I can't be honest with you

I can't be honest with you
Nero POV




As I took off my shirt, Blake sat on the bed,  staring at me, her gaze fixed on the bandage around my torso.




One look into her eyes and I could see a mixture of guilt and anger buried under them as she bit on her nail slowly.




"Blake, I am fine, seriously," I reassured, taking a step toward her. 




"I know, that's what you say. But I can't shake this nagging feeling in the pit of my stomach that makes me uneasy." Blake whispered, looking even more anxious.




Knowing that I am probably not gonna win this argument, I decided to drop the subject for now. 




Honestly, Blake wasn't the only one freaking out about what happened. I was too. And even if I tried to act calm in front of her, I was a bit scared as well. 




It bothered me because I'm worried about her safety. After all, she not only killed a wolf from her pack but also attacked Loki and her sister in front of influential members of the pack.




There's no telling what this meant for her... for us, even though she and I were allowed to walk out of that mansion in peace. Because when I looked at Loretta, it was clear she wanted to tear us to pieces.




But that was just one of my concerns. People now know why Blake is, who she is, and that could be the most dangerous thing for her at this point, her identity getting known by all.




"What's on your mind," Blake whispered, her eyes glowing with concern, looking directly at me as I sat down next to her.




Resting my head on her shoulder, I  closed my eyes and breathed out, inhaling the scent that belonged solely to her, and whispered, "Nothing." 




We both knew that it was not, 'Nothing," but Blake didn't press me, and just rested her chin on top of my head, sighing heavily.





The silence lasted until I heard the sound of the front door opening and closing, and immediately my wolf was alarmed when I picked up Scarlett's scent.




Raising my head off Blake's shoulder, I looked her in the eyes and knew that she was onto Scarlett's scent too.




"Why is she here?" Blake whispered, waking from the bed with her face screwed in a frown. "How did she know this place?"




This was a fucking disaster, and I knew that whatever Scarlett was here for, it could not be good, and I was not prepared for shit like this, not now!




"Jason is here too?!" Blake mumbled beneath her breath, approaching the bedroom door.




"Blake, wait!" I shouted, jumping to my feet.




Fuck! I am going to kill those two if they do something stupid that's going to cause problems for me and Blake, especially at a time when she is volatile.





Unfortunately, I couldn't reach Blake in time to stop her, and seconds later the door slammed right in front of my face, causing me to stumble backward a few steps.




Not wasting a second, I opened the door and ran after her, ignoring the pain shooting through my whole body and my wounds.




When I got into the downstairs hallway, I stopped in my tracks, glared at Jason, and then swayed my gaze on Scarlett, shooting her a warning look.




"Nero!" Jason shouted, his eyes clouded with concern. "What the fuck happened to you?!" 




Before I could utter a word, Scarlett rushed over to me, touching my bandage as she frowned and asked, "Who did this to you?" 




With a look of confusion and anger burning in Blake's eyes, she grabbed Scarlett's wrist and yanked it away from me, letting out harshly, "Does any of you three want to tell me what is going on?" 




"Is that you doing?!" Scarlett lashed out, jerking her hand out of Blake's grip. "Did he get hurt because of you!"




"Jason, get her out of here!" I let out, turning to look at him.




Nodding, he rushed towards Scarlett, grabbing her arm again. But she pulled her hand with force and shouted, "Let go of my fucking  arm!"




A growl immediately erupted from inside of me as I fixed my eyes on her, and she suddenly stopped struggling. 




Her body went completely still and she met my gaze, fear, and desperation glistening in her bright yellow orbs.




"You two know each other!" Blake whispered, looking at Scarlett and then back at me with her face scrunched up in confusion.




"Oh, what made that clear! Is it because of what happened now, or the fact that I know he has a serpent tattoo on his bare back? Which one,  please, enlighten us." Scarlett spat, glaring at Blake.




This was a mess that I wasn't sure I could recover from and it was just getting worse with every passing minute.




"Scarlett!!" I cried, pinching the bridge of my nose between my thumb and index finger.  "Enough!"




"Fine, I am leaving!" Scarlett spat, shoving Jason away and storming out of the house, slamming the front door behind her.




Looking at Blake and me, Jason seemed nervous, as if he was afraid we would snap at him, and then he met my eyes and said, "This is my fault. I befriended her and thought it was okay to introduce her to you two, but I didn't know she was a wacko!"




"Can you not treat me like a fool!" Blake shouted, throwing him a deadly glare. "I know she's not just some lunatic, so what are you two not telling me!" 




Swaying her gaze off Jason, she looked at me with hurt in her eyes and a pleading expression on her face, begging me to give her answers.




But the truth wasn't something that I could give her and that scared me. It scared me how many lies I have to make her believe.




So I decided to keep silent, but knowing Blake, she wouldn't accept that answer, and she mumbled, "Nero,  please, I won't be able to handle it if you lie to me. You know that."




"I should give you two some space," Jason said before turning away and then leaving the villa.




Now that it was just me and Blake, staring into each other's eyes, she finally let herself tear up and whispered, "Is this why you didn't want Scarlett and me to get close? What are you hiding from me, Nero?!" 




"I'm not hiding anything from you," I replied, trying to keep my voice soft so as not to anger her any more than she already was.




"Then make it make sense how the fuck she knows about the tattoo on your back?!" Blake yelled, throwing her hands in the air in frustration.





We grew up together, so of course, Scarlett saw my tattoo the first time I got it. But I don't know what the hell she is doing now by trying to make Blake upset. But I can bet who is behind this mess because only my father can make Scarlett go against me.




"Nero!!" Blake screamed, her face red as she glared at me.




"Scarlett is someone I know." I let out, avoiding eye contact with her.




"What does that mean?! Who is she?! How the hell could you possibly know someone you just met days ago?! I mean, she just came into the state!" 




"Well..."




Seeing how frustrated and upset Blake was, I sighed, walked toward her, and tried to reach for her hand, but she pulled back, taking two steps backward.




"Can you just stop trying to hide everything about you... about your life from me?!" Blake pleaded, running her fingers through her hair in frustration. "Just tell me who she is, please! Why the hell would you hide something so damn big from me!?"




"Scarlett is nothing more than someone I messed with in the past." I lied, avoiding her stare, knowing I had to say something to make her stop asking questions.




And that was the only excuse I could think of that I knew she would not question. But the way she looked at me after those words left my lips, told me that I fucked up badly, and I could not see anything good coming from this conversation.




"I don't believe you," Blake stated, her face filled with hurt as she stared at me. "How about that?!"




"Blake," 




"Nero, all you do is lie... to me! Why can't you just open up! I tell you every fucking thing about myself... my life, my struggle, my  dreams, even my feelings, and you still never show me your side!"




My heart broke into thousands of pieces when I saw tears forming in her eyes as she spoke, "No matter how much I try to show you the real me, or the person I truly am deep inside, you always shut me out when it comes to you!"




When I didn't answer, she aggressively dried her face with the back of her hand. "Do you realize how difficult it is for me to understand you sometimes?!" 




"I do," I mumbled, hating how hurtful this entire situation was getting. "And I regret every time that I closed you out. I just don't know how else to explain my life without hurting you, or breaking our bond,"




"Then maybe if you showed me your side of the story, you wouldn't need to shut me out anymore! Maybe we could just work on it together."




"Maybe you're right, but not now... I can't be honest with you, Blake."




The room was dead silent except for the sound of sniffling. She was crying. I hated seeing her cry like this. And I was guilty as fuck for causing it.




Nodding her head, Blake looked into my eyes for a moment. Then she lowered her gaze, took in a couple of heavy breaths, and wiped the wetness away from her cheeks before walking past me,  and I didn't stop her from leaving. I just couldn't.