Chapter 39 Doubts

Doubts

Nikolai

My legs felt heavy as I walked to my unconscious brother. I picked up his left hand and immediately dropped it when he let out a low, pain-filled groan.

I inspected the bite.

The visible flesh had already blackened and the tatters of the skin around were turning a dark greenish-blue in color. The veins around the bite were slowly turning black too.

The poison was slowly spreading to his entire body.

"What happens now?" I asked Grace.

"The rest of the wounds will heal in a couple of days. It's the bite that worries me, Alpha Nikolai. I don't have full knowledge on how to treat a vampire bite." She replied.

"Who will have a full knowledge?" I asked.

"There is no real cure for a vampire's bite. Some herbs can slow it down but that means extending his life for a couple of years and living in constant pain. He will feel the poison spreading in his body every second. Not a lot of people choose to do it." Grace replied.

"But I had read in a book before I was kicked out of my old pack that extracting the vampire's saliva from the wound will help. But the rest of the pages were too faded to be coherent so I'm not sure how to do it. And I'm not sure how accurate that is." She added.

There is no way I am going to let Mikhail die.

"Do whatever you can. I'll try to arrange something." I replied. I'll talk to Rhazien and Vladimir. There has to be a cure.

"Yes, Alpha." She replied as she tied up the bandaid on his mid-rift.

"What is the extent of his injuries?" I asked.

"He has a knife wound in his stomach that caused the internal bleeding that worries me right now. He also has four bruised ribs, two are broken." She replied.

That would take a couple of days max to heal. Internal bleeding would take more time but what worried me was the bite.

I sighed and sat on the bed beside his sleeping form. I saw Grace mix different leaves as she kept mumbling chants under her breath before she applied them on his gnash.

The door opened and Rhazien stepped in.

"Where is Bailey?" I asked.

"Passed out on the couch. I've told two wolves to keep watch." He replied distractedly as he eyed Jessica, his eyes blood red.

"Step aside." He ordered Tessa who scrambled to move away.

He knelt in front of Jessica and bit his wrist and put it in front of her mouth. "Drink." He whispered, his voice unnaturally soft.

Jessica looked up at him with hazy eyes and did as he said, without complaint!

I will never understand women.

"Is she Jessica Mathers?" He asked.

"Yes," I replied. Understanding dawned on me. His red eyes should have been a giveaway. Especially since he was ancient and wouldn't lose control of seeing or smelling blood.

"She's my beloved." He whispered, caressing her red hair.

"You've got your hands full," I muttered.

But he didn't pay attention to me, his eyes were only fixated on Jessica.

I let them be and looked at a grim Dimitri who was talking to Grace, asking about Mikhail.

I couldn't ask any pack to lend us their pack doctor. No one liked rogues. No one would help us. But then there was no true cure for this...

I also wasn't willing to let Mikhail die without a fight. He has been by my side since we were fifteen and it's going to stay that way.

"What's the cure for vampire bites?" I asked Rhazien.

His head snapped to mine from his mate. "There is no cure." He shook his head, his eyes later falling on Mikhail's affected hand.

'How is Mikhail?' Vladimir mind-linked me.

'He is bitten by a vampire.' I replied.

'Fuck!' He cursed.

'We'll find something.' I said, determined. 'What's the status with Grant?' I asked.

Vladimir pulled Andrei and Dimitri into the link too. 'Grant was from your old pack, sent by your father to spy over Viktoria. He was giving him information but he wasn't involved in kidnapping her. He was under a misconception that your father wanted to look after you and your mother even if you both left him. He thinks Adrik is innocent. He killed Jerry and Volkov Corps's CEO, Christian Fallon, too. Twenty million dollars were wired to Adrik. And this is only what Grant knows. He was told that Adrik wanted to look after Nikolai so Grant did the job for him and kept giving all the updates about you and the pack.'

How the hell did all of this happen without any of us noticing?

I needed to make everything right again. I will have to take some measures in the pack. I was sure there would be more of Adrik's spies in my pack. I will not let this go without retribution. Every person will pay.

'Don't kill him, we will be there in some time.' I replied and looked at the grim faces of my brothers.

"I hope you all understand what this means," I said in a controlled voice as I clamped down my raging wolf. My blood was simmering with anger as I stood up from my place. Everyone in the room had their heads bowed from the amount of Alpha energy flowing from me. It affected Rhazien too because I was technically his King too. The humans appeared scared because they felt it but didn't understand what just happened.

I thought of Ava. My anchor. My redemption. And then pulled my wolf back, calming him, trying to make him understand that it wasn't time yet. I was finally able to pull the power back.

"How much more time Grace?" I asked.

"I'm almost dome Alpha." She replied as she tied a bandaid around Mikhail's thigh.

"Shift Mikhail to the infirmary at the estate for tonight. Call a pack meeting tomorrow at  7 am sharp. You can shift him to the hospital after that." I don't trust anyone right now. "Andrei work on the reports, I want them by the day after tomorrow and keep Tessa with you. Rhazien, you can take Jessica with you. Tell her she can meet Tessa the day after tomorrow. She knows about supernaturals so it's your job now to tell her everything. Dimitri, arrange for an ambulance and bring Mikhail to the estate. Grace will stay with him till he wakes up." I said and walked out of the room.

Bailey was sitting on the couch, glaring at the two guards in front of her.

"Bring her out," I told them and walked out of the door.

I waited behind the wheel as Andrei sat in the passenger seat with Tessa in his lap and the guards got in the back seat with Bailey in between to avoid her escape. Andrei wanted to run to the estate in his fur to release some tension but it wasn't safe anymore. The news of Grant and Bailey's arrest would have reached Mystic Lupus by now.

All this made me wonder what story Adrik must have spun after mom and I left.

We reached the estate in fifteen minutes. Andrei and Tessa left as soon as I parked the car. He had too much work.

The guards escorted Bailey to the dungeon. She had given up fighting by now. There was no hope of escaping anymore. She knew it.

Vladimir was waiting for us with a passed-out Grant slumped on the chair. Bailey cried out, trying to reach her father but the guards held her tightly, not letting her move.

"Set a chair for her, facing Grant," I ordered.

The guards placed another chair so the father-daughter duo faced each other.

"Pour the water," I said. In a minute, Grant was drenched in cold water, snapping him awake with a gasp.

"Torture him some more to get Bailey talking. She may know something." I said.

'You can go rest after that.' I added.

"Yes, Alpha," Vladimir smirked.

I got out of the dungeon and went to my bedroom after that. Ava was sleeping on my side of the bed made me smile. I knelt in front of her, still smiling.

How did I get so lucky? Goddess! I love her.

Her long eyelashes rested against her cheeks and her red lips look too inviting but I resisted. I didn't want to disturb her sleep. I brushed the back of my fingers down her cheek softly, almost like a whisper.

It made me mad that my pack isn't safe for my mate. That she needs to have bodyguards to go out.

One day, you will go out on your own. Without me worrying, without you looking behind your back. This is my vow to you.

I clenched my fingers in a fist that was still warm and tingling from touching her and stood up, leaving the room.

I entered my second office that had all the files and records of all my businesses and removed all the necessary files.

There were three thick files of the last two months and I sighed. It was already one in the morning and I was going to have to stay up all night to complete all of this by morning so I could go to the company and take corrective measures.

This is going to be a long night. And not in a good way.

I sat behind the desk and cracked my knuckles before I dug in.

I was barely done with the first page when the door opened. I was about to growl in anger when I smelled Ava's sweet scent.

I smiled softly as I saw her enter in a white nightie which made her look like an angel.

"Can't sleep?" I asked, inviting her in.

She shook her head shyly, almost nervously.

Why nervous, Love?

"Where were you Nikolai?" She asked in a small voice.

I sighed. "I was working." I rubbed my face. Today's revelations made work much more stressful than normal.

"Where were you?" She asked again, her voice angry as she came to stand in front of the desk, her hand on her hip.

What the hell?

"I was at a couple of places. Why?" I said vaguely, raising my brows.

"At night. Where were you?" She closed her eyes, her voice is tight.

"Don't make me lie to you."

What can I say, Ava? At a traitor's house who was living in our pack right under my nose? And I didn't even know? I failed as an Alpha to protect the pack and as a mate because I couldn't protect you? At the house where Mikhail came bloody and battered? Where he is fighting for his life? Why? Because I sent him away for a mission and he got kidnapped? I can't tell her that.

Her eyes snapped open, her eyeballs icy blue-white. "I asked where were you?" She screamed and then my chair flew back and banged against the wall, the lights in the room flickering.

I stood up from the chair walked to her. Something must have happened for her to react this way. "What happened Ava?" I walked to her slowly, trying to calm her.

"Don't come near me!" She cried, raising her hand and pushing her palm forward and I flew back and crashed against a bookshelf behind me, crushing it.

Mother—

The wooden shelves collapsed and the books fell, some hitting me on the head.

My eyes snapped to Ava in anger. "What the hell Avalyn? Calm down." I said sharply, standing up, kicking the broken wood shelves away.

"Tell me! Who was she? Huh?" She spat, her mouth twisted in disgust.

"Who?" I screamed and walked to her.

"That redhead!" She screamed back.

"What red—" realization dawned on me.

She was talking about Jessica. She must have seen me when Jessica passed out and I was carrying her. The balcony in our bedroom had a clear view of the backyard.

That explains the hurt I felt in my chest. She must have been hurting and that was her pain.

"So now you remember?" She pushed my chest.

I caught her hands tightly, looking down at her, "you think I cheated on you?" I asked.

Did she have no trust in me? It hurt to even think that she thought that.

"I followed you. I saw you carry her to that house. I know what I saw!" She cried.

"Did you see me touch her like his?" I grabbed her waist and pulled her against me.

"Did you see me kiss her like this?" I growled as I crashed my mouth against her and kissed her hard, dominating the kiss.

"Did you see me grab her like this?" I squeezed the globes of her ass.

She shook her head, her eyes lowering.

"That girl was attacked and had passed out, I was taking her to her sister who was kidnapped by a spy to become a slave," I confessed.

A gasp left her mouth and she locked her now normal brown eyes with mine.

"B-but taking a slave when she has a family is against the law." She whispered.

"Not everyone cares about the law," I replied.

"Tell me everything." She whispered.

She is my mate. And this pack's luna. She deserves to know. She has always deserved to know what is happening.

So I told her. I told her about Natalia and Mikhail's kidnapping and how she escaped but Mikhail couldn't. Then how I called Maximilian to help and how she turned out to be his mate. I also told her that I went to club Lupus and saw Jessica killing Kaleb. I told her the play-by-play of my entire day which had her looking at me with shocked eyes. She cried when I told her that Mikhail was bitten by a vampire.

"Why didn't you tell me all of this before?" She clutched my hands.

"You don't know how important it is." I tucked her hair behind her ear and cupped her cheek, kissing her forehead.

Understanding dawned in her eyes. "Do you know that I don't believe in the moon goddess?"

I shook my head. It didn't know it. And it was very rare for a werewolf to not believe in moon goddesses. We were the living proof she existed. It is said that she blessed a human family and created werewolves. There was a whole history but mom and I ran away before I learned it at my werewolf school.

"Why?" I asked.

"If she existed, she wouldn't kill my mother when she gave birth to me, or papa wouldn't have died as he did and what happened with me wouldn't have happened." Her eyes lowered, "I lost my belief in her years ago."

My hold on her tightened.

"But I believe in you, Nikolai. You are my savior, my god. You are a strict but fair Alpha and the best mate I could have ever asked for. I worship you." She rested her head against my chest, over my heart.

"But I failed our pack. I failed you." I whispered.

She shook her head against my chest, "this is a small battle in the big war, Nik. And we are going to win it." Her hands came around my waist and she hugged me.

I rested my head overhears. "I promise you that every person who has had a hand in your sufferings will die, Ava."

She hugged me tighter and kissed me right over my heart.