Blood Bound [Book Two, Lady and the Wolf] (EDITING)

Chapter Two: He Hated Goodbyes

Snow had never bothered him. Snow was never cold. Snow was never bad.

But in that moment, the snow felt like torture against his body. He was covered in garments his mother had carefully sewed together just for him, but still the wind slapped him back as if he were nothing but a leaf.

His father trudged beside him in his wolf form, defending his pup against the elements as best he could. It had been such a long journey, and he was fading fast. With his mate dead, he knew he didn't have much longer before his wolf passed on to the other world.

He had one mission left in life – get his living pup to safety. Samiul would take care of his pup and keep him safe from those who wished him harm. From those who slaughtered his pack and mate.

A low growl left his lips. They would pay for taking his mate and brothers, they would all be screaming for their own miserable lives one day.

One day...

Suddenly, the large wolf collapsed into the snow, eyes wide as the pain he'd never felt before burned throughout his weakened body.

"Father!" his pup cried as he fell to his knees. "Don't die, I need you," he whimpered desperately.

The pup jumped back as his father tried to stand but failed as he slammed back onto the snow-covered ground. The dark wolf just had no strength left in him.

'Kostya...' he murmured, communicating to his pup within his mind.

His pup shook his head as he knelt. "That is not my name! My name is Van!" he shouted, tears streaming down his cheeks. "I'm not a monster..."

His father's green eyes looked to him as their mind-link started to fade. 'Keep going north and... find Samiul Volkov. They will take care of you.' He didn't even have the strength to shift back into a human.

"No! You're coming with me, and we'll-we'll go together!" Van looked around hastily, but all he could see was snow and mist from the storm. "Somebody! Help!"

A sudden howl sounded from within the distance, but Van knew that howl meant that prey had been found. His face turned white as he tried to help his father up. "They're coming!" he cried, pleading, "Father, get up!"

'Go, leave me,' his father growled. Using the last of his strength, he pulled his body off the cold ground and moved to shelter his pup. 'Get away from here, Kostya.'

"But-but what about you?" Van asked, the tears feeling heavier as he started to sob. "You're all I have left..."

Not able to say no to his father – his Alpha – Van scuttled back before making a run for the forest ahead. The last word he heard his father say would be the word he would later despise.

'Goodbye pup...'

Goodbye.

He hated goodbyes.

*******

He awoke, gasping for air, and jolted forward. He clawed at his sheets as droplets of sweat ran down his bare chest, trickling over scars that never quite went away.

Van growled as he put his hands to his face, taking in deep breaths, trying to calm himself down. That dream... How long had it been since he had an actual dream? It had been so long since he looked back and remembered that day. He had buried it so deep that no one would be able to uncover what made him shake with true fear. Van feared no one, but the memory of his father's death terrified him.

Thoughts started to swirl in his head as he started to remember and shook them away. Damn it, it still hurt like hell to think about.

"Van..."

His head turned to the side, and he finally noticed that he wasn't alone in the room. Right there, asleep in his armchair, was the little human that had turned his life upside down from the moment he saved her life.

"Don't go," she muttered again as she twisted in her sleep.

He frowned. An overwhelming need to comfort her took over and he found himself reaching out. Before he could touch her, Van noticed the cables that were connected to his arm and realized he had been put on fluids.

He drew his hand back and lifted his sheets. He swung his legs over the side of the bed and stood up, shakily trying to ignore the way his head was spinning. How long had he been out?

A day?

Two days?

Whatever the case, he moved to Aira and gently lifted her into his arms. Although weak, he moved her to his bed, gently laying her down, and watched as she nuzzled into his satin pillow.

He sat down in the warm chair and placed both his arms on the armrests, glaring at thin air as he thought carefully about what was going on with his body.

"I didn't think it would happen so soon," he whispered to himself and dug his nails into the sides of the chair. "We're dying, aren't we Konstantin?" he asked disdainfully.

In the back of his mind, he knew Konstantin was slowly fading away. He had prepared himself for this day since he was first aware of his debt... and Aira.

"Van, the day you find your mate will be the day you have to make a very hard decision, to take your mate as she is, or to reject her, but to reject her means Konstantin will die... and so will you. If you choose to take her, Athea will come for you both."

Samiul had been blunt in his explanation. Van liked how he was always straight to the point, no matter how hurtful it was. Perhaps that is where Van had picked up his brashness.

Although he hadn't outwardly rejected Aira, he had rejected her by swearing to never reveal the truth to her. He would never make her choose to be his mate or his lover. He wouldn't ruin her the way he had ruined everything else in her life.

Van didn't love, he wasn't even sure he remembered how to love, but he knew that he cared more for this girl than he ever did for anyone else.

Even his own life.

Leaning forward, Van growled low as he thought about the options he had to face. Force Aira into a life where she wouldn't get to choose what she wanted or give his life in return for her freedom. She deserved a family, a normal human husband, and children. All that would be taken from her, and he would rather stab himself with silver than take anything more away from her. Athea and her sick want for revenge would be their undoing.

He should have stayed away. He should have left for Russia the moment Konstantin had a reaction to her and never looked back. He should have cut ties with Emma and Drake.

He should have done a lot of things, but try as he might, he always came back to save the day.

He had been fighting this for so long that he didn't know what to do about the situation. He had to keep reminding himself that he didn't love this human, that the link they shared was because of Konstantin and his debt.

He could lie to himself until he was blue in the face, but he knew it was more than that.

Van stood from his chair and moved to the bed. He leaned down, his face inches from hers, and whispered, "I'm not afraid of death, malyshka, but you scare me more than anything else."

He gently kissed her forehead before moving back and making his way towards the door.

Perhaps this was the feeling he had had when he told Aiden he would be alpha one day. Maybe deep down Van knew that this would be how he died. The annoying part of it was that he didn't know when it would happen, but he didn't have long left. His body was already weakening with each day that passed.

Van Volkov was now preparing to give his own life for a human he had once declared 'worthless'.

Perhaps in some way, he did love her.