Chapter 24 Mark

Mark

Nikolai

As soon as I saw Ava was about to collapse, I rushed around the treadmill and caught her before she fell. It hurt me to hurt her like this but it had to be done. Her wolf had to be brought out. The longer she went without her wolf, the harder it would have been for her wolf to come out. Then there would have come a time when her wolf would have died in isolation inside her head, killing Avalyn in the process.

"You did great, Love," I whispered as I pecked her lips.

I picked her up in my arms and carried her out of the gym.

I was so goddamn proud of her. Doing as Vladimir suggested worked.

Her wolf is out!

I was carrying her up the stairs when I felt her body temperature rise. I could feel her wolf. She was really strong.

Ava's eyes snapped open and she stared up at me. They weren't the usual brown color but pitch black. It was her wolf. I grinned at her.

Her temperature rose further and now it was starting to worry me.

"Ho-hot" she rasped out.

Fuck. It was happening. It was happening right now.

I ran down the stairs and into the backyard.

'Sofiya, Natalia, come fast and get a blanket. Fast. It's happening.' I mind-linked them.

I sat on the grass and sat Ava in my lap.

"You're shifting Ava." I smiled at her.

She blinked her eyes up at me and gave me a wobbly smile.

"It hurts." She whispered and a tear leaked out of her eye. I know, Love, I know.

"I'm here with you. We will get through this together. I want you to stay strong, I'm here with you." I told her softly and brushed back her hair from her forehead. Her skin was clammy because of the heat and sweat.

Vladimir jumped out of a window and zipped beside us.

He touched her forehead and closed his eyes for a second.

"It's time." He told me, giving me a nod.

"Avalyn, I want you to allow whatever is happening, don't try to stop your wolf." He told her.

She gave him a short, shaky nod. Her eyes clouded again and turned pitch black again before turning pale blue, like the sky. She was going to have a beautiful wolf.

Sofiya and Natasha came running with a bundle of blankets in their arms. After one look, she understood what was happening and spread the blanket on the ground.

"I will lay you on the blanket, it is soft and will hurt less," I told her as I lifted her and placed her on the blanket.

Her claws were extending and retracting. The bones in her jaw were breaking and realigning and she was screaming. Hard.

"The area is evacuated and we all will be waiting inside, call us if you need help," Vladimir informed us and returned to the house.

"You'll have to remove her clothes, Nikolai," Natalia informed me. I nodded and used my claws to shred her clothes.

Sofiya and Natasha had brought cold water and were using a soft cloth to rub it over her body. That would help with the growing temperature of her body.

I was scared. I have never seen an adult shift. But I heard that it was very difficult to survive and mostly everyone dies. It is because their body cannot bear all that pain. There is no way in hell I was going to let anything happen to Ava.

Her claws finally extended and the bones of her hands and legs were twisting and breaking. It looked gruesome but she was handling it well.

"You can do it, Ava. You are so strong." I whispered.

She screamed when her spine broke. She was crying and was shaking her head.

"Too much...I c-can't." She cried and then suddenly the breaking of her bones stopped and her claws were retracting back it and she closed her eyes.

No. No! This cannot happen!

"What's happening to her?" Sofiya cried.

I held her both hands and squeezed. "Avalyn wake up," I ordered in my Mastertone.

Her eyes snapped open and she looked at me with teary eyes. I'm sorry but you have to do this. I have to do this.

"Push your wolf out. Do not stop her." I ordered again. Her lips quivered but she gave me a small nod.

She closed her eyes again and screamed again when her bones continued to break. Her claws were back again. By the way, she was crying, I knew she would not be able to do it like this.

I tightened my hold on her hands and closed my eyes and focused on our mate bond. I know that we hadn't mated but being together for so long was bound to create a bond.

Once I sensed the bond, I could feel a fraction of the pain she was feeling and I tugged at it. I tugged until her pain transferred to me.

I looked at her when her screams decreased and she looked at me in confusion. I tried to keep my face impassive as the pain grew. The pain I was feeling right now was ten times more intense than my first shift but I gritted my teeth and bared it.

Better me, than her.

I felt as if all the bones in my body were breaking and realigning and tiny needles were pricking through my skin. I screamed.

Ava was looking at me with wide eyes and then she shook her head, more tears forming in her eyes. She understood what I was doing.

I was taking all her pain away.

She tried to pull her hands from mine but I held on tight.

"No." I gritted. I closed my eyes when I felt a sharp pain in my spine. The spine was always the hardest.

"Please, don't do it." She said, her eyes still filled with tears.

I ignored her. It was better that way. After all, I planned to do this- to bring out her wolf.

The pain intensified and I tightened my hold on her hand. I growled as the pain became unbearable. Suddenly, the pain was decreasing and I saw Ava give me a pain-filled smile.

"Equals, remember?" She bit her lip.

"Equals." I agreed.

And that's what we did. We shared the pain equally throughout her whole shift. Her hands turned into paws but I still held on and so did she. It was then that I realized her true strength. There is no one like my Ava- the first-ever female to survive a shift in her adulthood.

After three gruesome hours, in place of Ava lay her wolf- her beautiful, pure white wolf.

Her eyes landed on me and they were the palest blue, almost white colored eyes. I had never in my life seen a wolf-like her. She stood up and walked to me. She was taller than normal wolves. She was an Alpha. She nuzzled in my side and I brushed my hand through her soft silk fur, finally feeling the sparks everyone talked about. It was addicting.

Avalyn was addicting.

I rubbed her belly and she purred. I grinned at her. She was almost as tall as me. I rubbed behind her ears and she closed her eyes in bliss.

Sofiya and Natalia weren't here anymore. Maybe they slipped inside to give us privacy, I didn't notice.

"Let's go to the clearing," I told her and she yipped. I took off my clothes and shifted into my midnight blue wolf. We truly were a sight to behold. I focused on our bond and I pulled her in my head, establishing a mind-link with her.

'Hi.' I whispered. She jumped in shock and then looked at me and cocked her head in confusion.

'It's the mind-link. Try it. Imagine you are talking to me mentally.' I told her.

'Hi.' She said after some time.

'Good job, Love. Let's go now, you are in for a ride.' I grinned.

We both took off running together. She was a bit slow and stumbled on her legs or the rocks or the roots of the trees but she was doing well considering this was her first time. My wolf would stop and lick her every time she fell to encourage her. Our wolves already had formed a bond. My wolf was just getting excited over the thought of getting to mate her now. Once we reached the clearing, we walked ahead side by side, our furs touching.

I shifted into my skin and just looked at her. She was running on the beach and looking everywhere. I knew she was seeing the world differently now. Literally. All her senses were improved which meant she could see every grain of sand clearly and could hear my heartbeat too. She also must feel much stronger than she had felt ever in her life.

After she had her fun, she ran to me and while doing so, she butts her head in my chest before she skids to a stop. She let out a low whine after that.

"It's alright," I said softly and caressed her head. Her fur was softer than any other wolf.

"It's time to shift now. Just imagine yourself in your human form." I told her.

After some more cracking of bone, she shifted into her human form. A huge smile took over her face which popped her dimples, she walked up to me and hugged me tightly.

"I love you." She whispered. "Thank you so much. This is the best gift anybody has ever given me."

"So I assume you understand why I said and did all of those things?" I asked her as I brushed my hand through her long locks. Her long, white lock.

"Yes. I needed the push to help me bring out the wolf." She rose on her toes and kissed my lips greedily.

The spark that I felt was even more exhilarating than before. I held her close to me by the back of her neck and kissed her back harder. Her lips moved against mine in an urgency like never before. I pushed my tongue into her mouth and clashed my tongue with hers. She gasped and I bit her luscious lip. I slowly trailed down to her neck, leaving kisses all over before I sucked at the spot I was going to mark her.

"I'm going to mark you here Avalyn, right now," I informed her.

She moaned in response and tilted her head back to give me better access. I took that as a yes.

Licking the juncture between her neck and shoulder again, I felt my canines elongate before I dung in, deep.

She didn't scream, she took it all. I still kept my teeth in, letting my wolf savor it. He had waited too long for this and I was proud of him for not losing control and marking her by force. Wolves normally mate as soon as they know that they are the one. I bit her with all my love, all the longing that I kept at bay, and all the dominance that she craved. I bit her so deep that her soul would be marked and she would be mine in the afterlife too.

When I finally let her go, she looked at me with so much love, I felt like my heart would burst out.

The bite was bleeding, the blood flowing down her naked chest. Only I can heal that bite. Only I can heal my mate's bite.

"You are mine, Avalyn." My chest rumbled as I declared it.

She fell to her knees in front of me and bowed her head in utmost submission.

"I am your Master. My heart, body, and soul are yours." She said.

My heart felt like it would burst now. I never knew that I could love someone so much, that someone can love me so much.

"Stand up," I said softly.

When she stood up, I held her from the back of her head and tilted her head to the side, exposing the still open bite to me. I bent my head and licked it clean, only I could heal the mark. And when the bite is healed fully, it meant that the female has accepted the male fully.

The bite healed in front of my eyes and I could now see my mark. My wolf came forward when he saw our mark on her neck.

I caressed it with my finger and saw the goosebumps rise on her skin.

"I love you." She whispered.

"I love you, too," I whispered and kissed her again.