Chapter 27
TWENTY-SEVEN
NATALIE
Nik and Clément spend what feels like the next hour talking over their plans for not only an attack on the Vostik compound, but how their packs will work together moving forward.
A unity among the wolves that choose to follow their combined leadership rather than being forced into the dictatorship Vlad Vostik threatened and killed to achieve.
I stay quiet mostly, nodding along, but Nikolai makes it a point to ask for my input on his family’s property and any patterns I might’ve noticed during my confinement.
It’s a sweet gesture, especially when I know he has every inch of his home committed to memory.
He doesn’t need my help. He’s doing it to save me from feeling like I’m nothing more than some painting hooked to the wall watching the men talk, and although it might seem small to him, to me, it means everything.
After Clément downs the final sips of his wine, he stands from the chair, using the table for balance. “You’re not your father, Nikolai Vostik. And to think, I almost had you hung by your claws.”
Nik shakes his head with a smirk. “I’m glad we could come to a more reasonable solution.”
He scratches his balding head and suppresses a yawn. “You stay here while we train, yes? You and your friends?” Clément motions to Nik first, then me.
Nik stands and extends his palm in the alpha’s direction. “That would be appreciated. Thank you for your generosity.”
Clément shakes his hand without question. “Excellent. Jade will show you to your rooms and we will meet in dining hall at sunrise. If I’m going to channel my wolf, I’d rather not do so on an empty stomach.” He laughs and pats his round belly for emphasis.
I’m sorry what? Did I miss something? Jade, as in Nik’s former betrothed, is going to lead us to our rooms?
From the way she was glaring at me, it seems like she’d rather lead me off a cliff.
From the moment I walked into this council room, it felt like I was being watched.
Sniffed out. My hair might’ve hidden the bite mark on my neck courtesy of Nik, but somehow, she knew it was there.
The disgusted glare she pinned me with made that much obvious.
He opens the doors leading back and whistles a tune so sharp, I have to cover my ears. Jade appears at the threshold, the strict lines of her face somehow tighter than before. “Take our guests to the rooms in the west wing. They will be staying a while.”
Her stunning green eyes find mine. They’re glowing now, practically beaming with the idea of refusal.
“You mustn’t be a poor host, Jade,” he says, his voice low.
A deep snarl rattles from her chest. She doesn’t bother looking at her father. No, she continues to stare daggers at me.
“Jade!” Clément shouts in a monstrous pitch. “Enough.”
Nik moves to stand in front of me but I stop him and take a step forward.
I had to deal with bullies my entire life.
More recently, a three-hundred-pound bully that can transform into an even bigger monster at will.
If she thinks I’m going to cower from her after the things I’ve seen, the nightmares I’ve had to outrun, she’s sorely mistaken.
I straighten my posture at Nik’s side and grab his hand, intertwining our fingers until our combined heat fills the room.
It’s petty, sure, but the were-bitch had it coming.
Part of me hopes she feels it. Despises the newfound temperature taking hold.
And when her snarls turn from a warning to a clear threat, I know for a fact she does.
Her mouth parts, and sharp fangs hang off her pouty lower lip.
Well, shit. I can’t do that yet. However—
Drawing a deep, furious breath, I stretch my fingers and watch as claws pierce through the skin below each cuticle.
It hurts, sure, but I ignore the pain and let the claws grow to a long and lethal shape.
Ten. Ten black nails total, all of them pointed and ready to slice through her fucking throat if she plans on following through with that wordless threat.
“Breathe, little wolf,” Nikolai interrupts, his voice the only calm part of the room. He grabs me by the wrist, a gentle but firm grip. “She’s baiting you.”
I try and pull away from him, my glare never leaving hers. Let her bait me. I don’t care who she is. What pack stands behind her. If she wants a fight, I’ll give her—
“Natalia!” Nik roars and turns me toward him. A flash of red outlines the gold in his eyes and is gone within seconds. He brushes the hair from my cheeks and cups my face, bringing my eyes to his. “Stay with me,” he says, his voice cooling the rage in my chest.
I peer down at my hands, noticing how my clawed fingers tremble with a sensation I’ve never felt before.
Wrath. He can sense it. The heightened emotions taking over, slowly overwriting my human DNA into something I don’t even recognize.
I’m not the same Natalie that walked into Club Volk, not anymore.
I can pretend all I want, but there’s no denying the way I want to rip out Jade’s spleen.
Nik pulls my face to his and kisses me, his mouth melding to the curve of my lips.
The breath rips from me, and the harsh words I wish to scream are gone before I can form a single coherent thought.
A warmth rivaling a wildfire rages through my stomach, sending the rest of my limbs ablaze.
I bring my hands to his back and urge him closer.
God, the room melts away like a house of wax, and I do nothing else but let it in our embrace.
He breaks our kiss only after my heartbeat slows to its regular cadence, still grazing his thumb to my cheek. “We need our rest, little wolf.”
With a scoff, Jade turns on her heel, whipping Clément with her jet-black hair before she departs the council room.
We follow behind the heiress, Nik leading the charge, and find Dimitri and Alexey held at gunpoint.
Both shift their annoyed glares at Jade first, then to us trailing her.
She mutters something to the soldiers in French and waves them off dismissively.
“Is it done?” Alexey asks, marching alongside us, Dimitri falling in at the back.
Nik nods and makes it a point to keep to the front, his large back blocking Jade from view.
The halls of the Duval property fork off at different points, though Jade seems to navigate the maze effortlessly despite the shadows blocking where each of these paths lead.
Keeping up proves difficult, especially when the only thing I can see is the small glimpse of her silhouette banking left or right on a whim.
If it weren’t for Nik, the rest of us might’ve gotten lost along the way.
Jade stops when we enter a long, narrow stretch of hallway lined with doors on each side.
Some of them are cracked open, the rest, sealed tight.
“You two,” she says and points to Nik and Alexey, her voice as sharp as it is venomous.
“Here.” She gestures to the first door on the left and swipes her hand to the light switch.
“Dimitri will be staying with Alexey,” Nik says, waving them both forward.
“Yebat’, Nikolai,” Alexey curses, peering inside. “There’s not enough room with him in there.”
Dimitri pats him on the shoulder as he passes. “You take floor, little man.”
Jade slams her arm across the threshold, blocking Dimitri from entering.
Her eyes cast an eerie green glow over the stone walls, highlighting the paintings and portraits I couldn’t make out before.
“This is still my house. You will stay with … her.” She spits every syllable and nods to me, not daring to glance my way.
Dimitri stares at the ground for a moment, the top of his bald head shining with green light. When he meets her eyes, the large man’s expression shifts from irritation to something I’ve only seen a handful of times. No. He can’t be. Is Dimitri actually … smiling?
“This your house. Your pack. Your alpha.” He removes Jade’s arm from the doorframe gently. She doesn’t protest, only seethes up at him with undeniable revulsion. “Not mine. I stay here.” He doesn’t wait for permission. He barrels into the room, tilting his head to fit inside.
Alexey tiptoes after him, angling his body to avoid her claws, if I had to guess. Once he’s out of Jade’s reach, he turns back to the hallway. “Where is your armory? There are some things I will need to craft since we had to leave my weapons behind.” He shoots a grimace in Nikolai’s direction.
The heiress’s face twists from anger to outright disgust, hot breaths finding a way through her clenched teeth and fangs.
“Right. Maybe you show me tomorrow,” Alexey says, grabbing the door and holding onto it like a shield. “Nikolai. Princess. Sleep well.” He pushes it closed, and a loud click follows.
Nik steps forward and flips on the lights to the room on the opposite end.
“Natalia?” He motions me in. I do so and make the mistake of looking at the wolf glaring at me the entire way.
Her pinched expression hasn’t changed at all.
If anything, the second I enter the room, it intensifies.
Nik’s quick to follow behind me, though, keeping himself as a barrier between us.
“Thank you.” He doesn’t say her name. Barely even glances in her direction as he closes the door. When he locks it, a horrible snarl echoes from the other side.
“She’s welcoming,” I say with a laugh.
He drags his hands through his long brown hair, combing it back. “That’s my fault.”
I cross my arms. “Oh, I know. Except it doesn’t look like you’re the one she wants to kill.”
“I won’t let her do anythi—”
“Have you apologized to her?” I interrupt.
“Apologize?” Confusion settles on Nik’s brow. “For what?”
I roll my eyes. Of course. It doesn’t matter how much of this man is animal. At the end of the day, he’s still a fucking man. “I don’t know, Nikolai, maybe for ditching your arranged marriage and embarrassing her in front of two different packs?”