Moonlight Run

Thirty-Four

Nikolai’s POV

I held her face in my hands as I said the words, “Isadora, I love you, too.” And I felt the inescapable grin spread across my own.

Here she was wearing only my t-shirt, sharing an entire pizza with me… in the woods… in a bed… having just let me thoroughly f**k her on it… Of course, I love her. I couldn’t imagine for a moment spending a night like this, or any night ever again, with anyone else.

I slid the pizza box aside and tackled her across from me, pushing her back into the pillows again. She emitted a soft giggle as I kissed her all over quickly, down her neck, along her jaw, on each of her cheeks; each one leaving a burst of heat on her skin warmer than the last.

I brushed Isadora’s raven hair from her face to look at her again, and she smiled back up at me. “Say it again?”

“I love you,” I said, placing a delicate kiss on her lips.

I meant to pull back, but she put her hand on the back of my head holding me to it, and we prolonged our exchange as she ran her tongue over my bottom lip. The action sent unseen sparks flying between us before her tongue met mine and we deepened the kiss, growing hungry for each other again.

She pulled away from me with a gasp, clutching her temple now.

“Isa?” I asked with concern, “What is it?”

Isadora cringed and let out a painful, “Ah! You don’t feel that?”

“No, I feel okay…” I watched as she stood up on the bed and walked to its edge, nearly tripping as she stepped down off of it before I reached out to catch her. “Isa!”

She groaned in my arms, both hands on her head now. “Something’s wrong,” she said. “It’s not supposed to be like this, is it?”

I shook my head, terrified of what that could mean for us. “I don’t think so,” I admitted. I reached into the pocket of the sweats I had pulled back on and looked at my phone. It was 12:02, and aside from the strange heat between us and the odd wave of vertigo we had both felt earlier, I now felt fine. But Isadora was definitely not fine.

I scooped her up in my arms and sprinted like hell back to my car. When we were there I recalled that my keys were still in my living room, thrown on the couch. She propped herself upright against my hood, moaning as she closed her eyes. “I’ll be right back, I’ve gotta get my keys.”

I was at my door and had popped in and swiped the keys from the couch in no more than a minute, as I shut the door behind me and locked it, I heard a thud in the driveway. I yanked my keys from the deadbolt and ran around to the side of the house where I found her.

“Isa!” I yelled as I picked her collapsed body off the ground. I felt her pulse, still beating, albeit very fast. She was still breathing, too. I opened up the passenger door and set her in the seat, leaning it back for her as I buckled her in, before I came around my side and started the car up.

Gravel flew as I pulled out of the driveway, and so did I as I slammed on the gas pedal.

***

Valric and Cyrano met me at the annex elevator, holding it open for me as I hurried in with the unconscious Isadora still in my arms. I pulled down at my t-shirt that she wore, suddenly aware that she still had no underwear on and Cyrano cleared his throat, pretending not to have noticed.

“How long has she been like this?” The night nurse asked as we stepped out into the lower hall, following her to the infirmary.

“Maybe ten minutes?” I said. “She collapsed in the driveway just a few minutes after she got this sudden headache.”

“And this happened right at midnight? And she’s just turned twenty-one?”

“Yes,” I nodded. “Yes.”

“And you’re her mate?” She asked, helping me move Isa from my arms to a hospital bed.

I froze in place, unsure. “I… I don’t know. It seemed that way. We were experiencing all the usual building symptoms, but… then when midnight came, this happened instead.”

She nodded, and a few other medical staff entered the room. “We’ll keep you posted,” she said as she wheeled Isadora away.

“I’m going with you.” I demanded.

“Not if you’re not her mate, you aren’t.” She narrowed her eyes at me. “So are you, or not?”

“Yes.” I said, doubling down with confidence. “Yes, I’m her mate.”

“Okay then.” She smiled back at me. Her eyes glazed over momentarily, and I could see that she was mindlinking.

I groaned. “Tell me you did not just contact my father…”

She frowned at me. “This is like nothing I’ve seen before, and thankfully Alpha Blackburn has an Aura Analyst here with us. She may be helpful with diagnosing this.”

I looked back to Valric and Cyrano. “I’ll keep you posted.” They both nodded at me and I followed the nurse as she wheeled Isadora back to a private room.

I stood by the door for nearly an hour as the medical staff took Isa’s vitals, started an IV line, and ran a few tests. The nurse returned to me after a few minutes and spoke, “She’s unconscious but there doesn’t seem to be anything medically wrong with her. It’s as if she’s just fallen into a heavy sleep.”

“Like a coma?” I asked, crossing my arms.

“Doesn’t seem to be,” she shrugged. “Just… asleep.”

She put her hand on my shoulder and sighed. “Hopefully the analyst will have answers for you.”

I bit my lip and watched as the rest of the staff cleared out, and I motioned to Isadora on the bed, asking the nurse, “Can I…?”

The nurse nodded. “You can sit with her, hold her hand… she might even be able to hear you if you talk to her. Maybe you can wake her up? I’m not sure.”

I gave a small nod back to the woman and she left the room.

More than two hours passed, and into the three o’clock hour I heard the door swing open behind me, and my father stepped into the room. He held the door open as a tall woman in a black pantsuit, blonde hair pulled back into a low bun followed after him.

“Nikolai,” he said to me. “This is Lucretia, the Council’s Aura Analyst.”

I stood and met the woman halfway, shaking her hand. “Thank you for coming, sorry to wake you from your sleep.”

She shook her head. “Think nothing of it, I’m sorry we weren’t here sooner. Your father and I met at his office first, so he could bring me up to speed on everything that had happened with Isadora so far.”

I shot a knowing glance at my father. “I’m sure he was.”

I took a minute to explain what had happened with Isadora just before I brought her here.

“And what were you doing when this occurred?”

“We were just… spending time together, waiting for midnight, her birthday.” I cleared my throat as Lucretia stared at me blankly, clearly wanting me to elaborate further. “We were sharing a pizza after we had,” I paused, aware my father was standing behind her. “...started celebrating early.”

“Ah,” she nodded. My father rolled his eyes as Lucretia spoke. “Well that helps explain some of what I see, at least.”

“I’m sorry, what you see?”

“I can see Auras… colors, beams of light around individuals, and those that run between couples and even family members. I help people like Isadora figure out their gifts, or even their relationships to others.”

“And how does one see these Auras?” I asked.

She shrugged. “My father was an Alpha with his own abilities, but my mother was the daughter of an Alpha who could do what I can. Sometimes when both sides of the genepool are that strong, even the daughters can acquire abilities.”

“Hm,” I nodded. “And you know about Isadora’s parentage?”

“I do.” She confirmed. “Give me a minute with her gentlemen?”

My father and I both stepped away as Lucretia walked over and sat on the bed beside Isadora, looking back at me curiously for a moment, before placing her hands on Isa’s hands and inhaling.

My father nudged me. “Why don’t we have a word outside while we let her work?”

I sighed, but gave a nod, and followed him out into the hallway.

Once we were along, he scratched the back of his head and chuckled at me. “You wasted no time at all, didn’t you?”

“You’re really going to question me about my intimate relationships right now?” I raised a brow at him.

He ignored my comment, asking, “Is the girl your mate then?”

“I think so,” I said.

“You think?”

I explained to him a summarized version of the strange symptoms we’d each experienced throughout the night. My father shrugged. “Hm. Both hot and cold sparks are indicative of the mate bond… but the cold ones should only appear when she’s in need of healing. That’s… odd, to say the least.”

“I’m just worried about what that means,” I motioned through the door. “As if we need one more complication.”

My father placed a hand on my shoulder. “Whatever it is, we’ll figure it out. I’m going to go find that nurse and tell her I want Isadora’s sample examined, to see if the venom in her bloodstream has activated. Perhaps this is some kind of reaction to that?”

I shook my head in disbelief, turning around on my heel to him. “Is that all you care about right now? Is your only concern for the dollar signs that you see in her veins, and not for the fact that my mate — the future Luna of this pack, the woman I love, father, — is laying in a hospital bed right now?”

“Is everyone that f*****g disposable to you?” I snapped.

My father pinned me angrily against the wall next to the door and pointed towards the window in the door. “That girl,” he snarled, “Is the farthest thing from disposable in this pack, Nikolai. She is in fact the only thing that may yet secure our place at the head of this pack, else her brother would be preparing to ascend to that role instead. And it is only because I know she is your mate that I don’t plan to have her bled for every drop. Because otherwise, I would— if that’s what it would take to keep this pack in our control. Do you understand me?”

I nodded slowly up at him and he backed away from me, adjusting the collar of his jacket. “Now, let’s get back inside,” he said.

“Anything?” My father addressed Lucretia as he stormed into the room before me, coming around to the corner of Isa’s bedside.

Lucretia stood at the end of the bed, palms up towards Isa, concentrating as she hummed. She lowered her hands back to her side and nodded. “Yes,” she sighed. “There’s a lot happening here.”

“Like what?” I asked.

“Well, for starters… That medicine man you found her with, Maximus?” I nodded. “I can’t confirm until we’ve seen her samples now that she’s of age, but I have reason to suspect he was wrong about her.”

“In what way?” I took Isadora’s hand in mine as my eyes met Lucretias.

“I don’t think her blood will make new Alphas,” she said hesitantly. “I think Isadora is a new Alpha…”

“That’s impossible,” My father said. “She’s a girl.”

“As impossible as it is that daughters that have descended from Alpha’s, like me, can still inherit abilities one would normally only find in an Alpha?” She raised a brow. “As impossible as a wolf figuring out a myth that Council historians have spent a lifetime trying to make sense of?”

My father inhaled and exhaled slowly. “If you’re right, what does this mean?”

Lucretia thought carefully for a moment. “Knowing some of the versions of would-be truth that I’ve heard from others that have studied the Ostara Conversion? I think you’re going to find that whatever wolves are given her blood will answer to her as their new Alpha.”

My father gaped at Isadora in the hospital bed, his nostrils flaring.

Lucretia added, “I think in addition to turning humans into wolves? That any wolf that ingested her blood would be aligned to her… breaking the link to their former pack.”

I swallowed hard as I looked at her sleeping face.

“Unfortunately, if that’s the case…” Lucretia continued. “I don’t think there’s anything this brother of hers could benefit from having her blood. It would be useless to him and anyone else.”

“Then we don’t tell him,” I said quietly.

My father and Lucretia both looked at me in surprise.

“Julius doesn’t need to know about this… about what she is. That way he abdicates the title as planned, and we give him a vial of her blood as promised. Worst case scenario? When he figures it out and tries to attack us, we fight. Best case scenario? He’s so clueless he gives it to his wolves, believing the original theory— that they’ll all become Alphas… But they end up answering to Isadora instead.”

“Hm,” My father nodded approvingly, placing a firm hand on my shoulder. “Now you’re thinking like a leader... I’m with you on this.”

“So what is this, then?” I asked Lucretia. “...a strange headache so strong it would render her unconscious?”

A small smile formed in the corner of Lucretia’s mouth. “I don’t think it’s a headache at all.”

I tilted my head to her, waiting for her to say more.

“I think she’s making the transition… whatever unique abilities she’ll have as an Alpha? I think they’re stirring inside of her. But since she’s not as big or strong as any male Alpha would be… so this is how her body is carrying through the change.”

I gaped at Isadora in awe.

“It’s amazing,” Lucretia said. “Just since I’ve come in here, her aura color has shifted… She was yellow, with this strange coral tone… Most ordinary packmembers are yellow. But the longer we’ve stood here, the more the coral color has overtaken it, turning a dark pink now. I imagine within mere hours it will be red… the same color as both of you.” She nodded to my father and I. “The color of an Alpha.”

“And what does this mean for her suspected bond with Nikolai? Can two Alphas even be mates? Is this even possible?” My father shook his head, growing more frustrated. “What would even come of any children they have? Whose line would they—”

Lucretia placed her hand on my father’s and he gasped. “How are you—”

“I can affect the Aura of others, too.” She nodded at him, explaining. “I can provide a sense of calm in individuals, even in the relationships between them.”

She released my father’s hand, and looked back over her shoulder at me. “You need not worry, Nikolai. Your bond with Isadora is strong. Though you may not have yet marked her, I can see it clearly,” she said as she looked at the empty space between us. She tilted her head aside. “But there’s something else here…” She extended her arm, seemingly running her hand over something invisible to my father and I. “It’s faint, but…”

Lucretia’s eyes went wide a moment and she smiled, quickly turning her head back to me. “Alpha Blackburn… Can I have a private word with your son?”

My father raised a brow at her and she added, “I’d just like to share some womanly advice he may not have received in his youth, given the loss of his mother. Would that be alright with you?”

He grunted, but nodded. “I’ll be in my parlor… if you’d like to pick up where we left off when you’re done here, Lucretia.”

She smiled reassuringly at him, watching as he left.

I opened my mouth to speak and she held up a finger. “Wait,” she mouthed, listening for the sound of the elevator doors closing down the hall.

“Forgive me,” she said. “Your father’s hearing abilities are well known among the Council members.”

“It’s been my understanding the Council has enjoyed the use of that ability to eavesdrop on a number of important conversations throughout his time as Alpha...” I raised a brow at her.

“Hm. You would understand correctly.”

“So what did you want to say to me that required kicking my father out of the room? He must like you an awful lot to have listened. He rarely lets anyone tell him what to do.”

She tilted her head again. “I didn’t tell him; I asked. And I took the chance that he might listen, because he was still under my calming effect.”

“Ah.” I said, “That makes a bit more sense then.”

Lucretia looked at me thoughtfully for a moment, and then smiled at Isadora. “She’s very pretty, and she’s strong willed. I can sense that about her. I can see why you would hope to have her for your mate.”

I smiled back at her. “She’s a good person, too. There’s not a lot of those left out there.”

“No,” Lucretia sighed. “There are not. But with any luck, you’ve at least added one more.”

I furrowed my brow, glancing back at Lucretia for clarification as she continued. “Tell me, Nikolai… were you worried that perhaps you weren’t the girl’s true mate?”

I shrugged. “I mean, initially… even a week ago, I suppose. But since she’s returned, I’ve felt pretty confident about it.”

She met me with a confused expression. “If you were so confident, then why the safety net?”

“What do you mean?” I asked, sitting up as I continued to hold Isadora’s hand.

Lucretia stared at me blankly, reading me for a moment before she arched her head back to the wall with a soft laugh. “Oh, you foolish boy… You didn’t mean to do it, did you?”

“I didn’t mean to do what?” I sunk into my chair back, staring questioningly at Lucretia.

Her head fell forward from the wall and she laughed again. “You said the two of you were… celebrating early?”

I gave a nod in reply and she smacked her lips together. “And you know that a she-wolf’s fertility kicks in once she’s come of age?”

“It’s not like she’s gone into heat yet,” I said skeptically.

“Oh, sweetheart.” Lucretia shook her head. “She doesn’t have to be in heat to be fertile; the odds are just better.”

“Yeah but… she wasn’t of age yet when we…”

“When you had s*x with her, what — a mere half an hour before she came of age?”

I hesitated to reply, unsure where she was going with this.

She leaned forward, placing an elbow on each of her knees, and stared back at me intently. “Nikolai, your bodily fluids— that they can survive within a woman for hours, sometimes even days, after they’ve been exchanged.”

“What are you getting at?” I straightened up in my seat, sliding the chair back away from the hospital bed where Isadora still slept.

Lucretia bit her lip nervously. “Look, it would be too early for it to show up on bloodwork, I’m sure— or I would call that nurse in here right now, so you could see for yourself. But I’ve been reading bonds between couples for most of your life. And I can see the true mate bond that waits to be marked, yes, but… there’s a secondary bond taking shape between the two of you.”

“A secondary bond? What do you mean…?”

“You’ve sired her, Nikolai.” She peered at Isadora in wonder. “There are a bundle of cells coming together in that girls’ womb as surely as you and I breathe.”

I scoffed in disbelief. “No. That’s not…” I stood from the chair in shock, laughing incredulously. “We just… I mean, it was barely three hours ago.”

“Yes, and most couples know they’ve made a sire-bond by morning— At most, within 12 hours.”

I put both hands over my mouth, groaning as I continued to stare at Isa in the bed. “Okay, hypothetically, if you’re right — and I’m not saying you are — what the hell would that mean for our true bond?”

“Well, fortunately, because she is your true mate anyways, nothing changes in that respect. In most ways, it will be no different than if you had marked her and this happened three months from now.”

“You said most ways; so something will be different then?”

Lucretia smiled at me, standing now. “If a pair of true mates who have already marked each other have a child, nothing changes. There’s no secondary bond that links them. The first true mate bond is the only one they’ll share. And for most of us, that’s the best outcome we can hope for.” She paused. “But until you mark your true mate, you’re as much two separate people as any other couple. So if you sire your mate before marking them, the sire bond is created. And strangely, Aura wolves like myself have found that when you mark a true mate after creating a sire bond, both bonds remain. Historically, it’s become clear to us that those rare couples tend to have a stronger relationship than most others…”

I ran my hands along my chin and into my beard. “So this is a good thing then?”

“It can be, and in many ways,” she nodded, taking her handbag in her arms. “But there’s a potential complication I would caution you to be wary of.”

“What?” I narrowed my eyes on her.

“Sometimes, in these rare instances… once both bonds have been made between the couple? One can no longer live without the other.” Lucretia hesitated. “So if one of you were to become gravely injured… or die... There's a chance that the other one could, too.”

I took a deep breath, looking fearfully at Isadora. Lucretia patted my arm as she walked towards the door. “Best advice I can give you? Keep her safe, keep yourself safe… and keep that baby safe. That’s your pack’s future right there. And with two Alpha parents? They’re going to be a force.”

Lucretia walked towards the door, glancing at me once more over her shoulder. “Oh, and congratulations to you both.”