Chapter 502: The prey and the predator

Zoe could sense the tension in the pack before she saw anything with her own eyes, and she paced the length of her room, picking absentmindedly at her hair, anxious with the knowledge that Matt was coming tonight to bring her home.

Without a moment’s peace of mind here, she hadn’t been in any state to take care of herself properly, and she knew she probably looked terrible for it. But the thought that by this time tomorrow she’d be back in her own room, in her own bed, was almost enough to make her shake with relief.

Zoe had never imagined she’d miss Silver this much, or miss even the days her brother used to annoy her half to death by refusing her something. But most of all, she missed her best friend, missed the late-night conversations on their group chat, the snacks they’d share while watching movies together.

Zoe was practically giddy with excitement as she stood at the glass wall, straining to peer into the darkness for any sign of Matt and his men. Would they come for her? She hoped they wouldn’t walk into Nick’s trap.

The thought of Matt sent a shiver down her spine, one Zoe couldn’t help but bite the inside of her cheek over, since she’d never felt quite this way about anyone before.

She remembered the little crush she’d once had on him a very long time ago, back before it faded, slowly killed off by his constant teasing and calling her a brat.

Then, during her teenage years, it was made even easier to let go when she would always find him surrounded by she-wolves, either at their houses, "trying their cooking to compete with his," as he claimed. But Zoe had always believed those were just his innocent excuses to give her whenever she found him there, because whatever else it was adults did together, she was pretty sure it involved sex and not just cooking.

Zoe had let that crush die a quiet death before it could grow into anything more, and that was around the same time he’d come back from Mexico with his mother, she’d started treating him with more distance after that, stopped going over for sleepovers and family meals, and instead worked on building her own independence.

Slowly, that crush had faded away, or had it? She wasn’t entirely sure anymore, because lately, she found herself thinking about Matt more than she even thought about Gilbert. Though she scolded herself for it, she still let herself think of him, especially as she decided to break up with the doctor once she got out of this mess. After all, most of the complications in her life had started with her short-term relationship with him.

She didn’t just allow the thoughts of Matt, either, she found herself reminiscing about the past, about sleeping in his bed under his blanket whenever nightmares about her parents kept her awake. Matt used to stay up telling her stories, everything from fairytales he knew she’d enjoy like Cinderella to the Sleeping Beauty, and Zoe felt a warmth pool in her stomach just remembering it.

’I want to be like Cinderella someday, Matt. But I will not forget my slippers. I will leave my picture and my address on the back so my prince can find me fast, and I won’t have to wait,’ little Zoe had said to the boy reading to her on the bed, where she lay on her stomach with her elbows propped up and her chin resting in her palms, her legs swinging behind her as she watched him. He had laughed, reaching over to pinch her nose.

’Silly, if that prince comes, he will have to go through me and Seb first, and if he is not qualified, he will have his butt kicked.’

Little Zoe had gasped at him. ’You can’t kick my prince! I will protect him with my wolf and bite you and hermano!’ she had declared, jumping on him and trying to bite him while he laughed and tried to get her off him.

But who would have thought she’d never have a real wolf nor her prince?

Why had she ever let that connection between them fade in the first place? Now that she was an adult, and knew Matt properly, Zoe would bet everything she had that those women he used to hang around had strictly been about food, about him wanting company for cooking, nothing more, for his dream was to be a chef.

Zoe found herself smiling, already looking forward to the meal she’d promised to treat him to, and to witnessing her friend’s pregnancy unfold so she could be an aunt. But right at that moment, a loud boom startled her out of her thoughts, and she caught a flash of orange light in the distance that looked unmistakably like fire.

Just then, the door to her room swung open, and she whirled around to find Nick standing there, smiling.

"They’re walking right into my trap, dear cousin. Your brother and that fucking Beta are here for you, I just need to get you out of here before things get more interesting." He mused, a cigarette burning between his lips. He smoked every second of the day that Zoe hadn’t seen him without it.

"What was that sound?" Zoe asked anxiously, watching the glow in the distance grow brighter.

"An explosion. And along with it go the bodies of your brother and his Beta. Come on, let’s get you out before things turn messy and their backup gets here." He took her hand and began leading her out of the room, as Nick knew he was going to kill her brother today, come hell or high water. He didn’t want her to witness it, for she liked the bastard, even as undeserving of it as he was.

Hence, to protect her from the gruesome death Nick had in store for Sebastian, he would send her out until everything was over and he was at the top of the werewolf world. Nick was a very considerate person when it came to his family, and he was very generous too, he thought, pleased with himself.

For a moment, Zoe went numb at the thought that the explosion might have hurt someone in her family, but she recovered quickly, her eyes landing on the gun tucked into his waistband. Without stopping to think about what she was doing, Zoe yanked the gun free, jerked her hand out of his grip, and held the weapon to his head.

Nick turned, his eyes falling to the gun, then flicking back to her face, and he burst out laughing. "Now, don’t play with that, Zoe. It’s not a toy. It’s loaded, you could hurt yourself." He cautioned.

Zoe’s hand trembled, but she held it steady. "Or more accurately, I could hurt you. Call off your men, call off whatever trap you’ve set out there, or I will shoot you, Nickolas." She kept her voice firm, refusing to let it waver.

"You’ll shoot me?" Nick scoffed, as though the very idea were hilarious. "You can’t even kill an ant, Zoe. You’ve never hurt a single living thing in your entire life. How exactly are you going to shoot me?" He taunted, utterly confident she wouldn’t pull the trigger, had she been Vee, he might have been more careful.

"Even a harmless rat bites when it’s cornered by a predator, Nick. To protect my people, I will shoot you." She warned, gripping the gun with both hands.

Nick spread his arms wide, nonchalant. "Go ahead, then. Shoot me. I dare you, Zoe. But know this, I won’t stop the fate your brother’s walking straight into."

Cold sweat broke out across Zoe’s forehead, and Nick’s expression only grew more smug as she hesitated. He was right, and she knew it. She had never killed a living thing in her life, never even hurt anyone. Zoe had cried when a rat in her fashion house was caught in a trap set by Nick because it had been destroying her fabrics. She’d wept so much that she hadn’t been able to eat, because she felt sorry for the rat and the little babies it had left behind.

"See? You can’t do it. Now hand me the gun." He held out his hand, clearly done wasting time, and not wanting her to hurt herself with it.

When she didn’t move to hand it over, Nick started walking toward her, but as he closed the distance, Zoe pulled the trigger three times, and shot him.