Katerina:I walked back to the bedroom the second everyone left the house, not bothering to stick around downstairs to see whether or not anyone needed my help, already knowing that they wouldn’t anyway. I was still expecting a lecture from Nathan about cooking almost everything today. The man was not even aware that I was cooking most of his meals while he was at work all day, believing that it was the maids who were preparing everything.Mum’s words still played in my head as I fought the urge to cry in front of everyone, not wanting the Alpha to see me in such a state. However, I couldn’t deny the pain I felt as I processed what she had said and how she still looked at me despite all these years. Flashback:“You will be bringing us the information that we ask for if you want your scholarship” she snarled, grabbing me by my arm, her grip bruising as she forced me to look at her.“The man is my husband, and even YOU taught me to be loyal to him, mother” I said, trying to pry my arm
Nathan:“You’re telling me that you have never kissed a man before me?” I asked Katerina who laughed as she sat on her chair in front of me. The two of us were at one of my clubs, and to say that I was surprised would be an understatement about what she just told me.“Never kissed, dated, or even spared a second glance” Katerina said, shrugging her shoulders. “Wait, then that means that your first kiss was to stop me from…”“Pretty much, yes, but that counts as my virginity card too” she said, clearly under the effect of alcohol “anyhow, I don’t think that I need to ask you about your sex or dating life, do I?” “You would be very surprised about my dating life, but I would rather not talk about who I slept with” I teased, making her laugh “I had one girlfriend. Her and I were in love, madly in love, but she cheated on me, and that pretty much screwed everything up for the two of us” “I’m sorry” Katerina said, looking down at the drink in front of her.“Don’t worry about it, anyway,
Katerina:“Bloody hell” I whispered, trying to stand up without waking Nathan who was asleep beside me. I rubbed my temple, trying to ease the throbbing pain in my head. My sore body was something that I didn’t even want to think of or talk about. “You are going to need a painkiller for that head of yours” I jumped in surprise at the sound of his voice. I could hear his calm heartbeat as he sat up on the bed, looking down at me. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you” I said, avoiding looking at him. Last night’s memories were still fresh in my mind, and despite the alcohol that I had in my system last night, I couldn’t wipe out what happened between mother and I last night, and I still didn’t know how I was going to be opening the subject of not completing my studies with Nathan when I had just told him that I had prepared my schedule yesterday. The man wouldn’t believe whatever excuse I was going to give him, and I didn’t know how I would deal with the situation if he found out abo
Nathan:I growled when Katerina got out of the car, slamming the door shut before she went to walk inside the house.I got out of the car, closing the door before walking toward her, grabbing her hand as I forced her to stop. Katerina turned around, raising her hand to slap me only for me to stop her, holding her hand midway in the air, growling at her “who the fuck do you think you are?”“I’ll tell you what I’m not” she snapped, pulling her hands away from me “a bloody whore or a hooker that you could use around and throw when you’re done with. I am fucking done with your attitude, and I am done with you insulting me as if I was some piece of trash…”“You are the one putting fucking efforts into being treated the way that you are” I snapped, watching as she bared her canines, letting out a low growl “tone the fucking attitude down”Katerina opened her mouth to respond only for me to turn around, taking her hand in mine and pushing her behind me “who the fuck do you think you are yel
Katerina:I heard the house’s door slam shut as Nathan walked out of it, heading out to do whatever it was he needed to finish. I sat on the edge of the bed as I tried calming myself after my encounter with Nathan. His words hit me harder than ever as I glared at the wall in front of me, gripping the bed sheets as I fought the urge of screaming. Knowing that all hell broke loose, I feared anyone, especially my family, finding out about this and using it against me, urging me to betray my husband, and though I had no reason to tell them no about it; I wasn’t a woman who cheated on the man I was supposed to be loyal to. Whatever it was, I didn’t come here to end up sending information to a family who I knew were his rivals, and it killed me to know that he didn’t seem to realize that I wasn’t like them.But then again, I couldn’t blame him. I couldn’t even tell him about what happened in fear of causing a bigger problem between both families, and judging those circumstances, I was forc
Nathan:I entered the house, frowning when I heard how quiet it was.Katerina would usually be guiding the maids to how to set the table at this time, or would at least have the TV on if she was done with everything, and was waiting for me to come back.“Gala?” I called, the eerie silence alarming. I could hear Katerina’s calm heartbeat before frowning when I realized that her breathing was even, meaning that she was asleep. Gala walked out of the kitchen, her eyes fixed on the ground as she avoided looking at me.“What’s going on? Why is Katerina asleep at eight?” I asked, frowning in confusion.“She’s been asleep since noon, Alpha” Gala said, her voice just above a whisper as she spoke. I frowned, waiting for her to explain to me what happened, knowing that Katerina wouldn’t be neglecting her duties in the house, regardless of how many times I told her against them.“What happened?” I asked “did she come down here to argue with you…?”“Not at all, Alpha” Gala said, looking me in the
Katerina:“Luna Katerina, you just need to make sure that you don’t forget your medication. Your body is strong and you should be healing quickly, but you would need to take things a little easier on yourself” Doctor Ciara said, smiling at me. I nodded, laying back down on the bed, watching as she packed her things to leave. Alpha Nathan walked toward me, sitting on the edge of the bed beside me before taking my hand in his. I stayed quiet, waiting for the pack’s doctor to leave the room before turning my attention to him, raising an amused eyebrow at his attitude “you can go to your opening” “I take it someone has been listening in on my conversation”“Don’t you do that all the time?” I asked, watching as the Alpha lips tilted up slightly as he fought back a smile. My heart skipped a beat seeing that he had loosened up from being angry with me earlier today. “I’m sorry for what happened. I know that the day has been long and what happened with mom was not something that I expected
Nathan:“I thought that you two hated one another” Carter stated once Katerina went to the bathroom. “Us not getting along does not mean that we hate each other, but today was tough enough on her, leaving her alone was not going to be the best idea” I said, taking a sip out of my drink, remembering what mom did to her.“What happened?” Carter asked. I shook my head, not wanting to talk about it, and thankfully, my beta knew to drop the subject. I watched as Katerina walked out of the bathroom, fixing her dress as she walked toward us.“If it isn’t the little beauty, having fun?” Donatello said, stopping her. I couldn’t help the growl that escaped my chest as I got up from my seat. Carter followed in suit, following my gaze to see the Italian Lycan speaking to my wife. Katerina didn’t bother responding as she went to walk past him “I don’t bite, little wolf, not hard anyway…”“Please leave me alone” she said, looking down at her feet as she tried passing him one more time. Donatello p
Nathan: I watched as my mate sat by the window, processing what she has lived through over the past few weeks. “How is she?” Mom asked, approaching me. I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose, not knowing how to answer. My beauty lost her mom the same way she lost her father years ago. Both wanted to kill her, and both had to be killed to be stopped. “I don’t know, mom” I said honestly “she is not talking, and we both know why, so I don’t know what I can do at this point” Mom and I, despite the gap that we had, I knew that I had to be thankful that she at least, fought to protect me instead of putting me in the face of danger, wanting to kill me. I had seen my woman go from her strongest of states to her weakest, and at this point, I didn’t even know how to tend to that. “She just needs you by her side. The two of you have been through…” “You haven’t seen her when I did. The man broke her face, literally broke it. Had it not been for Alexander’s blood in her system, the bones
Katerina:To say that I did not trust her would not be a lie.But the last thing I expected was for my mother to be as cold hearted as to send me to my enemy with her own hands, along with my brother, to be killed.“Kat…”I didn’t bother looking at Donatello let alone respond to him. I didn’t blame him for wanting to trust her. I couldn’t do that, but I hated the fact that he chose to be as harsh as he was to me as he defended her, only for me to be the one who was right and to pay the price for it.“I trust that you still have the cat holding your tongue?” Domenico said, entering the cell that he kept us. He looked at me before putting on a few rings. Fuck, I knew that this was going to hurt. And approaching me, he stood in front of me for a second before punching me in the face, making my eyes widen in surprise as I felt my jaw break. I was actually surprised that my teeth didn’t, but I knew that it would be a matter of time before that happened. “How about we manage to loosen it u
Nathan:Katerina was quiet throughout the rest of the planning, mostly because her mother and brother were here, and knowing how tensed up things were, she knew not to risk saying a word that could lead to an issue. “So, in other words, Katerina would be the one to kill Domenico, to prevent him from killing her and Donatello” Ariana asked, and I nodded. "Yes, and it all has to be done on the night of the eclipse. I am not sure how he would be luring Donatello toward him, but he would have to kill him on that night. Otherwise, the Lycan dies, and all that he’s been plotting would pretty much be for nothing” I said, and the woman nodded.“Why not just keep him in the house? Have Domenico die anyway”“He would do something that would drag him there whether or not he likes it, and I can assume that it would have something to do with Katerina. The issue is not that we can handle the bastard not killing Donatello, the main concern is that he could, and he would, try hurting the kids and m
Katerina:I sat on the edge of the bed as I took a deep breath, processing everything that went on this long day.Nathan, who knew that I was upset, didn’t speak for a while, knowing that I needed my space. But in truth, I actually needed him. I needed his arms to wrap around me, and I needed him to hold me close.He entered the room, having gone to check on the kids, and I got up from bed to hug him. Again, he didn’t say a word, but his embrace was enough to tell me that I was not alone. He kissed the crown of my head, letting his lips linger there for a few seconds, purring as to comfort me before pulling away to look me in the eye.“He was angry, Katerina, and you can’t expect otherwise. Your brother, as strong as he is, also has a breaking point, and he too has been under too much pressure. He would eventually understand” Nathan whispered and I nodded, knowing that he was right. It was just that his words were a bit too harsh for me to simply accept.“I understand, love” I said, t
Nathan:I frowned when I saw my wife sitting out on Elijah’s porch, staring into space.Her eyes met mine, and taking a deep breath, she got up from the chair and walked toward me.I wrapped my arm around her, pulling her into a hug, before pulling away to look her in the eye.“Something happened, didn’t it?”“Domenico, happened” Katerina said, and I frowned, shaking my head at the fact that he had the audacity to show up. “we are going to need to go home though. I just got into an argument with Elijah, and I do not intend to face him right now. The man was being too much of a prick for me to stay quiet about it”“What happened?” Alexander, who was behind me, asked, frowning in confusion.“Nothing to worry about. The man is not used to someone talking back at him, and I had to be the one to do it. Anyway, how did things go from your side? Domenico would not be approaching this house for a while, but we need to be careful about ours, and the kids” Katerina asked, trying to change the s
Katerina:The house’s door barged open, Elijah’s, to be more specific, revealing a furious Domenico.Caterina, Elijah, and I were sitting in the living room, waiting for him to show up.“What the fuck?”“Hello to you too, Domenico” Elijah said calmly. Caterina went to stand up, but Elijah shook his head at her, motioning for her to stay seated. Her heart raced, and I knew that she feared the Lycan. I stayed still, watching the scene before my eyes, knowing that things weren’t go as peaceful as Elijah would have hoped his home would be in, but we all knew that things had to go down, and they had to do so fast if we were to get out of the bullshit of the Lycan.“What the fuck are you guys up to? Huh? Do you think that the stupid wolves would keep you safe…?” Elijah let out a low warning growl before taking a step toward the Lycan, towering over his body, his authority, despite his calmness, was one that was intimidating, and seeing Domenico’s fear in his eyes, I knew that I didn’t want
Nathan: “So, in short, you need Domenico dead before the next eclipse which is in five days' time” Elijah said, looking at me. “Exactly, if we can manage doing that, then we would…” “There is no if, in this one, Nathan” Alexander said, stopping me “if the man does not die, he will kill you all, Caterina, then turn to us; therefore, if you do not trust that you can face him, I suggest that you just let us know now” “I take it that you are actually excited about killing him” I said, raising an eyebrow at the vampire. “The prick has done us all more damage over the years than should have been considered acceptable. So, to answer your question, yes, I am more than willing to kill him” Alexander said casually “as for you getting the last name, I do know that since you are married, you wouldn’t need the bloodline, but we can find a way to alternate the history…” “The last thing I can care about right now is whether or not I carry the Grimaldi last name, Alexander, and I believe that y
Katerina:Alexander froze as he took sight of Caterina, his lover, standing in front of him.Whatever the real story behind their relationship was, I could tell that this was the last thing he ever thought that he would be facing. “Cat…?”“I know that you never liked me being around your son, Alberto” Caterina said, not caring about looking at Alexander, or in other words, Giuliano, who was still processing her presence. Her eyes were fixed on Elijah whose eyes were wide in surprise as his heart raced “you changing your name would not mean that you have changed who you are, and you going from country to country to hide your son never meant that Domenico would not find him. As you can see, and have noticed, he has, and he has followed you here, forcing you one again to submit to him. I believe that you are aware…”“First of all, I am not hiding my son from anyone. He is strong enough to fight anyone who can stand in his way, and the Lycan fucking knows that and is living because WE ar
Nathan:I smiled at Carter who was heading toward the car with his mate and child.My chest ached, but I knew that it was for the best to ensure their safety. Plus, they had their part to take care of in Russia, as a Pakhan, we all knew that we had our duties here and there. He would be my eyes and ears there, and he would be the one in charge of ensuring that things go as planned while he was there.He turned to face me after Jade and his baby got inside the car, and smiling, he walked toward me to hug me tightly. I hugged him back, the memories of us running around this house’s garden played in my head. Us going to school, growing up. All what we’ve been through just seemed to repeat itself as we pulled away to look one another in the eye. I knew that it was not a goodbye. As brothers by choice, it would never be; however, until we have united again, I knew that these memories were ones that we would be holding on to."Keep them safe, yeah?” I asked, and he nodded.“And you, them” h