Part 1: Chapter 5

Nikolai

I’ve been sitting on my motorcycle outside The Slip for the last twenty minutes, too terrified to walk inside. Kai is pissed off with me. I can smell the anger on his scent all the way out here, and it is close to knocking me out cold.

I messed up tonight, I fucking know that, and now my older brother and Alpha will make me pay. He’s been going easy on me lately, but I have a feeling that this is the last straw. Not only that, but I came across as unfeeling and cold towards my mate. She was in shock and hurting, and I couldn’t even push my ego aside to ask her if she was okay. What the hell is wrong with me?!

/“I know you’re out there, Nikolai,”/ Kai suddenly says through the mind link causing me to cringe internally. Fuck, I guess it’s now or never.

Taking a huge ass gulp of air and bracing myself for a shitstorm, I tuck my helmet underneath my arm and make my way inside the club. When I walk into the office, I notice that Konstantin and Dimitri are present as well.

“Is this going to be a three-way cuss fest?” I ask, trying to hide my actual fear with my cocky attitude. All three of my brothers looked at me with disappointment, and I immediately shut up. But other than that, there’s something else wrong; I can tell by the way Kai is gritting his teeth.

“This is not about you, asshole, but I’m sure Kai will get to that shortly,” Konstantin says while downing a glass of what smells like vodka. “Shit’s brewing in Maine.”

I frown and cross my arms, looking at Kai. “Maine? What happened?”

Kai sits back in his office chair and sighs. “The entire Winter Sun pack has been obliterated,” he says, leaning his elbow on the arm rest and biting the back of his thumb. “But that’s not all; everything points to murder-suicide.”

My eyes widened at this. “Murder-suicide? They killed one another?” I ask.

Kai nods. “That’s what it looks like. They were a nomad pack under me, and it seems this is the reason they were targeted.”

“But why would they do that? They were under BloodCrest protection.” Dimitri says, perplexed but Kai only shakes his head.

“And yet this happened to them. I am starting to suspect that Father is on the move and attempting to discredit my rule and leadership. This ‘murder-suicide’ smells a lot like what happened to Dimitri and Arya.” Kai says, and I can literally see Dimitri cringe at this.

Konstantin steps forward. “If that’s the case, does that mean we have to go all around the fucking country to the packs under us and have Marle and her sisters check everyone again?” He asks incredulously, the rest of us groaning when Kai nods.

“That’s exactly what this fucking means. The witches on Father’s side seem to rival ours; it makes me wonder if they're not one of the supposed dead Ancients as well.” Kai says, then stands up and walks around his desk. “I’ll speak to Marle and Caterina tonight and plan a way forward. For now, let’s not alert anyone else in the pack about this; it will only cause unrest.”

My brothers and I nod, and then Kai dismisses us.

“Not you, Nikolai,” he warns when I’m about to walk out, and Konstantin slaps my back and chuckles at my mistake as he closes the door behind him. Fuck.

I sigh and turn around, still getting the anger/disappointment in his scent. “I’m sure you know why I asked you to stay behind.” He says, perching on the edge of his desk, and I had to bite back an arrogant comment, so I simply nod. “Care to explain what happened?”

“I suppose I have to,” ah, fuck. “Sorry. I… went to the bar Nova works at and lost my temper.” 

Kai scoffs. “You tore a guy apart; I think you more than lost your temper, little brother. Be honest with me and explain what happened.”

I know Kai will understand more than anyone, but I don’t want him to look down on me and feel ashamed of my actions. Yeah, Knight reacted before I did, but that was only because he yearned for his mate.

“I saw her pressed up against the wall with a bloody nose and bruised cheek, she also had her skirt pulled up, and the guy I killed was getting ready to violate her.” I spilt out everything but refused to make eye contact with him.

When I eventually look up, he’s crossed his arms and looks deep in thought. “So you killed him because he violated your mate? That’s acceptable.” He says, my eyes widening to dinner plate levels, but his following line crushing my spirit.

“What is unacceptable is the fact that you haven’t claimed your mate yet and left your wolf yearning so much for her that you let him take over in a moment of weakness.”

Did Knight speak with him?

“I know,” I sigh, sounding like a child being reprimanded.

“No, you don’t understand, Nikolai. Have you thought about how this is making Nova feel? In her already fragile mind, you’ve rejected her, but now you’re hanging around her place of work acting like a jealous lover. Marle has informed me that the rejection was voided since it wasn’t you who rejected her but the demonic parasite inside of you at the time.”

“Yeah, I figured.”

He clenches his jaw and breathes out. “That being said, I’m giving you two months, little brother - either reject your mate or claim her.” He says, walking to his desk and leaving me dumbfounded at his words.

I blink in confusion and shake my head. “What? No, not with the war-”

“You heard me, and stop making excuses. Now go get some sleep because you’re leaving with me for Maine tomorrow, then to all the other packs under me.” He says, dismissing me with those final fucked up words and I leave the bar for the confines of my fucking penthouse to stew in my self-pity some more.

Claim Nova in the next two months where I’ve been trying to keep her out of everything? Is Kai being serious? It’s not like I’m running away from my responsibility; I’m trying to keep her out of this war!

/“Keep telling yourself that,”/ Knight cuts through my thoughts, pissing me off even more.

/“Shut the fuck up; I’m trying here!”/ I growl, falling down on my couch and breathing out a sigh. /“I want to keep her safe.”/

/“Look how safe she was tonight; what would have happened if we weren’t there?”/ He says before tuning me out and disappearing. 

What would have happened if we weren’t there? I don’t want to think about it.

***

“They’ve been here - I don’t even have to step inside to know that. The same spell used on Dimitri and his mate was used on this entire pack.” Marle says, looking horrified when we reach the border of the slaughtered Winter Sun Pack.

Kai growls and walks into the grounds. “This settles it then; Father is involved in this war and probably instrumental in why two of the five turned. We need to burn the bodies and bless them before we leave.” He says while walking on ahead.

We spend the better part of two hours burning the bodies of the 150 members' strong pack and blessing the corpses. As an Alpha, I know Kai sees this as an incredible loss since they depended on him for protection, only to have their lives snuffed out. Not even the children were spared, not even the fucking infants.

“This is fucked up,” I say as I look at the body of what seems like a three-month-old pup. “How could they do something like this?”

Kai walks over to me and places a hand on my shoulder. “We’ll avenge them all, little brother, but for now, we need to lay them to rest.” He says, then slaps my back and walks away.

“This is why I don’t want Nova at my side, Kai; this is what I’m fucking afraid of!” I exclaimed, throwing a match on the body of the pup and walking towards my brother, pushing him back. “How can I bring her into this when death surrounds us?!”

Kai tries to contain a growl and fails. “You think death isn’t surrounding every other pack aligned with us?! How would you feel if this had to happen to the SilverSun Pack tomorrow and you have to be the one to bless Nova’s remains? How will you fucking feel then?” He snarls, and I look at him in disbelief; then, he breathes out a sigh and shakes his head.

“All I am saying is she would be safer with us than out there, Nikolai. What would have happened if you weren’t there to protect her the other night in the alley?” He says, then walks away from me once again.

It’s the second time I'm being asked that question, and I still don’t know how to answer it.

**THE REMAINDER OF THE BOOK WILL BE UPLOADED ON SUNDAY 1ST MAY 2022**