From Maiden to Mother (Book 2 of the Northern Territories Series)

Chapter 3

From Maiden to Mother

Chapter 3

Nikolai’s POV

My Beta, Stryder, comes into my office and takes a seat across from me.

“Head Councilman Clay has summoned me to him. We’re expected to arrive at Council within 2 days. I don’t want to waste time there, so let’s move out tomorrow morning. Find something for us to do to kill time after the meeting and we will head back the next morning. I’ve already let Gavin know.”, I tell him. Gavin is my Gamma. He will handle everything while Stryder and I are gone.

“The full moon is tomorrow night. They do the wolf ring out there right outside Council walls. We could go watch the fights or fight ourselves, whatever sounds good.”

I nod thinking that over. That sounds good, we could watch and if I have too much aggression built up from my meeting with Head Clay, I can let some steam off there. “Let’s do that. Go get your bags packed.”, I tell him.

Stryder stands and leaves my office, but Leanne comes in and closes the door. She isn’t my favorite, but she will let me do whatever I want to her. “You wanted to see me?”, she asks seductively.

I smirk at her, “I have to go out of town for a little while, I have something I want you to come take care of first.”, I tell her while unzipping my pants.

SEXUAL CONTENT, SCROLL TO *** TO SKIP

She walks over to me, kneeling in front of me and freeing my erection. “Let me do it, don’t help.”, she says before taking my tip into her mouth.

She takes me deeply into her mouth and sucks, bobbing her head. It feels good, but I’m going to need more to get off. I grab handfuls of her hair and force her further down. She starts trying to pull back, so I hold her head and thrust up into her throat. I feel her tears spilling over my thighs and her gagging feels so good.

She digs her nails into my thighs and I thrust harder, pulling her down as I finish in her throat.

********************************************

I release her, she pulls away and slaps my leg as she stands. “I told you, not so rough, I don’t like that. It hurts.”, she whines at me.

“I don’t have much time, babe. I’ll make it up to you later.”, I tell her as I stand and fix my jeans, “I have to go pack so I can leave in the morning.”

She sighs heavily, “When will you be back?”, she asks.

“Hopefully in a couple days.”, I answer, “but that depends on whether or not Head Clay dismisses me or keeps me. I don’t imagine he will keep me though. Go take care of Stryder too.”, I tell her as I walk past her and head up the stairs to my room. I get my stuff packed and throw it down by the door.

I take a shower and climb in my bed. I want to be out of here by 3am. It is a 6 hour drive and I’m not trying spend all day in the Council Building.

We arrive at the Council Building right at 9am. Stryder and I walk in and get escorted to the elevator by a pretty solid looking lycan wolf. He has long red hair, pulled back and braided. He looks a little too much of a pretty boy to be Head Clay’s 2nd, but he introduced himself as 2nd Fields.

We exit the elevator and we find a mountain of a man, standing by the window in the waiting area. This guy is massive, with cold grey eyes that stare through us as we exit the elevator, but he doesn’t make any move toward us. He just turns back to the window.

“s**t, that’s a big dude. What does he do here?”, Stryder asks.

Fields glances back smirking at him, “Whatever he wants.”, I chuckle as Fields leads us past his office and opens the door at the end of the hall. We walk in and he closes it behind us.

The man behind the desk stands and walks around to us. This must be Head Clay. He is large, but not as big as the mountain outside. He is a good 4 inches taller than me and probably has a good 60lbs of muscle on me. He moves like water, those muscles aren’t just for looks. This man is a killer, for sure. I don’t intimidate easily, but he definitely is just that.

He offers me his hand and I shake it, “I’m Head Councilman Clay, you must be Alpha Nikolai Cobran.”, he says, “And you are?”, he releases me and looks to Stryder.

Stryder is terrified of this man, doing pretty well at hiding it, but Head Clay is a predator, I doubt he missed it. “This is my Beta Stryder Renaldi.”, I answer for him.

Head Clay’s eyes shift from Stryder to me, but he doesn’t speak. He turns and gestures to the chairs in front of his desk while rounding to sit back in his seat. I look over at the painting on the wall as I sit. It is really impressive, the stuff nightmares are made of. It’s an angry, massive, solid black, fully shifted lycan wolf. There is a violet light coming from him with patches of red and white bleeding through. The gold and green glow in the beasts hazel eyes draws my attention. “Is that you, Head Clay?”, I ask, getting the feeling it is by the eyes. That is one hell of a beast.

Clay follows my gaze to the painting, “It is, a close friend made it for me.”, he responds.

“Your friend is very talented, sir.”

Clay genuinely smiles for a moment, probably at the mention of this friend. “That she is.”, then his face returns to the stoic face we just met.

“Alpha Cobran, we’re both busy men so I’m going to make this as quick as I can and I hope that doesn’t offend you. I have some reports coming to me with some concerning thoughts regarding your recent activity. They think you’re building an army to destroy larger packs and take over. Naturally, that would make you our problem, we are the law. I’ve been watching you and I just don’t think that is what is happening. I think you’re just a wolf out to make a name for himself. Maybe even attempting to leave your heir more than you were left, which is respectable. Problem is, those 2 theories conflict. I need you to look me in my eyes and tell me which one has it right, Alpha Cobran.” His voice is low and commanding. I can tell by the way his eyes glow that he is focusing hard on me, daring me to say the wrong thing. He is leaned slightly forward in his seat with his arms resting on the armrests of his chair, staring through me.

Stryder is urging me to get us out of this room as quickly as possible and I have to block out his link to focus.

“Head Clay, I haven’t done anything wrong. What you’re hearing is a bunch of paranoid Alphas that don’t like change. I haven’t attacked anyone. I’m what you say.”, I answer him.

Clay sits back and folds his hands studying me. His gaze is so intense it is unreal. I have to learn how to look at someone that way.

“Head Clay… How do you look at someone like that? Your friend outside does it, I’ve seen other Councilmen do it. I’ve even seen a few Alphas do it. How?”, I ask.

He chuckles at me, “Stop looking to find and look to see, pup.”, he answers. I nod and he turns to study Stryder for a moment before returning to me. Stryder remains perfectly still and doesn’t look at Clay, but his erratic heartbeat gives him away.

“I believe you, Alpha Cobran. I appreciate your time. You’ll allow Council to cover your stay and any activities you should wish to participate in while you’re here. We’ll have a few Enforcers stick around the territory, just to bring a little peace of mind to the Alphas concerned. They won’t be any trouble, they're quiet men, you won’t even know they’re there. Is there anything you need from me?”, he asks as he opens his desk and pulls out a card. It is one of those charge accounts that bill to Council, he offers it to me. I accept it.

“No sir, it was a pleasure to meet you. We will be on our way.”, I answer, more than happy to get away from this man.

“Farewell, Alpha Cobran.”, he says as 2nd Fields opens the door.

We walk out and Fields escorts us back downstairs. “You can just leave that card at the hotel whenever you check out. They’ll get it back to Council for you.”, He tells us.

“Fields, what does look to ‘see’ instead of to ‘find’ mean to you?”, I ask in the elevator.

Fields furrows his brow at me, “I would think you were telling me to observe something without trying to find anything. Just to take it all in.”, he answers. I think about how that would be done.

We get to the hotel and check-in. I get 2 separate rooms so we can bring girls back from the fight if we want. I use Council’s card for the hotel and for the tickets to the fight.

We put our bags away in our room and go downstairs and have dinner before heading to the arena.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t much help to you in there, Alpha. It felt like every word out of him was a threat no matter how politely he said it.”, Stryder suddenly links while we are eating.

“That’s because it was, idiot.” I chuckle. We wrap up eating, pay with the card, and head to the fight.

Clay’s POV

“His Beta is still a frightened pup. Without him, he might seem a little more threatening. He put on a good show, but he was very much afraid of you, Head Clay.”, Kieran says across from my desk. Shane sits on the couch with his feet on the coffee table.

“Most people are afraid of me, Kieran. I can’t take that as a sign of guilt. I don’t think he is what he pretends to be, but I don’t think he is building an army to tear apart packs either. Just keep Dean and Leander out there for a while longer. We’ll keep track of him with the charge account while he is here.”

I finish up my reports and I go train downstairs with Shane and Kieran. After I take a shower, I check my phone. I text back and forth with Kara then lean back and chuckle at the irony.

Goddess, you’re a d**k, you know that? I don’t think we are going to be friends anymore.

Kara’s POV

We make it to the arena in Zeira’s car, and they head straight for the bar. I buy a soda and move to check the Council booth. I’m hoping Clay is here, but I don’t remember which night he is on. Nope, it’s Legard. I’m a little disappointed.

A man suddenly jumps down from the bleachers in front of me and startles the hell out of me, I jump back. He is very attractive. Chin length chocolate brown hair, blue eyes, strong jaw. Definitely a lycan wolf. I study him trying to decide why the hell he is looking at me like that. I let my power increase to let him know who he is dealing with. I don’t want to fight this wolf, but I will beat his big ass if he makes me. He growls and lunges for me, I side step him and use my palm force the back of his head further down making him crash face first into the floor.

I back up and turn to face him. Waiting for his next move, “Wolf, I don’t want to do this. Quit moving at me like that or I’m going to set you on fire.”, I warn him.

He stands up smiling and dusts himself off. “I’m your mate, gorgeous.”, he says. I narrow my eyes at him. I don’t think I felt anything when I touched his head.

“You stay very still, wolf.”, I say as I move a little closer to him. He watches me closely, but remains still, like I instructed. I study his face as I reach out and run my fingertips down his arm, I feel the tingling warmth entering my flesh and traveling up my arm. I drop my hand away. He stares at me. “What’s your name?”, I ask, still studying him.

“Alpha Nikolai Cobran, Luna.”, he answers.

“I’m not the Luna.”, I correct immediately, “I’m soon to be 2nd Mother of Black Hearthstone. If it is a Luna you seek, I will go ahead and reject you now so you can be on your way.”, I offer.

He shakes his head, “We can cross that bridge when we get there. It doesn’t matter where we live. What’s your name, gorgeous?”, he asks.

“Kara Morningstar.”, I reply.

He smiles widely, “Who are you looking for, Kara?” I grin when his line of questioning brings Red Riding Hood to mind. His smile grows, but somehow it feels scary. His aura is almost menacing. “Can I hold your hand, Kara.”, he holds his hand out for me.

“You can sit by me, Alpha Cobran.”, I reply and head up the stands to where I’d like to sit. He follows and sits beside me.

“It’s just Nikolai, you don’t call me Alpha, Kara.”, he says gruffly. I study him for a second and pull my phone out. I wish I could ask Clay what he thought of this guy, but that would be awkward now. I killed that plan before it could hatch. I message Clay.

Kara- I thought you would be here??

Clay- Thought I’d be where, babe?

Kara- At the fight.

Clay- I’m 2 moons out, Princess. You’re early.

Kara- Oh, I came with Zeira and Scarlett. Before you ask, no Kahn is not here.

Clay- Good. I hope you’re having fun, babe.

Kara- Best friend… I found my mate.

Clay- That’s great, sweetheart. What’s his name?

Kara- Alpha Nikolai Cobran. I haven’t made any decisions about him yet. I just wanted you to find out from me. I love you, best friend.

Clay- I love you too, Princess. Be safe. You know how to find me if you need me.

I can see Nikolai looking at my phone from beside me so I turn the lock screen on and put it back in my pocket.

Nikolai’s POV

I scent my mate and stand from the seats and look down over the side. I see her, she is walking toward the stands. I jump down in front of her trying to get to her as soon as possible. She jumps back away from me, staring me down. She is so beautiful, long thick black hair, honey eyes, small breasts, tiny waist, gorgeous ass. She smells so good, but there’s another wolf’s scent on her, it’s faint but it’s there. Her power increases significantly, she is so incredibly powerful. She is perfect!

On impulse I lunge toward her to pull her to me. She somehow slammed me on the ground. I stand, trying figure out why my mate wants to fight me. She backs away and takes a defensive position. It occurs to me that she is not a shifter. She has no idea we are mates.

“Wolf, I don’t want to do this. Quit moving at me like that or I’m going to set you on fire.”, she confidently warns. I can’t help the smile that takes over as I dust myself off. She is going to be so much fun to break.

“I’m your mate, gorgeous.”, I tell her. She is trying to figure me out. I decide to go ahead and stand still for her so she can move to me instead. I can get a better look at her if she isn’t dodging me. She runs her fingers down my arm and the mate tingles travel across my shoulders, it feels so good. I can smell the other wolf clearly now with her this close. She’s f*****g Head Councilman Clay! I try to control my anger, but it’s difficult to do when she drops her hand away.

“What’s your name?”, she asks me, her eyes never leave mine.

“Alpha Nikolai Cobran, Luna.”, I answer.

“I’m not the Luna. I’m soon to be 2nd Mother of Black Hearthstone. If it is a Luna you seek, I will go ahead and reject you now so you can be on your way.”, she tells me.

I shake my head. No way in hell, gorgeous. You’re mine. I’ll play whatever game you want until we’re mated and I mark you. After that, it will be my way. Your power can’t hurt me and you’re not big enough to take me physically. I ask her name, “Kara Morningstar.”, she answers.

I saw her looking at the Council box, she was looking for her f**k buddy. “Who are you looking for, Kara?”, I ask.

She grins thinking about him. I smile wider trying not to explode on her. I need to calm down, “Can I hold your hand, Kara.”, I offer my hand to her, knowing contact with her will calm me.

“You can sit by me, Alpha Cobran.”, she replies and walks away from my hand. I guess I wanted power now how have to deal with confidence. I’ll bite, gorgeous. I follow her and sit beside her.

“It’s just Nikolai, you don’t call me Alpha, Kara.”, I tell her, I meant for it to sound sweet, but because I’m annoyed it came out aggressive.

She stares at me for a second then pulls her phone out. She hesitates before opening a text conversation with ‘Best Friend’. She types quickly and doesn’t give me a good view of her phone. I caught ‘Best friend’ call her babe, sweetheart, Princess, tells her they love her too after she gave them my name. She turns the lock screen on and puts it back in her pocket. Who is ‘Best friend’, gorgeous?, I think to myself. I ask instead, “So where is Black Hearthstone from here?” She studies me. I can see it in her eyes, she doesn’t want me to know where she lives. “I’m not trying to make you nervous, Kara. I just want to get to know you. You said that if I were your mate, I would have to stay here to be with you. Shouldn’t I know where here is?”, I ask.

She seems to be more comfortable with that. “It is about 65 miles West Southwest of here.”, she answers.

I smile at her, “So, you’re soon to be Mother? Is that like the witch version of an Alpha?”, I ask.

She grins widely and tries not to giggle at me. It makes me smile wider because she is opening up little.

“Yes, I suppose that would be similar.”, she answers.

“Do you have a boyfriend, gorgeous?”, I ask, she studies me.

“I do not.”, she answers carefully. Why is she so scared of me? She’s controlling her heart rate well, but every once in a while it jumps when she loses focus on it.

“Will you give me a chance? Never know what you’ll let pass by.”, I try to entice her into seeing me. She looks at me quickly and seems to be stunned by what I said. She is studying me closely. I can’t tell if it is a good or bad thing. “Kara, did I say something wrong? Have I upset you?”, I ask her.

She shakes her head, “No, No, of course not. I apologize… it was just, my Nana told me… she told me I’d have a choice and I could make the wrong one and let something pass by.”, her eyes search my face like she is trying to make sense of something.

“As much as I’d love the idea of your Nana telling you to give me a shot, I have to ask how you would know. Seers are always very vague and often confuse the situation more”, I say to her, trying to get her to engage with me some.

“Honestly, I think it is kind of their way of preparing us for the ability to see. The future is ever changing, our decisions shape it. They’re telling us as much as they can, based on the possibilities they’ve seen. They know the choice, they don’t know what led to it or when it will happen.”, she replies.

Sounds like a bunch of bullshit to me. I just have to figure out how to keep her talking so I can get her in my bed tonight.

I touch her jaw and run my thumb over her soft lips. She tenses quite a bit, but doesn’t move away. I lean in and my lips touch hers, she jerks away before I can actually kiss her.

She goes to stand and I grab her arm to pull her back down, an angry growl accidentally slips from me. Her power level increases again. She looks around and I can tell immediately that forcing her to sit was the wrong move. She pulls out her phone again and this time I see Tania is the contact. This message I do catch. I start to take the phone from her, but restrain myself. I can tell she is getting defensive, I have to straighten this back out.

Kara- Send the twins to come get me, please hurry.

Tania- What’s wrong, Princess? Jayce just shifted, he is out the door. He will be there in less than 5 minutes.

Kara- I’m okay, I just don’t feel safe.

Tania calls and Kara answers her.

“Hey, Mother.”, she says sweetly. She has no idea I could see what she messaged.

"Are the fights good tonight? Last month was boring, Vasquez was overseeing. Which Councilman is there tonight?" What are they up to with this?

"Legard is here, the fights are just starting.", Kara answers sweetly.

“Hey, Maiden. It is too loud in there, I can’t hear you well. Go to the bathroom where it is quieter.”, I hear Tania tell her.

Kara stands, “I’m going to go to the bathroom.”, she tells me.

“I’ll walk you there.”, I reply and stand to follow her. These little bitches are sneaky as hell. We make our way down the bleachers and through the crowd.

We step off the bleachers and make it halfway across the arena to the bathroom when a big lycan wolf steps in front of us in athletic shorts, breathing hard. He has recently shifted, this must be Jayce. This man is damn near 7 foot tall, muscular build, sandy brown hair, and angry glowing steel blue eyes. Must’ve gone to the same school Head Clay did, he has the stare down.

He pulls Kara to him and I growl, he growls louder lunging toward me, pulling Kara behind him as his canines extend. “What do you want with my niece, pup?”, he growls out in a deep angry voice, barely human.

“She is my mate!”, I growl back. He narrows his eyes at me and turns his ear to Kara without breaking eye contact with me.

“He is, Jayce.”, I hear her say softly.

Jayce looks me up and down, “Do you want to accept him, Princess?”, he asks. I growl angrily and he growls louder leaning into my face again. I want to break his f*****g face, but this man is not even slightly intimidated by me and I haven’t missed how every other wolf in this place scurried away from him.

“I don’t know, Jayce. I just didn’t think he would let me leave if I tried and I didn’t want to fight him here, I don’t know who is with him.”, I hear her say to his back.

Jayce nods, still not looking away from me, “It was a wise choice to send for us, Princess.”, he leans in so we are eye level, “I don’t know what you did, but you’re scaring her, pup. I’m going to step back just enough to allow you to talk to her before I leave with her. You will not touch her, you will not move toward her. Do we understand each other?”, he asks.

I nod, “I understand, I’m not trying to scare her.”, I reply.

Jayce stands up straight and steps to Kara’s side, still slightly in front of her, taking her hand in his. Him touching her makes my blood boil.

“Kara, I just want to get to know you. I’m sorry if I scared you, it was never my intention. Can you give me your number? We can talk on the phone so I don’t get too close and make you uncomfortable.”, I beg, trying to look like the misunderstood adoring mate.

Kara nods and tells me her number and I save it in my phone, texting her my name so she has mine. I hear her text tone go off. “I’ll let you leave, gorgeous. I hope I see you again soon.”, I say gently.

Then the mirror image of this lycan, but in jeans and a t-shirt walks up, handing Jayce the keys. “You’re done talking to her for now, pup. She’s going to leave with Jayce, you and I are going to stand here and hang out until they’re gone.”, the 2nd Jayce says.

Jayce turns with Kara, keeping her hand in his as he eyes everyone that passes anywhere near them. They have to be a warriors of some kind. The Jayce with Kara heads for the door while the other one stays put in front of me, his glowing eyes daring me to try to pass him as I growl uncontrollably.

“Don’t get us wrong, we're okay with a wolf pursuing his mate. What you’re not going to do is corner her. Your mate means a whole hell of a lot to my brother and I. I will kill you where you stand and not even the Councilman behind you will give me a second look. I suggest you stand very still, right where you are.”, he warns.

“I don’t want to hurt her, I want to take care of her.”, I tell him.

He nods to me, “You’ll get a chance to talk to her. She hasn’t made a decision on you yet, but you’re doing something wrong and I get the feeling you know what that is.”, he tells me, “I’m going to leave now. You’re not going to try anything stupid, right?”, he asks.

I chuckle, “Like jump on your back and try to hitch a ride? No, you’re safe, 2nd Jayce.”, I tell him.

He chuckles, “I am Rayne. We will see each other around, Alpha Cobran.”, he says before turning and leaving the same way Kara and Jayce did.

I link my beta and let him know I’m heading back. I need to find out who the hell the twins are, what is going on with Black Hearthstone, and what they have to do with Council. I have to figure out how I’m getting my mate out from under them. When I wanted power, I didn’t realize the obstacles that would come with, but I get what I want. Obstacles don’t deter me.