Alpha Rising

Chapter Twenty-Four

The former Luna had taken me into her sitting room, away from the others. And it was there that she gave me a bit of a history lesson on miss Mallard and her sour attitude. Something in her gaze said that she knew I’d gone out, and I wasn’t about to lie to her or fight against it. She deserved that much respect from me. 

She wheeled in ahead of me and let me close the door behind me. With my back still to the heavy wooden door, I watched as she artfully spun herself to face me even more gracefully than if she’s been walking. There was no clunkiness to Irena’s practiced movements and nothing but confidence in her posture and in her tone. 

“You no doubt see that my Nikki is young to be through his training, yes?” She started, looking at me with a carefully calculated gaze. I could feel that she would likely weigh my answer heavily.

With a nod, I moved further into the room to stand near her. A lump hardened at the back of my throat in anticipation of what was to come. 

The subtle incline of Irena’s chin was all the confirmation I needed to know that I was understood. “Good,” she continued. “Others are not always so…” She paused, seeming to mull over her words carefully. “Intuitive, shall we say.” There was something to that phrase that I was sure I could get to the bottom of eventually but now was not the time. Irena took in a deep breath, and the shadows from the dim light truly made me realize how thin and how frail she was. 

“His father, Andrei, had just started training him before the rogue attacks started picking up two years ago.” The downturned eyes couldn’t hide the pain that this poor woman felt, not even a little bit. “And Nikolai was determined to live up to his father’s reputation.” As any mother would, Irena let out a wistful hum of longing for those memories.

There was a creak and a crack in her posture as she straightened her back up and squared her shoulders. “In more ways than one, he did so.” Irena shook her head and let her shoulders tremble with a soft laugh. “He had his little string of followers, and he played his hand in many ways.” The woman’s gaze flicked up to me to test my reaction. And to my credit, all I did was harden my jaw and draw a sharp breath in. I’d had my share of partners before coming here, so I could judge nothing.

“Brianna was one of those dalliances that went too far, I think,” she finally said. “Nikolai had thought she was going to end up his mate. He was even willing to mark her and forge that lesser bond than the one that was gifted him through you.” I didn’t realize that I’d been holding my breath as she spoke, but when Irena swallowed, I drew in a short gasp of air. “And he made the mistake of telling her that.” Thin hands wrung tightly in her lap, and Irena huffed in frustration. “But then my dolt of a son broke things off with her. Never told me the reason why, either.”

That was what made the hair on the back of my neck stand on end. It had explained the smaller woman’s problem with me, full stop. Every dirty look. Every snide remark and the subtle ‘f**k you’s she’d managed to plant in my path at every step. I despised it. “What did she do?” I asked, barely restraining myself. 

Irena’s answer chilled me. “Everything she could to get him back.” The cold look in her eyes held dark secrets that I could only guess. “She put herself in harms way more than once, and he was always right there to care for her. Because-”

“That’s what a good Alpha does,” I finished, nodding in understanding. “So you think this might be another ploy to push me out of the picture, now that I’m an immediate threat.”

The older woman met my eyes with a wide and knowing look but refused to vocalize the answer. A diplomatic decision if ever I’d heard one. “I wanted you to know,” she finally said. “So you could...plan accordingly. But keep it quiet, I don’t need seeds of unrest sowing in my-” she cleared her throat. “In your future pack.”

With that, I was left with a sour taste in my mouth. The sense of righteous fury in my gut still rolled and bubbled up into the growl at the back of my throat, when she reached out to lay her hand on my wrist and softly shook her head. I could do nothing. I could say nothing. Nikolai’s pack had suffered enough losses, and I had to work with them to ensure that no more suffered. But with such blatant disrespect, I was near to bursting with that deep untapped anger that so often flipped my moods from one to another. 

The same swell of power and energy welled in my chest with every heaving breath, and I was sure I was starting to growl when I caught the curious and concerned look in Irena’s eye. Dammit. I needed to get that in check. A few deep breaths had me calmer, and I smoothed out my hair behind my ear. Eventually, I came to sit down in one of the chairs near Irena’s writing desk. 

Irena’s words hung heavy over me as the two of us sat up waiting into the early hours of the next morning. I looked over at her from time to time, the calm and reserved demeanor now changed in my understanding of how she operated. What other secrets lay dormant beneath those collected eyes.

I couldn’t say how much longer we sat there, and I think I’d actually dozed off a bit. The silence of the room was broken when an attendant ducked his head in and coughed to catch our attention. Irena had waved him in, and he leaned close to whisper something in her ear. “Very well,” she said. “You can just wheel me up to my room. I think I’ll retire to bed.”

“As you wish, Luna Irena.” The young man turned to me next and said a little more hesitantly. “Lu-” he paused. I wasn’t Luna yet. “Miss Lundine. Alpha Nikolai said that you should-” My focus snapped back up, and I didn’t even need to let the poor man finish his statement before I could smell Nikolai in the air. He was home, and I had a burning need to see him and make him damn certain that he wasn’t going to be able to get out of this bond now. 

My eyes met Irena’s for only a minute and I gave a quick bow to her out of politeness before slipping out the now open door into the still and silent main hall. The only thing I could hear was the steady tapping of something on metal, coming from the kitchen. 

“Nikolai?” I said with a softer and more cautious edge to my voice than was normal. All movement in the kitchen froze, and I swore I could hear him draw in a breath. As I rounded the corner into the kitchen, I could see him standing there in the bright halo of light from the open refrigerator. “What happened at the hospital?” I asked.

His hand tightened around the fridge door handle in response, squeaking slightly on the metal. Nikolai’s hair was pulled into a loose ponytail at the nape of his neck, and I saw strands of it fall in the shadow of his silhouette as he turned his head to the side. “I don’t want to talk about it,” he said low and gruff. 

Jealousy and anger rose in my throat, and I was certain that Nikolai could sense it. Because he let the door shut firmly and spun round to level a fiery glare in my direction. The two of us stood silently for a moment before he heaved a sigh. “Really?” I said. “I heard that someone- a member of my future pack- was poisoned with wolfsbane.” My words were sharp and punctuated by the terse gestures of my hands. “And you don’t want to tell your mate what happened?” The anger in my tone rose with my volume, and I was inwardly grateful that this wing of the house was nearly inhabited. 

“Alvira,” Nikolai hissed. “Don’t go there.” His arms were shaking, and I could see his hands opening and closing with tension. Nikolai took a step closer to me and dropped his voice lower. “There are things you don’t need to know.”

I scoffed and rolled my eyes at that. Didn’t need to know? Okay. Sure. Three quick steps was all it took to close the gap between us, and I was staring daggers into his cold yet beautiful eyes. “Would you have wanted to talk about it if it was one of the men that were hurt?” The slow and accusatory way I spoke belied my true frustrations, and I felt him freeze just inches from me.

His nostrils flared, and I saw the thin line of his lips press firmer while his eyes drifted down to rest on my neck. I swallowed the lump that had formed and heard him inhale sharply. Toned arms flexed as he reached out to me with one hand and firmly gripped my wrist. The pressure caught me off guard, and I was about ready to protest when he pulled me close and growled fiercely into the shell of my ear. “Jealousy isn’t a flattering look on you, Alvira.”

The sudden closeness and the breath of warm air near my face sent a shudder up my spine. I could feel the thin remnants of sweat still on him from the run. The scent of him mixed with the faint breeze from the nearby open window, and a growl of desire instinctively rolled in the back of my throat. 

A look of defiance flicked up to him, and I felt my lips curl up into a tempting smirk. My right arm was still firmly in Nikolai’s grasp, but my left was free to prick my fingernails at the exposed line of his hip, dipping down into the carved v beneath the band of his basketball shorts. His skin was hot, and I could see the outline of arousal slowly growing beneath the thin shorts he wore. “What are you gonna do about it?” I teased, pressing closer to him and letting my lips barely graze his ear as I spoke.

The sudden shift in mood left him groaning softly into my ear, his hips already straining closer to mine. All at once, he let go of my wrist and gripped me firmly by the hips with both hands, and squeezed. I was swiftly hoisted onto the counter, where Nikolay was quick to push into my slowly spreading legs with a hunger I hadn’t expected. 

His hands gripped my thick and toned thighs tightly, pressing them wider as he pushed up the hem of my dress higher and higher. “Do you doubt me?” he asked, fingers grazing higher to brush against the warmth of my exposed s*x. The barest hint of contact made me shudder, and Nikolai leaned in to inhale deeply at the crook of my neck. His lips parted and I felt the gentle nip of teeth on tender skin. The bastard was enjoying this, wasn’t he? 

My hands found his chest and slowly trailed up until I was draping my arms over his shoulders and pressing my nails against his skin firmly. Strength pulled him ever closer, but restraint kept me from stealing his lips right then and there. I kissed the side of his neck, slowly inching my way closer to his jaw and reveling in every groan and twitch of his body that I could feel. His hands tightened on the outside of my thighs and held me firmly to the edge of the counter. I crossed my ankles behind his waist and very deliberately pulled him closer. 

Nikolai was mine, and nobody would take him from me. I would remind him of that. I sighed against his neck, my tongue darting out to run in slow circles over the skin beneath my lips. Without warning, I latched onto him. I pressed my lips to his neck and I sucked and nipped until a hickey started to form. He moaned at the sudden pressure, and I felt his hips thrust forward to grind against mine. “Prove me wrong,” I growled against the mark, kissing it lightly before chuckling darkly.

As though the beast had been unleashed, Nikolai took the opportunity to growl and firmly pin my upper body to the bare counter behind me. I looked up at him with that taunting smirk I’d been wearing and took it upon myself to slowly drag my now free hands up my thighs. I pulled the thin sundress with the movement, inching it higher and higher slowly until it came off over my head. All the while, I could feel his eyes on me. He was practically salivating, and could barely contain the tremble of his hands as they fumbled to tug down the waistband of his shorts. 

Once his arousal sprang free of its restraint, Nikolai’s left hand quickly rose to grip me firmly by the throat. “Be careful what you wish for,” he said, his other hand positioning and guiding himself to press just at the edge of where I so desperately needed him. My back arched and I strained to wriggle my hips closer, just to feel some release and pleasure. Already, it was like sparks. My body was afire with desire and with yearning, and I think the gleam in my eyes let that be known. Because with one more look, he was thrusting forward to fill me near to bursting. 

There was a moment where we both paused, adjusting to the size and the tightness of the fit, before he started to move again. Slowly at first, Nikolai rolled his hips and fully drew himself out before firmly thrusting back in to elicit another sweet moan from my lips. The tremble of my breathing and my moans tensed under his fingers, and I felt him squeeze just a bit tighter. 

My mate growled low, starting to pant softly as his pace increased with every stroke. My exposed chest moved and bounced with the motions until I reached up to cup and knead the warm mounds. This only served to excite him further, and he started to move rougher and harder against me. I was quickly finding myself nearing the heated culmination of passion when he grew animalistic in his hunger. Nikolai hoisted me from the counter in one movement, supporting me by my backside with ease. He growled and groaned against me, guiding me up and down in his lap with force as he continued his merciless motion. 

Bliss found me, and I was soon reduced to a mess of eager putty in this man’s embrace. He moved quicker, whispering against my skin barely audible sweet nothings and adorations alike. I could feel his thighs start to shake, and as I began to convulse and shake around him in pleasure, so too did he groan and freeze in his motions. Nikolai’s lips found mine and he moaned his ecstasy into my kiss, all the while I could feel the warmth of release slowly filling me and claiming me on that deeper and more primal level. 

He didn’t break from me until we both burned for breath, and only then did he retreat but mere centimeters from my face. Still inside me, Nikolai pressed kisses to my cheeks and my jaw, sending little shockwaves of residual pleasure down to my very core. And though it may not have been the answer I expected from him, I was beyond content. My world was a prismatic show of joy and emotion at that moment, and I could wait until morning to ask the more pressing questions.