SWNOVELS Chapter 23 - Mira
Maxim is standing at the door, looking at me with an odd expression. I had just gotten dressed and was about to write in my journal when he opened the door.
I stand up and look at him. “Can I help you?”
He cocks his head to the side. “Is that any way to speak to the person who's getting you out of this room?”
"What?" I ask with a frown and he simply chuckles.
"Come, Mirabella. I'm sure you've missed the back gardens,” he says and walks out, leaving the door open.
I swallow hard and take a step back, remembering how he fooled me last time. It's the reason I'm in this room right now, the reason Alpha Nikolaos has me locked up.
He walks back and looks at me with an eyebrow cocked. “Are you coming?”
“The last time I followed your instructions, I ended up in here. Why would I follow you now?” I say, then I promptly sit down. “Please, leave me alone.”
Maxim walks in and gets down on his haunches in front of me. I refuse to make eye contact, but his gaze is burning holes into the side of my head, so I relent and look at him.
“Mirabella, you know why I had to trick you,” he starts. “Niko isn't someone who trusts easily, and with you literally dropping into his lap after Mikhail’s men chased you into his territory...he knew something was up. He knew you were important.”
I sigh. “You could have asked-"
“He did that, remember? You pretended not to know who you were or why they took you. Listen,” he says, taking my hands in his. “If there's one thing Niko values, it's the truth. It doesn't matter how much it sucks or how much it hurts. Niko prefers that over bullshit.”
“That's...yes,” I admit, and take the teacup from her. “I'm just confused right now.”
Ariadne nods. “That's understandable, especially after what happened these last two weeks. But I know my Nikki means well, even if he doesn't show it right now,” she says.
Means well? I don't know about that. The Alpha is an enigma on his own; he’s hot, then cold. He comes into my room, presses up against me, muddles up my mind, and leaves me wanting him with an ache I cannot explain.
The worst part is I allow him to.
“I'm...sure he does,” I say with a tight smile, sipping on the delicious tea.
Ariadne laughs a bit as she picks up a cookie. “Once you're married, you'll see what I mean, and don't look at me like that. Of course, I know you're about to get married, especially with the way he looks when he talks about you.”
I place the teacup on its delicate saucer, reeling from what she’s just said and hanging my head in my hands. “Please...not you too. I can't...”
The pressure in my chest threatens to push out the tears just cresting the surface, but I take a few calming breaths to calm myself down. It works a fraction, but that pressure still remains. I know what it is, I know its hope wrapping its tendrils around my heart.
The last time I felt this was when my father took me in - I won't be fooled like that again. I won't allow myself to be taken that high, only to be dropped and shattered. I lost my wolf that way, I can't lose myself, too.
I take a deep breath, and then offer her a small smile. “Our marriage will be in name only, nothing else. Once my father dies, I will take my leave, as we've discussed before.”
Ariadne’s smile drops slightly, but she nods as if she understands and dives into one of her recent books again.
I know she’s trying to make me see reason, but I can't do that. Alpha Nikolaos thinks he wants to claim me because of that one stupid mistake when I went through my heat. He had a taste of a she- wolf in heat, nothing more. I'm a constant distraction because I'm something new, that's all.
The cookie I had picked up drops from my hand and I suck in a surprised breath. Something feels odd in my belly; did I eat something I shouldn't have?
“Are you okay, dearie?” Ariadne asks me, the concern clear in her rheumy eyes.
I nod. “I think it's just indigestion- oh!"
There it is again, like a swarm of butterflies inside my stomach, flapping their wings at the same time. I frown and place my hand on the swell of my belly and my eyes widen when I feel it again. It's not indigestion, the baby is moving.
Ariadne takes in my expression, and a warm, motherly look washes over her face. She places a hand on her chest and sniffs. “The baby?”
“I...yes, it's moving slightly,” I nod, but it doesn't happen again.
That pressure on my chest, the hope wrapping itself around my heart, now intensifies just as a tear slips down my cheek. It could not have happened at a worse time, just as I started to accept that I'd have to walk away from everything.
That little movement destroyed everything in five seconds flat, that little movement flipped the switch completely, allowing me to feel and forcing me to cry for the first time in years.
This is bad...this is so, so bad.