“Yes.” I instantly replied but then corrected myself. “No. No, I’m not. But will be.”
She kissed my neck. “Let’s go get some fresh air.”
We ended up going to the gardens but instead of walking, we took a seat at the patio which was a little hidden by the trees.
She went to sit on the chair besides my but I pulled her on my lap. “There are people here, Nik.” There were barely one or two gardeners. I really didn’t care.
“Let them see. Let them see that you are finally mine.” My eyes fell on her covered neck.
I pulled down the strap of her dress from her shoulder so I could see my mark. There. Looks much better already.
“Nikolai!”
“I just wanted people to see you’re mine.” I kissed her mark.
“I think it’s never been more clear. Especially since we marked each other in front of half the pack.” It aroused her. She like the fact that we marked each other in front of everybody.
“You like that, don’t you.” I squeezed her ass.
She bit her lip and nodded, swallowing noisily. The smell of her arousal hit my nose.
“Please not now.” I pleaded. “I would like to go meet my mother without a hard on.”
“I’m sorry but I can’t help it.” She whispered in my ear. Her breasts pressed against my chest.
My one arm automatically wrapped around her waist, keeping her there. I squeezed her, pulling her against me, pressing her boobs to my chest more firmly.
If this is the only way I can feel her right now, then so be it.
“Is this what I’ve taught you?” I heard Mom’s reprimanding voice. “Is this the way you treat a lady in public?”
In a flash, Avalyn jumped off me, straightened her strap and stood a couple of feet away. Her whole face was red.
“I don’t think that showing my love for my mate in front of others is wrong.” I argued.
Mom instantly grabbed my ear and pulled me in a standing position. I was asking for it to be honest.
“You treat a woman with respect at all times and save all of that for the bedroom, alright, young man?” She twisted further. “Be the gentleman I raised you to be.”
“Yes, Mom.” I said the magic words and she released my ear.
Dimitri snickered and I flipped him off. Mom pursed her lips at our childishness but didn’t say anything.
“Let’s go for that walk?” She asked softly.
“Yes.” I gulped. This would be the last time I’d talk to her in private, for a very, very long time.
We walked silently for a while, until we were out of hearing distance from others. “I’m proud of you, Nik.” She held my arm, bringing is to a stop. “I saw you. In the other dimension. I worried for you every second, every hour. But I’m glad you had Valerie and Fiyona with you. And I’m proud of all the decisions you have made.”
“Thank you.” My voice was rough as I spoke. Her saying that meant a lot to me. That was all I ever wanted- to make mom proud.
“I’m not sure if I’m supposed to say this, but I believe you know that you and Avalyn are different. You know who you really are.” She gave me a sweet smile.
I smiled and nodded. I could feel it. I could feel the raw power of fire, the raw energy flow through my veins every second. And this kind of energy wasn’t for the land of the living. And I had a lot of memories too, some vivid, some hazy. But I knew I had loved a long life, one that existed even before I was born.
“I’m sure you know that you have changed physically too. You have evolved. And you will never go back to who you were, what you were.”
“What do you mean, Mom?”
“You aren’t a werewolf anymore.” She spoke softly. “When you phased into half fur and half skin, your wolf changed. You are a Lycan now. You will never be able to shift into a werewolf again. And it is not a bad thing. You were always destined to become a lycan. You were always destined to rule Jivan, son. You were always destined to do everything you have done.”
“I don’t understand.” Even I understood the purpose of my life a couple of hours ago. Did she know all along?
“In this dimension, many supernaturals cohabitate together, which I’m sure you know doesn’t happen in other dimensions. This has caused a lot of problems and death since the dawn of time. Goddess Luna and God Sol himself had become victim to this problem because of their children. Goddess Luna thought that if people had mates of other races, they will stop fighting and start living in peace. But that hasn’t happened.”
“Every century, they tore a piece of their soul and sent them on earth but they were never successful in fulfilling their destiny and reuniting, until you and Avalyn finally did it. And in doing so, you brought all the races together as well. God Sol had created vampires who pray to him to this day. And your soul is a part of his soul, regardless of you being a werewolf. Vampires will always bow to you. And Goddess Luna had created werewolves who pray to her. And Avalyn’s soul is a part of her soul, regardless of her being a faye and a vampire. Werewolves will always bow to her.”
“What I’m saying is that at the end of the day, both the races will pray to their own God and Goddess but they will feel a certain kind of innate submission to you two- even though you are from the opposite race. It is to teach everyone that both God Sol and Goddess Luna are one and the same. They are one being. And so should be the races they created. They don’t see the difference between werewolves and vampires. And neither should anyone else.”
“You need to make sure that this peace remains, especially since inter-race mating will not happen anymore. God and Goddess Luna realised that it it was wrong because vampires were immortal and werewolves weren’t. It was their effort to bring the races together but since it has now been accomplished, there is no need for that anymore.”
“I understand everything so much better now, thank you, Mom.” Everything she said made sense.
Except one thing. “Why did our hair change colour? And Avalyn’s eyes changed colours too.”
“It was the Gods’ way of showing you how close you were to being your true self. You just had to grow into yourself. That is why you faced all the challenges you did in life. As the challenges got harder, the closer you were to being the real you. You always had the powers you have now inside of you. But you can’t just simply use them. You needed to earn that kind of power, even though you were always fated to have it. And since Avalyn is your erasthai, both you share each other’s powers, which is why she is resistant to fire and you can breathe underwater.”
“Erasthai?”
“The mate of a lycan is called an erasthai. Erasthais are like soulmates but their connection is much more deep. Your souls are not just a perfect match, they are literally two halves of one whole. Combined, you are one. Which is why even after everything that happened, you and Avalyn always found your way back to each other.” Mom explained. “Avalyn was always your erasthai. That was why you didn’t recognise her at first. Your wolf was confused and she was too weak. And then later, the bond was so strong that your wolf confused her as your mate.”
“So Davina was indeed my werewolf mate?” She wasn’t lying.
“Yes.” She nodded. “But the bond and the connection between erasthais is so strong that nothing comes in its way. It won’t matter if you have another mate or you are already mated. Once you meet your erasthai, it’s over. It’s them. Or it’s nothing. You are bound together for life.”
“This is too much, Mother.” I raked my hands through my hair.
“It’s your destiny to become the King of all supernaturals, at least in this dimension. It’s your duty to bring all the packs, Kingdoms and covens under one rule. You need to make sure that there is an end to this constant war amongst us.”
“It will be impossible to rule all of them, especially since they are geographically so spread out.” Heck, ruling Soare- Luna sometimes gets too much to handle too.
“You are the King, Nikolai. Delegating authority is not wrong. You don’t need to do everything yourself. And especially now. Slowly, you will find yourself detached from normal werewolves, vampires and humans. You will only feel for those who are closer to you in the hierarchy. Which only includes lycans, strong werewolves and vampires that come from strong families and can walk in sun.” She explained.
“But I do not want you to lose your humanity. I want you to be grounded and as close to reality as possible. That’s where the slaves come in. Keeping humans close to you is a good thing. They will help you remain humane.”