Raul’s POV

The droplets of rain spattered to the floor with fat, wet sounds, almost immediately drenching the environment. It beat down on my head—but that was the least of my worries.

I narrowed my eyes at Gonzalo who stood some distance away, the interest on his face more than apparent. Behind me, Natasha clutched at my chest..

Gonzalo rubbed at his chin and leveled his head at us, the steel blue flecks in his eyes piercing as he regarded us. He took a step back and cocked his head.

“Well?” He asked. “Is either of you going to tell me what is going on here? Or shall I have to find out everything for myself?”

I gritted my teeth. Of all the possible scenarios and the ways that this could have possibly played out, this was easily the worst outcome at this particular point in time. It was beyond wishing thinking to say that I absolutely had not intended for such a thing.

Gonzalo had been for so long, but even while he was stull here, I could not predict half the things that went on through his mind.

I had no way of knowing now, if he was going to be a friend or an enemy. And not to mention how everything about him felt off. He smelt different. He looked different…

I had not been able to pick up his scent when he was nearby, and I had not heard him as he approached the house too.

There was so much going on right now, and I had no idea how I was going to deal with it at all.

I straightened up, moving Natasha behind me some more.

“Gonzalo,” I began. “Cousin… you must understand that this isn’t what it looks like.”

“Well, that is why I’m asking you to tell me what it is isn’t it? I don’t like being kept in the dark about things like this, Raul and you know it. Is that the Miklaus daughter or not is what I ask.”

I turned to Natasha who shared a similarly grim expression with me. Faintly, she nodded, her eyes fixed all the time on Gonzalo.

I turned back to Gonzalo, feeling like I had been run under by a train. I sighed. “She is.”

Gonzalo’s eyes brightened and he clapped once. “There. Now how difficult was that?”

“But you cannot tell anyone,” I added.

Gonzalo arched an eyebrow at me. “You want me to be silent about the fact that you are out here in the hut that we used to play in when were children, with a woman—and not just any woman, the woman most wanted by the most barbaric Alpha king there ever has been, and who would possibly offer up a reward for news about her… why?”

I wished I could say that I could see the gear grinding in Gonzalo’s mind, but he was just too much of a wild card. Too volatile and unpredictable.

“Please,” I said. “She only wants to rescue her father. And she’s good for the rebel cause.”

“Please.” Gonzalo slapped his hand down. “Your rebel cause is a finished thing. And this woman belongs to Zev Cohen. Her father isn’t going to get out that prison no matter what any of you do, so you might as well just give up.”

“We can’t give up!” Natasha said suddenly.

I turned back to stare at her; Gonzalo’s eyes widened the tiniest fraction.

“My father was good. He was a great king.”

“Yes,” Gonzalo said irritably, “and now Zev rules.”

Natasha almost stepped away from my back and I consciously had to work to get her to rein in her anger and her impassioned outburst of emotions. The last thing I wanted my cousin to find out was that she was naked or that her body—

“My father will be free.” Natasha said with vehemence. “I swore it to Zev, and I’ll say it to anyone who asks, too. I will certainly free my father from the prison that Zev has kept him in. No matter what. Even if it costs me my life, I will do it… I have to.”

Gonzalo stared at us for a moment longer, then as if trying to decide if he was going to blab after all. Then he broke into laughter, slapping his knee and shaking his head.

“I like you, Miklaus girl. You’re as delusional as they come.” To me, he said, “Raul, you better be careful with this one. She looks like she might take your rebel thing even more seriously than you do. I’m leaving. Perhaps I’ll go find Derek after all and get some of that maiden meat soup or something. See you around, Raul.”

I scowled at him, because what we were doing wasn’t a ‘rebel thing,’ and I was pretty sure that I was doing a great job of it. Nonetheless, I waved bye to him. As soon as we were sure that he was gone, Natasha fell to her knees.

I spun around and held her.

“Are you alright?”

She nodded. “I just didn’t expect to be meeting anyone so…” She sniffed. “It’s been a long time since anybody’s confronted me about my father. I was almost beginning to forget exactly why I could not be a part of whatever Zev wants. I was reminded of exactly what it was that I’m doing out here in the first place.” She took hold of my hands.

“I don’t want to be the one to tell you, Raul, but there was something off about your cousin.”

“I know,” I said. “He sounded very different, but even beyond that m he smelled different too. I wonder just what he has gotten himself involved in.”

I looked at Natasha, and a smile broke out on my face. “We should probably worry about all of this later, how about it? We need to get you inside so you don’t catch a cold.”

That was when Natasha remembered that save for the clothes that she had thrown over herself, she was completely naked.

I laughed as she hit me playfully on the back and I walked away. But there was something far more worrisome on my mind than the fact that she was going to catch a cold.

Later, when it was nighttime and I was certain that Natasha had slept off, I slipped out of the house, making sure to cover every single footstep that I took. I masked my scent again and took off into the woods.

Gonzalo had said that the only reason he had come here was because Derek had informed him that I was usually going into the woods to clear my head. But what if he was not the only one who had made that connection? What if there were others, who like him, knew that I had a hut out here?

A whistling sound caught me sharp in the air. I leapt away at the last second, barely avoiding an arrow that impaled itself into the ground with a twanging noise.

Damn it!

I knew that I had been right. The house was compromised. I had no way of knowing if they already knew the location of the house, and if they were going to attack the house any time soon.

I looked around me, my palms stretched out. In the thickness of the woods darkness, it was impossible to tell where the arrow had been shot from, and I could not locate any smells either.

This was bad. It was so much different from the mobs in the market who were only interested in chasing after me so that they could regale their problems and try to get me to solve them.

I tried to still my breathing.

The whistling sound came again, this time from my right.

I crouched so that the arrow went sailing over my head.

Again, I wondered who these archers were. It was possible that it was just one person, but I could not also rule out the fact that there could possibly be more than one person. I tried to focus my mind.

I closed my eyes and popped my claws out, snarling. No one was going to get to Natasha. Not while I was alive.

I caught the next whistling arrow in my hand and snapped it, anger in my eyes.

“Who’s there?” I barked.