Frown marred his face and he nodded, “yes.”
“I’m over those things, Nikolai. I’m over you.” My chuckle subsided. “Don’t give yourself so much importance. We were together for barely a year. And you have been gone for seven years. Out of which, I’ve been with Gabe for four.” The crushed hope in his eyes gave me a kick. “I was angry because you took away Gabriel’s crown, because you insulted him in front of everyone, because you flirted with my mother in front of the entire pack, because our family is actually your family, because you act as if nothing happened, because you took my seat at the table, because you have to do nothing and people bend over backwards to do your bidding!” I was screaming by the time I finished my rant.
He was looking at me with heartbreak all over his face. “But you love me…”
A harsh laugh escaped my throat. “Did you not hear what I just said or did you just chose to ignore it?” I dragged my hand down my face, “my Goddess, how did I ever tolerate you?” I mumbled under my breath before I looked up at him. “Let me spell it out for you clearly. I. Do. Not. Love. You.”
“Avalyn….” His voice shook as he said my name but I had already turned away. I shoved the few pieces I had managed to cut in the sandwich, placed it on the plate and walked out.
Nikolai
“Nikolai,” I heard Valerie call my name softly.
I blinked back the tears from my eyes and turned around to look at her. For the life of me, I couldn’t manage to force a smile on my face.
“I heard a little screaming,” she had a guilty look on her face.
“You heard that huh?” I shoved my hands in my pocket. “Don’t worry about it, it was nothing.” I assured her. “Ava is like that. She gets angry and then she can’t see past her anger until it’s all out. She doesn’t really mean it. She’ll be fine in some time. She isn’t normally like this. She’s kind and compassionate and loving… she’s perfect. Just a little temper.” I said quickly. “Javier used to call her Firefly. Apt name, huh?”
“My poor baby,” Valerie crossed the kitchen and wrapped her arms around me. “Don’t you know that you don’t need to hold it in in front of me?”
“It’s better if you don’t… we don’t… she thinks we’re…”
“I don’t care. You’re my son, got it? I might not be the one who birthed you but I’ve cared for you, tended to your wounds, made you food, reprimanded you when you were being an a-hole and listened to you when you talked endlessly about Avalyn. I’ve never gotten the chance to be a mother but I think this is it, isn’t it?”
I wrapped my hands around her and the tears I had been fighting all this while came up to my eyes again. I loved my mother and missed her terribly but Valerie was a close second. “Yes, Val. This is it.”
“I don’t know what’s going on but you’re a strong man. I believe in you. Now go fight for my daughter. And like every battle, you will win this one too. You have all my blessings.”
Keeping Valerie’s words in my mind, I decided to fight for Avalyn, but first, I needed to make a strategy. I went to my office and set to work.
This was the fight of my life and I intend to win.
I took out an empty journal from my desk and set the pen to work. I would start from the beginning. The way we met was all sorts of wrong, our first date was a disaster, the first time I cooked for her was because she was too weak, the first time I got her a jewellery wasn’t even chosen by me and it’s only purpose was to act as a tracker because I was a control freak who needed to know where she was at all times even though she never went out without asking for my permission.
I wrote down every firsts I wanted to rewrite and every firsts we hadn’t had yet. I googled ideas and then I also wrote down what all I was going to do. I planned it all out. The entire process had taken me the entire day and when I stood up from my seat, I felt satisfied and I felt hopeful. I had a new purpose, something to look forward to. My door opened and Viktoria’s sweet smell wafted to my nose.
Her curls were tied up in a cute pony tail and she was in a pink night dress with wolves all over it, “I’m sleepy, Dadda.” She mumbled.
“Why aren’t you in bed yet, then, Princess?” I tucked my journal in back of the drawer and then walked over to her, a smile automatically forming on my face.
“I wanna sleep with you, Dadda.”
I picked her up and she immediately nestled against my neck, her little arms going around my shoulders. “Let’s go to bed then.”
“Will you tell me a story, Dadda?” She asked once I settled her under the thick blanket. I walked around the bed and got in from the other side and she wiggled closer to me and smuggled to my side. My heart melted when she put an arm around my waist which only reached half way. She was that tiny.
“Of course. Which one do you want to hear?” I didn’t know any stories. I didn’t know what kind of stories she would like and what she wouldn’t like.
“I want to hear a story of… a… a prince and a princess!” Her face lit up.
The door opened and Avalyn walked in, looking relieved upon seeing Viktoria beside me. “I thought you wanted some water?”
Viktoria’s eyes turned wide and she turned around to look at Ava. “Oopsies?”
I controlled my chuckle.
“Come on, young lady, let’s go back to bed. You’re in a lot of trouble!” Ava said sternly, completely ignoring me.
“But I wanna sleep with Dadda!” She insisted. “And he’s telling me a story!”
“You can’t sleep with him every night.” She seemed annoyed that Viktoria wanted to sleep here. “He might not like it.”
“I love it.” I chirped in and she flashed me a glare.