Chapter 16: Chapter 16

His eyes glare at me, drilling holes into my skin and it affects me. Of course, it will. The kind of aura he radiates is enough to leave me in shock but I manage to push pass it.

"So this is where you are." He says. "You look different. You smell different."

His words shock me. He can smell me? But again, I am not surprised, he is my mate and he is supposed to know my scent but in a way, he reminds me of a werewolf.

He frowns at me before his eyes moves to the girl behind me. Shelia.

"You are something entirely. What's your name?"

Shelia's fingers digs into my skin as she grips my arm. She is already getting intimidated by him. I won't blame her because I am intimidated too which is weird.

When I first met him, I wasn't acting like this. I was bolder, more interactive but now I am frozen. I am even finding it very hard to blink.

It's weird because I would never act like this. It is weird because for once in my life I am terrified of my mate.

"Isabella!!" I hear hurried footsteps coming my way but my eyes can't move from Nathan until I feel someone hug me, that's when my stare breaks. "You had me worried sick, Isabella. Where the hell did you go."

I gasp, looking down at the person in my arms, that's squashing me. "Jasmine, you're here."

For a few minutes, I forget about Nathan in front of me and even Shelia behind me.

"I have been looking for you since you disappeared and now you're here, safe. I was so worried, I thought something happened to you and I was scared." Jasmine begins to rambles. "I know that I haven't gotten to know you that much but I'm glad that you're okay. Sir Nathan would have killed me if you didn't show up today, in fact, he just cam-"

"Jasmine, you're rambling again." It's Nathan that speaks.

She immediately shuts her mouth with her hand. "Right. Sorry about that." She later speaks to me. "I'm just glad that you're safe, for my head and yours."

I have never seen her act like this before and the last few words she says makes me question a lot of things.

To divert myself from inquiring deeply about my arising question, I turn to Nathan with a glare, hiding my fears from him.

"So you finally came looking for me, how quaint. Where did you go?"

He ignores my question as usual. I almost missed the feeling of irritated when he tries to get under my skin. I'm being sarcastic. I don't miss it at all.

"I should ask you the same thing. Where did you head to?"

"I asked you first, so you answer me first."

"You're acting like a child, Isabella. You've changed."

"And you haven't changed a bit. You're just as irritating as better."

Behind me, Shelia squeezes my cloth in her palms, dragging me back a bit. "Isabella, who is this?"

"She didn't tell you about me? That's a bit rude." He tilts his head with a strange smile on his face. It sends shivers down my body. "If you must know, I am her mate. My name is Na-"

"Isabella! Shelia!" I turn around to see Andrew rushing to us in a hurry. Has he been around here all this while?

I notice how Nathan's eyes moves to Andrew as he runs towards us and at that second, the emotions that flashes through his eyes makes me understand... He's jealous.

A god, my mate is jealous. It cracks me up in the inside and I try to hold it silently without actually laughing.

"Isabella, who's this?" Jasmine frowns at me.

"That's exactly what I wanted to ask her. And why do I smell him on you?"

"That's none of your business..."

I'm acting without thinking and letting my irritation to get into the way. I know that and I shouldn't continue to do it but I just can't stop.

He has every reason to be jealous but he should trust me, at least... Well, I guess that I don't trust him too so we are even, right?

"Let's go." In just a few steps, he is in front of me and he grabs my arm before I can even blink. He is faster than me, that's impossible. "I have a lot of things to do."

"And so do I." Dragging my arm from his grip, I take a step back and Shelia follows suit. "What do you want, Nathan?"

"You're my mate so you belong to me."

"I don't belong to anyone." I glare at him. "And I will get back to your place when I am ready. Like I said, I have a lot of things to do."

He narrows his eyes at me when I repeat his exact words. "Are you rejecting me?"

"I never said that, Nathan and you know it."

"Is it because of him?" His eyes moves to that of Andrew's and I tense more. "He is the one making you go away from me."

At the next second, the air becomes stiff, everybody is frozen on their spots. They are scared and I should be, but I don't know why I am not. It may involve the fact that I am his mate.

"Nathan, stop acting like this." I force out through my gritted teeth. "I will be back when I want to, I have things to-"

The next second is a blur but I feel him hurling me over his shoulder because he runs. It's so quick that I feel like I want to fall down on my face. The wind blows my hair around and my face is stuck with a certain emotion, an emotion that even I don't know of.

When he does keep me down, I glare at him as deeply as I can and he remains calm, staring at me like I have committed a sin of some sort.

"What is wrong with you."

I am not one to show my emotions like this but the way he dragged me away from my friends is so shameful and irritating.

"Nothing. That's actually a question I should be asking you, Isabella. What are you doing with that boy, and why do you smell like him."

"Since you have been gone, I have been staying with him." I try to think of a rational way to approach this situation I am in now and I decide that I should just tell him before he goes on to do something stupid. "He has a sister that I was taking care of."

"The girl that was behind you?" I can see that he is trying his best to control himself and I appreciate that. Right now, I don't want to see what a god can do to Andrew.

"Yes, she's ill and when I stumbled upon them she couldn't even get out of her bed. That's the reason I stayed there and also the reason I should go back."

"You take care of her?"

"Yes, but so far, she doesn't look like she is improving." In a flash of a light bulb, I immediately get an idea. "Wait, you can help her. Just find out what's wrong with her and tell me what I can do that will help her out."

"But I thought that you had it covered?"

He moves to pour himself a glass of water and at that moment, I know that we are back at his home but in a room that I have never stepped my foot into before. To be fair, I haven't exactly moved around his home and been back here feels surreal.

"Just help me out and I will come back to your house without a fuss."

"But you did make a fuss and you're back in my house." He smiles. "So what's my reward."

"Is saving a little girl's life enough for you?" I glare at him and he laughs out.

"I was joking, you don't have to kill me for it. You've really changed, I can notice that you have your guard down now, you're no longer immune to some of my... attributes." His laughter stops. "Now tell me what you want me to do?"

"If you can heal her, then do it. The thing is that I don't exactly know what she illness she is going through and you could help with that too."

"So all you know is that the sickness is deadly?" He gives me a glass of water and I take a hard look at it before I take it from him with a small thank you.

"Yeah, I can smell it off her and I am sure that you sensed it too?"

"I may have a hint of what is going on with her." He ponders. "But I'll have to be sure so we have to get back to her."

"We were with her before you rudely throw me on your shoulder and ran away." I try not to glare at him, I have been doing that too much. "Tell me what you suspect, Nathan. I want to know too."

"I can assure you that you won't like it."

"It doesn't matter. I want to know."

"Okay then. I'll tell you." He scowls, watching how I will react. "I believe that she has been cursed."

And it's these times that I really want to take back what I said.