Nikolai's Wrath

Libianca's Point of View 

    Casper didn't care about my reaction and dragged me out of the pack house. Everyone's eyes were on me the entire time like they were judging me about Lycan's fate, but I hadn't done anything wrong. I didn't tell that wolf to kill him.    

    Casper unlocked an expensive-looking car and threw me into the backseat. "I warned you about getting him angry. Now I have extra work to clean off the aftermath of his rage." 

Casper was visibly annoyed, brushing his fingers through his blonde hair. "I am sorry, I wanted to use the restroom," barely a whisper left my lips. I gripped the jacket to cover my torn blouse and curled up. The wraith of a Lycan was too much for me to handle.

"Was that Alpha Nikolai?" I could barely ask with my shaking voice. Those gold eyes reminded me of Nikolai's eyes when he killed Melissa. 

"It is Prince Nikolai, he is not your average alpha but an alpha Lycan carrying the sacred royal Lycan blood blessed by Selena, the moon goddess herself." Casper spat, annoyed. I didn't know if he was warning me or praising Nikolai.

A few minutes later, Alexei arrived with someone else. It was another familiar face, one of the Lycans that accompanied Nikolai when I first saw him.

"I have never seen Nick this mad before, it has been ages. " The person said while entering the car; he sat on the passenger's seat and then glanced at me before sighing.

"I am already exhausted from the blood moon pack raid." Casper sighed, rubbing his forehead. They stopped talking because it seemed they were mind-linking themselves. 

Alexei rushed inside the car and hugged me. "Are you alright?" He asked, concerned. I could see Casper roll his eyes from the rear mirror.

"I am fine," I mumbled. "I can't believe you got into trouble on your first day here. Your bad luck is still following us." Alexei clicked his tongue.

My eyes shot daggers at him, unable to believe what my brother was saying, but Alexei only chuckled. "Sorry it is a bad joke, I was trying to lighten up the atmosphere. " He nervously rubbed his hair, averting his eyes from me.

I pursed my lips, annoyed by Alexei's tactics, but I couldn't get mad at him. Casper hissed at our interactions before suddenly stepping on the accelerator.

I lost balance and fell on Alexei, who was able to secure me in his arms. The urge to glare at Casper arose, but I knew better than to provoke an already angry Lycan.

Casper drove to a large apartment building and pulled over in the car park. He led us inside while the other guy stayed in the car.    

    "Please enjoy your stay in the Silver Crescent pack." Casper chimed with a smile that didn't reach his eyes. He was still angry about what happened earlier.    

    "Thanks for bringing us here." I gave him a polite smile despite his unwelcoming behaviour.    

    "It is the Lycan lord you should be grateful to. You should relax for now because you will be summoned to the pack house tomorrow to swear allegiance to the pack." He said on a final note, then left immediately, like he couldn't care to stay around us a second longer.    

    "You should cover yourself off." Alexei pulled off his T-shirt and gave it to me. "I don't like the way you smell like the Lycan lord, it is like he marked his territory around you."     

    I accepted Alexei's T-shirt and immediately wore it. His earlier words seemed weird. Why would the Lycan lord want to mark his territory around me? To me, he seemed like a good host and nothing else.    

    "Stop saying weird stuff."    

    "Whatever," Alexei rolled his eyes. It reminded me he was still a teenager but acted way more mature than his age most times. "What are you going to do about that jacket? We should probably throw it away." Alexei suggested, making me throw a warning glare at him.    

    For reasons unknown to me, he was not fond of Nikolai. It was different from the instinctive fear people normally felt because he was the Lycan Lord.    

    "Hell no, I will return it to him when we see him tomorrow." I barked at Alexei.    

    "Fine, you are the boss here." Alexei raised his hands in a surrendering motion before taking a seat.    

    I left Alexei and took my time to look around the house. It was a nice two-bedroom apartment well-equipped with enough furniture and even the kitchen had food. I was surprised at how thoughtful Nikolai was. 'Maybe all the rumours were wrong.'    

    When I got back to the sitting room, Alexei was still seated in one spot. His eyes were blank as he seemed to be lost in thoughts. 

"Is anything the problem?" I asked Alexei, squatting in front of him and holding his hands. This was the only person Zina cared about and I promised to do the same.

"I just can't stop thinking about what Melissa said. I knew she was a heartless woman but how could she?" Alexei gritted his teeth, he was trying his best not to cry, and I understood how he felt.

"It is alright to cry, you are not a feared alpha everyone is looking up to. It is just the two of us, You can always cry on my shoulders. Don't forget I am your only sister and I will never be like Melissa ." Alexei fell on his knees and hugged me. He leaned on my shoulders and started crying.

I just let him pour out his heart. Today had been an emotional rollercoaster and very hectic for him.

"On the bright side, she is already dead." I tried to be positive. Alexei did reply and continued crying. His tears were so contagious that, before I knew it, tears were also running down my eyes.

My hands were robbing his back to soothe his tears, but Alexei had a lot in his chest he had to let out. I wondered how much he had endured and kept within himself for him to break.

After crying to his heart's content, Alexei sat upright and wiped his eyes. He was just a fifteen-year-old teenager who was already carrying enough on his shoulders. 

"Zina, can you promise me one thing?" He sniffed.

"Yes, of course, I can't believe I started crying with you." Alexei reached out to wipe my tears. "Sorry about that."

"It's okay, what do you want me to promise?" I said with a smile. Alexei reminded me of my mother. I wondered how she was coping with my death.

"Can you promise me that, no matter what, we will always have each other's backs because we are all we have."

A smile graced my lips and I brought out my pinky finger. "I pinky swear to always have your back and make sure to correct you whenever you do something crazy."

Alexei laughed at my childish act but still linked his pinky with mine. "I am not joking, Zina; if you ever break your promise, I will make you pay, even if it means I have to go to hell to do that."

"Do I look like I am joking? I am the one that should tell you about your habits of keeping things away from me." 

Alexei's face changed. He knew I was talking about how he always comes back home beaten up. "I will stop keeping things away from you unless I have to, but you have to promise not to hide things like how you almost killed yourself."

"What do you mean unless you have to?" A knot was formed on my brows, not pleased with Alexei's statement.

"I didn't want to tell you because it would make things worse. You were already struggling with work and rent issues. I could not bother you with the fact Kayden was making my life a living hell and calling me a bastard."

My breath hitched; Kayden was my aunty's son. My hateful cousin who was the pack's heir.

"Sorry I didn't know, but you should have told me."  

"It would not have changed a thing, Zina, I knew that Kayden was already making your life a living hell, I knew he was sending guys to harass you at work." Alexei's words caught my breath. I was stunned that he knew about that despite how much Zina tried to keep it away from him.

"You don't have to be mad, I was not the only one getting bruised in those fights. I made sure to give Kayden a good beating every time." Alexei humphed with a proud look.

"I am sorry I was not strong enough. I promise that this time I will be stronger than ever and not let any harm come our way." I swore to Alexei and myself. I was going to do my best to be strong. For too long people have called me a coward.    

    "It was not your fault, and you don't have to worry about me. I am the one who should do that as the only man in the family." Alexei said bravely, only the future knows what it has installed for us. Alexei was an alpha werewolf, so settling in a Lycan pack would be difficult for him, because Lycans look down on our kind like we are lesser shifters.    

    After settling down, Alexei prepared dinner for us, still refusing to let me help because of my health. We had dinner together and went to sleep.    

    What had happened earlier kept on replaying in my dreams, how the wolf had torn off the guy who was harassing me. I can not forget the look the wolf gave me. I felt my heart squeeze, and it was difficult for me to breathe.    

    "Ahh, ha, ha." My eyes shot out, and I sat up to catch my breath. I was always weak at heart to see such gory scenes that left a scar on me.   

    I was drenched in sweat like I had just run a marathon. I tried to sit up, but my heart almost jumped out of my chest, catching the sight of a pair of golden eyes staring back at me. The same gold eyes that hunted me in my dream.   

    There was a silhouette of a man sitting opposite my bed staring keenly at me. My hands clutched the bed covers, my heart beating rapidly in my rib cage.