Nathan:I froze, listening to what the woman said for a second before Katerina shook her head. It wasn’t like I was against Donatello being the next heir of elders, it was the exact contrary. The fact that the man was now at risk was what worried me. “How could my brother be the next heir? Hell, if anything, Domenico wants nothing other than to…”“He seemed to be the chosen one. Elders are chosen due to different criteria, and your brother has met them all. One of them was peace with the wolves, he does not mind humans being around him, it is something that Domenico does. He is humble, and does not take advantage of his position as Alpha. Needless to say, he is everything that an elder should be, something that Domenico seemed to forget over the years. And that is something that he would be paying for greatly” Caterina said, looking at me, shaking her head in question as she waited for what I had to say.“Does he know? Or is there any way that he would know?” “He does not, not yet
Katerina:“You have been too quiet lately, and it is starting to annoy me” Nathan said, wrapping his arm around my waist as he pulled me to his chest. My heart raced against my chest, and looking out the window, I watched as the pack members trained down in the arena. The full moon was coming soon, and knowing that we would be shifting, I couldn’t help but feel excited. But I was also worried, and I didn’t even know why at this point.“You know that feeling when you find yourself under so much pressure, only you don’t even understand why you are?” I asked, turning around to face him. I wrapped my arms around his neck, hugging him, as I pulled him down to kiss me. Our lips connected in a quick and gentle kiss that held so much meaning, and yet, was enough to make my heart skip a beat. “Well, do you want to talk about it?” Nathan asked, his voice softening. In truth, I didn’t even know what I wanted to talk about. I just wanted to lay in his arms for a while, let everything that has be
Nathan:“How are you feeling, malyshka?” I asked, running my finger over my beauty’s stomach. Having gotten her period, she confirmed to me that she was not pregnant, and now, I was more concerned about her wellbeing as I knew that her emotions would be jumbled up, especially after what she found out from Caterina.“Exhausted is the right word for it” Katerina said, turning to look at me. She lay her head on my chest, and running my fingers through her hair, I knew that she would mostly want to cuddle, especially on her first day which was usually what she called the ‘lazy’ day. However, I knew that she wasn’t being lazy, she was genuinely in pain, and that would result in her NEEDING to rest despite her constant arguing that she didn’t need it.“Well, I am guessing that you could have the day in bed. Carter and I would be taking the kids to school, and…”“The driver is not picking them up, Nathan” she said, stopping me. I chuckled, shaking my head at my beauty who shook her head at
Katerina: I watched as Calista and Ilya entered the car before going back inside to the living room. I knew that Dimitri would be waiting for me. The two of us still had a lot to do, and that fact alone was both exhausting and exciting. Knowing that Caterina wanted me to speak to Alexander, I didn’t know how to react, and the fact that Elijah, his father, my great grandfather, and son had the same name was something that I couldn’t let go of. And though I was aware that it wasn’t his real name, I was still weary. Then there was the fact that Caterina and I shared the same name, even the last name, and that was something that surprised me. First, I looked EXACTLY like her, and second, we had the same name. I knew that I might have been acting delusional, but if life taught me one thing, nothing happened out of coincidence. There must have been a relation to why we were practically the same, and why she appeared in my life now in specific. However, what it was, I was yet to find o
Nathan: I ran my fingers through my hair as I sat on my desk, reading through the book that Katerina and Dimitri gave me. My beauty walked toward me, and standing behind me, she wrapped her arms around my back, kissing my cheek gently before she started massaging my shoulders. Her fingers were gentle, but she knew that they would do the trick of relaxing my tensed muscles. She knew that I was still pissed about the fact that she got out of bed when she knew that she was tired; however, I couldn’t even be angry with her about it. Yes, I was pissed, but I knew that she was doing her best to help ME out, and that was something that I was more than grateful for. “You’re still refusing to talk to me” she said, breaking the silence between us “and you’re refusing to get in bed beside me” “I am not upset with you, malyshka. Yes, a little annoyed by you going against me” I said, turning my chair around to face her. I extended my arms toward her, and smiling, she straddled my lap and wr
Katerina:“Luna…” one of my maids, Andromeda, said, walking into the living room where I was sitting with Donatello. The two of us had work to finish, and I also needed his help with the financial calculations as they didn’t seem to make sense to me. Her eyes avoided my own as she looked down at her feet. I shook my head in question, waiting for what she had to say, trying to study her expression. Donatello, who was sitting beside me, frowned and looked toward the front door, and looking at Andromeda, I noticed that she hesitated for a second before I caught the familiar elder Lycan by the door. I frowned before standing up from the couch, motioning for Donatello to wait. The last thing I needed now was both Lycans encountering one another, especially not after what I heard from Caterina about the eclipse that was coming and what Domenico planned to do. I walked to the door where Inna and Dimitri stood, facing the Lycan who wanted to enter the house. Jade was by her kitchen’s door,
Nathan:Caterina ran her fingers through her hair as she sat on the chair in front me. Her anger and rage were visible in her eyes as she glared at me, clearly still annoyed by our previous argument. The evening was long enough to begin with; therefore, the two of us clearly wanted it to end.Having changed her clothes to a pair of blue jeans and a white shirt. They were given to her by Natasha who was now standing a step back from her seat with her knife ready to attack her if needed.“I take it that you’re willing to speak now” I said, looking the woman in the eye. My tone calm as I knew that she realized that I wasn’t threatened by her.“You do realize that I could suck you all dry…” Natasha stopped her by putting the knife on her neck, pressing on it, as she warned her. I stayed quiet, and looked at the woman, watching her reaction, waiting for her to say something different. She went quiet, and by quiet, I mean completely quiet. Her eyes met mine and shaking my head in question,
Katerina: “What is she doing here?” I asked, frowning at the sight of Caterina who entered the house when the kids were home and awake. Nathan was aware of the fact that we had to ensure that they were safe, therefore, I couldn’t understand why he brought her here when he knew that she could oppose danger on them. Caterina stayed quiet, and shaking his head at me, Nathan showed his disapproval of my question. However, I couldn’t care less, my children, the pack, and their safety mattered more to me right now. “Katerina, you are aware that this is not a way to speak in front of a guest” Nathan said, raising an eyebrow at me. “You are not going to teach me my morals, Alpha Nathan” I said, glaring at him. Using his title, my mate understood that I was furious. First, we had to deal with the prick Domenico, and now, Caterina, the night couldn’t grow any more dangerous for our pups, could it? “I do not mean to upset you with my presence, Katerina, but I believe that you should be awar
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