Solitary

Chapter 44- Weird Ass Traditions

"You over complicated everything for the sake of parental tradition?" I ask deadpanned.

"Yes." They say in unison.

I roll my eyes leaning back in my chair. Are they serious right now?

"I will say she is refreshing." My mother stands and my father with her. "After a thousand years of people smiling in your face and giving in to your every whim, it's nice to see that there is at least one person who will stand up against us."

"That person being Solus."

"Simply for the fact that someone as blunt as she is, no matter how rude her words sounds, I can see she is a person of commitment and honesty. That's nice to see after centuries of people smiling in our faces and lying for their own personal gain." My father says.

"You both confuse the hell out of me." I groan.

"You're sounding like her already!" My mother laughs. "Oh I remember when that was us!" She muses. "Your mother was so mean to me, and your father was no better, almost worse."

"It was only until after I marked your mother that they eased up." My father places a kiss on my mothers lips and I roll my eyes picking up the file I discarded.

"Aren't you going to see her today?"

"I got word from Natasha that Solus went back to her apartment. I'll visit when I'm done."

~~~
Solus

Dave Chappell will never not be funny. The comedians voice filling the empty space of the apartment as I put the joint to my lips and inhaled. Holding it for a few seconds before exhaling.

The day went from light to dark almost instantly. I could hear the night life in the woods as I smoked the evening away.

The grey cloud expanding into the air and creating a layer of smoke in the room. I hear a knock on the door and I feel my mark warm up on my skin. I groan as I drag myself up off the couch.

Heading over to the door, I unlock it and open it to see Nikolai.

"I was wondering when you'd make an appearance." I say.

"Sorry, I just had a lot of business today. Are you smoking?"

"Yup." I say holding up what was left of the blunt and taking another pull. "Ever heard of Master Kush?"

"No?" He says cocking an eyebrow at me.

"It's one of the best strains ever created." I say and wave him inside.

"You need to open a window." He says.

"I did but then I got cold." I say as I flop down on the couch. Bubba and Baby were both eating from the bowls in the kitchen.

Nikolai heads over to the window and pulls it open. The smoke escaping out and fresh air swooping in to replace it.

"Should we talk about your smoking habits? Is there anything else you put in your body?"

"That's not a conversation we should have right now." I say as my eyes stayed glued to the TV.

"I'll find out eventually." He says shrugging off his coat and throwing it on the love seat next to me.

"Ah that's right, you have an all access pass to my head now." I laugh dryly.

"That's right." He moves in front of me and takes a seat on the loveseat. "I will say, you're head is a very interesting place to be."

"Really? What's it like?" I ask turning my gaze to his. His blue eyes locked on me, his hand supporting his chin as he hums thoughtfully.

"It's dark."

I suck my teeth at him. "Fuck you."

He laughs. "No I mean, I thought the attitude was just an act. But I know all the things you say and do actually come from a real place of pain. It's actually dark. You don't really seem to see the brighter side of things, do you?"

I shrug my shoulders. "I just try not to have high expectations." I sit up and pause Dave just as finished getting to the punchline. "When will I see what's in your head?"

"When you mark me." He says.

"That's gonna take a minute." I say lowly.

"You're waiting for me to disappear." He says it like it's more of a fact than a question.

"I don't believe you're real sometimes." I say. "Mostly because sometimes the situations involving you are so ridiculous, I'm questioning whether or not I'm even awake. But then you give me goosebumps, and you make my heart beat faster, you're frustrating as fuck, but there a charm to that. My wolf is happy with you, but so scared that you'll do the same thing Amber did." I throw myself across the couch and prop my feet up.

"I don't know what to do with you."

"There isn't anything you're supposed to do with me." Nikolai says. "We are mates. We've always been mates and you've always been mine. You are mine."

My wolf is dancing around, happy to hear that come from his mouth. Happy that he's here. Happy that he's ours. Is he ours?

There's a moment of silence, before I sit up again, pulling my legs up and tucking them under each other.

"I cursed out your parents this morning." I say.

"Yeah. I know. It was apart of their test."

"Test?"

He goes on to explain it to me and I'm left sitting there dumbfounded. Lycan's are so much weirder and more intense than I thought.

"I thought it was weird they didn't just kill me." I say.

"You took that risk anyway. I guess in their own way, they respected that."

"Weird." I say.

"According to them it's a common practice amongst parents to test someone coming into the family. I wish they could have told me but apparently, it was a test for me too. To stand up against them, for you." He says leaning forward, his eyes pinned to mine.

"You stood up for me?" I ask my voice soft. He nodded with a small smile on his face. A beat passes where neither one of us is saying anything. I clear my throat and stand.

"I should go to bed, sleep this high off. I got to at least try to go back to school. If I don't I won't be able to graduate by the end of the fall."

I head to my room and close the door behind me. My heart beating hard, I could hear my pulse in my own ears. Nikolai was here, telling me he was real.

The voice of doubt was a strong as ever. Doubting he was being honest, doubting that he's stay, doubting he was even real.

Doubt, telling me that he'll use me and then leave like everyone else.

I walked back out to the living room and turned the corner to see him still sitting there. His eyes trained on me like he was waiting for me to come back.

"I'm still here."