Fuck!

Nikita's face crumbles into that of pain and hurt before she covers it up with her neutral expression as if she doesn't give two shits about me.

However, her mind is hurting. And it's trying very hard to not show that it's hurt. I feel like kicking myself in the butt for hurting her.

It's my fault entirely for losing control like that. I shouldn't have gone near her but the slightest hint of her desire and my beast lost its control.

I am known for my patience but this time I couldn't be patient and it might have as well cost me, my second mate.

What a cluster fuck!

Unable to see her face any longer, I let her turn her back to me and in return, I turn around and walk into the woods, farther away from Nikita.

It will be better if I just focus on avenging Charlotte before trying to make friends with Nikita. In that way, I wouldn't end up disrespecting two of the most important females of my existence.

Taking off into the night, I let my beast focus on the hunger that's awakened inside my body. Being this thirsty makes me more irrational and it's better if I feed myself before going anywhere near Fenris or Connor for that matter. Those hard-headed males are the main reason why I try to stay out of this werewolf mess.

Letting my senses take over, I spread out and hunt for the nearest warm being. Luck shines slightly on me when I spot a human male camping on this side of the woods.

So foolish!

The human is completely oblivious to my presence however, he is also alert. His survival instinct is probably kicking in. The human ignores it and continues to warm himself in front of the small bonfire. He is alone in the woods, which is strange but not rare.

Spreading out through his mind, I quickly grab onto his fear and try to manipulate it into a soothing feel for him. Letting him believe that he is in a semi-conscious state. Once the person is completely enthralled, I walk out into the clearing, slowly making sure to not scare him.

It would be simpler to just make him fall asleep and finish my task before walking out of here. However, the recent encounter with Nikita has made me yearn for something else to dwell on. And this man, my meal, provides the perfect distraction for me to focus upon.

Once I reach the human's now relaxed form, I bend over him and quickly dip my fangs into his skin, just above his wrist, catching the vein perfectly. Drinking in enough blood to last me for a couple of days, I remove my fangs out of his skin and wipe the skin with my saliva, triggering the skin to heal a little faster than a normal human wound.

Sweeping through his mind, I make sure to make this encounter appear as a dream in his mind and then pick up the human, dropping him inside his tent preventing him from getting eaten by a stray wild animal.

~~~~

Where the hell are you?

Fenris's voice echoes through my mind as I cross by his home. Slowing down a little, I emerge out of the trees that are in line with the cottage-like houses where Fenris and the other guests are staying for the night.

Spotting Fenris on the porch steps, I take in his frown and the barrage of emotions that are tumbling out of his mind and make myself ready for a King's emotional breakdown.

This is going to be a long night!

I bet it would be. Especially after losing control over my mate like that.

"What?" I ask out loud when I hear his soft confession in my mind. "Don't tell me you hit her?" I snarl those words, unable to really keep a leash on my rage.

Fenris has been acting strangely in the past few days. I am not sure why he has been behaving like a brawler but this is not normal for Fenris. I have seen him work under pressure but this is not how he usually behaves under pressure or stress.

This is a completely different Fenris that I am witnessing now. I fear that it might take a toll on his family in turn hurting his mate.

"No, I mean. I didn't hit her but I yelled at her," confesses Fenris lowly, shame clear in his voice. Serves him right!

"Well then, go and apologise," I say in a duh tone, not really wanting to act the counsellor, especially in the case of mates. It's a sore topic for me.

"I can't. I mean, I don't know how to. She is asleep and looks like she had been crying. Maybe she'll forget about it tomorrow," says Fenris while lifting one shoulder and dropping it nonchalantly.

I keep staring at the pup and control my urge to really smack him in the face.

However, some of my anger seeps in as I watch Fenris face contort in pain. It's not mental but a rather physical one where he holds onto his chest, coughing a bit.

"What? Stop... please," he coughs in between words and then waves his hands in the air as if suffocating. I let him feel that for a minute and then allow him to breathe normally. Maybe that will refresh his mind.

"Okay, okay but you know what? A person like you should not give me mate advice. Mateless bloodsucker," he mutters while running a hand through his hair, his eyes glowing a bright blue as his wolf peeks out of his mind.

And I snap!

The turmoil of emotions inside me blasts and hits Fenris with an intensity that makes him staggers back. The beast inside of me roars at this blatant disrespect shown by the young King and I snap my teeth, holding in a growl of rage at his words.

"Mateless?" I snarl, laughing cynically. "Do you know what happened to my mate?" I growl, letting my beast peek out.

"Shameless wolf. I lost my mate years ago to a rogue vampire. Till this day I am hunting the murderer of my mate, searching for him in places where not even a cockroach would live and you call me Mateless?"

"Fuck! I am sorry," whispers Fenris while staggering back at the rage pouring out of my body. My fangs have descended by now and I am barely holding onto my rage.

"You have the best gift, living with you and the bond is thriving yet you disrespect it?"

"Calm down, Dominic. Your eyes have gone red. I fear they might burst." Fenris's words echo through my mind however, I am too far gone to pay attention.

Only the soft gasp that echoes from somewhere behind me, makes me pause in my rage-induced state.

Turning back, I nearly crumble into dust when I see Nikita's pale complexion dull into a deadly shade of grey. She heard me!

Before I can speak or even try to control my beast, Fenris has walked around me and is trying to console a trembling Nikita whose eyes are locked with mine. Fenris probably misunderstands Nikita's reaction as fear to my beastly form and consoles her, sending reassuring glances to me. But maybe I know. She's not scared of my beast; she scared of my words.

Fenris pushes his sister towards her guest house, and I do not miss the moment when Nikita's mind closes to me and all I sense is her neutral aura, walking farther and farther from me.

Fenris returns after a few minutes and I watch him glare at me. "Do not scare Nikita like that again."

"It's not my fault that she was in the wrong place at the wrong time," I snap at him. By now, more of my rage has cooled. Watching Nikita go farther from me in much less time than it took to be her friend, is like going back to square one. I have nearly lost all chances to have Nikita as my mate.

Fenris closes his mouth and then opens it again to speak but I hold out my hand, stopping his rant. "Forget it. Go apologise to your mate if she's more important than your ego."

"What do you mean you had a mate?" asks Fenris completely ignoring me and my advice.

"I had a mate. She's not alive anymore and I am trying to hunt her murderer to exact my revenge," I bite out the words, the words difficult to speak as Fenris nods, his eyes wide in shock as he digests these words.

For a long time, no one speaks anything but then I take a deep breath, hoping to push that lump in my throat. Running my hand over my hair, pushing them back I scratch at my unruly beard.

"That's what you were doing in that dark alley, that night when we first met," speaks Fenris, realization shining in his eyes. I recall that night a few years ago when he was fighting a few rogues.

Blood-thirsty rogues are being controlled by a black witch. It was a horrible mess and the blood was the only reason why I was being pulled toward Fenris. Later we realized that the witch had tricked the rogues into believing that they were doing mankind a service by killing the diseased humans by sucking them dry.

It was the first time my instinct allowed me to have him as my partner to eradicate the remaining crazed rogues and their black witch.

That's how I made friends with the wolf pup. I knew that he was of a royal bloodline but his scent was masked, a protection spell put on him by his mother. It stopped me from recognising that he is a Vlček pup.

Later when I did connect the dots and realized that Fenris Lupe is none other than Fenris Vlček, living as an orphan wolf in the werewolf school; it was however too late. Xavier already had me in his clutches and then it didn't take him long to lock me up in the dungeon with no blood.

"I am really sorry for your loss," whispers Fenris while coming closer and grabbing my forearms. His gesture of respect for my deceased mate calms me a bit. However, the fresh wound of losing Nikita overpowers the sense of calmness that I feel.

Finally, Fenris knows about my past. Now, how do I tell him that his long-lost sister is my second mate? Will he agree to this?

"It has been 24 years. I just want to avenge her," I whisper, allowing myself to be vulnerable in front of my friend. I have only ever felt this comfortable with Dima but he's not here tonight.

"You will avenge her. Something tells me that it won't be long now."

Fenris's words sound different. On close inspection, I detect a hazy look in his eyes as if he's mentally far away from this conversation. Looking around, I try to sense if there's any magic at work here. But find none.

Now that I hold on to that thought, I realize that Fenris's mental imprint is different. He sounds wiser, a little calmer than before. Taking advantage of his calm state of mind, I whisper the next words.

"Go to your mate. And don't forget that you only get one for eternity."

However, I fail to realize how true my words are.

~~~~~~

"Morning sleepy head!" I greet my goddaughter as she rubs the sleep from her eyes. She looks so adorable. It really surprises me to see her grow up so quickly. It feels like only yesterday when I ran away with her small body in my arms, protecting her from the chilly wind.

I nearly lost her to the torture of her adoptive parents just because I found my mate and then lost her within a couple of days to some rogue vampire.

"Morning, Dominic," she whispers, her voice hoarse as she walks towards the kitchen counter and pours herself a glass of warm milk. Mixing some chocolate powder into it, she stirs and stirs before taking a small sip and sighing.

I can clearly understand the reason behind her tiredness; however, I do not comment. She completed the mating ceremony yesterday. Her mate would be a fool if he let her sleep for the night.

Shaking my head at the gross image that springs up in my mind, I barely manage to not puke.

"Stop with the awkward face, Dom. I am a big girl," she chastises me and I raise my hands up in surrender.

"I heard something about an argument on the airstrip," she whispers teasingly and I roll my eye.

"Females and gossip," I mutter and nearly miss another person entering the room. She squeals when she spots something on Catrina's skin and I nearly walk out of the house when I watch Catrina's flush in embarrassment at the Queen's obvious mischievous intent.

"Oh, shush, Sierra," whispers Catrina and I don't even know what they are talking about until Catrina pulls up at her collar. And now that I see it, it stands out perfectly. It's a fucking bite mark.

Can this day get any more awkward?

I came here just to bid my goodbyes and look what I got into.

"Oh, come on. Dominic's a big guy. He knows what goes on between mates even if he's the most eligible bachelor out there," teases Sierra but her words make me pause.

Fenris didn't tell her about my deceased mate. Does this mean that the Queen and the King have problems going on? Didn't Fenris apologise to her?

Digging deeper into Sierra's emotions, I finally find that small chink in her mind where she's kept her pain hidden. My eyes almost widen in surprise when I realize how expertly Sierra has learnt to hide her emotions. Is it because she doesn't want Fenris to know about her emotions?

Or is it because she knows someone is using her emotions to cause a rift between her and Fenris?

"How are you, Sierra?" I ask, deliberately taking the focus off of Catrina. My goddaughter sighs in relief but Sierra's face falls slightly when I ask about her. It's a clear indication that the female is emotionally vulnerable.

Taking advantage of that vulnerability, I enter her mind swiftly. She unknowingly resists me but I am far stronger than her and easily overcome her subconscious effort. And when I reach inside her mind, I find a mine of pain and doubts.

Goddess of the Moon!

The King has ripped Sierra's confidence to pieces and it's an ugly scene inside her mind. Not wanting to disturb her mind any more than I have already done by invading her privacy, I walk out of her mind and send in a soothing wave.

It calms her a little and she smiles at me gratefully. The knowledge in her eyes shows that she knew about my invasion.

"Did you know what I saw?" I ask her very softly, not wanting to misunderstand that expression of her.

She nods at me sadly and then looks at Catrina, who's oblivious to our whispered conversation. Being a dormant wolf, she cannot pick up our whispers. It's a blessing in disguise.

Realising that Sierra doesn't want to discuss her emotional state in front of anyone, I let it go and then remember to confront her later.

That way, I can tell her about Charlotte and about Nikita, as well.

It's time for some female advice, yes?

And who better than the female whom Nikita considers as her mother in disguise?

~~~~

Thank you for reading!!

What will Dominic do? Will Nikita give him a chance or...?

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