"Sometimes painful things can teach us lessons that we didnt think we needed to know."
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Nicolai's POV
I can't believe I had fallen asleep during the movie. I guess I was more tired than I had thought. Feeling uneasy, I looked to my side to see that my mate wasnt by me.
My first reaction was to panic. So many thoughts went through my mind and I tried as much as possible not to think that the worst had happened to her.
I got up and quickly looked through the cottage but there was no sign of Dria. I walked out into the night and scanned around the cottage.
"Dria." I called out to her but there was no answer.
"Alexandria!" I shouted a bit louder and that was when I heard her voice faintly in my mind.
"Nicolai. I'm fine. I'm walking towards the cottage now." I let out a sigh of relief and waited patiently for my mate.
"Mi luz" I said when she was close to me and wrapped my arms around her. She flinched.
I was confused. And hurt. What could the matter be? I thought we had progressed in our relationship such that she wouldnt flinch when I touched her.
"What is the matter? You flinched when I touched you." I questioned as I brought my hand to cup her left cheek. She flinched yet again.
It was then that I saw it. The blood drained from my face. The left side of her face was bruising and a bit swollen.
"Who laid their hand on you?" I asked in a menacing voice that made my mate shudder. She opened her mouth to speak but shut it without uttering a word.
"Love, you have to tell me. I can't help if I don't know who did this. They have to pay for laying their hands on you." I tried convincing her to tell me the one responsible for her bruising face.
"I don't know." She whispered but I was still able to hear her clearly.
"How can you not know?" I questioned exasperated.
"I just don't know okay? He didn't have a scent on him which I found odd and he also sounded vaguely familiar which I found odd too because I would have at least remembered I had met someone who didn't have a scent." As the words poured out of my mates lips there was an image that was forming in my head. I had a picture of the one who had taken my mate and lifted his hand on her.
"He asked for me to deliver a message to you. He said to tell you that, don't forget what I said all those years ago, mi hijo" my blood went cold. There was only one person who could have said this. It was him. This only just confirmed the image that formed in my head as Dria described her encounter.
No, no, no.
Now I was furious. It was one thing to mess with me but it was a completely different thing to lay a hand on my mate.
"We're no longer spending the night here; we're going back to the pack house." I announced as I held her hand in mine and walked towards the pack house.
The walk back was silent and not as pleasant as it was at the beginning of the night. I could only blame him. Leave it to him to try to ruin everything for me.
Why was I even allowing this in the first place? Haven't I allowed him take away so much from me? Would I let him destroy what I had with my mate too?
As soon as we entered the pack house Alex and I walked to our room where I ensured she was settled in bed, after which I walked out of the room and unto the third and last floor of the pack house.
A sense of doom blanketed me with every step I made up the stairs. Subconsciously I knew this was a bad idea but consciously I knew I had to do this. Even if not for me but for Dria and our future family. What good of a mate would I be if I couldnt protect my family?
I finally made it to the third floor. I looked around as I proceeded to the room at the end of the corridor. I knew that was where I would find him. I was a man on a deadly or should I say suicidal mission but I didn't care.
At this point it was only Dria that mattered. I couldn't let this continue. I had allowed it to for too long already and it was about time I took the reins of my life and steered my life in the direction I wanted it to go.
I came to a stop in front of the door of the last room. This was it. Without bothering to knock, I entered the room I had been in far too many times.
"Aahhhh, mi hijo" just as I had expected, he was here.
"Dad" I spat out his name with every ounce of bitterness in me.
"I can tell you received my message" he had this sickening smile on his face that I really wanted to wipe off.
"You've gone too far, dad. This has got to stop." I said as I approached him at his desk.
"Really? I didn't know I had to take orders from you. Last I checked I was the one who gave the orders" he retorted and stood from his seat. Like the predator he was he walked to where I was standing. I took a step back from which he matched.
"You can't continue like this. I refuse to let you do this." I said with conviction. He only just laughed at me.
"What makes you think you have a say in this. I told you all those years ago and I would tell you now; I would kill your mate like you did mine, and only when I am done would you and I become even. You wouldn't have to worry about me ever again." As these words spilled from between the lips of my dad, realization dawned on me.
He would never change. He would never forgive me. And he most certainly wasnt going to let go of the past till he had collected his pound of flesh that so happened to be my mate.
"I will not allow you to hurt Dria, dad. I refuse for you to destroy my life any more than you already have. What more do you want from me?" I questioned the man in front of me.
For as long as I could remember I have had to put up with his slander, his abuse, his threats and assault. But from today I was prepared to fight.
The abuse had gone on for so long that I had come to believe at one point in time that I deserved it. I was to blame for what had happened and I deserved every bad thing meted out to me and every word slandered against me.
"Oh son, I can see you have already fallen for that girl. That is just perfect. It means you would be able to feel the pain much more. You have also marked her right?" he asked in a sinister one and I knew I was screwed.
I had tried so hard at the beginning not to get too close to Alex and had been cold and off-putting but I couldn't. I had to loosen up because I had also wanted to feel and experience what the fuss was all about having a mate.
I had let my guard down and allowed her into my heart and now that things were going great between us it seems like I am about to jeopardize everything weve built.
"Dad, I'm very serious, I am done." I said with finality in my voice and turned to leave. I reached the door and stretched my hand to turn the knob when I felt a sharp pain in my back.
I hissed and reached my hand to the source of the pain. I winced as my hand came into contact with the object. I pulled it out of my back to look at what it was. With how the pain was Im sure Alex would have felt it since I had forgotten to block my emotions from her before coming up here.
I looked down at my hand to see a blood stained dagger. I lifted my head and turned to look at my dad when another dagger lodged itself into my left breast. I winced louder this time around and pulled the dagger out of my chest. Though I have blocked her from reading my thoughts and feeling my emotions, Alex would definitely feel the physical pain of the stab in my left breast.
"You know, there was once a time that I actually loved you." dad said while examining a different type of blade. I scoffed
"Oh yes? What happened?"
"You killed my mate and wife." He said and threw the knife he was holding. He was fast but this time I had been facing him and had seen him so my reflexes kicked in fast. I barely missed the blade.
If there is one mistake that people always tend to make it is taking your eyes off your opponent. And that was the same mistake I made. Dad was no longer where he was before. Before I knew what was going on my feet were shackled.
I really should have looked at where I jumped to. I writhed and wriggled but all my efforts proved futile. There was no way I would be able to escape.
"You would think you would have learnt your lesson my now." Dad snarled as he crouched before me and hit me across the face.
"That was for thinking you could walk in here like you owned the place." He slapped me again; harder than the previous one. I winced in pain but I didnt quite produce any substantial sound. I wasnt going to give him the pleasure.
"That was for having the audacity to talk to me like you were the one in charge." He slapped me yet again. I tasted blood in my mouth.
Three is a charm huh?
"That is for thinking that you had a choice to walk away." He spat in my face. The look of disdain in his eyes made me gulp. How could a person hate his son this much? It was truly baffling.
"Shall we play?" dad asked with a cold sinister look in his eyes and a sardonic smirk plastered on his face.
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How did you find the chapter?
Did anyone guess it was Nicolai's dad all along?
Or were you surprised he's the one?
How about the issue with his scent.... what do you think is the reason why he doesn't have a scent? Especially since all werewolves should have a scent.
And what does he mean by Nicolai killed his wife and mate?
I really hope you guys enjoyed the chapter. Please don't forget to vote, comment and share with your friends.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read my book. Have a blissful week.
~Sharon