17.5 - Deep Thoughts

Keegan
But, the vibrations from my phone began again. I curse lightly, digging into my pocket the retrieve the blasted piece of technology.

I still as the Caller ID reveals the person calling.

Nathan Carter.

I grit my teeth as I slide across the smooth touchscreen, Nathan thick and heavy voice filling my ears in less than one second.

"Have you told her?" His voice was clipped - always business as usual for him.

"No," I deadpanned, placing the glass near the edge of the bench. I had no intention of drinking any of that this evening. I needed to be alert for another thing.

"Excellent," he replied, his tone sending unwanted shivers down my idle body.

"Have you told her?" I ask, keeping my emotion afar from the sound of my voice.

"No," he growled through the phone's crackly service.

I gripped the cellphone tighter as I continued, "I can't hide this from her for much longer. She's not the young Lycanthrope I thought her to be. She is an intelligent girl - she is bound to find out for herself soon."

"Then let her," he snapped, insuring a current of concern for this committal.

I sighed tiredly, "How's she?"

He knew who I was talking of as he answered, "Natalya is wonderful as usual. I would thank you for your obvious disconcert - but we are not exactly acquitted are we?" I held back a sigh at his aptly, amused chuckles.

I shake my head, even if I knew he could not see me.

The silence hands uncomfortably in the air as I notice a female voice in the background. Without a doubt in my mind, I knew it belonged Natalya. His mate, and Romanov's little sister.

I wanted to hate her, but the consequences of carrying such act, could end my life.

"She's there," I mutter dryly.

I grip the edge of the bench tighter, impatiently waiting as he completes his muffled conversation with his girlfriend, seedily returning his attention further to me.

"Remember what I told you."

I swallow thickly, "How the fuck can I hold to forget it?"

"Excellent."

I sighed, "Is that all you called to tell me of Nathan?"

He chuckles humorlessly, "I don't remember you so impatient." I chew on my bottom lip, not replying to his earlier comment. "I called to confirm that you are going through with our agreement to keep Sativa out of any suspicion of us?"

I nod hesitantly, "Listen, I don't think that we should keep this from her anymore." I scratch the back of my head lightly, guilt from my actions ailing me.

"Why the hell not?" He idly breathed into the cellphone.

"It will only hurt her."

"I suppose you're right," he says through he phone. His words say that he is close to agreeing, however his tone far from it. "I too, doubt that your father would be to happy to hear of his son's adventurous, sexual nature."

I breathe in a sharp breath, "Fuck you." I snarl, my breathes shallow as I still.

His chuckles involuntarily delight me, "Remember," he sings without a note instilled in his tone. "The clock is ticking faster, and I won't wait on you forever."

"What's that supposed to mean to me?" I growl lowly.

"Nothing," I can hear the nonchalance in his tone. "It was an overdue reminder."

I feel my Wolf claw in anger at his words, "Is that supposed be a threat, then?"

"No," he denies. "Merely a promise that needs placing."

With that, the line dies.

I quickly push the smooth object back into my pocket, glancing at my watch in time to retrieve Sativa and take her back to the party.

I shoved my hands back into my pocket as I approached her, she was speaking with Bridgette. I halted, nothing in my mind denied that Bridgette had seen me, but Sativa had her back to me, so I was unseen by the girl.

I watched intently, it was no secret that Sativa knew of Bridgette. However, if this information got out to Romanov, it wouldn't be a matter of secrets anymore. It was be a fierce battle with Klaus if he knew she lived.

And, a fierce battle with Klaus, is unfortunately, a fierce battle with Romanov.

I couldn't pinpoint a single person on this Earth that would like to encounter the man in his call state of rage.

I glance to the stairway, a string of profanities escaping my lips as I noticed Romanov descending upon the stairs. Bridgette and Sativa were not yet in view, but thankfully, the miraculously alive woman slipped back into the forests.

I observed the frantic motion in which Sativa moved. She was worried about something, and as I approached to query the reason behind her skeptical actions, she flurries up he stairway. I watch in awe as she is surprisingly stable on her heels - only to crash into the chest of Romanov in a few, sliver seconds to come.

Everyone, including the once, self-centered couples watched as the Alpha of all Alphas embraced the girl contentedly. Some, with a smile plastered on their lips swollen with their lover's kisses. Others, a mutual look of respect for their Luna Queen. We all watch as he places a soft kiss on her forehead, before embracing her and sweeping her back through the eyeing partiers.

I pick my discarded jacket from the floor, sliding it over my shoulders, as I too, ascend upon the stairway to find myself a female entertainer for the evening.

Celine sounded so innocent.

Yet, her beauty seemed to make me forget my troubles. I sigh I remember Nathan's forever, lingering threat. Threats that I knew a little too well to deem them as commencing empty.

"I too, doubt that your father would be to happy to hear of his son's adventurous, sexual nature."

How could I begin to explain to my father if he were to tell of exactly what I was in a world where I was being sent to train to be the next Alpha of a respectable, tiredly appreciated Pack?

How could I explain to my mother that I was such a shameful Alpha?

How could I begin to explain to Sativa, that I am to be one of her brother's mates?

How?

-

Azoic, Rostov Oblast
North Russia - Russian Fed; Population: 82,356
East Molotov-Byre Forest

(A small village towards the East of Russia)

Unknown
Romanov had lost control to his beast years ago. But now, the imminent control that Klaus held over him surpassed the one of years.

As the man stalked through the forest, deep ragged breathes escaping his lungs as he thought of what he had just done, a serenaded grandmother held her little grandchild as she told the tale of a man named Aldag.

"He is fierce," she smiled at the small girl bouncing excitedly by her feet. "Not afraid to die for his Pack in battle when need comes to be. He was tall, and very handsome too. Although, a lot of women cannot get through his haunted past to give him a night of passion."

The little girl crinkled her nose, "Passion, Nana?"

'Nana' only chuckled knowingly, "I will tell you more of that with your age."

The girl's toffee-colored locks bounced around her head as her 'Nana' continued her tale, "But, the story of the great Alpha runs deeper than that. If we are to fully understand him, we must start from his very beginning." The little girl giggled, snuggling deeper into her warm blankets as her 'Nana' pulled the covers over her bright, lively head.

"Please, tell me more!"

"Patience child," the girl's grandmother chided gently.

The girl dove deeper into the duvet sheepishly, "I'm sorry." The little girl peered at her grandmother in curiosity, mentally willing her to proceed her storying.

"That's alright." The grandmother seemed thoughtful for a moment.

Her grandmother carefully shuffled around the room, pulling the window shut to keep out the cold as she sat back on her stool in front of the bed, her nimble fingers busy with knitting. "In a far away land, there lived an Alpha King, and his wonderful mate; the Luna Queen whom we all adored."

"Now, this King was not at all good. He used to be mean and cruel to his daughter and his little son. But, we all mostly cared for his wife. She would never smile or laugh, it was as if the man drained her kept happiness."

The little girl gasped.

"Yes," her 'Nana' gushed. "It was horrible. Then, one day, she ran far away. Until this day, nobody knows where she went. We all thought that it was very selfish of her to leave her young children in the arms of her wicked, apt husband."

"Was it?" The little girl asked, eyes wide with fear.

'Nana' sighed, "Dear, now that I think of how childish and foolish I was back then."

"What do you mean?"

Her grandmother only shook her greying head, "In time, the Alpha followed her. He went to look for his Luna. They left the children to fend for themselves for almost a year, before he returned. This time, he was worse - he would call executions on random members of our Pack; he would always get angry over the littlest of an issue."

"That's horrible," the little girl hushed, her wide eyes wavering with discomfort.

Her grandmother patted her head as she went on, "But, his son, Aldag took the worst blame. At times, he would lock him in a cell with his half-brother, Kiev."

The little girl sighed, "He had another brother, Nana?"

"Yes. But, that is another tale for another time, dear."

The girl nodded.

"He would torture them until they couldn't move, leave them unfed until they would grow unconscious from starvation. Then, the Alpha placed a curse on his first son, Romanov. He gave him another Wolf - a much deadlier that silenced his Natural Wolf. And, as if that wasn't enough, the man cursed him again. He deemed him to practically murder his mate if he were ever to adhere the Marking."

"God curse that man."

"Child," the grandmother apprehended the small girl's venomously ranged words.

"Sorry Nana," she giggled.

"Anyway," she side-glanced her granddaughter. "As Romanov turned sixteen, he fulfilled legacy's command - to murder his father at the age of sixteen. Things were finally looking up for the young lad - that is, until he met a girl named Bridgette."

"Ooh," the little girl gushed, her eyes so wide that her grandmother feared they would fall out of their sockets and leave her blind.

"Interesting, isn't it?" Her grandmother smiled knowingly. It was a frequently passed tale with the long heritage of the apt, unfortunate Alpha Kings.

"Mmhm," the young girl nodded in agreement, her curls bouncing out of control. "Some more, Nana?"

"It's late," her 'Nana' chided, bending forward to press her wrinkled lips against the child's forehead. "I will tell you about the Bridgette girl tomorrow night, OK?"

The little girl nodded reluctantly, "Alright, Nana."

"Alright, child." The 'Nana' got up from the stool, draping her newly-finished stitching of a sweater around the girl's shoulders.

"Goodnight, Nana!" The little girl pressed, eagerly fingering her new clothing.

"Goodnight, Amiya."

The man watched this with a need to kill in his heart. He had gone as far as East away from his home, without intention of returning. His feral eyes held such hatred for his apt half that his own body pained to try and deny that.

His beast had dragged him to the nether part of the country - thankfully discarding the small village that lay beside his territory.

His face, littered with numerous scars that had yet to fade. His nose, slightly cracked from the violent cages he had received from various sources. His lips, thick but set in a thin line as the beast drew immense pain and inflicted it upon its half that was trying to seer stubbornness for commands.

His cheekbones, high and decimate. Accentuating the Alpha's ruthless power. His eyes, a deathly green. A color that represented the beast's power over the man. He stood, his breathing labored as he leaned a muscled arm against a tree, regaining the oxygen that was constantly being stolen from his expanding lungs.

It wasn't as if he needed it, this was a raw Alpha. But, the power he was handling was much stronger than anything he could match up.

His haunting eyes pulled shut. He could feel the rage between his Wolf and Klaus as they battled for power. Normally, it would be Klaus that wins - taking him to the ends of Earth, only satisfied when the blood of the innocent has been shared. It was fascinating how his Wolf fought against Klaus because one woman had dared to do what has never been done in tried centuries.

She had marked him with a mental touch deep enough to throw Klaus off guard and loose control for a few moments in his constant and ever-powering reign in Romanov's apprehended life.

He clawed at the bark of the tree as the excruciating pain played in the back of his head, Klaus willing everything to rid him of the memory of his mate. He draws a ragged breathe as his eyes tear open, Reman finally gaining control of the ancient Alpha that so many have failed to deject.

I snap my eyes open and peer into hers. As I do, I feel something deep inside of me snap with realization to who this was - it was my mate. My eyes widen as a knot begins to form, binding us together as tangle myself in my mate. The feeling of the knot slowly ebbs away, leaving me with nothing but a dull sensation of where the knot had tied itself, and the explosion of sparks.

She is mine.

It was all that he needed, it was all that was needed for the man to turn on his heel and shift into his beast. Tearing down the broken paths, racing past the tall trees that stood reminder of his childhood and growling to the place he had called home for only so damn long.

The whole house was asleep; he made sure of that.

He didn't need to look to find what he was seeking, his accumulated sense of smell and his desires for her touch leading him exactly where he dreamed to be right then.

Without hesitation, he shifted, not caring of his nudity as he stared down at the woman who had physically drained him with her stubbornness and her drive to his sexual appetite.

He cracked his lips in an attempt to smile as his Wolf slipped into the warm bed on its own account. He could only watch her stir, before curling into his large frame.

His heart-rate soared, it was amazing how this girl could have so much effect on him.

He knew better than to be here, after marking her and assuring her incased death.

He knew that his actions would cut her breath short.

She had a family to know, a world to see. He had nothing but the walls of his office and his Pack assigns.

She was everything that he couldn't imagine ever being.

He had warned her - he had done everything in his power to keep the blonde away. He had warned of the consequences loving his self.

But, she hadn't listened.

He had drawn his my mind and body far away from her - even going as far as deeming her a Rogue on his land. But, she had set the Court of Law on fire - sentencing her to another month of torturing him well.

He chuckled despite himself.

She is something, alright.

Ever since the day of the diner, he knew that he couldn't reject her. It wasn't physically possible for him to carry such punishing act.

As a soft sigh escaped her lips, Romanov couldn't help the wetness that fell into his cheeks as he thought of what his carelessness had done to her. He was a bastard, and he had killed his own my mate with the ignorance of his own hands.

He had killed with his lust.

He wouldn't let her live to see her stomach swell with his beautiful, unborn child.

He killed her.

Because of him, she wasn't going to live for more than the linings of a mere month.

He sighed, then untangled himself from her grip. A light whimper escaping her lips as he pulled away, sending a signal of want to his position of idle pleasure.

He stared at the bright, morning sun. The first kind of sunlight since the brutal winter of the Russian areas.

With one last glance at his sleeping mate, the naked man bounded out of the window - he had discarded his clothing, but as an Alpha, the cold did little to bother him. The man landed gracefully on the snow beneath with only one idle thought imprinted within his Wolf; within his being.

He would let her live, even if it meant letting his life go.

The large, dark Alpha ran through the woods, the feeling of Klaus taking over angering him as he we powerless to stop him. He would go, he would never let her be cursed with seeing him again until it is the time for the cursed to be lifted. The man halted as he approached a cliff, Klaus smirking as he pushed the capping Wolf over the edge.

"Let's take a little fall, shall we?" Klaus growled lowly in a rhetorical query.

Before the man could deny, his body was thrown over the edge of the precarious cliff, nothing but the thought of one on his mind.

Sativa.

-

Luna Queen (2015)
© Victoria Leslie Khan