Okay, so I changed who plays Lysander because, reasons. So, I introduce you to the new Lysander, Stephen James!! (Lysander has his face and body and shit, but not the tattoos, well...some...lol)
Chapter Nine
Sunday
I didn’t tell Nate the real reason for trying to Skype Navaeh.
The lie I said, was that we needed to talk to her about Essie, even though that wasn’t really a lie. But the real reason I was being so persistent with getting in contact with her, was for the hopes that my dad would be in the room.
I needed to talk to him.
Guaranteed, he would try to convince me to come back, but that wasn’t what our conversation was about. I wanted to tell him everything. No, I needed to tell him about everything. Lysander being my mate, the shape shifters on our asses and now, Essie.
I glanced over to see her staring at the computer while Nate tried for the fourth time to call Navaeh. The was no emotion on her face and I wondered if I could blame her husband for that. What kind of husband marries you, says he loves you and then abuses you for not liking who you are? A husband should accept your decisions, and if he really doesn’t like them, he should try and resolve it in a mannered way.
Not lock you in a box and beat the shit out of you.
I could tell Essie was strong though. Throughout those years of torture, she watched and leaned and I’m sure that if she came face-to-face with someone who threatened her life, she could beat them down in a millisecond.
So why was she running from her husband and his men?
“Nikolai, can we please stop doing this? She’s not going to answer.” Nate whined. I rolled my eyes at him. He always whines.
“No. Keep trying. We need to talk to her.” I ordered and he narrowed his eyes at me.
“I don’t think you want to talk to Navaeh.” I jerked my head back and gave him a baffled look.
“Of course I want to talk to Navaeh. She’s my cousin.” I snapped.
“Spit it out Kolya. Who do you really want to talk to.” I bit my lip and looked at the ground. I should tell him. He would find out anyway once my dad popped up. I took a deep breath and looked up at him.
“I wanted to talk to my dad.”
“Hell no.”
“Nate! Seriously? I need to talk to him!”
“No you don’t! He’s just going to try and bring us ba—“ I heard someone clear their throat and looked over at the computer screen, letting out a high-pitched scream as I saw Navaeh, Tyler and Ryder sitting in front of the camera.
“You called them again?” I asked Nate and he shook his head, his eyes wide.
“I did.” I looked to Essie staring at us. She pushed her hair over her shoulder. “You two were fighting and I thought I could help and try calling again. Surprise, it worked.” The fact that she said all that without a hint of emotion in her voice was comical, but I was to freaked out to laugh.
God, why did I think calling my dad was a good thing?
“Boys.” My dad’s authoritative voice rang through the speakers and I felt a chill run down my spine. He was not happy.
But he wasn’t pissed. This was good.
“Hey dad.” I finally said in a shaky voice, forcing a smile on my lips. “Didn’t expect to see you there.” My dad narrowed his eyes.
“Cut the bullshit Nikolai. How dare you leave this pack? Right when you were about to be given the greatest title anyone could want.” I opened my mouth to protest, but he gave me a deadly glare, and I closed my mouth right away.
“Your mother and I have tried so hard to make it easy for you. I knew you don’t want to be Alpha and I know I pushed you all the time to be one, but you have to understand that, that is what I wanted. I wanted to have a son who would grow up and take my place. I wan,,ted you to run to me when you were having troubles and couldn’t make a decision. But after you left, I now realize how much wrong I was doing by pushing this title on you. I won’t lie, when I found you gone, I was pissed.” I heard Tyler snort and Ryder elbowed him in the stomach.
“But after a week of you mother talking to me; I realized how much you needed this. It’s actually really shocking at how calm your mother was.” My dad chuckled and scratched his chin.
“Mom wasn’t upset?” I asked, confused by this. I had thought my mom would be in tears for weeks.
“Oh she was. Imagine going to get your child for breakfast and not hearing him. The fact that she can’t see made it even worse. She was screaming because she couldn’t see or hear you. But after that, she became the voice of reason.”
Did this mean he wasn’t mad?
“So, I can stay?”
“Yep.”
“And you aren’t mad at me for leaving?”
“Oh I’m furious. And when you get back here after your little vacation, expect some serious punishment. Same for you Nate. Tyler’s taking care of your punishment.” And as if on queue, Tyler cracked his knuckles for effect.
“You can’t punish me. I’m not your son and I was a victim.” Nate snapped at my dad, but he just looked at him with a sickening smile.
“I may not be your dad, but after Tyler’s done with you, you’ll wish I was.” I gulped at that and looked at Nate as he paled. I had heard Tyler dealt with interrogations and that he was cold and ruthless when it came to them. But I never believed it because he was so sweet and caring towards me.
I felt a rush of relief going through me, knowing my dad wasn’t mad at me. I know that once I return though, he’ll start at it about being Alpha again, but hey, I missed the fights with my dad.
The feeling soon left as I remembered the other thing I had to talk to him about.
“So, you aren’t mad?” I asked again and my dad smiled.
“No Kolya. Disappointed, but not mad.”
“You’re about to be.” I gulped back the fear as I prepared to tell him. He looked confused and I took a deep breath.
“I found my mate.” I saw my dad give me a droll look. Even Navaeh and Tyler were giving me the same look.
“How in the blue hazes is that going to make me mad?” My dad asked and I sucked in air through my teeth.
“See—Uh, well…um. Yeah. Uh… it’s a guy.” I said the last part really low and hoped he heard it.
“What?” Damnit.
“Mymateisadude.” I repeated quickly and I heard him grunt in frustration.
“Well you’re succeeding in pissing me off by not saying it clearly.” He snapped and I took a deep breath, looked over and saw Nate nodding his head for me to continue.
“My mate is a guy and his name is Lysander.” I finally said and the silence I was dreading filled the air.
“You’re mad, aren’t you?” I asked and when he didn’t answer, I felt tears forming. I turned to Nate, trying to keep them back. “See! I told you he would be mad and I didn’t want to say anything! Now he hates me and—“
“Nikolai, I’m not mad.” My father’s voice said reassuringly. I stared at the screen, shocked for a second. “I needed a minute to let it sink in. Boy, your mothers going to have a field day with this.” He chuckled and I saw Tyler nodding his head in agreement.
He wasn’t mad. My dad wasn’t mad. Now, I actually felt like crying.
“There’s a little detail that your son is leaving out about his mate.” Nate suddenly said and I looked at him confused. He was giving me crazy eyes, as if trying to tell me what I was missing, but I was drawing a blank.
“Jesus, you are dumb. Your son has succeeded in not only having Lysander as his mate. But he also has not told him, is not dating him and instead, is dating his cousin.”
“Oh yeah.” I drawled, suddenly remembering what he wanted me to say. I started nervous laughing and turned to see my dad giving me a hard stare.
“Your mate does not know?” He asked and I threw my hands up.
“Surprise.”
“Kolya. You need to tell him. The longer you stay away, the more it will hurt, trust me. I would know.” That he would.
“And the fact that you are being intimate with someone other than him, in front of him is definitely hurting him. He may not know the connection between you two, but he still has those feelings and the longer you take in explaining, the worse it’s going to be.” When he finished speaking I knew that was the end of that conversation.
I needed to tell Lysander, and until then, my dad didn’t want to talk about it anymore.
“I’m sorry, but has anyone else noticed the girl sitting next to them?” Tyler’s deep voice suddenly rang out and my dad looked closer at the screen.
“Yeah, I saw her, but then she wasn’t moving so I thought it was a ghost or something. And we all know how Nate almost shits himself when it comes to the paranormal.” Navaeh deadpanned and Nate flipped her off.
“Nate, Nikolai. Care to explain?” My dad asked, and I threw on my best smile.
“Dad, Tyler, Navaeh. Meet Essie. Essie, meet the Alpha, his annoying follower and the spawn of Satan.” Nate chocked back a laugh as I smiled at the screen.
“Tyler, I think we need to discuss some more punishments for my son when he returns.” My dad’s eyes never left mine, but I didn’t want to show him I was scared, so I continued to smile, before looking at Essie.
“Do you want to explain your story, or…”
“I’d rather not. It is long and I’m tired. You can give a short version though.” She answered in the same monotone voice. I was going to have to work with her on emotions.
“Okay. Essie is married to Victor Salvatore—“
“Victor Salvatore? As in the leader of shape shifters?” Navaeh gasped.
“Yes. Him.” I deadpanned. I finished explaining the story Essie told us, a shortened one albeit, and I saw my dad slowly nodding his head.
“So, she isn’t like the ones in Emery?” He asked and I shook my head.
“If she was, I wouldn’t be helping her.” I said and he glared at me. I felt my heart twist and it suddenly dawned on me about how much I missed my parents. How much I missed my pack. I felt tears threatening to spill, but pushed them back when my dad cleared his throat.
“So, is this the reason you left? To find your mate?” I stared at him confused and saw Nate out of the corner of my eye. He was moving his eyes back and forth, as if trying to communicate with me, but I didn’t understand, so, I decided to play along.
“Yep.” I said, popping the ‘p’. “I knew they weren’t in Emery and something about Greece was pulling me in, so I took a leap of faith.”
Lies. All lies.
“Uh-huh. But I’m guessing your mate doesn’t know, does he?” I gulped at the question, trying to maintain a calm face.
“I just met him dad. Did you seriously expect me to just go up to him after I found out and say “Oh hey. I’m a werewolf and also your mate. You have no choice to be with me or you’ll never be able to have any form of relationship because your dick wants only my butthole.” Yeah, no.” I said sarcastically. Why did everyone insist on me telling Lysander right away?
“Well, not as vulgar as that. Seriously Nikolai? I could’ve done without the imagery.” My dad said as he shuddered, Tyler copying his movement. “Nikolai. When we find our mates, we make it our goal to tell them right away. As you stated earlier, if they go on living not knowing you’re their mate, they will grow old and die alone. And believe it or not, it hurts worse when you’re the mate of a were.”
I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself down. I was getting the same speech again and I was honestly tired of hearing it all. I knew what I was going to do with Lysander, so everyone just needed to back off. I looked at the computer screen and decided it would be better not to say anything else, for fear of blowing up. So, I nodded my head and shut my mouth, hoping this would be the end of all conversation and we could hang up.
“So, now that we have all the heavy stuff cleared up, what are we going to do with the bounty hunter? I’m assuming she’s still after us since you guys just made up.” Well shit Nate. Ruin my hoped a dreams why don’t cha?
“Well, she is still in contact with us. She normally travels for three days straight and then takes a break to sleep and eat. They’re short ones, but still a break nonetheless. If she followed the schedule she gave us, her break should be in about thirty minutes.” Tyler informed us from his position in the back of the room.
“So, you guys call her up, tell her it’s all good over here, and then let us know.” I told them and my dad shook his head, making me frown.
“It won’t be that simple. Not only are we calling off her mission, but she’s going to be pissed that we sent her all this way for nothing. She’s the best of the best, but she has a stubborn head on her. I have a feeling she won’t be giving up so easily.” I groaned out loud. I was getting tired of this all. Just let me have my vacation in peace! Seriously, it wasn’t that hard.
“Fine. Call her, Bribe her. Do something to make her leave, and if she doesn’t, then tell us everything you know about her and we’ll stop her.”
“Nikolai—“
“I’d love to chat and all, but I have a date to go to. It was lovely reconnecting, bye for now.” I didn’t wait for any replies before I slammed the laptop shut and tugged at my hair.
“Hey man?” Nate said, putting a hand on my shoulder. I took a deep breath and stood up.
“I’m going to get ready.” I said quietly, moving towards my room. I half expected Nate to follow and bother me on what I was so upset about, but when I heard him start talking to Essie, I realized he wasn’t going to. So, I walked into my room, closed the door and headed straight to the closet. I studied the clothes on the racks and sighed.
What was one supposed to wear when they were going to confront someone?
I know Lysander told me not to go, but I had to know why. He wouldn’t just come in and tell me not to go on a date with Giovanni. Wait…yes he would. He may not know I was his mate, but the strong feelings still existed.
I shook my head and grabbed a random jumper, throwing my V-neck off and sliding it on. I decided to keep my distressed jeans on and grabbed my vans and slid them on. I grabbed my phone and opened the door, finding Nate and Essie hunched over the laptop.
“I’ll be back in an hour.” I told them. Nate looked up and gave me a sympathetic smile, which I returned before leaving the suite. On the way to Giovanni’s, I kept thinking about what I was going to say. I was leaving really early. He would open the door and be like, why are you here? Or Lysander would open the door and ask why I didn’t listen to him. I shivered at the thought of Lysander being mad at me. I would just say I was coming to see him. Yeah, that works.
My heart picked up speed as I reached Gio’s house. I took a couple deep breathes as I walked to the door.
“You’re fine.” I whispered to myself, taking one last breath before knocking on the door. I waited as I heard footsteps approach the door, and when it opened, my heart leapt into my throat. I stared at the stranger in front of me. He was no doubt very attractive, and looked extremely young. His skin was a couple shade lighter than Essies, and his facial structure proved he was Greek. His hair was cut short, save for his long bangs and it was the color of ink, the light from inside causing it to shine. He had deep blue eyes that seemed to glow as he looked at me with a confused expression. He said something in Greek and I blinked slowly.
“I don’t speak Greek.” I said quietly. He looked shocked at that and laughed, revealing a perfect smile that made me want to punch him.
“I’m sorry. I asked if I could help you. Are you looking for someone?” He asked his accent thicker than Lysander and Giovanni’s.
“I’m here for Giovanni.” I said calmly. I needed to calm down. He was most likely a family member or friend of the cousins. I was jumping to conclusions that I prayed weren’t true.
“Ah, hold on a sec—“
“Babe, who’s at the door?” I felt like someone had just ripped my heart out as I heard Gio’s voice saying those words.
Babe.
I watched as Giovanni wrapped his hand around the man’s waist, and when he saw me, his arm fell and so did his face.
“Nikolai—“ I tightened my jaw, trying to fight back the tears.
“No. No! Don’t even try. I can’t believe—I just—I have nothing to say to you.” I seethed, hearing my voice quake from the tears forming, but the venom in my words made my point. I turned around and walked away, ignoring Giovanni calling for me.
How could I be so stupid? Lysander came to warn me. He knew about Giovanni and he was trying to save me from getting my heart broken, and I went and had it done anyway. Tears were streaming down my face as I yelled in frustration. I stopped walking and pulled my phone out, dialing Lysander’s number.
“Hello?” I heard noise in the background that sounded like electronic music, He was at a club. And I was interrupting him.
“I’m sorry, I—I didn’t know you were busy.” I said, pulling the phone back to hang up before I heard Lysander yell no. I put the phone back to my ear and heard his heavy pants.
“Kolya, tell me what is wrong?” He asked his voice hard with concern, the sound of the club now gone. I squeeze my eyes shut as tears welled up again.
“You were right.” I whispered.
“What are you talking about? Nikolai, what happened?”
“I went to Giovanni’s house anyway and—I saw—“ I didn’t finish my sentence as the sobs took over.
“Where are you?” Lysander asked.
“Lysander no. You’re out having fun, don’t let me rain on your parade.” I protested.
“No! Nikolai, your well-being is way more important to me. Where are you?” He snapped and I gulped at his words. I was important to him?
“I—I’m like ten minutes from Giovanni’s house,” I looked around and saw a little stop-and-shop. “Right across from Negozio rapida.” I said, wincing at how I butchered the name of the store.
“I’m on my way.” Was all he said before the line went dead. I decided to walk over to the shop and sat down on the bench outside of it.
Fuck my life.