Konstantin: The Heartless Beta

Konstantin

Kai pulls me out of the bedroom and looks at me with wide eyes. “What the fuck does this mean?” He asks me as if I have the fucking answer right now.

“It means that even the demonic child is a Volkov, and we cannot exchange one for the other. No matter how we look at it, that child is family.” Cat says and comes up behind us. She looks at Kai and sighs. “This won't end well.”

Kai growls and punches the wall next to me. “What the fuck are we going to do now?!”

Marle walks out and looks at the three of us."They cant kill your child; it's their bargaining chip. I need to get in contact with Morganna to find out exactly what they're planning. Give me a few minutes.” She says, then touches my arm. “Lilith is waiting for you.”

I look up at Kai and Cat when she says this, guilt creeping into my heart at the fact that I can experience this with Lily while they can't. What do I do or say to my brother in this situation?

As if Cat can pick up on my hesitation, she throws her arms around my neck and breathes out a sigh. “Your family needs you, Kon, don't worry about us. We'll be waiting downstairs with everyone else.” She says, then pulls away. “You'll make a great father.”

I don't usually cry, but I feel my resolve crack at those words. “Thank you,” I murmur, then turn around and walk away from my brother and his wife.

My brother, who looked like his life was falling apart by the second.

What should I do? How do I comfort my brother and assure him we'll get his child back? He came on this rescue mission against the word of the witch and wanted to save our little brother. I fucking hope he doesn't live to regret this and resent me for seeking out his help.

However, as soon as my eyes fell on my mate and children, everything else became background noise. She looked beautiful sitting up with both the babies in her arms while breastfeeding them, only looking up when she heard me approaching.

"Hey, you,” she says with a smile.

“Hey,” I responded sheepishly, sitting down on the bed next to her. “How are you feeling?”

She looked like hell, and God knows she's been through it all. But apart from that, she seems at peace...happy.

“I'm feeling...I don't know. I can't explain the sudden calm that has engulfed me. Ever since I laid my eyes on both of them, every other worry went out the window, like my life only has one purpose; and that's to protect these two.” She says.

I don't even have to question that because I feel exactly the same; I will protect these three with my life. But as much as I want to enjoy this moment with Lily and the twins, I know this will be short- lived. So I move next to her on the bed and kiss her shoulder before laying my head down on it and scenting them.

“I don't want to lose this perfect moment,” I say, inhaling her lavender scent I had missed so much and leaving the sentence open-ended, but Lily knows me too well to leave it at that.

She breathes in and sighs. “Kai needs you, I know, and I will never hold it against you for missing this moment,” she says and kisses my forehead. “We'll still be here.”

I looked up at her, knowing she would kill anyone who had to harm these two. “The blonde bitch won't stop until she gets her hands on...” I frown, then look down at the babies in her arms. “The second one is it-"

“A girl; it's a girl,” she gushes and leans down to kiss the baby I had called an undesirable not too long ago. “The blonde woman posed as my mother and was adamant that Stefan’s “child’ would be a male and wanted me to name it Asmodeus, after the Demon of Lust.”

“Fuck that,” I growl and listen to her chuckle as she sushes me.

"You'll scare them,” she says, then kisses their heads again. “I know there is no way I would name my child that. But we can always think about names later, once everything has blown over.”

I sigh and nod. “It's always something lately with our family; now we've discovered that Dimitri is the traitor.”

"Oh!" She suddenly says, and I sit up to look at her. “That's true; before Stefan took me to the basement, someone had come to see him and spoke to him outside the bedroom door. The person sounded like Dimitri, but it wasn't the first time I heard him either. I even heard him back in Jersey.” This little bit of information makes my blood boil; Dimitri knew how broken up I was about Lily, and he still does this to me; to all of us. Why did he betray us?!

“Hey,” she says, making me look at her again. “Don’t think about it now; you can always ask him later. For now, you need to regroup with Kai and the others, don't worry; I have your second in command here to keep an eye on me.” She cocks her head towards the door as Zephyr enters. “You're a sight for sore eyes,” Zephyr says and walks towards her, kissing her head. “We've all missed you.”

The only reason I am allowing that kiss is that Zephyr is like a little brother to Lily, so they're basically family. That and the fact that he’s come to be one of my most trusted. But fuck, what is “most trusted’ nowadays? Everyone seems to fuck us over.

Lily looks at me, then sighs. “I know you won't be happy sitting here doing nothing after everything Kai did to get me back. So please, go to your brother and be there for him.”

“I don't deserve you, do you know that?” I say, wondering what the fuck I did right to strike it lucky with a mate like her. She shakes her head and smiles at me.

"Show them what happens once you cross a Volkov wolf,” she says, inciting my heart even further. I lean down and kiss her lips before kissing the foreheads of my perfect children.

I walk towards Zephyr and hold out my hand for him to take. “Protect them with your life,” I say. “That should go without saying,” he replies and nods.

I walk towards the door and take another look back at them, trying to preserve as much of this as I possibly can before shit drops once again. The day our children are born, and neither Kai nor I can just enjoy the moment with our mates.

It's always fucking something.

Walking downstairs, I manage to catch the tail-end of a conversation in another room and stop in my tracks. It's Nikolai and Nova

"... I understand; I didn't expect you to-"

"Good, because someone like me cannot have a wolfless, half-blind Rogue like you as my mate. So I, Nikolai Volkov, reject you, Nova Lorelei, as my mate.”

What the fuck? Nikolai really rejected her!

I hear footsteps and hide in an adjacent room before listening as my shithead little brother retreats. Stepping out, I walk into the room he had left Nova in and walk inside. Nova spins around, her glasses on top of her head and eyes puffy; right there and then, I wished I could punch him for her sake.

"Heard all that, did you?” she sniffs when she sees me and wipes her tears away.

I don't know if it's the paternal instincts kicking in right now, but I walk to her and wrap my arms around her. She stiffens when I do, but then she slowly wraps her arms around me as well.

“My brother is a shithead,” I say, and I hear her giggle through her sobbing and then pull away. “No, I expected it. I just didn't... know it would hurt this much,” she says and shrugs, then puts her glasses back on. “I should probably go-*

“And where are you going after all of this? Back to Seattle?” I ask, raising my eyebrow, but she shakes her head.

“Cain invited me into his pack if things here don’t work out,” she says, then pulls out her cell phone. “I should probably call him.”

So the Rogue Alpha offered her a place in his pack after all. I understand, though, Rogues who have had no family seek out others the same as them. Luckily Cain proved himself fucking trustworthy tonight, or I would have invited her to stay here with us.

But then again, I doubt anyone would want to stay in a place where their mate rejected them so harshly.

I throw the SUV keys at her. “Go wait in the car; I'll take you to Cain after we're done here,” I say, feeling sad that she would be leaving after growing on me in such a short space of time. She nods then gives me a sad smile.

“Thank you for everything you've done for me, Konstantin,” she says, then quietly walks out of the room.

Nikolai could have just rejected her; he didn't have to fucking say all of those insulting things. After everything that has happened, you would think he would want his mate. But no, the fucker is holding onto his Volkov name as if that will keep him warm at night.

But as pissed as I am for Nova, I have other pressing things to worry about right now. So I square my shoulders and make my way downstairs.