Chapter 143 Birthday Date

Nikolai

Brunch went okay.

While the food was mouth-wateringly delicious- Ava had made it after all, the conversation was tense. And no matter how hard everyone tried to cheer up, the tension was undeniable.

I was fucking pissed at everyone on this table.

Avalyn was trying really hard to make conversation and have fun but the conversation didn't hold up for more than a minute. Dimitri was sitting far away from Althea and both of them were silent. I don't know why they still haven't mated. Dimitri might not be the ladies’ man all of us had pegged him to be after all. Mikhail was busy stuffing his mouth with any and everything he found on the table, having spent the last month on food that tasted like shit. Natalia and Althea kept giving snide looks to each other. And the only ones trying to really talk were Andrei, Max and Avalyn.

After we were done, the slaves brought out three different cakes and everyone brightened a little at that. Avalyn cut one of them as we sang the happy birthday song.

She brought the first piece to my mouth and that’s when I saw the tears in her eyes.

I felt like kicking myself in the stomach for being such a fucking dick. She was miserable. It was the first birthday she was celebrating in over ten years and she was fucking miserable.

I took a bite of the piece and then held her hand and fed it too her. As she chewed, a tear slid down her cheek and my heart constricted. I gently wiped the tear away with my thumb, "you know what, fuck this," I whispered, taking the remaining of the piece of cake from her hand and placing it on her plate.

She looked up at me, confused.

"Go change, we're going out on a date," I announced. I was going to turn today around.

"Date?"

"Yes, it's a thing that couples do where they go out and have fun together," I told her.

She bit down on her lip to control her smile and nodded. "Now?" She asked, quickly glancing at the table and our family.

"Yes." I nodded.

"Okay, Nikolai." She pecked my cheek before she walked into the elevator.

I turned to glare at my family. "I know all of you had your reasons but the next time you hide something from me will be the last day I consider you my family. Understood?" I snapped.

"Yes," everyone murmured unanimously.

"Natalia and Althea, whatever the fuck it is, sort it out." I warned. "This is a family and we are one unit. If we are not on the same side and stand united as the Royal Family, then we might just hand over the kingdom to our enemies. And that's not happening on my watch. Got it?"

"Yes, Alpha." Natalia answered and I waited for Althea as she kept staring up at me in defiance and challenge.

I needed to put her in place and establish my position as the Alpha King. It seemed like she has always gotten her way around here and no one has given her a place in the hierarchy of the pack.

I placed my hands on the edge of the table and stared down at her, "your old family is dead, they're not coming back."

"Niko—" I raised my hand, silencing Dimitri's protests.

"We are all you have got. You have no choice but to accept it. Dimitri is your mate and the best damned person the Moon Goddess could have blessed you with. Instead of holding on to your past beliefs, open your mind a little and see the real world for yourself."

"I cannot let go of the past because what my father had been doing was for the future. All of us are going to die now. Because of you! Because you killed them!" Tears rose in her eyes. "Yo—" I cut her off with a growl.

"Open your mind just this much," I rose my hand and created the smallest gap between my thumb and forefinger, "what if the prophesy was misplaced? Or what if it is a made up story a mother created to help her child sleep at night? There is possibility that it is not true. And there is a possibility that it is true too. But unlike your father, I'm not stupid enough to play with the lives of thousands of people, kill thousands of people based on a fucking possibility. I'm not going to kill people today to save others tomorrow."

Her eyes quickly filled up with tears and her mouth dropped open. Seems like I finally got through to her after all.

"You can believe what you want but nothing is going to change my decision and around here, what I say, happens. You can accept it, accept Dimitri and live happily for the rest of your life here with us or hold on to a possibility for the rest of your life and die alone." I said, my voice hard.

"I'm ready, Nik," Ava came in and looked at all of us in confusion for being in the same position she left us, even the cakes were untouched which was unlike our family. "What's going on?"

I straightened up with a grin, "nothing, Love. Just checking up on everyone." I said and took a quick scan on her outfit. She was wearing a pair of dark blue denim shorts and a cute, loose pink top. "You look beautiful," I extended my hand.

"Thank you," she said shyly before taking it.

I led her towards the door as I glanced behind. The expression on Althea's face told me that she was rethinking her entire life. Dimitri gave me a grateful nod and I nodded back.

"Where are we going?" She asked with a smile.

"It's a surprise." I led her on the roof and her smile widened when she realised we were walking towards the helicopter.

"I'm so excited, it's been a while since we went on a date, Nikolai." She grinned as I buckled her in and started the helicopter.

"Well then get ready for the best date of our lives," I grinned back and flew the helicopter towards Silverwitch Bay.

"Are we going to the beach estate?" Ava asked. We had officially renamed our house in Silverwitch Bay to the beach estate.

"Nope." I shook my head as I steered the helicopter towards the ocean, confusing Avalyn further.

She looked out of the window at the vast expanse of the ocean with bright eyes, happiness evident on her face. "Is there some secret island you own and we're going to be staying there for the night?"

Hmm. Buying a private island as a gift for Ava's next birthday seems like a good idea.

"Nope." I shook my head. It will only be possible if that spawn of Satan doesn't kill my soulmate.

"Come on! Tell me, Nikolai," she shook my arm pleadingly and I laughed.

"Have you ever heard of skinny dipping, Love?" I asked.

"That's swimming naked right? Well unless you plan on abandoning the helicopter in the ocean, there's no way we will be able to do that." She rolled her eyes.

"We can if we park the helicopter there," I pointed towards the cruise ship a few kilometres in front of us.

Ava watched in awe. "It's so pretty, Nik," she commented as we neared it. "Viktoria?"

She must've read the name of the ship.

"Mom loved sailing but we didn't have enough money to buy a good boat then. We used to rent a boat during the vacations and spend weekends sailing aimlessly," I said, my mind drifting off to those memories.

"And you got a ship in her memory?"

I nodded, swallowing the lump in my throat that always formed whenever I thought about her. "I bought it on her birthday as a present. But she wasn't here to see it." She was dead by then.

Ava placed her hand in top of mine, "you miss her a lot, don't you?"

"Everyday." I replied. I just didn't think too much about it because I knew that the anger I still felt over it would consume me and that wasn't good for anyone. It would only go away after the death of Adrik.

"I miss Papa too." She whispered. "But knowing that he is finally with Mama brings me peace. I know he was hurting when he was here. He spent every second missing her. I think Viktoria met her mate too and she is very happy wherever she is. Especially considering how good you're doing in life too."

"You really think so?" I asked her as I began lowering the helicopter on top of the cruise ship.

"I know so." She smiled, undoing her belt. I undid mine too and both of us jumped out.

The crew, which consisted of an older werewolf couple, greeted us by bowing down.

"Rise." I allowed and the rose with a smile on their faces.

"Good afternoon, Alpha Nikolai and Luna Avalyn."

"Good afternoon," we echoed.

"The food is cooked and ready in the dining room and so are a few fresh set of clothes and swimming costumes for the both of you. We will be taking our leave now and come back to collect the ship tomorrow." Alfred smiled.

"Thank you so much," I shook hands with the man before the couple departed.

"How will they leave?" Ava asked.

"See," I led her towards the deck and we watched them drive off in a speed boat that exited out of the ship.

"A ship that parks helicopters and a boat?" Ava murmured. "You're so rich."

"We're rich." I corrected with a bashful smile. "If I have the money to allow us to live comfortably, why wouldn’t I use it?"

"This isn't comfort, Mi Amor, this is luxury." She giggled, taking a good look at the ship.

"Want a tour?" I offered.

"Yes." She nodded.

I caught her hand in mine and led her inside. "The ship has five bedrooms with en suite bathrooms, and this one is ours." I led her into our bedroom. She went in further, taking in the rich interior as I leaned against the doorframe, watching her.

"And then this is our little man-cave," I said as Ava left the room and opened one of the other rooms. It had a television, a few video games, a foosball table and a pool table. I also helped her explore the other four rooms that consisted of two lounge rooms, a kitchen and a dining room.

"The ship is really amazing, Nik," Ava wrapped her arms around my neck and I leaned down to capture her lips. "We can come out here whenever you want."

"I would love that," she grinned against my lips.

"I know one other thing that you'll love a lot," I said as I began undressing her. The second her top was off, my eyes fell on her protruding stomach. It wasn't too big, just a little. Enough to know that she was pregnant and hadn't just gained weight.

The two little heartbeats that I had been ignoring sounded extremely loud suddenly.

I could feel the warmth of Ava's gaze on my face but I couldn't lift my eyes to meet hers.

My hands automatically raised to touch her stomach but paused midway. The part of me that had always wanted to be a father wanted to desperately touch it and caress it and love the two little runts in her tummy. But the other part of me, the one that loved Avalyn to death wanted to kill them so that they didn't kill her.

I lowered my hand back to my side. I couldn't. I just couldn't.

"I visited the doctor two weeks ago. She said that everything is perfect, Nikolai. I'm healthy and they're healthy too." Ava whispered.

I breath of relief escaped my lips. But it was just the beginning of her pregnancy, anything could happen at any time. I needed to talk to the doctor myself and interrogate them to make sure everything was a hundred percent perfect before I let myself feel for them. "Can we please go to the doctor tomorrow?" I whispered.

"Of course." She nodded before she stepped closer to me and helped me get undress.

I shook my head, clearing the depressing thoughts and focusing on making today the best day of Ava's life.

Once both of us were naked, I led Ava to the deck. "I think you'll be able to breath underwater now, being the Queen of Water. And I'll handle my oxygen," I said. "Let’s go skinny scuba diving."

Ava simply grinned in reply before intertwining our fingers. And then we jumped inside the water. And true to my predictions, both of us were able to breathe underwater.

Without letting go of each other, we swam deeper into the water till we reached ocean bed. It was outer-worldly beautiful.

We saw plants we didn't the names of. Fishes kept coming near Ava, as if they were attracted to her. Ava lifted her hand and pet a fish. She giggled in mirth, bubbles escaping her mouth. I smiled. She looked happy.

'Look, Nik! It's so beautiful!' She exclaimed through the mind-link. She had a wide grin playing on her face and her long silver hair floated in the water, forming almost a halo around her, making her look like a real angel. My angel.

This was really the happiest I had seen her. 'Almost as beautiful as you, angel.'

Ava's smile deepened and she swam closer to kiss my lips. I wrapped my arms around her waist and brought her closer, caressing her ass. Her legs wrapped around my waist and the way things were getting heated, I knew we were going to recreate the time we had sex underwater. Just in a much more beautiful setting.

And finally finish mating too.

But suddenly, I felt something stuck on my head and some sort of a...suction?

'What the fuck?'

In the next moment, I felt something wrap around my face and Ava pulled away. When she saw me, she began laughing, 'it's an octopus. I think it's jealous of you.'

'That cock-blocking bastard.' I hissed and yanked it off my head. I swear it glared at me as it swam away.

Ava was still laughing and I made an annoyed face.

'Come, let's swim some more,' she grabbed my hand and we swam for hours yet it seemed like the time had went still. It felt surreal to be here. Nothing seemed to bother us. It was like there was no reason to worry or no underlying tension.

It was slowly getting dark so we mutually decided to head up back to the ship. Once our heads were above water, both of us were grinning widely. My heart felt so full of love for her that I felt like it would burst. I certainly can't love her more than this.

"I love you, Nik." Her voice trembled as a tear leaked from her eye.

I caught her face in my hands and wiped her cheeks, "I love you too. Why are you crying? Are you hurt?"

"No!" She sobbed, "I'm just so happy." And then she wrapped her hands around my neck and I wrapped mine around her waist. We stayed there for a while, just floating in the water in each other's arms. "I never thought I'd be able to live such a happy life. Even a year ago, if you would have asked me what I wanted, I would have said just one day of full plate of food. Nothing else."

I kissed her shoulder, "happy life is all you will live now, Love. I'll take personal offence if you're anything but happy."

"I’m so happy, Nik. I'm so happy that sometimes, it feels too good to be true." She whispered.

"Well it is real, get used to it." I caressed her back. "Let's go back to the ship, it's getting cold now."

Ava easily teleported us back inside our bedroom in the ship before asking, "are you happy, Nik?"

I thought about it for a minute, "when I'm with you, our family, yeah. But..."

"Adrik?"

I nodded. "He's a missing piece. I need to kill him, avenge Mom and ensure everyone's safety. And...and I need to avenge myself too."

"What was it like? Living with him?" She asked.

In a flash, thousands of memories passed in front of my eyes. "A constant struggle to be perfect and always feeling like I'm not enough, a nightmare of hearing him defile Mom every night and pretending like I don't hear a thing, killing innocent people and constantly lying to my mom about it."

"Is that why you always want to be perfect?" She asked, her voice soft.

"No." I said instantly before realising that it might have stemmed from there. "Maybe. It's just...it's drilled into my head ever since I can remember. That an Alpha cannot be anything less than perfect. That’s why I always hold myself to such a high regard, I disappoint myself before anyone else like that and it helps me become better. It's a constant pressure but truthfully, it's challenging and I like it."

"I know you do." She murmured, giving me a quick kiss. "And what was it about killing innocent people?"

I nodded, my head lowering in shame, "he had a torture dungeon down in the basement where he brought in rogues, slaves who needed punishment, pack members who questioned or doubted him... basically anyone whom he was angry at or didn't like. He tortured them first before killing them in there. He'd mostly ask me to watch and learn but sometimes when he wanted to punish me, he'd ask me to do it to them. And said if I didn't, he would say that he would do it to Mom instead. And he knew that I would rather hurt myself than hurt her. It was pretty much the only thing that got me to do his bidding."

"Oh, Nik." She lowered my head to capture my lips in a kiss. "I'm sorry you had to go through that."

"It's fine, it's done now." I said between kisses before I picked her up and dropped her on the bed. The last thing I wanted was to think about those days so I decided to shift the focus to her.

Before delaying any further, I lined myself against her entrance and slowly slid inside. I stopped when her face pinched in pain and quickly pulled out. "Are you okay, Love?"

She let out a shuddering breath before biting her lip, "I don't know why it hurts so much."

It might be because of that selfish spawns of Satan. Wanting all of her for themselves.

"It's fine, we'll talk to the doctor tomorrow."

She nodded and then jumped at the sudden loud noises. I became alert too. Both us walked towards the window to look at the source of the sound and we saw firecrackers bursting in the sky.

Ava grinned. "Did you plan that too?"

"I wish I did." I mumbled but smiled watching Ava smile. For whole five minutes, the crackers kept bursting. It felt like a show or something. And that's when I remembered. Greenwitch town hosts a carnival around this time every year to commemorate the birthday of one of the founding members of the town.

"Want to go to a carnival?" I asked Ava.

"A carnival?" Her eyes widened with excitement and I nodded with a chuckle.

"Yes!" She exclaimed enthusiastically.

I looked at the clock and saw that it was eleven already. And I knew that it closed down after the fireworks. We needed to be quick.

"Let's quickly get dressed then," I said and the next second, I was wearing a black t-shirt, dark blue jeans and she was wearing a matching black top and a dark blue shorts.

"Ready, let's go!" She said and in the next second, we were standing in the middle of the carnival.

My eyes widened and I looked around us to see if anyone saw anything but it seemed like no one had.

"You've gotten good, Love." I dropped a peck on her lips and she grinned, "thanks."

We held hands as we walked past the stalls. Most of the stalls were already closed, considering it was closing time. I saw a man who had just started to shut his stall and dragged Ava there.

"We'd like to play." I stopped him.

"Too late, young man. Come next year now."

"How about now?" Ava pulled out a wallet from my back pocket that was mine—the one that was supposed to be at the ship, and took out a hundred dollar bill from my pocket.

He rubbed his beard and took it. He then turned on the machine. There were five rows in shape of waves and fishes that moved to and fro at different speed.

"You have six bullets, hit the eye of five fishes and win anything," he said in a tone that warned us to hurry.

I nodded, aimed at the first fish and missed.

"Have you gotten rusty, Nik?" Ava teased with a grin.

"No. The gun isn't proper." I growled, annoyed. I wanted to show off my skills!

"No excuses. Take it or leave it," the man waved his hand.

"Fine." I muttered and calculated in my head. The bullet was about six millimetres off to the left. I took aim according to that and hit bullseye all five times. Or fish's eye would be more appropriate.

"Yay!" Ava grinned, high-fiving me.

The man, who looked bored earlier look shocked.

I smirked at him smugly and asked Ava, "which toy do you want, Love?"

"The wolf!" She pointed at a soft toy in the shape of a black coloured wolf.

Both of us chuckled at that.

It was big but Avalyn looked more than happy to hold that.

Most of the families were leaving by this time and a lot more couples were enjoying themselves on the various rides that were probably on for the last time.

Most rides weren't a good combination with pregnancy so I led Ava towards the ferris wheel instead. It was safe and hopefully we would reach in time.

By the time we reached the entrance, we saw the guy shake his head and a pair of couple leave dejectedly.

I walked towards him and showed him a hundred dollar bill. He immediately plucked it out of my hand and yelled at the person controlling it to take one more round.

Grinning, Ava and I walked inside and sat beside each other on the bench.

It was slow but as we rose higher up, we could see all the lights of the carnival which made it look pretty. And the ocean was on the other side. The dark water reflected the silver glow of the moonlight. The whole view was a sight to see.

Ava was looking outside with a child-like happiness.

"Is it your first time, Ava?" I asked, hoping it wasn't.

"Yes!" She said, nothing looking away from the view. She didn't sound upset about it one bit.

I decided then and there and I'll start a carnival at Imporia every year on Avalyn' birthday. Or maybe coming out here was better, it gave is a reason to get out the palace and work zone to enjoy life a little.

This could be our birthday ritual.

If Avalyn lives.

"Avalyn?" I called her.

She turned her head to look at me. It was a bit windy and we were almost at the top so her hair was flying all over. The silver of her hair was even more prominent under the moonlight. She pushed her hair off her face and grinned, "what?"

"I love you."

She leaned in and kissed me, exactly when we were at the top, "I love you too."

Avalyn

Our original plan was to stay at the beach house and spend the night there, but for some reason, Nik insisted on going back to the palace.

"Surprise!" I heard thousands of people scream in darkness and I jumped in shock. The lights turned on and I saw that almost the entire pack had gathered in the palace compounds for what looked like a mid-might party.

This was the reason Nik insisted on coming back home. But from the surprised look on his face, I was sure that he wasn't aware of this party either.

Fairy lights were strung across the trees that lit up the entire area, various peculiar sculptures that were clearly made by our woodsmen were used to decorate the entire area, small aesthetic booths were set up to take pictures, a stage was set up to the side upon which a DJ booth was set up and besides that were numerous musical instruments sat. I was sure the talented musicians of our pack would be playing them later on. Tables littered the corners of the grounds and a large buffet was set up which smelled absolutely delicious.

"Happy birthday!" All of them started singing the birthday song unanimously and a grin spread across my face.

The crowd gathered in front of us parted and our family came into view. They walked forward, pushing a cart that carried a huge five tiered cake. And on the cake, it was written, Happy birthday Avalyn & Nikolai and on too of it sat two figurines of Nik and I in our full royal outfit. I knew this was their way of apologising to Nik and making up for the brunch. I really am so lucky to have such an amazing family.

Nikolai caught my hand and  I squealed when he spun me around. His hands rested on my waist and a soft smile played on his face, "it's 11:59 Happy birthday, my Love." And then he dipped me before covering my mouth with his own.

"Happy birthday, Love," I smiled when he straightened both of us up. It was his birthday now.

"Thank you," he smiled.

"It's time to cut the cake!" Max announced and handed us a knife.

The entire pack broke into cheers while Nikolai make me hold the knife and covered my hand with his own before we cut the cake together.

Nikolai fed me the first bite and I smiled as I chewed before I cut another piece and it to him, "this is the best birthday ever."

"Mission accomplished," he grinned, swiped a little cream of the cake and put it on my nose. I scrunched my nose as he did and laughed lightly before he kissed, effectively wiping the cream away. "Had to do it. It's tradition," he winked.

"DJ, start the music," Max yelled before he popped open a bottle of champagne, "and let's get this fucking party started!" And that started a raging party.

Nikolai led me to the dance area with a wide grin on his face. His happiness was contagious. I couldn't stop grinning and singing the lyrics of the songs the DJ played at the top of my voice alone with the rest of the crowd.

In the mood to tease, I pulled Nik into a kiss before trailing my fingers down the side of his face up till his pants before I turned around and ground my ass into his front.

"Fuck." His hands came to rest on my waist and his nose dug into my neck where he placed open mouthed kisses.

I lifted my arms and loosely wrapped around his neck and tilt my head to the side, giving him more access to do as he wished. Both of us swayed to the music that had adjusted to our sensual pace. My body was heating up with need and I was growing wet by the second.

Nik let out a soft growl and spun me around before pulling me in a toe-curling kiss that also sent currents zapping throughout my body.

Goddess, I love this man.