Chapter 144 Doctor

I lay on the examination bed as the Dr. Jonson examined the results of my blood test. I was here two weeks ago and she had said that everything was perfect. But right now, I felt waves of tension rolling off of her.

Or it might just be Nikolai's keen eye on every single movement of hers that tended to intimidate everyone.

"Nik," I called for his attention so the doctor could do her job at ease.

"Yes, Love?" He looked at me.

"I was here two weeks ago. I know everything is okay. You don't need to worry so much." I assured him.

He didn't reply immediately. Instead, he picked up my hand, kissed the back of it before looking at me, "I really hope so."

"I believe we have a few matters of concern," Dr. Jonson said gently.

"What is it?" Nikolai asked, dread clear in his voice.

"I compared the results of Queen Avalyn's last two visits and this one. It seems that her body is growing weaker." She looked at both of us in concern. "We have the knowledge to understand the vampire part of her body, not the faye part. Because of that, I do not want to risk prescribing any medication and have it affect you negatively."

Maybe everything isn't perfect after all. Nikolai and I shared a dreaded look before facing Dr. Jonson again.

"What else?" Nikolai asked. "You mentioned a few concerns."

"Everything seemed fine the last time you came in. But they were too small at that time. The foetuses are now growing at faster speed than most supernatural foetuses." She said. "It's causing a strain on your body, Queen Avalyn. You need will need to visit me every week instead of every two weeks, just so that I can make sure everything is okay."

"How long will the pregnancy be?" I asked.

"It depends. This can be an unusual growth spurt and then maybe it can slow down too. But if this speed continues, the babies will be here in another two to two and a half months at the most." She replied.

The pregnancies of most supernaturals lasted for around four to five months. A three month pregnancy was a really short time.

"I'll call in healer Allie and see if she can help in a way that us doctors can't," she said and stood up.

Both of us silently nodded and watched her walk out of the room.

Nikolai kept staring at my hand that he was holding between his own. He caressed my skin with his soft touch, almost like he was memorising it.

"Everything will be alright, Nikolai." I whispered.

He pinned me with his piercing grey eyes. "What if it's not?"

"It will be," I said with conviction.

"Do you love me, Avalyn?" He asked.

"Of course I love you, Nik!" What kind of absurd question was that?

"Do you love me enough to kill them if they try to take you away from me?" Tears rose in my eyes at his question. "Do you love me enough to live for me?"

My throat closed up at the pain in his voice. He had already believed that I was going to die if I go through with the pregnancy. He didn't believe that we could make it through this, he didn't believe that I was strong enough to live for him and my babies.

The door opened and I quickly wiped my eyes dry.

"Good morning, King Nikolai, Queen Avalyn," Allie stepped inside with a smile on her face, Dr. Jonson in tow.

"Good morning," both of us murmured.

She sensed the tense atmosphere and decided it was better to get to work quickly, "please lie down with your hands on your sides and then close your eyes." She told me and I did as she asked.

I went into a lucid state of emptiness. I had a thousand thoughts going through my mind even though I wasn't thinking of anything at all.

My eyes snapped open when I heard a shriek.

Allie was halfway across the room and Nikolai was holding her upright by her shoulders. Her body looked all pale and her eyes had a dazed look in them.

I quickly sat up straight, "Allie! Are you okay? What happened?"

She got to her feet and swayed for a second before clutching her head and massaging it. I quickly sent her some healing till she looked better. "I -I don't believe I have access to your body, Queen Avalyn."

"What does that mean?" I asked.

"Healers usually look inside the bodies of the people we heal to first see what is wrong. After that check-up, we know what's wrong and decide on the medication." She explained. "But your babies don't want me intruding in their space- inside your body."

"Why would they do that?" I cupped my belly.

"Fear or getting hurt? Protecting themselves? Protecting you from what is unknown to them? The possibilities are endless, Luna." She replied.

"What do we do now then?" Nikolai asked, his entire body was tensed.

"In the healer's society, we had a revered elder who was believed to have a solution for everything." She replied, looking apprehensive yet serious. "You must find him."

"What is his name? And where can we find him?" Nikolai asked.

"Raemus. He lives in Mystic Lupus and there are some rumours about him, they say that he has gone crazy. Getting him to help you won't be easy but if he does, you will have all your answers." She replied. “I personally believe it is worth a shot. I don’t think one ever forgets that kind of wisdom.”

"We will visit him. Thank you," Nik and I said as he helped me get off the bed.

"It was our pleasure," she smiled. Dr. Jonson also smiled and bid us goodbye.

"We'll go there directly," Nikolai said as soon as we were in the car.

"But it's your birthday, Nik. Don't you want to do some—"

"Just knowing you'll live will be better than anything we can do or any gift I'll ever receive, Love," he murmured, his eyes on the road as he sped past the rest of the cars.

"Okay, let's get this over with then," I replied, touched by the depth of his love for me. "Do you mind if I sleep for a while? I'm still very tired." Last night's party went on for the whole night. Nik and I had left around two thirty am to sleep but we had been out the whole day and I hadn't gotten enough sleep last night. And if there was one thing that Nik knew about me, then it was that I loved my sleep. Not that I didn't like the party they had thrown for us, because I did. I loved it even. I understood it's importance too. It had been a month since the whole war and it had caused a lot of bloodshed. The entire pack was in a depressed mood ever since. Everyone needed a reason to get out and have some fun. We needed to start living our lives again, in the present instead of the past. And our birthday was the perfect opportunity.

"Of course. I'll wake you up once we're there," Nik replied as I had expected. Smiling, I closed my tired eyes and gave in to the darkness.

My eyes fluttered open when I heard the car door lightly close. I saw that Nikolai had stepped outside.

Why didn't he wake me up?

I got out of the car and saw that Nik was staring at the mansion in front of us with haunted eyes.

I looked around us. The street only had a couple of properties, all of them huge with different architectural styles and clearly for the wealthy. But all of them had the vintage look. It was like they can been made centuries ago and no recent additions had been made. The entire pack was like that. It looked like the entire place was straight out of an eighties movie. I remember Nik mentioning that his father hated humans and everything they created. And that his mother insisted on running water which was the only reason why it was installed in the pack.

And I had seen cell-phones in the hands of a couple but they all were flip phones and not the modern touch screen ones. I mean I knew it was bad considering they didn't even own guns or knew how to operate them but looking at the pack first hand, I realised that it was much more worse than that. And it was going to take a lot of time to bring them to the twenty first century.

I looked at the house Nikolai was looking at and realised that it was his childhood home. I looked at the two storied beige walls and brown roofs. It had a neatly kept front yard and I saw a hint of a large garden at the back. It looked simple and homely. Not what I was expecting at all. I had expected something cold and bleak. But this was almost...homely.

I walked around the car, laced my fingers through his and caressed him through our bond. It was bound to bring back some memories but Nik wasn't revealing any of his emotions.

"Do you want to go in?" I asked softly.

He didn't use words to reply, instead, he let out a shuddering breath and then began towards the gates.

Nik seemed on edge as we walked there. As we neared the doors, Nik's hold on my had started tightening and my worry for him kept increasing. I didn't know what he was thinking and there was no expression on his face. But his eyes had a faraway look and I know he was deep in his thoughts.

"Nik?" I called softly and his head jerked to look at me, "huh?"

"Do you really want to go in?" I asked and he nodded, “I need to do this.”

We walked down the cobbled path and reached thick wooden door with a brass doorknob. He twisted it and it simply opened.

The ceiling was arched in the passage but Nik had my hand in his firm grip and he swept me across the living room with royal vintage furniture and up the grand staircase.

We walked past multiple doors and passages before Nik opened one.

It was a simple bedroom with a queen sized bed with two pillows facing the balcony which had the view of the garden in the backyard, a night desk besides it and a study desk in the corner. There were two doors, clearly one was the closet and one was the bathroom.

"This was my bedroom." Nik spoke softly but his voice overpowered the room.

My lips parted as I imagined a brown haired grey eyes little boy sleeping in this bed, hunched over the desk to study and...there was nothing else. No personal items, no pictures, nothing that said the room was his. It was bare and it lacked character.

And I knew Nik liked his space lived-in. The desk in our bedroom always had some or the other paper or file or something he was working on. On the wall hung a picture frame of us at the beach, playing happily in the water. Our nightstands also had pictures. His hand mine and mine had his. We had a couple of indoor plants to make the room lively. Nik regularly brought me flowers which I placed in the vase on the coffee table. We liked pillows on our bed to make it more comfortable. The bed also now had Wolfie—the soft toy Nik had won for me. We had a floor to ceiling bookshelf which was half filled with my novels and half with small collectibles we bought just because it reminded us of each other. Our bedroom was cosy.

"Why?" I didn't know what else to say to ask him for an explanation.

"Adrik didn't like to buy anything that wasn't worth his money. The only place that has good furniture is the living room and dining room. Because those are the only places people would see if they come visit." His voice was empty as he wandered inside and I followed.

Nik always said that it made him upset that I didn't get the childhood I deserved. But looking at this, he didn't either. Sure, things changed when him and Viktoria ran away. But half of his childhood was still bad. Both of us only lived half of our childhood. Mine was the first half while his was second half.

"Did you have a hobby?" I whispered as a chill went through my body as I felt like I was losing Nik the more time we spent here. He looked so lost, so far away.

"No." His voice was a whisper that the air barely carried to me. "Everything was a waste of time. If I'm not training, I'm studying. Anything less than perfection leads to punishment and no food." Oh Goddess.

I went to him and slid my arms around his waist, hugging him, bring him back to me from his wandering and most probably haunting thoughts. "I'm so sorry." I know he didn't want my pity.

His arms slid around me and tightened. "It wasn't your fault." When will he stop downplaying his sufferings? When will he think of himself as someone who has fought hard against his demons and won? When will he see just how amazing he is?

I know he thinks that since he is the Alpha, he has to keep it together, that he can't show weakness. That he has to maintain a level head and keep going forward. Because if he even pauses, someone might catch up to him and then everyone's life will be in danger.

But Nik was doing so good in opening up. He was strong in front of everyone but he shared his thoughts and feelings with me. Then why was he holding back now?

And then it suddenly clicked. Was this because of me? Did he think that just because my past was horrible he didn't have the right to complain? Because his troubles weren't as bad as mine? Could that be it?

"But it was." I whispered, my hands bunching his t-shirt. "And it's okay to say that it was bad. You can complain to me, Nik."

His hold on me tightened further, if that was even possible. He rocked back and forth and tremors went through his body as he whispered brokenly, "it was bad, Avalyn. It was so bad."

I understood. I understood him.

I hugged him even harder, pouring all my love in the broken cracks of his heart. Tears rose in my eyes. He might never tell me his full story. Nik had trouble talking about his past. And that was okay. If it troubled him to even think about it, I wasn't going to ask about it and make him relive those moments.

I loved him anyways, all of him.

Nikolai walked to his wardrobe and opened the doors. He took out a dark blue woollen blanket and looked at it for a moment before bringing it to his nose and taking a deep breath, smelling it.

He released the breath before bundling it up in his arms, "Mom had made it for me when I was young. I had to leave it behind because we didn't have space for it in our bags," he murmured.

"Does it still smell like her?"

"A little," he looked down at it, a small reminiscent smile on his face. I smiled at that.

"Let's go," he took my hand and led me straight out of the house.

Ratmir and a few Neos were standing by the car outside the gates.

"Found him?" Nik asked.

"Yes, King Nikolai. We have brought him to the pack house," he replied.

Nik nodded in reply as he placed the blanket in the trunk before we drove to the pack house. Ratmir stopped the car by the gates and we stepped out.

"Nik!" I heard an excited yell. My head whipped to the side and I saw a female run towards us.

She didn't look hostile but I froze. Something is wrong. Deeply wrong. I feel it in my bones. I saw Nikolai look at her intently. Did he know her? Was she a childhood friend?

There were tears in her eyes as she ran towards us... no, she was running towards him, her arms extended in front of her.

Nikolai froze mid-stride.

A happy grin formed on her face as she jumped on him, her arms around his neck. "Mate." She whispered before she crashed her lips against his.