Konstantin: The Heartless Beta

Konstantin

"Start from the top,” Kai orders, leading Cat over to a chair at my desk. Both of them were still reeling at the bomb Cain had just dropped on them, and emotions were quite high.

Cain nods then launches into the same story he told me - including the fact that he worked as a mercenary for Stefan.

“I came here seeking your help in reclaiming my territory, but it seems that I'll be the one leaving with more than I thought I would.” He says, his eyes falling on a wide-eyed Caterina.

“Those scars on your neck, who caused them?” Cat asks, looking small in the plush leather seat next to Kai.

Cain blinks at her question, then his eye flashes blue, catching her off guard. “Alberto Argenti with his claws dipped in vamp blood; he was ruthless at the time and vied for the spot of Alpha. He also raped my mother and forced my father to watch.” He says through gritted teeth, his jaw tensing up as he speaks.

I look at Cat, the disgust and repulsion coming off her in waves. “He was... he was the man who raised me with abuse, so what you're saying comes as no surprise to me.” She says.

“How do we know you're telling us the truth?” Kai asks. Understandably, he wouldn't believe a word coming out of Cain's mouth; I mean, I am also sceptical. Why suddenly come out of the woodwork now of all times?

Cat gets up and walks towards Cain without a word, then she places her hands on his cheeks, and her eyes roll back.

“What-"

"Give her a moment,” I say, watching the scene in front of me with amusement. On the other hand, Kai seemed pissed off with the entire thing. He hated her placing unnecessary pressure on herself, especially when she does stuff like this.

Cat removes her hands from Cain's face then turns to us with tears in her eyes. “He's not lying; he really is my brother.” She says in an odd, flat voice and walks back to Kai. Then she breathes out a sigh. “Take me home, please. I'm not... I'm not feeling too well.”

Kai's jaw tightens, and he kisses her forehead before scooping her up into his arms. “Be here tomorrow night, same time. We can speak more about this possible alliance,” he says, levelling the Rogue Alpha with a glare.

Cain nods. “Thank you,” he says.

With another hard look over at me, he walks out of my office with his mate in his arms.

Cain breathes out a pent up sigh. “Man, I've been around other Alphas before, but your brother is something else,” he says, looking pale and wide-eyed.

I chuckle at this. “Yeah, Kai is on a different level entirely - I wouldn't want to face him head-on in a fight,” 1 say and lean back in my chair. “So you really didn't know Caterina is still alive?”

He nods. “I've tried to track her down, but all reports led to the same thing: she was raped and murdered by the pack who killed my own.”

This disgusts me. “A three-day-old baby? Raped? Jesus fucking Christ, was the Sable Hides that ruthless?” I ask.

“They did the same when we were invaded. Their men saw a child the same way they saw a grown woman; Caterina is lucky no one touched her that way. I suppose as lucky as she could get being given to a sleazy Alpha.” Cain says with a clenched jaw. “It's a pity they're all dead now; revenge would have been sweet.”

"Who do you think carried out that revenge?” I say with an amused tone and sit forward in my chair. “I could still hear the old hag begging for her life as she reached for my belt, the most disgusting thing I had ever seen.”

Cain's eyes widened. “You killed the Sable Hide Pack? You eliminated them all?”

I smile. “Yeah, a few months ago, we did. Cat got her own back by killing her stepsister, who caused her so much grief while growing up, and she looked like she enjoyed ripping her throat out.” “Sounds like fun,” he says and laughs. “Well, I suppose that I'll be seeing you tomorrow as well. Thank you for your time, Konstantin.” He reaches over with an extended hand, which I take.

"Don’t thank me yet; we don't know what Kai is thinking right now. Bear in mind that his mate might give birth at any time, and he’s already overprotective as it is, so right now, he'll only make decisions based on whether or not Cat will be affected.” I say.

He shrugs. “If he says no to helping us, I'll have to go to plan B, and that is something I do not wish to do.” He says, then sighs. “Anyway, I'll head out now. Again, thank you for your time.”

I nod and walk over to the door with the intention of heading home as well. Today was just bombshell after bombshell that I'd be suspicious if a day goes by without something fucking out. The arrival of Nikolai’s mate who let us know Nikolkai might still be alive and now Cat's long, long brother, presumed dead.

I need a fucking drink.

When I get to my penthouse, I fall down on my leather couch in the living room and groan. God, I am exhausted and so over this shit. All I want is to have Lily back in my arms, safe and out of harm's way as we prepare to welcome our child into the world.

I need her here; I need to apologise to her for letting her down and allowing her to be taken. Fuck, I should have told her how I felt without thinking and made her stay.

But time is running out, and it's too late for would haves and should-haves. We have a shot at getting Lily back with this dagger the witches bring back from their homeland, and if I have to murder every last one of those demons, then so be it.

“Kon...” I hear a voice coming from the elevator and jump up to see Dimitri in the doorway, slick with sweat and panting. “It's not... working..."

I ran towards my brother and put him back in the elevator, keying in the code to Nikolai's penthouse one floor down, then placing his arm around my shoulders. Kai and I spoke about what would happen if Dimitri didn't get this under control, and now I would implement it.

Nikolai used to be the only one still struggling with his beast at the full moon, so Kai had a particular room made for him to spend the night in. Decked out with pure silver anchor chains and handcuffs, humidifiers that periodically release wolfsbane laced mist and a door made out of pure silver.

There is no way for a wolf to get out of this; and right now, it is the perfect place to leave Dimitri. The elevator doors open, and I rush inside, ignoring a dumbfounded Nova who is currently sitting on the couch and playing Call of Duty.

“What-"

“Not now, Nova!” I exclaim, then call for Titus and Marcus to help me tie up my brother. Titus grabs the dragonhide glove and opens the door, Marcus throws the respirators towards us, and we make quick work of anchoring my brother in the heavy chains.

Dimitri opens his eyes and chuckles. “Thank you..." he breathes out, and his head lolls to the side.

I walk over and place my hand on his shoulder. “You can let the beast out tonight, brother; he isn't going anywhere,” I say, my voice coming through thick because of the mask, and he peers up at me with a horrified look on his face.

“No, I can't-1"

"You can; this room is designed to keep even a beast like Kai locked in place. Let loose for one night, Dimitri. No one will get harmed.”

His bottom lip trembles as his eyes well up with tears, but he nods. I then pat him on the shoulder and walk out of the door; the wolfsbane is coming through this mask regardless of the respirators. Locking the door, I walk towards the living room again and plop down on the couch next to Nova, who looks like she’s seen a ghost.

“Is he okay?” she whispers, and I nod.

“He's struggling with his beast, and we've just recently found out about it. Apparently, every night he feels like he's permanently under the sway of the full moon.” I say, leaning my head back and sighing.

“Damn, that's rough,” she comments, then gets up from the couch. “So he'll be here for the evening?”

“Yeah, and now so will 1,” I grumble and look at her. “Mind grabbing me some bourbon from the cellar downstairs? I need something stronger than beer right now.”

Nova looks scared as shit, her brown eyes growing to the size of saucers. “Wait, won't he-"

“No. he's secured with silver anchor chains and puffs of wolfsbane - he ain't going anywhere,” I assure her. “Go, woman, bring me alcohol.”

She rolls her eyes. “Fine, damnit,” she mumbles and walks off.

I chuckle when I see her walk away and shake my head. Damn, this little librarian is growing on me for some reason. She's not timid like a lamb once you get to know her, and she has a tough spirit about her. With the right motivation, she might just come out of her shell. I hope she still sticks around and Nikolai makes the right choice; if he's still alive, that is.

“I hope Nikolai doesn't mind us raiding his cellar like this,” she says when she walks back from downstairs. “You want a glass or ice?”

I shake my head. “Nah, fuck it; it's been a drink-straight-from-the-bottle kind of day,” I say and grab the Bulleit bottle from her hand, opening it and taking a swig. The liquid burns as it's going down before settling in my stomach, and for some reason, it makes me feel better.

“Wanna talk about it?” Nova asks, holding her hand out for the bottle.

“Not really; I'm trying not to think about it hence this,” I say and hand the bottle over to her. “I'm actually tired of thinking about it, to be honest.”

Nova takes a deep swig of the bottle and coughs. “Fuck, how can you drink this without pulling a face?” she asks and gives me the bottle back while making a noise at the back of her throat.

I laugh at this and take another drink. “Years of practice and bad choices,” I say with amusement, and she shakes her head before getting up and walking towards the kitchen, mumbling something about “crazy Russians.’

Sighing, I slide down further on the couch and lean my head back. Tomorrow we will have the weapon we need to take out the enemy, and depending on whether or not Kai agrees to this thing with Cain, we will know where they've been moved to.

Everything is riding on this, and I hope Kai makes the right decision.