Konstantin: The Heartless Beta

Konstantin

“Brother...” I trail off, taking a cautious step towards Kai, whose scent is unreadable. He's holding Cat closely, her body all but healed from giving birth. She's staring straight ahead,

“Kai, what-"

"He took my baby. After injecting everyone with something, he ripped my child from my hands and walked out.” Cat says, continuing to stare at nothing. “The traitor has been Dimitri all along.”

"Who says I'm sane? I'm just good at acting; a smiling viper with nothing to worry about.”

Dimitri's words echo through my head as my heart shatters and a blinding pain hits my chest, doubling me over. The witches awaken and scream, feeling the exact same pain as I did. I look up at Kai, his stony face giving nothing away - no emotion on his face even as Dimitri rejects our pack. Zephyr and Nova stir as well, slowly getting to their feet. Marle’s head whips towards Cat, and she runs to her, checking her for wounds, but Cat brushes her off and shakes her head.

"Why...why would he do something like this...?" I ask, falling to my knees in front of the bed and looking to my Alpha for answers.

He finally looks at me with split irises, the fury and intimidation back in his scent. “He is no longer one of us and is to be killed on sight.”

My eyes widen at his order, but there is nothing I can do to reject it. It doesn't make sense! Why would Dimitri help Stefan if he knew what was at risk? Why betray us, his family by blood, who would have willingly died for him if need be?!

A commotion at the door gets our attention, and Nikolai barrels into the room. Cat's eyes widen when she sees him, and she lets out a sob. “Nikolai?!” she exclaims, her hand to her mouth.

"Hey, lapochka,” he says softly, ruffling her hair, then looking at me. “Lily is resting on the couch downstairs.”

I nod. At least two good things happened tonight before this, but that victory will be overshadowed by the fact that our own brother has been the traitor after all this time, and he has stolen our Alpha’s pup and disappeared.

Kai kisses Cat's head one last time, then he gets up and walks to me. “We need to track Dimitri's scent-"

I hold up my hand as he starts, knowing that I am inviting his ire with my insubordination, but we have more to worry about downstairs.

“Kai, I get it, you want to get your child back, but remember that my mate is downstairs, in a fuck load of pain, with a wolf and demon in her belly ready to be born. We cannot overlook that." I say. As expected, he gets angry and levels me with a glare; his fury intensifies as he grabs me by the collar. “We WILL follow Dimitri and get my child back!”

“Think clearly for one fucking second!” I say and push him back. “Lily might die if she is not seen to! I get it! I fucking get it! But my mate is in just as much danger!”

"You two, stop it!" Cat cries out, and I hear her walk over to us. She places a hand on both Kai and my shoulders, and a feeling of calm overtakes my body. “Listen to me, both of you.”

We turn our heads to look at her, her green eyes flashing crimson. “They took my baby, yes, but something tells me that Dimitri's betrayal along with the kidnapping is linked to Lily and her children. We need to see to her and make sure she has these babies, all while staying alive.”

“But-"

“No, no buts.” She snaps at Kai. “I have a feeling that my child is safe and will most likely be used as a bargaining chip to get either Lily or the demon child back,” Cat says and raises an eyebrow at me. “They need a Volkov sacrifice - the blood of the youngest child is required.”

Our heads all turn to Lily at the bedroom door, pale; the blood running down her nose and mouth is the only bit of colour on her.

I run to her side and take her in my arms. “You shouldn't be up,” I say softly, but she shakes her head.

“I had to come...” she winces as the children move, and before I can say another word, Marle is in front of us.

She looks up at Lily in shock. “Two children in your womb; one wolf and one demonic,” she says, then looks up at me. “Bring her into the room next door before the invaded spawn rips her apart from the inside; by the looks of things, it has already started.”

I nod, and she gathers up her two sisters before beckoning me to follow her. Before I walk out, I look behind me; Kai has his arms around Cat and is whispering something to her. Zephyr is walking towards us, and Nikolai is looking at Nova with a frown on his face while Nova's head snaps away from him.

I'm sure my little brother has a lot of questions, ones I cannot answer right now.

After laying Lily down on the bed, Marle instructs me to step back and walks over to her, placing a hand on her forehead and belly.

“I'll be replicating the spell, but I will include a binding spell for the child with demonic blood. The Incubus already injected the infant's spine, while in utero, with the soul of a slumbering entity. At the same time, the Succubus has already started the process of resurrecting their master. The spell is incomplete, but she will require the child as the full manifestation of his power will only happen once he reaches the age of 26."

I blink at this and shake my head. “And how the fuck do you know all this?"

Marle looks up at me and grins. “Who do you think taught Morganna this spell? She's one of my oldest pupils. If I had known she would use it on a family I now belong to; I would have killed her long ago.”

These witches and their dark shit, really.

Marle starts chanting, and ten minutes later, she gestures for me to come over. “Remember, it isn't the child's fault for being born.” She says just as Lily screams. “They're ready.”

I hold Lily's hand as Marle acts like a midwife, telling her to push where possible. To be honest, I never expected Lily to be giving birth to our pup right after we rescued her, but right now, she's doing everything in her power to do just that.

“Shhh, you're doing great,” I whisper words of encouragement, not knowing if it is helping. “Just a little more, baby.”

She looks up at me as if I'm the only person in the room and nods. “I love you,”

“I love you too, Lily,” I say and kiss her hand holding mine, one she has broken at least three times in the last twenty minutes.

A few minutes after this, the sound of a baby crying pierces the air, and Marle smiles at me, then looks at Lily. “It's a boy, and it's yours.” She says, referring to the fact that this isn't the demon.

She places the baby on Lily's chest, and I am knocked out at the feeling of love in her eyes. One look at my child and a possessive pull is at my core; I want to do everything in my power to keep this baby safe, and God help anyone who stands in my way.

"He's beautiful,” Lily gushes and looks up at me. “He's beautiful, and he’s ours.” Tears slip down her cheeks, and I lean down to kiss her hair and kiss the baby, covered in mucus or not.

God, I never knew being a parent would feel like this. The connection is instantaneous, and feelings of love and overprotectiveness are so powerful that I would kill anyone who would even think to do him harm. I understand where Kai is coming from now... and he hasn't even met his child yet. “We're not done, Lilith; one more,” Marle says and nods to one of her sisters to take the child from Lily. “Let's get this one out, and then we can focus on your healing.”

“Give him to me,” I say and take the child from her. The amount of love I feel as I look at my first born is indescribable, but I cannot linger on him as much as I wanted to. Lily needs to birth this undesirable spawn, and she needed me there for her.

After handing the baby over to Marle’s sister, I sit back down with Lily and kiss her fingers. She breaks them once more while pushing and snaps my entire wrist when Marle screams for her to give one final push.

“It's out, baby; it's finally out -”

I turn to look at Marle standing with the second child, and my words curdle in my mouth. She looks at me with a frown, then at Lily. “I... I don't know what to..." Marle trails off as she walks towards us with the child.

Lily opens her eyes and looks at me, frowning at the expression on my face, and when she looks at Marle and the child in her arms, I am confident her expression and feeling match mine.

We were going to exchange this demon spawn for Kai's, but now we can't because one look at the child Marle is holding, and I knew it is mine by blood - the instantaneous pull at my centre attests to that.

“They're true Volkov twins,” Marle says, stunning everyone who had entered the room.