43. Bad Memories

Konstantin

Something is off about that woman on Fenriz's arm. I know it's none of my business, but there's

dark shit surrounding her. Should I warn him about it? She's his mate, though; will he listen?

I look over at Lily with the twins in the stroller and how the entire pack seems to be enamoured with

them. It's understandable; they're Volkov heirs and will run the pack one day. But as I look over at

Kai and his little family, I wonder if Cat will be prepared to hand over the Alpha mantle to her

daughter, knowing what the ritual involved.

“Konstantin,” I hear the gruff voice of the Rogue Alpha, Cain, as he approaches me from behind.

Dressed in black and drinking a Cola, he looked every bit as intimidating as he tried to look, but

something was different.

“Cain, didn’t think you'd make it,” I say and take his hand, which he shakes.

He shrugs. “I had to come; we're allied now, and apparently, I'm an uncle now too.” He says and

shakes his head, chuckling.

Cain and Cat have been meeting up more often lately, and the Rogue has taken a shine to little Kira.

She's of Alpha blood, so naturally, people will gravitate towards her.

"Yeah, they do make a hell of a difference,” I say, watching my mate as she mingles with her old

friends, and I frown as my eyes fall on Nova standing awkwardly to the side. “You brought Nova?”

Cain sighs. “She wanted to meet my niece and see Caterina again. Besides, have you met her?

Would she have listened to me if I told her to stay?” He says in an annoyed tone, and I can't help

but laugh. “She doesn't listen, even if I am her fucking Alpha.”

"Yeah, for a little librarian, she’s quite the firecracker,” I say and shake my head.

Nikolai rejected her in the worst possible way and called out her flaws. Even if it wasn't him at the

time, the rejection is still there, and now they have to suffer the consequences. Rejected mates will

never find happiness again unless the other dies. But even then, the female will be barren, and the

male will never produce an heir.

“She still pines for him, I can tell, but I'm trying to make her a stronger person because of it. She's

been under my training for about two weeks now, so she’s getting there, and we've been trying to

coax her wolf out of its slumber.” Cain says, taking a sip of the soda in his hand.

“Thank you for watching over her; she needs the solidarity of a family we couldn't give her,” I say,

meaning those words. Nova feels like a little sister already, but what could have been is now ruined.

I look over at him, noticing the odd way he keeps looking at his Betas.”So, what's happening with

your plans to take out the usurper?” I ask, referring to the entire reason he came to me in the first

place.

He grins and lets out a sigh. “Turns out there's a lot more to this than meets the eye; a lot more. Kai

will be calling him here tomorrow under the guise of a pack meeting, and that is where I will strike

while Alpha Ryker takes out his pack.”

"Your sister married into the right fucking family, that's for sure. Beast for a brother and beast for a

mate. Your wolf must be black as well.” I say, thinking how his bloodthirstiness matched Kai's.

Cain nods proudly. “As dark as obsidian, and I never hold back,” he chuckles.

"Good luck to Alpha Derric,” I say and slap his shoulder as a goodbye.

As much as I enjoyed talking about war spoils, my wolf only had eyes on its mate and heirs. I can't

be away from them for too long, or he starts pacing.

/“1 know, fuck. I'm looking for them.”/

/“You should not have left them!"/

/"Shut the fuck up, Vulcan."/

This is how we argue if she just leaves for the bathroom. I swear he's become more obsessive over

Lily and the kids since they have returned and refuses to leave their side.

And yes, my wolf, which I have had since I was born; finally fucking decided to tell me his name.

When I asked Kai, he looked at me oddly and said his beasts made themselves known to him from

day one; even Cat knew her wolf's name. Cat's wolf is Sable, whereas Kai's wolf is Gunnar and the

Lycan is Loki. What the fuck? I could never imagine having two beasts inside of me, not with the

insufferable way my beast acts.

/"Careful,”/ he warns.

/“Or what?"/ I roll my eyes at his so-called warning.

When I finally spot them, my beast relaxes at the sight of its mate, and we walk over to them. Lily

has her back to me, so I sneak over and plant a kiss on the back of her neck.

I only realise my fucking mistake when she lets out a scream.

Wrapping my arms around her waist, I scent her and try to calm her down. “Shhh, hey, it's me,” I

whisper, watching her eyes flit wildly and her heartbeat speeds up. “Lily, it's me.”

My heart drops when I see her eye colour flicker between yellow and silver but then settle on silver

when she finally realises that she's looking into my eyes. “K-Konstantin?” she stammers, a frown

crossing her brows when her eyes turn back to their beautiful pale blue.

I nod then kiss her forehead. “It's only me, baby. Deep breaths, no one is ever going to hurt you

again.” I murmur, then hold her close, knowing all eyes were on us at that moment.

Her neck is a sensitive spot. She doesn't want to tell me why, but as soon as I touch her there, it's

like she’s thrown back into that room with Stefan doing God knows what to her. How could I have

been so fucking stupid?

Her eyes have never done that before. A part of me has forgotten about her Succubus side or rather

wanted me to forget about that side of my mate. She doesn't know that part of her yet, and I'm

terrified of what will happen when she does.

“I'm sorry, baby,” I whisper, still scenting her so her heartbeat can calm down. Guilt gnaws at my

heart as I realise that her panic attack was because of me. “I'm so sorry.”

She takes deep breaths before stepping back and shaking her head. “No, no, I'll be fine. I can do

this,” she insists, then bends down to tend to Kaia, who had woken up.

Holding our daughter to her chest, she starts to hum a song while closing her eyes. I watch her as

she does this, noticing how this little act calmed her down even more. She then opens her eyes and

lets out a sigh.

“I'm okay,” she says with a smile. “I was just startled, that's all.”

I walk to her and kiss her forehead again. “Remember, I'm here, and no one else will take you away

from me. I promise, Lily, on my fucking life, you'll always be safe with me.” I say, my beast brimming

protectively at the surface.

Fuck, I know I'm not the best person or the greatest, and I am by no means innocent in anything.

But one thing I do know for sure is that I will not allow anything to happen to my mate and our little

family ever again.

That's a fucking promise.