"Haahh.... hah... that damn.... old fucker..."
Nikolai's body ached like all hell, his arms and abdon throbbing as if soone had struck him with tal bars. He closed his eyes with a sigh, trying to focus his gaze through a swollen eye. The back of Alaric Drago faded into the darkness.
'So my hunch they want alive was right...'
Blood. His blood, that's what it ca down to... nothing else. The Nosferatu were hunting the Volkov family, and thus likely other ancient families, to take advantage of their bloodlines.
'Do they know about my divine bloodline?'
The pain from being unilaterally beaten sank into his bones. His humiliation burned just like the sharp ache in his ribs. Was he really this weak? Even though it was his plan... Surely he could have protected himself if more skilled.
Nikolai bit down on his tongue, wanting to avoid complaining, showing his pain in front of the won who expected more of him. Yet that's when he felt doubt...
'Do they even notice, or... are my actions foolish?'
Despite this being his own plan, Nikolai couldn't help but feel annoyed. Frustrated. The fact that he had only just beco the head of the Moonlight Alliance, sohow losing felt wrong.
He couldn't help but feel embarrassed, his cheeks red from accepting this way of deceiving the Nosferatu watchdogs...
However, if Alaric lived and managed to beco a double agent... Then the old man could still pull strings behind closed doors—ones Nikolai couldn't reach yet. And if the Nosferatu thought him weak? Good. Let them lower their guard.
As Nikolai's steps faltered, Amphitrite hurried to steady him, using her shoulder.
"You're such a fool, why didn't you protect yourself!?
If he didn't go easy on you, there might have been so permanent damage!
Are you a fool?"
She lifted his arm, wrapping it over her shoulder before guiding him towards the car. Nikolai's head bobbed while enjoying her scent.
His body ached. But the ache was familiar now. Tolerable. He was getting used to pain—and that was progress.
Nikolai slurred words as he spoke, his usual confidence faltering just for a mont as he leaned into Amphitrite's shoulder. "You sll like the ocean... I guess it's better than slling like blood," he muttered. He hoped his words didn't betray the confusion in his mind.
"Don't give that crap, I am not happy with you right now!"
Amphitrite closed her eyes, speaking with a low, harsh voice and pinched his waist.
"You make want to—"
However, she held her breath. Amphitrite's scolding lost its bite halfway through. Her grip tightened, not in anger, but worry.
"Yes, yes, now get into the car. I can't believe the way you think."
Amphitrite's hand slapped Nikolai's hips, pushing him into the back seat, where Lunaria's thighs were waiting for him.
"Let rest.."
Nikolai's body landed on the luxurious seats, but his head bounced gently off her smooth, fleshy thighs as she humd while stroking his silver hair.
"Was today really necessary?"
Lunaria smiled faintly, eyes narrowing with amusent.
"Do you like my thighs, Kai?"
"Yeah..." Nikolai turned towards her, enjoying the faint scent of lavender and honey from the man's shampoo and body wash. "They make the throbbing go away."
He shouldn't have said that. Not out loud. But he didn't take it back.
A wall inside him cracked—just a little.
"My Lord, you should focus on your recovery."
Leona, sitting in the driver's seat, couldn't help but snort, making a slightly amused voice while reminded of what she did with him earlier.
Click!
"Let's head back, they are already leaving, if we stay longer those fools might just attack us right now! Especially after seeing how weak and pathetic our beloved leader seems."
"Lady Amphitrite, do you really think they will?"
Leona mused while shifting into reverse, her foot crushing the pedal with her thick, muscular thighs bulging as she spun the wheel and humd to herself. The situation was quite strange, yet her lips curled into a wicked smile while gazing back at Nikolai, her master.
"...how weak and pathetic our beloved leader seems," Leona muttered, but her eyes lingered too long in the rearview mirror, watching him. Studying him.She didn't believe it.
Nikolai closed his eyes while listening to the soft voices of three beautiful won in a daze.
'Was this worth it?'
He didn't care about how the council thought or viewed this mont. The only thing that mattered was theirs, the won who supported and guided him. The council might complain or raise issues with him. But trust like this? Trust from Alaric, from Amphitrite, from Leona?
'I would choose them in a heartbeat.'
The journey ho lasted minutes, thanks to Leona's expert driving skills and her love for high speeds. Thanks to being werewolves, they could cope with higher speeds and rapid actions with ease compared to humans.
"Finally ho."
"Ho?"
"Don't you think it's ho, Lady Amphitrite?"
Lunaria's words and Leona's question caused Amphitrite's eyes to widen, looking down at the sleeping Nikolai, his face swollen and bloody.
"If I were to say...
My ho is wherever this man is—"
"Oh my gosh, that's so cute, Amphitrite!" Lunaria gushed while looking back in the rearview mirror, causing the rmaid's face to change slightly.
Her light blue scales darkened into a purple shade, along with her pink cheeks.
Amphitrite closed her eyes and looked away.
But her thoughts remained a mystery.
"But he can be infuriating at tis, hiding the important details from us."
The mansion lights awaited them as people gathered to accept their arrival. Nikolai remained in a deep slumber, while Lunaria gently cared for him, different from Amphitrite, who began to realise sothing changing inside herself...
The feelings towards Nikolai were more than just lust.
'I cannot keep mimicking the other won. I am not just soft and gentle... to win his heart and to make him stronger. He needs soone to guide him—a watchtower, not a warm blanket. Nikolai already has several blankets.'
Amphitrite's eyes beca sharp—she understood that it might be difficult to be harsh to the one you loved, especially for the loyal werewolves.
However, she was different.
"Leona, can I speak with you in private after this?"
Leona's eyes snapped to the rmaid. The tone was wrong—too calm, too sharp. She blinked, unsure for a mont, then nodded. "Okay." The untoward feelings and actions she perford with her lord still lingered in her mind.
So she believed distance might help her... rember her place.
"Don't bully her," Lunaria said, placing a hand gently on Amphitrite's arm as they exited the vehicle, Nikolai still lay on the car seat, quietly.
"She's still figuring things out. Like the rest of us."
Amphitrite paused. Her lips parted slightly, but she said nothing with a nod.
Leona watched from the side, before a servant bowed as the door opened, then leaned in close to whisper into Leona's ear. Her smile faded for a split second.
"More observers at the west ridge. They're not ours," she muttered under her breath.
Lunaria's face lost the gentle and soft charm the mont Nikolai slept, but only now, after catching the servant's words, did she transform fully.
"Amphitrite."
"Huh, what's wrong?" The soft Lunaria, who always seed to be atoning, spoke with a dry and aggressive tone, causing Amphitrite to reply in the sa tone. Like birds of a feather, their eyes t, blue t silver.
"We both know those old foolish wolves won't be happy," Lunaria said, brushing hair from Nikolai's forehead.
"They'll say he's unfit to lead if he can't stand after a duel."
"Then they should try standing where he did," Amphitrite's scales glowed with a faint neon blue as her aura surged from the sudden anger that shocked even her, despite her cold response.
Amphitrite's glow faded. She exhaled slowly, the tension in her shoulders lingering like waves that refused to settle.
"I'm not your enemy, Lunaria," she said, voice low.
Lunaria looked away, brushing invisible dust from her dress. "I never said you were."
The silence between them wasn't cold—it was heavy, full of understanding neither of them wanted to acknowledge.
But as the only two won sword to him with black threads of fate, maybe their nature was quite similar or... their alignnt at least.
Both were willing to do anything to help Nikolai, even becoming harsh to the man himself.
Leona's gaze flicked between them, jaw tightening. She'd seen tension between won before, but this wasn't over jealousy. It was over direction. Over who had the right to lead beside him.
She wasn't sure she belonged in that conversation.
Her eyes dropped to Nikolai, still sleeping in the back seat. His lips were parted slightly, brow furrowed. One hand clenched into a faint fist over his stomach, the other curling toward his side—where the blows had landed.
Was he dreaming of the fight?
Or what ca after?
"Let's get him inside," Leona finally said.
The mansion doors opened ahead, their glow spilling onto the gravel.
Tonight, he was carried in broken.
But tomorrow, they'd see what kind of man rises from the floor.
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