14. Nicolai

-Bring me to Life—Evanescence-

The burning sting of Grace’s teeth breaking through my skin last night set my blood on fire. Every beat of my heart felt like molten lava inching its way through my body. Whatever her bite did, it sped up my healing to the way it should have been. There’s nothing worse than feeling trapped in your own body listening to the world around you.

I felt her seeking her mates out for carnal comfort. I also felt when she battled earlier today, or was it yesterday? Half the time I feel like I’ve been underwater with its crushing weight upon me, holding me prisoner. The early tethers of our bond amazes me. Now with her bite, I can feel where she is in the house down the hall.

Slowly, my limbs start to respond, and I roll onto my side. Opening my eyes, I don’t recognize where I am. The faint amount of light seeping from behind the blinds tells me it’s either early morning or dusk. By scent, I know I’m in Grace’s home. The other lingering scents are that of her mates and our children. There’s a faint scent of my mother still on part of the sheet that was on me.

The click of the front door opening catches me off guard. How close to the front of the house am I? The jiggle of the door knob makes the hair on the back of my neck stand on edge, ready to attack whoever comes through the door.

“Oh, Nic you’re awake.“ My mother beams at me then sticks her head back out the door. “Grace, boys, Nic is finally awake.” She calls through the house and I can hear the sounds of feet hitting the floor and door knobs being turned.

“Mom. I’m okay, really.” Forcing myself to sit up, I get a little lightheaded and brace my arms behind me for balance.

“Is he really awake?” Grace’s curious tone catches my attention. When she walks into the room, holding both of our daughters balanced on her hips, my heart was done for.

“Good morning.” My soft tone catches her off guard and she pauses, looking at me, then the babies.

“I kept them safe. I … I did the best I could.” Tears rim her eyes and I don’t understand what has turned her mood to feel so pain-filled and anguished.

Looking over at my mom, she lowers her head. “Your secretary Sarah knocked me out and stole both daughters.”

“WHAT!” I roar and almost shift on the spot. The rage I feel burning in my chest is like an inferno. “I’ll fucking kill her.”

Grace looks back at Conrad, then passes the babies off, mine to my mom and Ashina to Griffin. Conrad returns with a box and it reeks of death. Grace opens the box top and pulls out a timber wolfs head and holds it out to me. “It’s already done. Ethan and I tore through the rogues and then Sarah to get to the babies.” Grace won’t meet my eyes. She is still staring at the floor as she holds the head out to me. “I killed so many rogues.”

“She was a phenom in battle. I have never seen a female fight with such tenacity as our mate did to get to the pups.” Ethan supplies as he rests a comforting hand on Grace’s shoulder.

Sliding off the table, I gain my balance and notice I’m naked. Quickly, I wrap the sheet around my waist, then move forward to take the head from Grace. I sit it on the bed and slowly reach out curling my index, finger I gently get Grace to lift her head to face me. “Thank you for saving my daughter. Besides you, she is my entire world.” Grace’s bottom lip quivers as she stares at me.

“She stole the babies, Nic. Why would she steal the babies?” It’s now that the dam breaks and the tears flow freely down her cheeks.

I look over her shoulder at Ethan, and he nods. That’s all the permission I need. Without hesitation, I pull Grace to me and press her head so her ear is over my heart. “Listen to the sound of my heart. Each and every beat is for you and our girls. By the scent of it, the new addition as well.” Conrad returns with a bottle of water and twists the cap off and hands it to me. I take a drink first, then offer the water to Grace. “Take a nice slow drink of the water.”

Grace takes the bottle and tips it back, taking a small sip at first, then goes back for a second one. She looks over at Ethan, then Griffin, and they both nod at her. “Drink more, baby girl.” Griffin encourages her, and she complies.

“You’re being so good, Grace.” I kiss her temple and hold my lips there for a few moments. Looking over at Conrad and then Griffin. “Can I borrow a pair of sweatpants and maybe a tee-shirt until I can get my own clothing?”

Barrett moves forward and holds out a bag to me. “Griffin sent me clothes shopping for you yesterday, anticipating you needing to get dressed.” Beaming, he tilts his head until I take the bag.

“Thank you for your thoughtfulness, Griffin.” I look inside the bag at what Barrett had picked out for me. “You’re a very good shopper. You did an excellent job.” My praise made him light up immediately, and he bounces excitedly. Some Omega has a praise kink. I file that tidbit of information away for later. Pulling away from Grace for a moment, I crouch down slightly to look her in the eye. “Please go with your other mates and start eating breakfast. I’ll be there shortly.”

Grace tilts her head several times, looking at me, then back at Ethan. He tilts his head slightly in the opposite direction before she follows him out of the room. “Sire bond…” Griffin says and smiles. “You get used to it after a while. It’s the main reason I gave up my chance to marry her in public.” He smiles, and it all makes sense. I nod my understanding before he too leaves the room so I can dress.

Theirs isn’t a bond like a vampire has with its creation. A wolven sire bond is that the creator’s wolf gives up part of its self to create the new wolf. It doesn’t matter how much she loves everyone, Ethan’s final approval will always be sought. I know my old friend Griffin has had a hard time with this revelation. Conrad and Barrett seem at peace with the change in their family dynamic. I pull on the clothing that Barrett supplied me and it fits almost perfectly. He picked out a gray henley and a pair of relaxed fit jeans. Interestingly enough, it’s not clothing I would normally pick for myself. I wonder who instructed him to make this purchase.

Stepping into the kitchen, the room falls silent and I watch the gold rise in Grace’s eyes. “You did good Barrett.” She smiles over at her omega mate and he preens under her praise.

“You were brilliant with the color choice, Gracie. It brings out the green in his eyes and makes his complexion glow.” Barrett stares at me with a hunger in his eyes. His omega drive is to please the alphas.

“So, this was your doing?” I lightly pull at the fabric and smile at her.

“It was.” Gracie smiles as she bites the bacon in her hands.

She gets up and sits on Ethan’s lap, and he immediately wraps an arm around her. Griffin leans over closer to me. “She does that when she’s uncomfortable.” He lightly motions to the possessive way that Ethan holds her.

“It’s understandable, given their bond.” I dismiss the way she clings to her creator as a natural occurrence.

Ethan pulls Grace back and whispers in her ear and she turns to face him after he speaks. She slowly stands, and he smacks her playfully on her ass. Grace’s giggle sounds like music to my ears. As she passes her alphas, she places a hand on them, running her fingertips from shoulder to shoulder. She comes to stand before me and smiles before extending her hand out to me. “Walk with me?”

The invitation catches me off guard and I gently take her hand. “As you wish, I would love to join you.” Standing slowly so that I don’t startle her, I wait to see where she is taking me.

Grace leads us out the back door and there is a glorious garden hidden behind the house. Years of care and love have tended this garden. Luna after Luna has kept this garden and now Grace steps into the garden and leads me to a single crimson rose bush. “Each rose bush has been planted by the Luna before her. This is my contribution to the Luna garden.” Her hand caresses the blood red rose and smiles at it. “One of my daughters or maybe a son should I be graced with one will either plant a rose or help their mate plant one.” The smile that graces her lips is radiant and makes my heart happy.

“That’s a beautiful thought. The future is always brighter when you have something to look forward to.” Moving slowly, I stand beside her looking her rose bush over. “What made you choose this color?” My curiosity needs to be sated. Most of the roses in the garden are shades of pink or white. Her bold color choice stands out against the others.

“It represents my blood that was shed the night my ex tried to kill me. The way my essence painted the earth and leaves vermillion. The old me died that night, who I was will never be again.” Her head lowers as she stares at her flowers in the garden.

The weight of her buried grief feels like a boulder in my chest. The door to the house opens and I look back and her other mates remain on the porch. “You were reborn, given a second chance to start again. The future will be whatever you make of it, Grace.” I rest a hand on her shoulder and wait to see what she does.

Grace slowly turns to look back at the house. “Join us.” She turns and takes my hand and spins us to face the others. Surprising to me she tucks herself under my arm and wraps an arm around my waist. “You mentioned mating presents.” Grace looks from me, then over to Griffin, pinning him with a stare.

“I did. Barrett, please bring the gifts here.” Griffin’s tone holds a bit of a bark to it and Grace growls at him over it.

“Don’t treat him like that.” She bares her teeth slightly at Griffin and he lowers his head slightly.

Griffin stops and stares at Grace for a moment. When Barrett returns, Griffin stops him. “Sorry for using my bark on you.” I can tell it was a struggle for him to admit to it.

Grace smiles and then motions to the stone slab in the middle of the garden. Conrad comes back with the head in his hands and sits it on the slab. I’m curious to find out exactly how long she intends to keep the head. Barrett hands one tube to Ethan and the other six to me.

“My brothers and I would like to give you a gift of land on the border of our lands and Nicolai’s.” Ethan spreads out the diagram on the slab and shows Grace. “We are here and way over here is the proposed build site. It’s in the center of both lands, making it easy for us to traverse between both pack lands to handle business.” Grace moves forward and looks at the map.

“It’s in the meadows near the stream where I first learned to hunt. Where the wild flowers grow and move like waves on the ocean.” There’s a wistful tone to her voice as obvious happy memories surface looking at the map. Griffin was wise to help me pick the location.

Stepping forward, I offer the six scrolls to her. “I had one of my engineers draw up six designs for a grand alpha house to house us and future generations. Pick whichever plan you want, or ideas from each, to make the house you want. My company will build your dream house as my mating gift to you.” Grace takes the scrolls from me and opens them one by one, flipping through the plans. On one of the tubes, I taped a construction pencil. I pull it free and offer it to her. “Cross out what you don’t like and put a check mark on what you do. We can make one house out of all of them. Take the best elements to create your dream house.”

Grace glances between all of her mates, including me, and then makes x’s over the parts she doesn’t like in each of the plans. It’s almost concerning watching her cross out so much over the various designs. She kept the private spaces for each of her alphas and the one I designed for her. From what I can see, each of the plans had several qualities that she enjoyed the most. The most prominent part is she keeps moving the children’s rooms to the upper level of the house, and the hidden stairwell and tunnel out of the house.

She finishes making her choices and backs away from the plans. Looking them over it makes me proud of the fact she knows what she wants. The design would fit in two of the plans I have drawn. My favorite one and a compromised one that would also work for her desires. I flip the designs over and show her the exterior design of the two plans that would work for the house she desires. “Which exterior pleases you? Both designs can fit what you want and how you want it.”

Grace looks at the two designs and pushes my favorite one forward. “This reminds me of a doll house I had as a little girl. I would like this one please, Nic.” She turns and looks up at me with a radiant smile.

“Your wish is my desire.” Leaning forward, I kiss her cheek and look at the others. “I’m going to deliver this to my office so the plans can be put into motion.” Curling up the plans with the exterior she wants dog-eared. “I’ll be back in time for supper. Conrad, can you please take me to my office since my car is for lack of a better word out of commission?”

“Sure Nic, the sooner we leave, the sooner we can return.” Conrad kisses Grace’s lips, then leads me around the side of the house and towards his car.

Today for the first time in a long time I have a hope for the future that wasn’t there before.