9. Five Months

Konstantin

Every now and then, I feel a sharp pain in my chest; it started when Lily left and has continued to

grow exponentially. I know that it's because my wolf is yearning for its mate, but something feels

wrong - terribly wrong.

Lily is my mate; I know this now. But why did she lie about leaving? Did she not feel the pull as I did?

Did she not feel the same way about me because she’s not a pure werewolf? These constant

questions keep me awake at night, and I know that I will need to pay a visit to Vegas soon.

Fenriz mentioned that he sent Lily here to keep her from her supposed “destiny’, but he never

fucking elaborated on what this could mean. He kept his distance and took off to Vegas before I

could ask him.

Things have been escalating over the last few months since she left. Kai found and claimed his mate,

I died and was brought back to life by a Goddess, we lost two of our younger brothers and so many

other tragedies. Some people in the back have been blaming Caterina for our ill will, but we knew it

was something more profound than that.

There's a traitor in our pack.

We thought they were weeded out after the twins and Dominik died, but we were wrong. I know Kai

feels it as well, but he won't act on it until he's confident.

“You want me to go to this asshole’s place again? I literally insulted him when I last saw him; now I

have to go back?”

“Just sort out the problems between our warriors and come back.”

That was all Kai instructed me to do before coming to Stefan Russo's place, and thank fuck it took

only a day because I am so close to killing this cocky Alpha. Good thing I am leaving now as well

because his cock-sure personality is grinding my gears to dust.

Grabbing my gear, I walk towards his office with my duffel slung over my shoulder and am about to

knock when voices on the other side alert me to the fact that there is someone else in there with

Stefan. I knock and open the door because I want to get the fuck out of here, but when I walk in, I

wish I had stayed outside.

Stefan had Lily bent over his desk and was fucking the hell out of her.

He looks up when he sees me with a smug look on his face. “Ah, Konstantin! Heading out?’ he says,

pushing her further down, but as soon as he says my name, her head whips towards me, and when

our eyes meet, hers widen in horror.

That fucking pull is even stronger, so is the blinding pain that hits me. I realise now that the

constant pain all these months must be because Lily was fucking someone else who isn't her mate,

giving herself to someone the Gods never intended for her to be with.

Why is she here? And why the fuck am I rooted in the spot instead of ripping his throat out?! She's

mine, and she’s allowing herself to be fucked by another! A deep growl reverberates in my chest,

and I can feel myself close to shifting.

"Sorry about this,” he says, clearly not sorry because he fucking cums inside of her right that

moment and pulls her hair. “Phew! That was magnificent as usual. You can leave, my love; I'll be up

soon.” He wipes his cock on her night dress, and when she lifts from the desk, the shock of seeing

her fucking someone else fades away.

She's pregnant.

My wolf immediately awakens and snarls at the sight of someone else claiming its mate, and it is

taking everything in me not to shift and rip him to shreds. My claws are extended and digging into

the palms of my hand as I clench my fists.

/“Let me kill him, Konstantin!”/ He begs, and I nearly let go, but the pain in my palms keep me

grounded.

Stefan caresses her cheek, and she leans into his hand, but her eyes don’t leave mine. She's in pain, I

can tell as I catch a whiff of her scent - that sweet lavender scent I smelled on her after I claimed her

that night. This is her true scent, and only her mate can tell the difference. She's in pain and terrified,

but there's nothing I can do about it, not while I am in his territory.

Lily walks towards me, her beautiful blue eyes welling up with tears and her bottom lip trembling.

She has lost her shine and sparkle in her eyes, but she still looks as gorgeous as the first time I set

my eyes on her. This is my mate; she’s mine, and yet...

She wraps her arms lightly around me, stinking of sex and sulphur. “Help me...” she whispers in

Russian, not moving her lips, but then she smiles when she lets go. “Konstantin, it's nice to see you

again,” she says louder and touches my shoulder before turning back to Stefan. “Hurry back, my

love. I'll be waiting on the Cross.”

Stefan’s grin widens when she says this, then she walks out and closes the door behind her. What

the fuck just happened?!

“She loves the St Andrews cross, did you know that? You should see how her pale skin puckers

under a whip-"

“This is not why I've come to see you, Stefan. I am taking my leave if you're satisfied with the

outcome of our warriors,” I growl, my jaw tightened like a vice. I am so past pissed off right now, but

to attack him on his own ground in his own home would be unbecoming of a Blood Crest Beta

Five months. Five months of not knowing where she is, of worrying myself to death over her safety

only to find her here.

He chuckles and then walks around his desk with an extended hand. “More than satisfied; your

leadership over the last 24 hours is something I wish I could gain, but I'm afraid I only rule with

power and fear.” He says, shaking my hand - the same hand that was trussed in Lily's hair a few

minutes ago.

“Very well. If there's nothing else-"

“I truly apologise for what you walked in on. Ever since she fell pregnant, she’s become insatiable,”

he says with a chuckle. “By the shocked look on your face, I guess that she didn't tell you she came

to me. I probably should have informed you that she has been here all this time, but she assured me

she left your pack in amicable circumstances. I hope this won't be a problem, seeing as she is my

Luna Bride.”

His words hit me harder than Xamnir's fist when he ripped out my heart.

I shake my head and manage a smile. “Not at all, as long as you keep her happy,” I say, not meaning

those fucking words at all. “Oh, I do. Well, until we see one another again.” He says, dismissing me

with those words.

I don't stop to think, even when I drive all the way home and enter Kai's penthouse. He walks out

into the landing with a cell phone at his ear. “Nah, I'm looking at him right now, and he’s alive and

seems fine,” he says.

But I am not fine... I am very fucking far from fine.

My brother walks towards me and places a hand on my shoulder. “Kon, is everything okay?" I look

him in the eye and shake my head, feeling my eyes shimmer back to their usual dark brown.

“I saw her, Kai... I know where she is, and I... I need your help.” I say with a trembling voice and feel

my heartbeat quicken. That pain was back, and knowing what it means now just breaks me even

more.

"You saw her? Who did you see, and what do you need my help with?”

Kai already knows my answer, but he doesn’t know the extent of my pain. He doesn't know how

much it hurts, how hollow and empty I feel knowing my mate is with someone else, how much it

hurt seeing the pain in her eyes and knowing she is probably being kept there unwillingly.

“I saw Lily at Stefan Russo's mansion; they're married, but... Kai, she’s pregnant, and I think it is

mine.” I say, but I know for certain that the pup is mine because a claimed female wolf can only fall

pregnant if the wolf who knotted her is her mate.

I realise now that this is indeed what happened when I claimed her - Lily and that unborn pup are

mine.

Kai frowns and shakes his head. “She's pregnant? When did you two even-"

“That's not what matters right now, Kai; she asked for my help when he wasn't listening. You should

have seen her... she was terrified but kept docile somehow..." I say, then see Caterina walk into the

landing with tears in her eyes and a hand over her mouth. An idea occurs to me, and I walk over to

my brother's mate. “Please, tell me if I am wrong!"

Caterina nods and is about to put her hands to my face when Kai stops her. “Wait, I don’t want this

stress on her-"

She pulls her wrist out of his grasp and glares at her mate. “I can handle this, Kai,” she asserts with a

raised eyebrow before turning to me again. It always amuses me how this sweet little thing handles

Kai, and he allows it even if it pisses him off.

She nods, and her eyes go blank when she touches me, tears streaming down her face as she slowly

lets go of me.

“Volkov blood in her womb, but something is obscuring it... something dark... I get a faint scent of

lavender being obliterated by the strong stink of sulphur,” she says, shaking her head and bringing

a trembling hand to my cheek. “I'm so sorry you had to witness that, Kon. That would have been

painful to see either way.”

I nod, trying to contain the tears that are now threatening to fall. “Lavender... that is her scent, that

is Lily,” I say with a cracking voice. “That is my blood, my child, and we need to get them out of

there before he realises that the child is not his.”

At that moment, Dimitri walks in and takes in the scene in front of him. “Somebody care to tell to

me what the fuck is going on?"