Chapter 102 What happened?

Dimitri

The sky darkened.

Nikolai growled a deep, rumbling, heartbreaking growl as he clutched Avalyn to his chest.

She was shot.

I saw her bleed in his arms and I froze. I fucking froze. My heart was breaking in pieces and I didn't know what to do. We were tethered together with the blood oath. I could feel Avalyn's pain. I felt like I was the one who was dying instead. I can't even imagine how much pain Nikolai must be in right now.

The ground I stood on shook.

Nikolai growled angrily at the sky and lightning struck the tree nearest to us and the clouds roared with thunder. Louder than I had ever heard.

And then suddenly, Queen Zakyra caught on fire. Along with the twenty men she had brought along with her.

She started screaming. Along with all her men.

Queen Zakyra, the Queen of Poziarne, who had the affinity of fire, the Unburnt Queen— who yielded fire at her fingertips and was burning in fire.

The smell of rotten corpses burning spread in the air and their blood-curling wails intensified.

Avalyn's heart had slowed down. She was bleeding way too much. Her mouth was open and a drop of blood leaked out and a sob lodged in my throat. Her eyes were open and were losing their light.

No. No. No.

Nikolai was crying, hugging her to his chest as he rocked her in his arms. Mumbling incoherently. My heart broke further. I hadn't seen him cry in years. Fuck, I was in tears. I don't know what I will do if something happened to Avalyn. Nikolai will lose himself.

Sofiya was crying.

I snapped out of my daze and ran to Nikolai, falling on my knees next to him.

"You need to get the bullet out." It's a wooden bullet. I can smell it. And a wooden bullet with the right carving on it can kill a supernatural in under a minute. We didn't know if the bullet had the carving or not but we couldn't take chances.

I tried to get him to release Avalyn and he snarled at me, his eyes pitch black.

"Remove the bullet. Her heart rate is falling." That snapped him out of it.

He placed Avalyn's head in his lap before he slowly dug his fingers in the bullet wound, caught the bullet, pulled it out, and threw the bullet on the ground.

His pitch-black eyes shifted to me. "Get me a doctor."

"Step aside." Zora walked in.

"She said she can help," Marc said, who was walking beside her.

I looked at Nikolai, waiting for his command.

He gave me a sharp nod and I immediately stepped aside.

Zora kneeled down next to Avalyn and I watched her like a hawk, looking for any signs of threat Luna might have from her.

She opened a small box and took a pinch of powder from inside it and sprinkled it over Avalon's wound.

"Open her mouth."

Nikolai opened her mouth with gentle hands.

She took out a leaf from another pouch and placed it in her mouth and then closed it.

"She should wake up in twelve hours," Zora claimed.

A breath of relief left me. She's going to be alright.

"If she does not?" Nikolai's black pools for eyes focused on Zora.

She stood up. "You insult me by doubting me, Alpha." And then she turned around and left.

That girl is seriously weird. But something about her makes us trust her. And I can't pinpoint what it exactly is.

Nikolai stood up with Luna in his arms. I don't think I've ever seen him be this gentle with anybody. Half his clothes were soaked with blood and so were his hands.

But after whatever concoction Zora sprinkled, the bleeding had decreased considerably.

"Take care of everything." He spoke and then left.

"Go with him," I told Andrei who nodded and left with Nikolai.

I looked around. All that remained of Zakyra and her troops were heaps of ashes.

"What the hell happened here?" Rhazien, Jester, and Jessica approached.

"Queen Zakyra shot Avalyn." Marc replied.

"No." Sofiya sobbed. "She shot at my baby. Avalyn traded places." She sobbed louder.

A hiss left Vladimir.

"Jessica, take Sofiya back to the living quarters," I ordered.

"Vladimir, talk to Orlando about what happened. And that Poziarne comes under Soare-Luna now. Anyone who has a problem can come to take it up with me." I growled.

"No one will have a problem," Vladimir said with a dark look on his face. I gave him a nod.

"I'll take care of him." Jester pointed at Eliyah who was lying in a pool of his own blood, bit his wrist, and put it against his mouth, squeezing out more blood. "Drink."

Eliyah released a pain-filled groan.

"Drink!" He snapped and Eliyah started swallowing his blood.

"Marc, talk to Sofiya about what happened and write a detailed report," I ordered, "and Jester, take Eliyah back inside with you." He should wake up in a couple of hours.

With a quick nod, he put Eliyah over his shoulder and left with Marc.

There was only one person on my mind that I immediately contact.

'Miss me already, fucker?' My eldest brother greeted jovially. Normally, I would joke back. But nothing about this was normal. I couldn't even bring myself to smile.

'What happened?' Max's tone turned serious in a second, sensing my mood. I told him everything. I could feel his anger through our bond.

'You sure she is a hundred percent dead? If you need help, I'm catching the next flight out.' He said, pissed.

I looked at the heaps of ashes. 'Positive. Told you. Lightening. Thunder. She burned to her death. I'm looking at her ashes right now. Along with her guard's ashes.' I muttered.

'Queen Zakyra— the Queen who literally cannot burn, burned to her death.' He stated as he digested the fact.

'We figure out what just happened.' I muttered. I kick a little ash and saw it spread further on the ground. 'Queen Zakyra should not be affected by fire, Max. And yet, she burned to her death.'

'Nikolai and Avalyn aren't affected by the fire.' Max said thoughtfully. 'They might have an affinity with fire.'

'Maybe.' I replied. 'Avalyn did not start this fire.' I looked around. 'She passed out before that.'

'Nikolai?' He asked.

'Yes.'

'You think that he started the fire at the beach house too? The one where I was training Talia?' He wondered.

'Possibly.' I replied. 'He was furious right now and he was furious that day. And his anger lit up the fire.'

'But Avalyn put that fire out.' He reminded me.

'Only after Nikolai told her to do it.' I pointed. I clearly remember it. 'Maybe he put out the fire subconsciously while all of us thought Avalyn was doing it.'

'It's quite possible.' He agreed. 'You said lightning struck first and then it thundered and then the fire started?'

I made an affirmative noise from the back of my throat.

'The same thing happened at the beach house.' Max said thoughtfully. 'Avalyn must have been too weak right now. It has to be him.'

'So the sky agrees with his mood?' I asked. It felt ridiculous to even say it out loud.

Max did not reply.

I looked up at the dark sky. And then it started pouring. What the fuck? The weather here is controlled by old magic. It's always spring and it never rains!

'The sky is dark and it suddenly started pouring.' I informed him. 'Bellehaven Isle has old magic. It always springs there. It's impossible.'

'It has to be Nikolai.' Max murmured thoughtfully.

'We would have noticed if this happened before.' I told him. 'We have known him forever.'

'He hasn't known Avalyn for long. It's been what, six-seven months? Maybe being with her has unlocked something inside him.' Max said.

That made me realize that she hadn't even had her heat yet. Every she-wolf gets her heat about six months after they meet their mate. But she didn't shift until after a month they met. It must be late because of that. But as nature ruled, it would happen when it would happen. No point in worrying about it.

I focused on Max again.

'The same thing has happened with Avalyn. The longer they are together, the stronger her powers get.' Her powers are a lot stronger than in the beginning.

'And the weaker her wolf is getting.' He added. I agreed. None of us said anything but we could feel it. It was almost like... her wolf was dying. Maybe that's why she hasn't gotten her heat.

'Mary told me that she had cast a spell on Valerie which transformed half of her powers into a wolf. This was so that she could have better control of her powers and not feel like an outsider in the pack.' Max said. 'What if the spell got weaker in the next generation? Avalyn has a weak wolf and that is getting weak every day and powers that are getting stronger every day.'

'Are you saying that she is turning into a full faye?' I whispered. I don't know if it's good or bad.

Max remained silent.

He didn't need to say it out loud.

We both knew.

'What about Nikolai then? Will they still remain mates?' I asked. The wolf part of ours had mates, not the human part.

'I don't know, Dimitri. I don't know.'

Fuck.

~~~~~~

"How is she?" I asked quietly as I entered Nikolai and Avalyn's bedroom along with Vladimir. We had been doing the paperwork of Poziarne being a part of Soare-Luna for the last few hours and were finally done.

Nikolai was sitting against the headboard and caressing Avalyn's hair who was lying beside him. It always amazed me to see the transition from brown to silver. Her strands kept flickering to a different colours as Nikolai's fingers moved.

Tessa was seated by her feet, tears flowing down her cheeks silently. I saw Max on the couch, Mihail and Andrei next to him. Of course, they were here. They needed to see for themselves that Avalyn was alive and safe. Javier and Josias were sitting in a chair each. by the bed. Family means unyielding support and undying love. All of them were glaring at the wound on Avalyn's stomach, which had healed considerably.

"Her heart rate is back to normal," Nikolai replied, his voice hollow.

Nat was sitting on another side of Avalyn. I took a beside her feet.

I closed my eyes and prayed to the moon goddess to help her regain her health.

After a couple of hours, a crying Sofiya entered along with Jessica and Marc.

Nat got up and offered Sof her spot. She held on to Avalon's handed and continued crying while Nat sat on Max's lap. It was a waiting game now. She should be up any minute.

I heard Jester talking to someone and I walked out to find him talking to Avalyn's slave Eliyah.

"...but I died." Eliyah pressed his hand against his chest.

"I healed you," Jester replied.

"Why? You should have left me to die." His eyes lowered. "I shouldn't be alive. The one time I wanted to fight and win...I lost." His voice was self-deprecating.

"Yeah well, believe me, having so much blood sucked out of you to heal someone isn't fun. Blood transfer is personal to us. But Queen Avalyn won't be happy to find you dead." Jester said and dug into a slave's neck, drinking her blood. He'll have to regain his strength after so much blood loss.

"She's dead anyway."

A growl escaped me, "she's fucking not, alright."

His head snapped to me, only now realizing that I was here. "What do you mean?"

"She's not dead. She's healed and is resting. She should wake up in a couple of hours." I replied.

A relieved breath escaped him. "Can I see her?"

I nodded, "I'll take you."

Avalyn

My eyes fluttered open and I made our voices around me.

"Ava." A breath of relief.

Nikolai.

That's when it hit me.

Sofiya.

Queen Zakyra.

Bullet.

My hands flew to my stomach, where I had been hit. But I was met with smooth skin.

What?

I looked around and found everyone here. Nikolai, Sofiya, Dimitri, Andrei, Mikhail, Vladimir, Jester, Marc, Max, Natalia, Ezra Tessa, Eliyah, Papa, and Papa again?

No. It was King Josias.

My entire family was here. For me. Because they cared. Something deep tugged at my heart. I had never had so many people care about me. It finally feels complete.

I looked up at Nik and a smile cracked on my face.

"Hi." He smiled through his worried features.

"H-hi." I blushed.

I heard a few snickers around the room.

Nik helped me up so my back was resting against the headboard and offered me water. Only then I realized how parched I was. I drank the entire glass.

My eyes fell on Eliyah. My eyes widened. "How?"

He was dead...

"I healed him," Jester replied.

"Thank you," I whispered. He nodded in return.

"I would like to apologize for coming in between," Eliyah spoke gently.

"It's okay. Thank you, actually." I smiled. "I appreciate your intentions. Yes, it was foolish but your heart was in the right place and that's what matters to me."

He nodded hesitantly. He looked uncomfortable.

"Who healed me?" I feel no pain. At all.

"Zora." Nik replied.

"She did a wonderful job. I feel perfectly fine now." I said. I wanted to talk to Zoya, I hadn't even thanked her for handing Dimitri the cure for Max's possessions by the Devil. "Where is she?"

"She left," Sofiya replied. "She comes and goes according to her will." I nodded. Zora was different.

"You have some visitors." Ezra knocked opened the door.

Elder Orlando, King Ciro, Queen Rhapsody, Princess Nazia, and a man I didn't recognize filed in the room.

"It brings us great pleasure to see you in good health again." Elder Orlando said.

"And it brings me great pleasure to see you all here." I smiled. "Thank you for visiting me." I looked at the royal family. I hadn't expected it.

The three of them smiled.

"We wanted to see you in good health before we took our leave." Queen Rhapsody said. "I'm pleased to see you're doing better now."

"Thank you." Warmth spread in my heart. "So much."

"You're very welcome." She smiled. "I apologize to cut our meeting short but I believe we must take our leave now. This is for you." A slave stepped forward and brought in a vase full of white roses on the nightstand beside the bed before he stepped back. "We hope you stay healthy and safe, Queen Avalyn." With a nod, they left.

"This is General Jonathan, Queen Avalyn. He wanted to make a personal apology for the accident," Elder Orlando motioned towards the mountain of a man whom I was seeing for the first time.

"Apologies for this being the first time we met, Queen Avalyn." General Jonathan said. "And apologies that you were harmed because of our negligence of security."

"Think nothing of it. I'm perfectly fine now."

"No. Think everything of it!" Nikolai growled. "I shall come to your court and make sure this matter is looked into."

"Nikolai, don't..." I touched his arm. I know he would have the person responsible executed.

"Now that you've made your fake apology, get out." He snapped at them and my jaw slackened at his rudeness. We were in their house for heaven's sake! But apparently, that was a minor technicality Nikolai didn't care about.

With no words and a small bow, the two men left.

His tortured eyes met mine. "An attack has been made on the Queen, the Princess, and the unborn child of the Princess because of some twat who took his duty as a guard lightly. Justice shall be served."

I knew he wouldn't budge on this, regardless of what I say.

"He is right," Papa said, his voice hard. "The one responsible for this has to pay."

Murmurs of agreements filled the room and I eventually sighed, giving in. I knew they were right.

"What happens to Kingdom Poziarne now?" I asked.

"It is now a part of Soare- Luna," Dimitri said, his voice dark.

"The change had been relayed to the rest of the Kingdoms," Vladimir said. "And there were no objections. Except for the one that has been taken care of."

I knew he meant King Xillian.

"What do you want to do about Poziarne now?" Vladimir asked.

"We will discuss that later," Nikolai replied. "Now everyone gets out. Avalyn needs to rest."

My mouth dropped open at his brashness, once again but I remained quiet. Truth be told, I needed some alone time with Nik.

Once everyone had filed out, Nik grabbed my waist and pulled me on his lap so my legs were on either side of him.

His eyes fell on my stomach.

"You have a scar." He brushed the hardened pad of his thumb over it.

Goosebumps rose on my skin and when I looked down at my stomach, I realized that there was indeed a scar. A small, light one, but it was there. Right below my belly button.

"I hate that I wasn't there to protect you." He confessed and he had a haunted look in his eye. "I didn't make it to you in time."

I grabbed his face with both my hands and forced him to meet my eyes. "It's not your fault, Nikolai." I said assertively, wanting him to understand. "You made it there in time. You saved me from further harm. I'm alive because of you."

"Because of Zora."

"Yes, Zora. But you too." I pulled his head forward and kissed his lips. "She could have hurt me further but you were there in time and killed her."

"About that." He gulped. "I didn't kill her."

"She's alive?"

"No!" A growl tore through his mouth. "I just...I didn't physically kill her. Or her comrades. They themselves caught on fire and died."

"The Queen of fire caught on fire and died?" I raised my brows. "Be honest. What did you do to them? Are they in a cell where you want to torture them?" I demanded.

"I wish." He mumbled under his breath. "But I'm telling you the truth. She caught on fire and burned to her death. In front of my eyes. In front of everyone."

However crazy it might sound, I believed him.

"How is that possible?" I whispered. The fire will have to be very powerful for it to kill the fire queen.

"I don't know. And I don't give two shits. She's dead. Period. The only thing that matters to me is that you are well and alive, here, with me." He squeezed my waist, almost like he was assuring himself that I'm here.

"I'm here Nik. I'm here to stay. I'm not going anywhere." I kissed him.

He pushed me back gently. "You don't understand Avalyn." He shook his head. "I held you in my arms and rocked your dying body. I saw you bleed. I saw your life drain in front of my eyes. Do you know how powerless that made me feel?" He demanded.

It was only then I realized how heavily this incident laid on him.

"I removed the fucking bullet from your body, Avalyn. The wooden bullet with the carved symbol on it. It would have killed you had it stayed another minute inside of you. All this money and power were useless when it came down to actually protecting you and saving your life." He shifted me on the bed and got off, pacing around the room in frustration.

"What good is everything if you are not here with me?"

Tears rose in my eyes at how troubled he looks. It broke my heart. I have never seen him this... distraught.

"I thought that you had powers and could protect yourself. And you could go out without protection, without looking over your shoulder in fear. I had promised you that you could do that one day. I clearly failed." He shook his head as paced around.

I scrambled off the bed and planted myself in front of him. I grabbed him by his broad shoulders and brought him to a halt.

"I'm alive and safe, Nikolai." I asserted. "I need you to calm down."

"I can't!" He shouted.

"Don't you realize it Avalyn?" He screamed in my face, his hold tight on my shoulders. "You almost died! Does that mean nothing to you? Do we being torn apart mean nothing to you?"

"It does, Nik, it does." Tears rose in my eyes.

"I'm sorry. Don't cry, I'm sorry." He said softly and brushed away my tears.

I held on to his hands that cupped my face, keeping them there. "It will drive you crazy if you keep thinking about the what-ifs. You need to stop, we can't live in constant fear of what will happen in the future. You need to live in the present."

"How can I not?" A tremulous smile formed on his face. "I am terrified of losing you."

"I'm here, Nikolai." I kissed the inside of his palm. "I don't know how to convince you of that fact."

"It's my fault." He whispered. "I left you alone."

"You can't be with me every second of the day."

"I should have assigned a guard." He took his hands away from my face and gripped his hair, pulling them. "Stupid mistake on my part. You should be angry at me. You should want to punch me. Hit me. I know I do."

Where is all this coming from?

I took his hands in mine, trying to stop him from hurting himself. "Nik, stop. Look at me please." I pleaded. He refused to meet my eye.

"Nikolai look at me," I said firmly and his grey eyes snapped towards mine.

"It is not your fault. The only one who is at fault is Zakyra." I don't know how to get through to him.

I need to assure him I'm here.

I pulled him towards the bed. "Come, make love to me." I'll show him just how real I am.

Nikolai didn't move an inch.

"Did you ask the guards who were supposed to be there to not be there? Hell, you don't even know the guards who were supposed to be there! You didn't ask Zakyra to do it! You didn't know she was going to do it. You didn't even know where she was!" My hands gripped his tighter. "How on earth is this your fault?"

"I'm responsible for you." He said softly. "And I failed you."

"But you didn't, Nikolai. You didn't." I don't know how to make him understand. I don't know what to say or what to do to make him understand. "I'm responsible for my own self. You didn't fail me. You saved me."

I slid my arms around his waist and placed my head on his chest, against his heart. It was beating too fast.

"What can I do for you?" I whispered.

"Nothing that will help, at the moment." He rested his head on mine and his arms came around me too.

"Where is all this coming from?"

He remained silent for a while before I heard him speak. "My mom."

I sucked a breath.

My eyes slid shut tight.

I should have known!

I'm so stupid!

"This entire scene was so much like what happened to her. She was shot in the stomach with a wooden bullet too." He squeezed me to himself tighter, like he was reassuring himself that I was here. "I couldn't get to her in time. I could hear her heartbeat slow down before it stopped. And they had taken her away before I could get to her."

"When you told me that Zakyra has a gun, the same scene played in my mind and I feared something similar might happen to you." He kissed the top of my head. "I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if it happened to you too."

"But I'm alive, Nik," I said softly.

"But you dying or you being taken away was a huge possibility. It was a close call Avalyn. One that I can't afford." His hand caressed my back. "I can't afford to lose you. I would give all of this way— the fortune, the power, the pack if it came down to choosing between you and those things. You'll at least be in less danger like that."

He actually sounded like he was considering it!

"No way." I pinched his butt. "You can have everything you want. And I'm not losing those things, I enjoy them quite a lot. And I'll be in danger regardless. Everyone is going to die one day. You can't spend your entire life being so protective."

He pinched mine right back. "I can try. My motto in life is to live with you forever. So far so good. Almost."

"I love you, Nik." I kissed over his heart.