Part 1: Chapter 2

Nikolai

“You know if Kai finds out about this, he’ll make you claim her.” My brother, Dimitri, says before he drives away in his Maserati. We've just come back from another torture mission and the last thing I want to do is go home.

“I fucking know that,” I murmur to myself as I look up at the flashing neon sign of the seedy bar in Hell’s Kitchen.

I know I shouldn’t be here again, I know I should head home and resume the mission Kai has sent me on, but I can’t help it. The pull is too strong; HER pull is too strong. I should probably just reject her for real this time and get on with my life, but staring at temptation for so long only makes me crave it more.

Nova is my mate, and I want her more than I feel the need to breathe. But with what’s going on between the Five, I cannot risk her life. 

It’s been nearly four years since I spoke with her, four years since I caught her scent and promised to win her over again… and four years since I’ve done jack shit about it. Trust me, it’s not because I don’t want to, fuck no.

We’re at war with two other packs, and there is so much death surrounding us now. Yes, I want to claim her as mine, I want her close to me, I want her to submit to me, and I want to submit to her. But I don’t want to drag her into the middle of this; I don’t want her to be caught in the crossfire. She’s not a fighter and would never survive the fall out. 

I know this isn’t fair on her, and my older brother is right; I need to either reject or claim her. But I can’t; not right now at least. So I’ve resigned myself to coming to this seedy bar the Rogue Alpha owns, the bar she works in, so that I can watch over her from afar.

I remain a ghost in here amongst all the other low life wolves. Half of these packs owe my brother, Alpha Kai, thousands of dollars; I would know since I share the Lead Enforcer role with Dimitri. When I’m in here, I never approach her. I never stare too long to catch anyone’s attention, and I do not release my scent in here no matter how pissed off I get at how friendly she is with other men. 

Oh, and it’s not because I don’t want to, what with the short skirts and low cut corsets she wears now. Every wolf in here wants her; I can tell by their attempt at scenting her. She's got a bit of self-confidence now, which I find incredibly sexy, but she’s lost a lot of weight, something I don't fucking like. I liked her plump and full, and I liked that she didn’t look like my exes or fuck buddies. 

But now, even though she looks confident, I can tell she’s unhappy.

I want to rip out the throats of these assholes for trying to scent her, I want to run right over there and tear them to shreds for even looking her way, but I can’t. 

She definitely doesn’t make it any fucking easier for me, getting their attention by flaunting her curves like this. It pisses me off to the point that I dig my claws into the wooden table in front of me just to calm myself down.

She’s mine; she’s my mate, but there isn’t a fucking thing I can do about it.

As much as it fucking sucks, I can’t bring her into my world, well, not now at least. She deserves a normal life in an average pack without all this added shit to deal with. I don’t want anyone knowing she’s mine and using her as a ploy or means to get back at me, and fuck knows they would.

My exploits have rivalled even my brother, Beta Konstantin’s, lately. I know I’m the youngest, but I am so fucking pissed off at the world that I don’t give a shit. It is part of the reason I asked Kai to make me Lead Enforcer with Dimitri - I wanted to kill and maim without repercussions just to let out my frustrations.

In the beginning, it helped a fuck load to kill and beat the shit out of lowlifes. Watching them cower, knowing I held their lives in my hands, gave me a high like no other. I gained a reputation as a Ripper and no one would dare go up against our Bratva sect. they knew once Kai sent me out, they would not get out alive and the fact alone made me feel invincible.

But not anymore; now I just want to come home and know my mate is there waiting for me with open arms. I want Nova to look at me the way Caterina looks at Kai and Lily looks at Kon. I want her to say she needs me, too; I want her to fall apart under me as I claim her over and over again.

Yet, I can’t be selfish about this. As much as I want that, I want Nova to be safe as well. No one can know she’s mine, and no one can know she’s my weakness. Yet.

I lean forward and drink my beer, my eyes skimming the bar again, and I feel that pull when I lay my eyes on her.

She’s so fucking beautiful. From her heart-shaped face, full lips, thick thighs and soft blonde hair. I always imagine how her thighs would feel wrapped around my head while I pleasure her, and I literally have to fucking dig my claws into my leg to stop that thought.

My heart aches just watching her leaning over the counter, pushing up her already ample cleavage. With her glasses slipping from her face, her eyes seem like she’s a million miles away. This is how she looks most nights, and I always wonder what she’s thinking about. 

Is she thinking about me as much as I’m thinking about her? Do I even fucking cross her mind? I always wonder this, but then again, I gave her no reason to think sweetly of me, did I?

“Back-alley, right fucking now,” I hear a gruff, angry voice and look up just in time to see Nova following another man out the back door. 

Anger bubbles in my chest as I finish my beer, knowing that this asshole is her boyfriend, the one she fucks and gives herself to now. It pisses me off that she needs an asshole like this in her life, that she wants him. She’s only supposed to want and need me! 

A growl reverberates in my chest as jealousy coils so deep in my stomach that I jump up and storm out the back door leading to the alley. I know I said I would keep a low profile, but knowing she’s back there with him makes me want to rip his fucking heart out and claim her over his dead body.

When I go out the back, what I see leads me to bristle with a wave of unknown anger: blood is running down her nose, and he has her tiny skirt pulled up with his dick in his hand.

Before I can even think about it, my wolf, Knight, takes over and pushes all reason out of my mind. He’s yearned for her and seeing her pressed up against the wall with a bloody nose and another wolf touching her has pushed him much more over the edge.

He dared to put his hands on our mate, so I ripped out his heart and tore him in two. His blood slipping down my claws looked satisfying; at least now he won’t touch her again. He won’t put his filthy hands on her body again. Knight growls at the sight of the fucker’s lifeless eyes, and I can’t help but grin at my accomplishment.

But satisfaction slowly gave way to horror; I made myself known to her, but not only that, I think I might have killed one of Alpha Cain’s warriors. Fuck!

“Nikolai?”