Alpha Rising

Chapter Twenty-Six

Every ounce of breath left my lungs in a burning rush of fear and panic. Nikolai’s anger was palpable, and I knew that I was dancing on a very fine line between misunderstanding and full-on offense. “Wh-” I tried to start, but the low growl in his throat stopped me. 

“Don’t lie to me Vira,” my mate hissed. I hated keeping this from him, even though the loyalty was truly only borne of the bond we shared by the grace of our Goddess. I had hoped that time would forge it stronger, but we were still too new in each other’s company for that to happen. “Brianna saw the two of you side by side,” he said. “I’d thought that you were simply a larger fighter. It’s not uncommon.” Those cold eyes narrowed on mine, trembling in pain and still in something else I didn’t quite understand. “That could have still been the case.”

I swallowed hard and let a shaky breath hiss out through parted lips. “But?” I asked, tentatively trying to get him to share what he already knew of my situation. If I at least knew that, then I could attempt to soften the blow.

“But the damned Aura didn’t come from him,” Nikolai said with a finality that threatened to break my very soul. My mate was losing his faith and his trust in me. And I can’t say that I didn’t deserve it.

My jaw clenched tight and I tried my hardest not to snap at him in some way be it verbal or physical. The heat of his body was radiating over me, and it was hard to focus for the briefest instance. “Did she tell you that?” I asked, hissing out a thinly veiled disdain for Brianna growing ever-present in my tone. “Because if you’re going to blindly take some manipulative tart’s word as gospel-” I let out a terse huff and pushed out of Nikolai’s grasp. 

Leaving him standing at my desk, I turned my back to him and chose to stare out of my large window. It was partly to put some distance between us, but it was mostly just to not let him see the anger bubbling underneath my straining expression. My pulse rose, taking my anxiety sky-high with it. 

“And why shouldn’t I?” Nikolai spat back at me. “If my own mate isn’t willing to be honest with me, then who else should I trust?” Behind me, I could hear him take a few slow steps closer. But I could also sense that he was keeping his distance. Be it out of anger or concern I couldn’t be sure. 

The silence between us only grew when I couldn’t answer. My instincts wouldn’t let me, because I ultimately knew that whatever I said would be enough of an un-truth to not feel comfortable. Another creak of the floor sounded under his shifting feet until he was close enough to me to loom over my shoulder. “Who knows?”

My breath caught in my throat, and I let my eyes close. “Alban, Nell, and my parents.” We hadn’t told anyone else explicitly, or at least I hadn’t. I mean, of course, Nell and Alban’s mates knew, but we didn’t make this public knowledge for some rather good reasons. I spun to face him, a fire in my eyes that dared him to try and force me to fall in line where I physically could not. “Now are we going to talk about this like adults? Or are you going to keep accusing me of being a reprobate that intends to make your life a living hell.”

To make my point, my arms were crossed firmly under my chest, and my shoulders were squared confidently to make me just as imposing a figure as my mate did. While he still had nearly half a foot in height over me, the training that I’d been going through with Trevor and Phillip these past few weeks had helped to re-tone my muscles. “Because if you’re going to keep assuming without letting me set the record straight,” I said with definitive confidence. “Then I won’t discuss this.”

Nikolai seemed to weigh his options heavily. His eyes lowered in thought, and I could hear him humming before his gaze shot back up to mine. One of his hands fell to clench his towel closed tighter, as it had started to slip on his hip. “Alright,” he eventually said. “Then by all means.”

I rose an eyebrow at the flippant gesture, and felt my nostrils flare with frustration. “On one condition,” I said slowly. There was one thing bugging me that I wanted to make sure I touched on. When he seemed to nod in approval for me to continue I let out a deep breath. “If I open up about this,” I started. “You have to open up to me about yourself.”

The man froze, nearly as terrified as I felt, by the looks of it. He contemplated my offer and with some reluctance finally agreed. And with that out of the way, I let my posture relax as I leaned against the wall next to the window. “It’s going to change the way you look at the council,” I warned, making sure that Nikolai knew full well what he was getting into. 

But he didn’t stop me, so I continued. “But apparently the consistency of firstborn heirs only being male is…manufactured...to a degree.” I chose my words carefully, not wanting to send the man into a rage should I speak out of turn or accuse someone I shouldn’t of things very circumstantial. 

“What do you mean?” he prompted, clearly sensing that I wanted to keep the conversation at a safe pace. 

My fingers curled around the hem of my shirt, and I swallowed hard. “The way it was explained to me,” I continued. “Was that my parents had to claim Alban as being born before me.” I took a deep breath and steeled myself against the internal struggle that this prompted in my mind. “Was to keep me alive.”

I waited as Nikolai narrowed his eyes at me. The gravity of the situation was apparent, and the gears in Nikolai’s mind looked to be turning ever so slowly along with the information. I could see him swallow, his adam’s apple bobbing up and down with the motion and momentarily distracting me from the tension. But when he didn’t speak, I let out a sigh and dropped my chin to my chest. “According to some information I’ve been looking into...There have been sacrifices in the past.”

I wanted to let the sentiment settle calmly, but Nikolai’s mind immediately went to where I could have only assumed it would. He loosed a possessive growl and stalked forward to press a tense and guarding hand to my waist. “I’d like to see them try,” he growled. 

It may not have been the whole story, but it was at the very least a step in the right direction. And since we would be seeing my parents in a few days, we could potentially get more information out of them. “I only found out a few days before moving up here,” I added. “The signs were starting to get out of hand.”

Nikolai hummed and nodded along with my words. “So I was a convenient escape,” he said, almost hurt. “But. I understand why you wouldn’t want this knowledge out there.” Nikolai’s free hand rose to drum on his lower lip. The hand at my waist gripped tighter, almost scared that I might vanish. “I’ll have to set Brianna straight, then,” he said after a moment. And I certainly hoped he did. Because I didn’t want to fight with that wretch of a woman right before my birthday.

“So,” I said after the silence settled between us. “When we get back, you’ll tell me more about your past?”

The look on Nikolai’s face told me that he must have been surprised that I was allowing such a break until his end of the bargain, but he quickly shook himself clear and nodded firmly. “Of course, Vira.” The tone had slipped from anger to tenderness, which helped ease some of my own tensions about our rocky relationship. “I am sorry for losing my temper with you.”