As they were walking through the hallway, there were onlookers staring at them, and Nina noticed that some of them were werewolves. She was surprised that Marcus would bring werewolves from the pack to mix with the non-shapeshifters and work in the same organization.
From the way they were staring at them, specifically her, she could tell that they remembered her, but she maintained her composure and refused to let their stares remind her of her ugly past experience in the Nightshade pack.
They climbed the elevator, and it ascended them to the second floor. The man was the first to descend from the elevator before Nina and Kiara followed suit.
"Please be patient with my boss. He'd be out shortly," he said as he directed them to the lounging area. Nina and Kiara sat down, and the man left immediately having completed his assignment.
Nina and Kiara stared at the corners of the walls, admiring the sculptures as they awaited Philip.
About ten minutes since they settled down, Kiara started feeling uneasy.
"Nina, can you stay here alone? I need to ease myself," she blurted out, standing up and using one of her hands to cover her butt, suppressing the feces that was finding its way out.
"Of course, dear. Why not? I am not a baby." Nina commented with a slight giggle.
"Oh, great. I'll be back. I think I'm purging," Kiara remarked and dashed to the restroom.
Nina brought herself together as she felt she was now alone, fear gripping her, but she tried not to make it evident.
She was about to take out her phone to keep herself busy by browsing social media when she overheard footsteps from the staircase, causing her to lift her gaze in that direction only to make eye contact with Marcus. He was walking down with Leo.
Nina's heart sank into her stomach instantly. She wished she could burrow into a hole and disappear from his sight. She regretted ever coming to that place.
"Nina?" Marcus snapped with a surprised expression. Smile coated his lips as he fixated his gaze on her while descending from the stairs.
"I thought you'd been saying you don't want to see me; why are you here?" he said, reminding her of the multiple times she declined Marcus' request both through social media and physically through his messengers.
Nina gulped hard, unable to speak. She fixed her gaze on the floor and desperately wished Marcus would stop talking to her and walk away. However, Marcus was approaching her.
"I guess you can't keep it anymore, huh. You missed me, didn't you?" He held her hand and was about to sit right beside her, but Nina yanked his hand off her wrist.
The mere touch of him disgusts her; unlike before when it sparkes a flame in her body.
Nina took a deep breath and turned to face him for the first time. "I expected you to know that if it's within my power, I wouldn't set my eyes on you throughout the rest of my life." She shifted a few inches away from him.
Marcus was about to respond when Nina sighted Philip, and she quickly sprung to her feet like an antelope and ran to him.
"Thank goodness that you're here. Please, can you just take me out of this place?" She requested, her voice filled with sorrow and displeasure.
Philip was confused. It was only her and Marcus in the room; could it be that Marcus sexually assaulted her? What transpired between them just now?
Of course it hasn't even been up to ten minutes since their meeting ended, so what could it be that transpired in this short time?
His eyes gazed at Marcus, but Marcus's cold and deadpan glare was enough for him to realize that Marcus wasn't happy with him. It dawned on him that the two have something they're yet to make him understand.
"What happened, Nina? Did he harass you?" Philip asked, gently raising her head, but Nina was shrugging off his hand.
"Just take me out of this place, please." This time she was already in tears.
Philip swallowed hard and refrained from pressing further. He looked at Marcus for the second time and sighed, his left eyelid raised in a sign of confusion before he finally led Nina out of the room.
Just as the duo were out of the room, Leo nudged Marcus at the elbow with his hand. "Why would you talk to her like that? Don't you want her anymore?" His tone was a mix of anger and disappointment.
"What do you mean?" Marcus queried with a creased forehead.
"I mean, you could have been more gentle instead of being mean and provoking."
"Why should I?" Marcus interjected, his voice icy and cold, surprising Leo. Wasn't he the one who had been in search of Nina, which was even the main reason for the existence of that edifice? Why is he now sounding so different?
"Answer my question, Leo. Why should I have been kind with my words to her when you literally saw what had just happened now?"
"That man must be one of the men she's been sleeping with. Didn't you witness the scene that just unfolded?" He questioned, picturing in his brain the way Nina ran to Philip and felt safe under his arms.
Leo sighed, unable to counter. Marcus was about to leave when Kiara dashed into the lounging area. Uneasiness coated her face as she couldn't see her friend anymore. With the way she overheard Marcus and Leo exchanging words, she doesn't need a soothsayer to let her know that Marcus was the reason Nina wasn't there anymore.
She swallowed hard, her eyes becoming fierce as they fixated on Marcus. "Where is Nina?" She asked, her tone authoritative.
"Calm down, Kiara. Alpha Marcus did nothing to Nina. She left by herself. Don't be so rude to your Alpha," Leo remarked, wanting to calm Kiara down upon seeing how rageful she's becoming.
"Point of correction. I have no Alpha, and I don't belong to that bloody ass pack of yours until justice is served," she said to Leo and turned to Marcus. "And for you... Well, I don't have anything to tell you now."