to heave. 

The wolf deformed before my very eyes. The bones cracked, and from the four-legged animal, it turned into a two-legged naked human in just mere seconds. 

It was not real. 

I was just dreaming, or the shadow was playing tricks with me. 

This was impossible.

“Oh, no, no.” Shivering, I stepped back with my shaky knees and immediately crashed into something huge, like a tree trunk, making me yelp in shock.

I jerked back, my heels tripping off, losing my balance. Before I could fall and land on my ass, big hands reached out, enveloping me like a warm blanket. 

“Easy.” The familiar, pleasing, deep ramble somehow eased me. “You shouldn’t be here alone.”

I looked up, stared with wide eyes over a profound sense of shock, and met his forest green gaze, his eyes electrifying under the moonlight, almost mythical. My chin trembled as I choked out a gulp of air into my lungs. I closed my mouth. 

“Breathe, Nirvana,” he said calmly, eyes raking through my face. “Or you’ll pass out.”

I swallowed hard and shook my head. 

“Hey.” His voice was laced with concern, enough to convince me he was sincere. He swiped hair on my face, tucking them behind my ear. “What happened?”

“L-let go of me,” I whispered in horror.

“You’re shaking. Let me take you back to the house.”

“Just let me go.” I gripped his arms with my trembling hands.

“You look like you’ve seen something around here. You’re in shock.”

“Get off of me, Knight. I mean it.” With all the weirdness and something supernatural, I saw tonight that terrified and shocked me, I took all my strength and pushed him on his chest.

“I just wanna help you.” He gaped in disbelief. His expression unfolded a sense of dread.

I scoffed. “You’re joking, right? Earlier tonight, you can’t wait to get rid of me. Why are you here all of a sudden? I don’t need your help.”

“Nirvana.” His voice seemed filled with misery, almost believable. 

“Like what you wished for, I’m leaving early in the morning. If I could find a flight tonight, I’m already out of your hair right now.” My knees wobbled as I walked away from him, but it wasn’t from an unexplainable thing I saw. It was from anger. 

“You’re leaving without telling Kailin.”

“This is what you want, right? You think I’m a bad influence and not rich enough to be your cousin’s best friend.” I stopped and faced him. “I couldn’t think of anything I did wrong. Kailin and I have been friends since college, but you clearly hate my presence in your miserable kingdom.”

Before I could walk far, Knight was on my heels, reaching out, grabbing my wrist, and whirling me around. He pulled me against him, took the back of my head with his hands, and growled— an animalistic growl with a heated look in his eyes. “You think this is easy for me.”

I wanted to laugh out loud, but I was more confused than I had the strength to comprehend what he said. Yet I was so mad right now I began to shake. 

“I, Knight Orion Blackwell,” he started chanting, which confused me even more. “Alpha of White Moon Pack, reject you, Nirvana—”

“I wanna chop your head off and use it as a soccer ball because right now I’m infuriated at you, you weirdo, arrogant, selfish son of a bitch!”