Avalyn "Thank you for having us over." I smiled at Max and Nat. We had a quick breakfast after we woke up and now, Nik and I were on our way to meet Mary. "It was our pleasure." Max smiled back. "I actually wanted to give you something," he told Nik and then handed him an envelope. "What's this?" Nik asked, taking it from his hand. "It's a gift from Mom. She told me to give it to you when you meet your mate," Max replied, his tone gentle. I sucked in a breath. I had no idea Viktoria had planned so far ahead. She was very thoughtful. "Why did she give it to you? Why not me directly?" Nik asked, his voice thick. "When I asked her to give it to you herself, she just made me promise that I'd give it to you. And that I'll always protect you." Despite whatever happened between the two brothers, there was nothing but love in Max's eyes for Nik. I bit my lip. I felt bad that they hadn't spoken to each other for so long. "Thanks, brother." Nik hugged him. Max hugged me afterward, surpr
Avalyn On our way home, we stopped by the hospital to check in on Mikhail. His condition had worsened. He was in the ICU, put in an induced coma. The left side of his neck, shoulder, and chest was covered in bandages. An oxygen mask covered his nose and mouth, and several tubes trailed in and out of his body. It wasn't easy to see him like that. He must have been in so much pain. The doctors said that he was in too much pain and the spreading venom was just making it more painful. He only had a few more weeks to live. A month, at the most. The healers were trying something, but they weren't sure if it would be successful. They said that praying to the Moon Goddess was our last hope. But Goddess Luna wasn't that kind. Watching Mikhail like that was hurting Nik too much. He blamed himself. I knew he did. So I suggested that we let Mikhail rest in peace and go home for the day. Nik agreed. I didn’t think he could bear to watch his brother like that any more than I could. I tried to
Avalyn "I wish I could do something to help him," I whispered. We were sitting in the infirmary by Mikhail's side. A nurse had been redoing his bandages when we walked in. Watching the full extent of his injuries brought tears to my eyes. Half of his neck and shoulder had turned black. It was decaying. He smelled of death. The bandages and the smell of the healing creams didn't make it seem as bad yesterday, but his condition was much worse than we had thought. Nikolai had set up a task force to gather information on this, but it was proving to be a lot more difficult. No one wanted to associate with or help Rogues. We were only limited to witches and scriptures in human towns and cities. "Let's see what we find in Mozog," Nikolai murmured and Vladimir placed his hand on Nik's shoulder in silent support. Sof looked distraught. We can't let him die. Mikhail was our brother. I vowed to find something to help him. He was on that mission with Nat because of me. He was hurt because of
The slaves had brought out two full hanging shelves. One held clothes for me and the other for Nik. All of them were red in colour. "Why red?" I asked. "Red is a sacred colour for vampires," Nik said as he went through his clothes. I hummed as I went through the beautiful dresses. I chose the most simple but elegant dress with maximum coverage in comparison to the rest of the dresses. It had a tight corset bodice that ended at the bottom of my ribs and the lower part was made of silk that reached the floor. The thing about the top was that it was see-through, but the intricate designs on it would cover my nipples well enough. At least my lower body would be covered entirely. I had noticed while entering the palace that vampires liked nudity. And they didn’t shy away from flaunting their bodies. The less cloth covering your body, the better. "Don't look at my dress." I hid it behind myself. "I want to surprise you." I smiled. "Fine. There must be a dressing room in here. You can
Nikolai "Excuse us," I told the slaves and all of them got up and left the bedroom. "Ava, come, have a seat," I patted the space in front of me on the bed. Ava took a seat and looked at me questioningly. "I want to first remind you that I'm here for you. And as long as I am here, nothing is going to happen to you," I started. "What is it, Nik? You're scaring me," she said, looking worried. "There is nothing to be worried about," I told her confidently. I needed to put on a strong front and make her believe it. Otherwise, she would just worry, and the probability of slipping up would increase. "There are just a few precautions we need to take to ensure that nothing happens. I want you to listen closely and remember all of them. Understood?" "Yes, Master," she nodded. "Vasilik was an asshole and so were all the people who were loyal to him. Don't trust anybody apart from our family. You do not need to be afraid of them, but you need to be cautious around them. We are werewolves r
Avalyn My eyes fluttered open when a soft sound hit my ears. I groaned. I hated when my sleep was disturbed. Nik slapped his hand over my mouth. My eyes snapped open in shock. He placed his finger on his lips, gesturing me to remain quiet. 'I think we have some unwelcome visitors in the quarters,' he mind linked me, Vladimir, and Sofiya together. 'I will go first. Vladimir, come in thirty seconds. Girls, don’t go out of the room,' he said. 'Yes, Alpha,' Vladimir replied. 'Um, no. We can help!' Sofiya said. 'Yes!' I pleaded Nik with my eyes. 'Fine. But only if we are not done in two minutes.' He looked at me. I nodded, scared of what was to come. He took off the blanket quietly and took the sword that was given to him during the coronation. 'Use your dagger if you decide to come out. It will kill any vampire with a single strike anywhere on his body.' He looked at me intently before opening the door and slipping out quietly. I got out of bed and took the dagger in my hand. I lo
Nikolai "Oath of fealty?" Rhazien paced around the courtroom. The court was over for the day and only Vladimir, Sofiya, Rhazien, Darius, Leikos, Ezra, Ava, and I remained. "I can't believe this. The people will not like it," he said and shook his head. "First is having their King killed by a werewolf. Second is a werewolf being their King. And now you give them hope but take it away by demanding the oath of fealty.” I glared at him. "You have no say in the matter. Tread carefully, Rhazien." "You were never going to make him the King, were you?" "No," I said honestly. "You gave your word," Rhazien looked at Ava. I didn't like him dragging her into this. Before I could say anything, she spoke. "What do I know? I have been a Luna for all of two weeks. Nikolai knows best about all of these things." She shrugged, still going on with our little charade. "He made a decision and I stand by him." Rhazien narrowed his eyes at us, clearly aware that something was up. "The people are sca
Nikolai "Trouble in paradise?" Dimitri asked as he strolled into the living room in his boxers. "We're fine!" I snapped. "Liar, liar, pants on fire," he tsked. "I heard your conversation. Don’t worry, Dimitri is back on duty. Kind of." I groaned. "But first, it's so good to see you two again!" he said in a cheery tone and then hugged Ava. She patted his back awkwardly for some reason and then he came to hug me, but I pushed him back. Now I knew why. "Take a damn shower. You stink of sex," I said, gagging. It dawned on me where he had disappeared off to for the last few days. He was having a fuck-fest. "Which is the best scent ever," he said and winked. "Man. I missed this place. Almost forgot how good it was." "No. You missed the sex. And forgot how good the pampering here was," I corrected him. "This man knows my heart." He pointed at me and grinned smugly at Ava. "You know he secretly loves me, right? Like he loves you, yes, but deep down, he is in love with me. Which, well,