Nova
What the hell is wrong with me? It’s been close to a month, and Nikolai has disappeared yet again. I keep setting myself up for this, but whenever I try to reject him, the words die in my mouth. My heart aches whenever I think about it, so much so that I feel breathless at times.
I want Nikolai, and I want him to crave me as much as I do him, but I know he never will.
Tonight it’s busier than usual in the bar, but I know the reason why; the full moon is tomorrow, and the unmated males are nearing their rut. Not a good thing for an unmated female like me, especially since I can feel my heat approaching.
/“Nova,”/ Alpha Cain calls me through the mind link at about 8 PM. /“Close up early and go home; I don’t want Nikolai Volkov killing anyone else in my territory because you’re nearing your heat.”/
I blush beet red when he says this and relay the message to Estie and the new bar lady, Amy. To be honest, both of them look relieved when I tell them this and Estie calls for the last rounds.
“I’ll lock up since I stay around the corner, so you guys can go on home,” I tell them when the last few stragglers. It’s getting late, and even though they both have transport home, they’re still in danger of wolves in rut catching onto their scent.
“Thanks, Nova!”
“See you tomorrow night!”
I shake my head. “I’m asking Alpha Cain to close for the next week; we don’t want another incident like last month,” I say, recalling how the previous bar lady struggled to control the heat of her scent and had five wolves force themselves on her. There was nothing we could do since we were weak and had to listen to her screams until Alpha Cain showed up.
“We can make it a monthly thing from now on, to be honest; I don’t know why it isn’t a fucking thing,” I add and shake my head.
Since Alpha Cain spoke to me last, I’ve grown a bit more of a backbone, and people seem to respect me more. I can’t believe how much I allowed myself to endure under Will while under the guise of not wanting to bother our Alpha, but I know better now.
Well, I think I do. I still haven’t had the strength to reject Nikolai. Ugh, just thinking about him gives me a headache.
“Let me know when you get home safely!” I call behind Estie and Amy as they walk out. I do my last little bit of cash ups and paperwork for the evening before I decide to leave. But as I place the last few receipts in the safe, I hear the door opening and sigh. Did I forget to lock the damn door?
“We’re closed!” I exclaim from behind the counter, a metallic scent in the air, but I still hear the shuffling footsteps towards the counter. I didn’t realise what that metallic smell was until I jumped up from the counter and looked straight into Nikolai’s bloodied face.
“I said-!” my words shrivel up in my mouth when I see the sight of him, and he drops to the floor with his eyes rolled back. “What the fuck!”
I run towards the door and lock it, as I should have fucking done before and amble to where Nikolai lay passed out and bloodied. What the hell happened to him? Why did he decide to come here of all places?
Putting the questions out of my head, I grab a first aid kit behind the counter, drag him out of sight and tend to his wounds. I cut off his bloodied shirt and mentally slap myself as I admire his magnificent body; now is the time to nurture, not eye-fuck, Nova. But damn… My mate is gorgeous.
Okay, focus!
I wince at the sight of the purple smoke coming out of his wounds and put on a respirator so as not to inhale the fumes. Someone stabbed him several times with a silver knife, and there were silver bullets laced with wolfsbane embedded in his arms and chest. It took me quite a while to remove the six bullets and burn out the wolfsbane with a blow torch, but he remained passed out through everything.
How the fuck.
Four hours later, and fucking exhausted, I grab Nikolai’s cell phone and decide to call Alpha Kai to inform him about his little brother’s disposition. It’s all good and well that I tended to him, but he’s not my responsibility. I walk to the other end of the bar and press the call button, knowing I’m probably waking him up, but he needs to know what happened.
“Nikolai, where the fuck did you disappear to?! And why the hell are you calling me instead of using the link?!” He growls through the phone, terrifying me to my very core.
“Uhm… Alpha Kai, it’s-”
“Nova? Is that you?” he asks, perplexed as his voice softens. “Why do you have Nikolai’s phone? Did my little brother finally take my words to heart?” he asks with a chuckle.
I blush at these words, uncertain of what they could mean and yet knowing. “N-no… Uhm… he stumbled into my bar terribly injured.” I say quietly, my heart dropping at the roar on the other side of the phone.
“What happened? Is he okay?” Alpha Kai asks, and I can hear the shuffling of clothes.
“He is now, but he’s still passed out. I’ve removed all the silver bullets and burned out the wolfsbane from his system, so he should be okay. Are you able to collect him? I’m at Alpha Cain’s bar in Hell’s Kitchen.” I say with a thundering heart as if I’ve done something wrong.
I hear him sigh on the other end of the line. “I’ll be there soon. And Nova?” he says, his tone softening.
“Yes, Alpha Kai?” I ask, my heart beating so fast that I’m not sure how I’m not passed out yet.
“Thank you for taking care of him,” he then kills the call, leaving me a terrified, confused mess. Damn, how do members of his pack get over the sheer intimidation that is Alpha Kai? I can’t even handle a damn phone call!
Breathing out a sigh, I turn around and walk back to where Nikolai is lying on the floor, but when I get there, the only thing I can see is a puddle of blood.
What the fuck?
“Nikolai?” I call out, looking all over the bar for him but seeing nothing, and I can’t even smell his scent. “Fuck,” I mutter under my breath and run to the door to check if it’s still locked. Why would he leave if he’s injured? When I was tortured with silver, I could barely move for hours, even when Will forced me to get up and go to work.
I turn the doorknob and sigh when I find that it’s still locked; so where is that little shit?
“Nikolai-” I stop calling when bloodied arms cage me in and press me against the door. I look up into the glass, and I see Nikolai’s face behind me, his silver eyes boring into mine.
“What are you doing?” I ask tentatively, my heart thundering in my chest at this close proximity against his naked upper body. Fuck, why did he have to visit me when my heat is so close?!
He breathes out, rests his chin on my shoulder and inhales deeply. “Mate…” he murmurs, his lips pulling up in a smile as he passes out again. However, I spin around and catch him this time before he hits the floor. I can’t help but smile because he called me his mate, but my heart breaks anew at the fact that he still won’t do anything about it.
I walk his dead weight over to behind the bar counter, out of breath and gingerly lay him down on the tiled floor. How the fuck can I carry nearly two hundred pounds of ripped muscle and not die? Christ.
Sliding down to the floor myself, I look over at Nikolai passing out yet again and breathe out a sigh. I can’t keep doing this; I can’t keep waiting for something that will never happen. I think four years is enough time for me to realise that I’ll be nothing but a Rogue unwanted by her mate.
I pull up my knees to my chest and lay my head down on them as warm tears slip down my cheeks. I’m so deeply in love with him but tired of this, and if Nikolai doesn’t do something about it, I will have to. It’s for the best; this rejection will do us both good.
“I, Nova Lorelei,” I start in a muffled tone, “Reject you-”
Before I can complete the Rejection Vow, my back gets slammed against the tiled floor, and a hand clamps over my mouth. When I open my eyes again, my heart drops - Nikolai’s blue eyes are boring into mine, and he looks livid.
“Don’t you fucking dare,” he says, his eyes shimmering to silver, and he starts to scent me heavily.
Having him pressed up against me like this while I’m so close to my heat makes my head swim and my eyes roll back. “Nikolai,” I moan out his name, knowing that right now, the hard thing pressing in between my legs is not simply his belt buckle. I can’t help it… I release my scent and breathe out.
He moves his hips against me, his chest rumbling with a growl, and he inhales deeply again, releasing his hand from my mouth. My stomach is tied up in a confused knot, not knowing what is going through his mind, and it doesn’t help that he’s pinning me with that silver gaze. I bite my bottom lip, but it seems to be his undoing.
What he does next makes it clear that he has no intention of ever letting me get away from him.
Nikolai I should have prepared for this and listened to Kai, but I upped and walked into enemy territory out of sheer fucking anger. Alder Grey, Gamma from the IronCrest Pack, has had it out for me the last few months, and by killing three of my bookies, he’s succeeded in luring me out of BloodCrest territory. And into his fucking hands. Surrounded by him and two of his pack warriors, I fought them off as best I could, but what I didn’t expect was to run into fucking hunters on my way out. Granted, Connecticut is Alpha Bastien lands, but now I have a feeling he’s aligned with hunters to keep enemies out. I tell Kai this over the mind link and hightail it out of there on my Ducati, needing to breach our own border. But a few blocks away from Hell’s Kitchen, the wheels slip on the slick tar, and I crash into a fucking store front. Kai won’t like this, I know he won’t, but right now, I can barely think as the wolfsbane makes its way into my system. I allow Knight to lead me to a s
Nova “Thank you again, Nova,” Alpha Kai says before leaving with Nikolai in tow. I couldn’t help but notice how pissed off Nikolai looked as soon as he saw his older brother. Did he not want Alpha Kai to know about his injuries or something? Oh, well, not my circus, not my monkeys. I’m about to lock the bar when I look up and see Nikolai’s grinning face on the other side of the door. “What are you still doing here?” I ask, confused. I’m pretty sure I saw him getting in Kai’s car earlier. He grins, then stretches out his hand. “Give me your cell phone; we haven’t exchanged numbers, and we’re supposed to be fated mates.” My eyes widen at this, and I can feel a blush coming on again, but I hand him my phone anyway. After inputting his number, he rings his cell as well and then hands mine back to me. “There, now you can give me your answer later,” he says, but as he hands me my phone, he grips my wrist and pulls me into his arms. “Hmmm, I can’t wait to make you mine finally.” He
Nova What a long ass week. I’ve been itching to get out of my damn apartment, and now that my heat has passed, I cannot wait to stretch my legs. Who knows, maybe it will be my last heat as an unclaimed mate. The thought made me smile like an idiot, and I shake my head as I unlock the door to my apartment. I’ve decided to go to one of my favourite coffee shops and enjoy myself for a change since I never think of myself. To say that Will’s death and Alpha Cain’s chat changed me is putting it lightly. I know my worth now, and I’ve grown somewhat of a backbone - none of the wolves who used to eye fuck me even dare to anymore. I needed this, needed the trauma and pain to realise that I’m not anyone’s doormat. Now I just need to get a bit tougher in the fighting department. “Hey, Nova. I haven’t seen you in ages!” One of the baristas, Owen, greets me when I walk in. I wave and give him a slight smile before taking a seat at the back of the cafe. I didn’t come here to chat with anyone,
Nikolai I need to calm down and not piss Nova off, but I also need to know who that fucking guy thought he was. I would have ripped his throat out if she wasn’t there, maimed him and made him cry for his mother while- “You can ask me, Nickybabe,” she suddenly says, calling me that nickname that makes my heart stutter and cutting through my violent thoughts. I look over at her in the passenger side of my black SUV. She’s smiling and shaking her head, then she turns to me again. “I know it’s killing you.” “Damn right it is,” I grumble, turning back to the road. “However, you’re allowed to have friends of your own, Nova and I won’t be the guy to keep you from that.” I can tell that this surprises her, but truth be told, I had no right to tell her who she can and can’t be friends with. I won’t be the abusive asshole who keeps her from living her life the way she wants to - I can’t be that guy. “Thank you,” I hear her saying softly before she sighs. “But he was only an old friend fro
Nova Whatever I expected was trumped by what Nikolai did today. I didn’t know this sweet, sensitive side to him existed, and from everything he’s shown me today, I can tell this is the real Nikolai. There was no faking, no cocky attitude, no over the top behaviour—just us talking about anything and everything under the sun. The fact that he’s been keeping his distance from me because of the ongoing war makes sense as well. But he could have told me about what he was doing instead of blatantly ignoring me for over four years. I would have understood his reasoning better and would not have walked into Will’s arms due to loneliness. But what’s past is past, and I have something even better to look forward to now. He’s claiming me on the next full moon, and to say I’m excited is an understatement. He wanted to take me out for dinner on our drive back, but I, unfortunately, had my shift at the bar tonight. Since we’ve been closed for about a week, I know tonight will be one of our bus
Nikolai “Ah, fuck,” I grumble as I sit up. My head is killing me, and by the taste in my mouth, it seems like I knocked back at least three bottles of bourbon last night. Fuck, why did I drink so much? The image of Nova smiling and talking to that asshole shimmers into view, and the anger takes the place of confusion. Why does seeing her talking to other men get me this angry? Why do I feel so fucking overprotective of her when I trust her completely and know she is mine? Did Kai feel like this when he met Caterina? Did Kon when Lily went missing? I swing my legs over and take in my surroundings, noticing that I am not in my own penthouse; in fact… I didn’t know where the fuck I was. Getting up, I catch a whiff of peaches and know precisely where I am - Nova’s apartment. Did she bring me here last night? Fuck, I got blackout drunk, and she dragged me here, didn’t she? I need to apologise. Walking towards where her scent is the most prominent, I knock and open the door. “Nova?” I
Nova This man is going to be the reason my heart gives out one day. The kiss in his truck did a lot more than leave me flustered - I wanted him to do all sorts of filthy things to me and not stop. God, I’m pathetic, aren’t I? When the elevator door closes, Nikolai pushes me against the mirrored wall and cages me in by placing both of his palms against it on either side of my head. “You know, I can promise to keep my hands off you, but you will need to do something about your lust, little Rogue.” He says as his eyes flash silver, pressing his hard body against mine. “Do you want me to rip your clothes off right here and now, or will you reel in your scent?” “S-sorry…” I mutter, trying to think of naked old people and failing. “I didn’t mean-” “That’s okay; at least I know I can make you feel like this without so much as a touch. Although I want to do more than fucking touch you.” He says, then steps back, laces his fingers with mine and walks out into his familiar penthouse. Am
Nova At 10 am, Nikolai let me know that he might be late, and it was 3 pm when Alpha Cain called me over the mind link. Nikolai is not going to like it one bit, but I did try to call him to let him know that I had to leave his penthouse. Alpha Cain is back in town and has asked to meet with the pack because something had happened last night. By the sounds of it, it’s something terrible. There’s a melancholy air when I walk inside, no one is looking up, and Alpha Cain is pacing the floor up front. He looks up when he hears me entering, then breathes out a sigh. “Is that everyone?” he asks, and we all look around. Wait, how can this be everyone when three are missing? “Rook, Bishop and Estelle are not here, Alpha,” I speak up, and everyone turns to me with horrified expressions. “What?” I ask with a red face and shrug. Alpha Cain sighs again and pinches the bridge of his nose. “We’re gathered here this afternoon because two of our members are dead and one missing, also presumed dea