Chapter 4

Layla's POV 

“What…?” I almost couldn’t believe my eyes at that moment, as I saw Hannah emptying the contents of the small bottle she had in her hand. I wasn’t sure what it was, but then, I could tell that it was something harmful. 

She suddenly looked around but was unable to spot me from where I had been watching her from behind a door. I watched in fear and surprise as she made for Nate’s room. It was clear what she had wanted to do from then on, but I still couldn’t tell why she wanted to feed it to him.

The jealous part of me wanted to sit and watch everything unfold, as Nate had simply abandoned me to myself without giving a definite reason for his change of behavior. He deserved it after all. 

‘But we can’t just let her do anything to him…’ Ava, my wolf kept spurring me to act, even though the jealous part of me had taken quite a strong hold of me. ‘He could be in danger.’

‘He could be in danger for all I care,’ I snapped back at her even though I was mainly speaking from the hurt that had taken me hostage. ‘He doesn’t care about us and it’s only fair that we return the favor.’

With that, I ended that debate between Ava and I. But I was soon at war with myself, specifically with the part of me that had fallen hopelessly in love with Nate. I kept trying to suppress him and trying to keep that part of me from speaking up ever again. 

Soon enough, I realized that I couldn’t pretend not to care no matter how hard I tried to do that. It hurt even more that I was having that struggle for someone who humiliated me in front of the woman that he claimed to love. 

As though on impulse, I found myself hurrying to Nate’s room. The urgency that had suddenly surged into me was far from explainable, as I ran to his room. I was hoping that he hadn’t had any of it before I would come. 

I put my hand on the doorknob and the door suddenly came open right when Nate was about to take the first spoon of the food. “Stop!” I yelled, causing both of them to stop in shock. 

A part of me was relieved that they both weren’t naked like I had been suspecting them to be. I would have contemplated shoving the poison down Nate’s throat myself if they had been in the act when I walked in. 

“What the heck are you doing here?” Hannah snarled her question at me.

“The more important question is, what did you put in Nate’s food?” I asked, not knowing where the boldness had suddenly come from. But for the time being, I enjoyed the shocked look that came on Hannah’s face and the suspicious look that came on Nate’s face.

“I see you’re beginning to get delusional from the fact that Nate chose me over you,” Hannah mustered a strange confidence as she tried to put up a convincing denial. “Nate, don’t believe anything she has to say, she’s just…”

Without warning, I reached for the part of her dress where I had seen her hide the small potion after putting some of it in Nate’s food. I dragged it out without any second thought, for Nate to see it. 

“What’s that?” Nate asked with his brows furrowed, as he took a look at the bottle and another at Hannah who was already getting nervous. 

“I don’t know what it is. But the best way we can find out is by having her taste it.” I said, taking advantage of Hannah’s silence. “Let her taste the food and we can know what exactly she had planned to do with it.”

“Are you seriously listening to what she’s saying to you? What more would you expect from someone who isn’t wanted by her mate?” Hannah still denied it, even though all the clues were pointing against her. 

Nate was stuck between two tough decisions, and I could sense that from where I was standing. I was just hoping that somehow his sense of reasoning hadn’t been blinded by Hannah’s deceit. 

“Taste it…” Nate said to her, suddenly breaking the silence, and filling my heart with the warmth of relief. “Go ahead and prove to me that she’s lying, Hannah.”

“What?” Hannah was surprised by Nate’s compliance with my words. I was sure that she was feeling the same feeling of betrayal I had felt earlier. “Nate… you’re kidding, right?”

“Well, yeah. I’m kidding, and that’s why I want us to prove her wrong. Go ahead…” Nate’s words depicted his dilemma perfectly. “I’m waiting…”

The tension at the moment was very palpable. Uncomfortable even. But I was silently enjoying every moment of it. 

“Fine...” Hannah finally agreed as she took up the spoon. That had me wondering what exactly she was trying to prove. I was slowly beginning to get scared that I had just made a fool of myself. 

She was hesitantly bringing up the spoon to her mouth, and that was more than enough to give her away. Suddenly, she slipped it into her mouth and emptied its contents without a second thought. 

The deafening silence that followed had Nate looking at me like one that had come intentionally to cause trouble, as she was looking normal up until that point. 

“You see...” Things seemed normal until Hannah opened her mouth to speak. “I'm alright...” she began to sound intoxicated, as she was trying to stay on her feet.

Nate looked in shock, as he saw clearly that I hadn't been bluffing one bit. 

“You see...” she was now laughing uncontrollably at that point. “The plan was simple… get Nate to eat the hallucinogens and make love passionate love to me while I get him to do away with you… but now you've ruined it all…”

At that point, Nate had heard enough.