Alpha Rising

Chapter Twenty-Five

Sweat dripped from my brow even as my vision started to return to normal. I’d just been connected to my brother’s mind for a round of training, and it was a surprisingly taxing feeling.

While Alban had been on Star Garnet land he and I met with Avery and Evan Cassian, the twins who had promised to help us better control this mind-sharing phenomenon. Even the few lessons that we had with them over two short days seemed to help immensely. By the end of it, Alban and I were able to fully switch for nearly an hour at a time. And boy did we use it to torment Nell. 

But now, here I was sweating and aching after a training session in Alban’s body. A dangerous and delicate dance that left me feeling a bit dirty in the sense that I was sneaking information from my Father under false pretenses. Yet at the same time, I was excited to actually be on the way to controlling this rage and power that sat below the surface. 

I had been holding it together while here, for the most part. But I was constantly scared of snapping at the wrong person. So that little shred of my home felt like heaven.

Goddess save me, I missed my home. I sat slumped at a writing desk that had been set up for me near the large windows of what would eventually become my private office. At my fingertips lay a series of letters that Nell and Alban had left me, outlining the work that Dad had been heading to try and get the Elders to recognize me as his proper heir.

The notes were short, but they had enough in them to let me down regardless. “Nothing,” I whispered to myself, scooping the papers up and tucking them away into a locked drawer. I slipped the key onto a necklace chain and fastened it around my neck before sliding back from my desk with a huff. “Weeks of talking, and still...nothing.” I whipped my phone out of my pocket and double-checked the rapidly approaching full moon.

I’d managed to keep myself busy when I was alone by throwing myself head first into communicating with the other volunteers who wanted to search out these rogues. Several of Nikolai’s fighters were sent down to Bloodstone to go through more rigorous training without me. I’d wanted to go, but it was too risky, what with my strength growing more and more as the days inched closer to my birthday. Dad was right. It would be unavoidable now. Even the size of my wolf had increased nearly a whole foot. I practically towered over the she-wolves here when we were shifted and sparring.

“One more week,” I muttered to myself. It was only one more week until our birthday. One more week, and then my father had to present his heir publicly under the full moon ceremony. My heart leaped in my chest, and my mouth grew bone dry. One week...and the truth would be out.

I looked to the door to my little office and sighed. No signs of being disturbed. Not that I’d thought I would be. Physical attractions aside, I still felt closed-off from my Goddess-given mate. Not even Irena could help ease the tension between us. Though she did alleviate some of my fears in regards to Brianna still being so clingy and creepy. Alban had told her what Brianna said to him about me, and she made me a low and dangerous promise that she would not see someone get in the way of us.

Nikolai still hadn’t opened up to me, even after a week had come and gone after our late-night kitchen rendezvous. No matter what I tried, or what I did. He either changed the subject, walked out of the conversation, or just didn’t come back to the bedroom at night. Which was awkward given that I was now fully moved into his suite at the top of the house. I was now being left in an even larger room with more guards out front and I was still feeling alone. 

Alban and Nell had been gone for a few days, too, so I was still readjusting to the quiet. Thankfully, I had Sheena to help fill the void of loneliness I felt in my pseudo-house-arrest. I was grateful for her company, by all accounts. But it just wasn’t the same as that familiar comfort that my home and my family gave me. I felt like an outsider here, even more so than I did when I was hiding my strength in my own pack. Here, it was more dangerous to be found out. 

I was alone.

Just as I was thinking that, a knock to my door jolted me out of my thoughts and made me jump. Moments later, Nadine ducked her head in through the now cracked door and cleared her throat. “Luna Vira?” She said with a slight cough to her voice. 

“Just Vira,” I reminded her with a hum. “I’m not your Luna until Nikolai and I are bound under the full moon.” 

Nadine entered fully into the room once I waved her in, and she smoothed out the sleek hem of her pencil skirt as she walked. A bit wistfully, I let my gaze linger on her thighs a moment and briefly entertained the thought of what they might feel like beneath my hands. I shook my head and met her eyes again just as she was looking up from her tablet. “What was it that you needed?” I asked.

Her soft round face brightened with a smile and she nodded briskly. “Right!” the young woman chirped. “So, Miss Irena started getting some things ready for your birthday, and she wanted me to give you this.” Her free hand reached into one of the pockets of her jacket and pulled out a thin hinged box. “I know that the party is going to be back in Black Opal,” she continued. “But I think she really wanted you to wear it.”

Wear it? My head tilted to one side as my fingers fumbled with the lid of the box. When I opened it, I was left nearly breathless. It was beautiful, a carved crescent moon about an inch in diameter, made of star garnet and hung on a silver chain. The stone was polished smooth and laid flat on one side. My thumb brushed over the curved front of it, and I felt a warmth swell in my chest. “This was hers,” I asked. “Wasn’t it?”

Nadine nodded and stepped closer to look at it, though by her reaction she wasn’t even remotely surprised. “Oooh,” she cooed, leaning over to watch as the light caught on the rich purple stone. The highlights that gave the stone its name made the moon look like it was glowing, and I felt such a deep joy pouring from this one trinket. “I’ve never seen this up close before.”

Just as the two of us were fawning over the lovely gift, Nikolai came in to find us. He must have stood there for a minute just observing because he cleared his throat and had a hard set line on his face as though we’d ignored a request. Nadine immediately blushed and dropped her eyes to the floor, and for good reason. My mate appeared to be fresh out of a shower, with his ashen hair still wet and slicked back and a towel hanging low on his hips. “I’ll leave you two alone,” Nadine said to me quietly. 

My eyes followed her out, drifting low to the curve of her backside, and I could feel the narrowed gaze of Nikolai fall on me. “Enjoying yourself?” He asked once we were alone behind the closed door. My brow furrowed and I shot him a glare that dared him to question the little joys I found on my own. When he didn’t laugh, I paused. This was more stern than even his normal attitude. 

“You aren’t here to talk about me ogling my secretary,” I said sternly. “But I can tell you have something troubling on your mind.”

“Troubling would be a blessing,” Nikolai hissed, inching closer to me. He gently took the box from my hands and shut it, reaching behind me to place it on my nearby desk as he all but backed me up against it. “This,” he said, pressing his warm chest even closer to me. “Is infuriating.” A low growl rippled in his chest, and I felt his teeth graze my ear when he leaned in closer. 

Nikolai’s hands found my hips, and I was about to snap back with a witty remark about him only seeking me out for pleasure when his sharp cold eyes cut me short. His words chilled me, and I felt a rush of panic return to me that I hadn’t felt since a month or so prior. 

“When were you going to tell me that your brother isn’t an Alpha?”