Konstantin: The Heartless Beta

Konstantin

Rage gripped my heart when I saw her tied to a black altar, like some sort of sacrificial lamb. Kai got Nikolai down from the chains holding him and the Rogues have Stefan up against the wall, waiting for me to kill him.

"Are you okay?” I hear Kai whisper to Nikolai, who nods and starts to talk to Kai about something that I tune out. There's a reason for the whispering, and I won't intrude.

Lily smiles and nods when I tell her what I'm about to do, and my heart just about bursts out of my chest. I never thought I would see her smile at me like this ever again and my wolf just about howled because of it.

We did it; we saved my mate, and our little brother is still alive. Stefan will pay for this with his fucking life, and I will make sure his reign of terror ends tonight.

I kiss her forehead again and walk over to where the Rogues have the fucker pinned to the wall and remove the dagger from my holster. The blonde bitch disappeared, but we can take care of her later.

“You have no idea just how much I'm going to fucking enjoy this,” I growl and lift my arm, ready to stab the asshole when Lily lets out a bloodcurdling scream.

My heart drops when I see her clutching her stomach. “Konstantin!” she cries. “It's happening again! He's... he's tearing me from the inside!”

My head snaps to Stefan when he laughs, and I see a triumphant look in his sick yellow eyes. “It's almost time,” he says, chuckling to himself as the wolves hold him in place.

I grab his throat and dig my claws into his skin. “What the fuck is happening to her?! Make it stop!” I growl and ask Kai over the link to go to her.

Stefan chuckles. “My master is being resurrected through her; he will tear her in two as he’s born.” "What?! That's my child in her womb! MINE!" I exclaim, the Rogues inching back but still holding Stefan in place.

"Yes, but there are two children in her womb, and at this rate, your child will become the Volkov Sacrifice, and your mate will die.” He gloats, a satisfied smirk on his face when he says this.

“Kon, wait-!"

Without thinking, I slam the dagger through his heart even as my brother calls to me not to. His face crumbles up in shock, and he looks down at the dagger.

"Where did you..." he trails off before going slack. This fucker will die and not see his plans come to fruition, and the witches can help figure out a way so Lily can survive this. He needs to die; he needs to fucking die!

“Burn his body,” I order the Rogues after I pocket the dagger and walk back to Kai, who has Lily in his arms, whimpering as she holds her stomach

She looks up at me with hopeful, tear-streaked eyes, and I see the blood running down her mouth. “I'm going to die,” she says with a sad laugh.

I shake my head and scoop her up in my arms, holding her close. “You won't die, not if I have anything to say about it,” I say, smelling the sickly scent of demonic flesh as it burns behind us.

Kai and Nikolai walk towards me, and my heart breaks at the sight of my little brother covered in blood. So he has been here all this time, just like Lily. Taken right from under our fucking noses.

He smiles at me, then looks at Lily. “The fog is gone,” he says.

“It is,” I hear Lily say and chuckle before wincing in pain again.

“We need to get her back to the estate, Kon; the witches will need to have a look at her and see what's-"

/"KAIL"/

We all stop when Marle’s frantic voice comes over the link, and I see Kai pale; the both of us know what's coming and what her frantic call could mean. /“CATERINA IS READY!"/

I look at my brother, expecting a hell blazing exit, but he calmly asks Nikolai if he can walk, then thanks the Horsemen and Rogues for their help before turning to me and placing a hand on my shoulder. The double irises are back, and behind them, I see nothing but fury.

“I'll leave the rest to you,” he says, and before I can ask what he means by that, he shifts into his Lycan form and speeds off.

"What the fuck is going on?” Nikolai asks as he limps over to me. “He's still a Lycan?!"

“Cat is giving birth,” I say and pick Lily up. “And yes, he's still a Lycan. Let's get out of here and go home."

"Holy shit, she’s pregnant!” Nikolai says in that disrespectful tone to his voice that I love so much. Fuck, we need to go out after this; I've missed the little shit.

I watch as the other wolves all file out of the mansion, with the Rogues setting the place alight before we leave. Ryker approaches me and levels me with a glare.

“I suppose you forgot to mention just who exactly your mate is we just rescued,” he says, looking over at Lily.

Fuck.

“Alpha Ryker?” Lily asks, turning her head to face the Alpha with wide eyes. “I knew I recognised your voice.

I frown. “Why would I need to tell you who Lily is? She's my mate.” I say, deciding to play dumb because no fucking way am I going to admit I knew anything about what happened.

Ryker clenches his jaw when I say this, the fury palpable in his scent. “She's the sister of the man who killed my youngest sister; letting her die would have been vengeance in itself.” He spits out.

I cannot describe the anger that grips my heart when he says this. If I didn't have Lily in my arms right now, I would have been in the worst fucking fight of my life and probably dead too.

"Wait," Lily says and gets out of my arms while wincing in pain. “Konstantin didn’t know about your sister, so there's no point in dragging him into your feud with Fenriz. Your bad blood is with him, not my mate. But thank you; I am sure without your help, I wouldn't have survived.”

Ryker looks at Lily, then breathes out a heavy sigh. “I apologise; you're correct. My blood feud is with Vega, not with Konstantin. But please do not think badly of me when I eventually kill your brother after what he did to my Mia.” He says.

“Blood for blood, Alpha Ryker. I am a Volkova now; whatever happens with the Vega Pack is none of my concern.” She says and gives him a smile before doubling over again. “Ah!”

“We need to go; thank you again,” I say and nod at the Horsemen before walking to the waiting SUV with Lily in my arms yet again.

She is still in pain, crying out momentarily whenever I feel the babies move inside of her. I don't know what the fuck will happen now, and it seems like our problems have increased ten-fold.

“Are you fit to drive?” I ask Nikolai, and he nods.

"My healing has returned, so I should be fine. Are we going to the Estate?” He asks, taking the keys from my hand.

"Yeah, everyone is there,” I say, my mind suddenly going to Nova and the fact that she’s there too. I don't think it's my place to mention the fact that his mate is there, so I don't say anything.

I remove my shirt and toss it to him. “Put that on before the cops pull you over for looking like a serial killer. There are baby wipes down there somewhere; it should help with getting rid of the blood for now.”

I throw the dagger onto the passenger side floor before I get in the back with Lily. I couldn't think straight with that fucking thing on me; Kai needs to dispose of it in the vault.

We speed off, and as soon as Lily lays down with her head in my lap, she starts to cry out in pain again. “Shhh, baby,” I say, stroking her hair. “We'll sort this out, I promise.”

She looks up at me with tears in her eyes. “I'm in so much pain that I've numbed myself to it. The blonde woman mentioned something about forcing the induction, so she’s basically sped up the labour process.”

I clench my jaw, wishing I had gotten to that bitch before she disappeared into thin fucking air. But I can't think of retribution right now; I need to take her mind off of the pain.

“I think I fell in love with you the moment I knocked you on your ass in Fang,” I say, scenting her and thinking back to my first memory of her. The little girl from Vegas, forced to fight to prove herself worthy and angry at being given away like a prize.

She chuckles and grits her teeth through the pain. “You were in love with me all this time but never said a word?"

I nod. “I was a coward back then, too afraid to admit my feelings for you, but not anymore. I fucking love you, Lily, and I want you to always stay at my side.”

Tears slip down her cheeks when I say this, and she nods. “I love you too-"

/"KAl, HE'S COMING! HE'S-!"/

My heart drops at Marle’s horrified voice that got cut off over the link. What the fuck? Is Kai not there yet? From what I can see and how Nikolai has been hauling ass, we're already close to the Estate.

/“What the fuck is going on? Kai?/ I call to my brother over the link but got nothing back.

Nikolai gets the picture and speeds up, bringing us to the gates of the Estate a few minutes after that.

“Thank fu-"

A loud roar reverberates through the entire Estate when we drive in, and Nikolai cries out, slamming on the brakes. My wolf whimpers, laying down with his tail between his legs; I cover my ears and hold Lily close when she screams as well. My heart is fucking hammering, confused as fuck over what I just heard.

Kai's Alpha Roar - one he has not used on anyone at all.

I slap my brother's arm. “Nikolai... get us... get us to the mansion,” I say, not sure that I can carry Lily right now with the roar sapping every last bit of energy out of me so I can submit to Kai's fury. What the fuck has happened?

He starts up the SUV and gets us there within a few minutes, but then the roar stops. I get out with Lily in my arms and rush inside with Nikolai on my heels.

The smell hits me first; fresh blood and sulphur.

"Something's wrong, take her,” I say and put Lily down, rushing towards the main bedroom I know was going to be used when Cat was to give birth. We weren't gone long after Marle called us, so what could have happened in that time?

When I run into the bedroom, I nearly take a step back at what I see. Kai's naked frame held a bloody Caterina and sobbing; she looked ahead of her as if staring at nothing. The witches were alive but seemed to be knocked out, so was Zephyr and Nova. No blood was spilt, save for Caterina, who gave birth.

Only when I surveyed everything did I notice two people were missing - Dimitri and Kai's child.