Chapter 28

Andro

"Igor wants us to attack Dimitri," Stefan informed me.

We were in the study room alongside Fabi and Alek, two of my best men. They had just gotten back from a meeting they had with Dimitri and Igor.

I should've attended the meeting but it wasn't necessary and unsafe for others, especially Igor. The last conversation we had ended in a bad state so I couldn't trust myself not to hurt him if he said one more disgraceful thing.

"He wants us to take a side," Fabi corrected him.

"It's almost the same thing, if we side with him, that'll be us getting ourselves involved in his attacks and if we don't, we'll also be at the receiving end of the attack" Stefan explained further.

Alek was silent as usual. His back was against the wall and he was looking at everyone intensely.

"What do you think, Alek?" I asked him, hoping he'll say something.

"What do you want to do, boss?" He asked, throwing a question to me right back.

"This isn’t just about either of us, we're a family here. This is about the survival of the Nikolaev family and if this war between Igor and Dimitri breaks out, we'll definitely be at the receiving end of both if we don't make a sensible choice,"

Stefan explained.

"Let's consider all those we'll be putting in danger," Alek stated.

"Including her?"

Stefan asked, pointing outside the door. I and the rest turned our attention to where he was pointing and I could see Annika tiptoeing around the house.

She couldn't see us because of the glass compartment used to enclose the room. We could comfortably see what was going on outside but whoever was outside couldn't see us.

We made it that way because of security purposes.

Annika stood still for a minute, looking at the front door and her hands were together, a nail scratching the other as if she was thinking about something.

"Why is she still here, Boss?" Alek asked.

"Because he's smitten with her obviously," Stefan replied and I turned to glare at him.

Stefan is the only one in the Nikolaev family who knew about my secret. Our former boss had known about this too and that was why he made me the next boss even when his son was available. Also coupled with other reasons for his son’s incompetency

"What's her name?"

"How is that your business?" I growled at Alek.

"What is she doing?" I turned my attention back to Annika and saw that she was already walking out of the door.

"Did she think she could escape as easily as that?" Stefan laughed.

"Who opened the door like that?" Alek turned to look at Stefan.

"It wasn't me. I was the first person to enter, the last person should have closed the door"

"How was I supposed to be the one to close the door? You opened it and you were supposed to close it"

"Do not dare! Next time, I'll make sure I lock the door behind me so you can open it by yourself and close it by yourself, dumbhead"

"Who are you referring to as a dumbhead? You pussy sucker" Angrily, Stefan pulled Fabi closer and locked his head under his arm.

Fabi was struggling to release himself from Stefan's hold but he couldn't and Stefan won't stop hitting his head.

"Let's go after her, Boss," Alek suggested and I nodded.

We were right behind her and she didn't even notice us. Until she got to the gate and tried unlocking it, did I stop her?

She was still adamant about going back home even after I'd explained the situation to her. I can't explain the feeling I had when she begged me so she could leave.

As I tried dragging her back towards the house, she struggled in my hold and could feel fear radiating from her body.

Even if I want that reaction from anyone, I wouldn't be pleased to know it was coming from my Emerthus, someone who’s supposed to love me the same way I'll love them.

I dropped her hand and instructed the guys to take her to the room and lock the door. That's the only way I can keep her safe and make sure she never leaves my side.

"She might hate you for this," Stefan whispered in my ear as the trio was out of sight.

"I don't care, Stefan. I need to keep her away from people"

"It's okay if you tell her what she means to you," he whispered again.

"It's too early for that. She needs to have control before I let her leave" I explained.

"You think so?"

"I know so and why the hell are you whispering? It's not as if anyone is here" I yelled.

"Doing that was cool," I glared at his mischievous ass.

"Can you be an adult for once?" I asked as I walked away from him.

"What? I'm just twenty-five. Can't a man grow normally anymore?" He yelled after me.

Stefan is just not mischievous, he's also a womanizer and can confidently fuck anything with a hole in between its legs.

It took everything in me to not barge into my room the very minute I walked through the front door back into the house. I walked into my study room, opened my laptop to start working but closed it back in frustration.

The feeling of being rejected hurts. I still can't remove the look she had on her face when I told her she couldn't leave.

It has just been a day and it's already this hectic, how will other days be? Will it get better or will it get worse?

The next morning, I opened the door leading to my room for the first time in seventeen hours so Annika could feed.

As I walked in, she was still sleeping. She had wrapped covers around herself. Even though she was sleeping soundly, she was pale. A bad sign that she hadn't fed for a long time and that she needed to feed.

I fought back the urge to get into bed with her and kiss her till she's breathless. Take her into my arms and place her head on my chest just to wrap my hands around her as she sleeps.

"Annika," I touched her slightly and she opened her eyes.

"What?" She asked, sleep still overpowering her.

"You need to feed," she hissed, pulled the blanket over her head, and went back to sleep.

She was fragile and I didn't want to hurt her. If it was a man, I know what I would've done. But this is her, my Emerthus.

So, I quickly removed the blanket, lifted her off the bed, and placed her on my lap.

She was weak, she couldn't fight it but yet, she was stubborn.

I placed the stare into the juice box and placed it close to her lips.

"Drink up, Annika" I instructed. She pushed the box away from her lip and it ended up on the floor, its contents spilling.

Her eyes went wide and quickly turned to the blood on the floor. She was drawn to it and at the same time, she was fighting it.

She began shaking in my arms as tears began leaking from her eyes, running down her pale face.

I placed my lips gently on her cheek, kissing her tears away.

"What is wrong, Malyshl?" I asked.

"I don't want it, it's disgusting," she replied, still not taking her eyes away from the blood that was on the floor.

"Stop being so stubborn, Annika"

To be honest, I was in awe of her strength. Other newborn vampires would have succumbed by now but she was adamant and stubborn about not having it.

"I don't want to, Andro, please don't make me take it, please," she begged, looking into my eyes with her wet, round eyes took all of my strength away and threw me into an internal turmoil.

"You will die if you don't feed,"

"Then let me die Andro. I want to die," she cried out.

I placed her back on the bed and removed the razor.

The only solution was to make her feed from me directly. The smell of raw blood cannot be denied, she could probably fight the box off because it has been diluted to make it easier for her to drink.

I slashed my palm open and waited for her to react. She was shaking again, standing up on her seat and settling back down. The blood was attracting her, calling out to her but Annika was fighting it.

I moved closer to her and watched as blood dripped on the bedsheet, she wasn't having it as she buried her nose in the bed, yelling and screaming at me to go away.

An alternative method was needed, so I fed on my blood, ensuring a great quantity was in my mouth before I pulled her up on the bed.

Placing my lips on hers, I dropped the blood into her mouth and she swallowed it immediately. All that was required was just for her to have it in her mouth, there was no way she could refuse that.

She kept on looking into my eyes after I removed my lips from her.

"I want more," she replied as her eyes turned red. Suddenly, she placed her lips back on mine and I was forced to hold on to her waist.

Her tongue ran through my mouth, tasting the remnants of the blood. Even if her goal.was to feed, she still didn't realize what her action was doing to me.

I wanted her! More than I can ask for.

Translations

Malyshl - baby

Emerthus - mate