10. Honouring the Saviour

Nikolai

"Have some time?" Javier asked me before we were about to sit for breakfast. Our flight was on standby and we were leaving in two hours.

Avalyn was feeling a lot better now. And I was finally able to somehow convince my wolf that nothing was wrong with her anymore.

"Yes, of course." I looked up from my cell phone to see King Josias besides him too.

"I presume you two have sorted out your differences?" I inquired.

"Not entirely." Josias said. "But we are working on it."

"For which I need to go back to Voda Kingdom." Javier replied.

"For how long?" I asked. Ava will be upset.

"I don't know." Javier sighed. He didn't look too pleased to leave too. "I need to talk to my mother and father. It's been long over due."

"And they are not the ones who will forgive you easily." Josias muttered. "And it's not like you are even willing to apologise."

"I told you I haven't done anything wrong!" Javier snapped.

"So leaving your family behind for a girl isn't wrong?" Josias snapped back.

"She was not just a girl!" Javier snarled. "She was my beloved!"

"Wha—"

"Shut up." I growled. "Both of you."

I'm sick of this shit.

"Stop being a dick." I told King Josias. "Javier made his decision to go and you made yours by cutting him off."

He remained quiet.

"And you." I glared at Javier. "Valerie was your mate, yes. But they are you family. Stop being a piece of shit and be grateful that you have one. Not all of us have that privilege. You don't need to apologise for leaving but you need to apologise for hurting them like you did and for not trying to make amends all these years."

The twins silently fumed. Because they knew I was right. Of course I was right.

I would do anything to have my mother back. And he has both of his parents who clearly care about him but he has too much of an ego to fucking apologise. If my mother came back to life by a small apology, I would say it a million times over.

"He's right." King Josias said, his voice hurt. "We didn't hate you or Valerie. We hated Jerome and Mary for forcing you two to stay there. You were always supposed to be the King. But you chose to be an Alpha instead. The whole Kingdom mourned your loss along with us when you left. And we mourned your loss again when the news arrived that you were dead."

"Mother and father were devastated. Not that father would accept it." A smile lifted King Josias's lips and Javier snorted. "They don't know you are alive. No one except the ones who came here does— so most of the Kingdom, really. And all of us are happy to see that you are. You just need to come back home."

"My home is where my daughter is, Jose." Javier replied. "I will come to Voda but don't expect me to stay for long."

"Two months, Javier." I replied. "Then we will need you back. We have a war to win."

He gave me a sharp nod and stood up.

"We shall take our leave right away." King Josias stood up too.

"But first, join us for breakfast." I invited them and then smirked, "and have fun breaking the news to Ava."

"Oh, man." Javier grumbled but his lips twitched up in a smile.

Both of us knew how attached she was to him. At least once in a day, she needed to have some sort of bonding time with him. I believed that since she had missed him not being there for her as a kid, she was making up for it. Not that Javier complained. I knew both of them loved it. They usually went for a run in the evening when he would teach her some spanish and then he would train her a little bit. It was the perfect arrangement. Because when it came to exercising, Ava was lazy. Except when it came to having sex. She had a libido to match mine. Which was having sex every night—multiple times, and during the day if we got the chance.

But the point was that Javier was important to Ava. She thought he hung the starts and the moon in the sky. He is the only man other than me I would let her think that about.

Because let's be honest here, I'm a possessive asshole and I like to intimidate people who look at her for too long. I want to be the only one who lights up her universe. But I know when to draw the line and not be a possessive psychopath. Sort of.

We soon settled down in the living room to have breakfast with Javier and King Josias.

We were here and not in the dining room because our family wasn't exactly small to have a 'small family meal'. And the dining table here was small for so many people to sit together.

And these people were family. I had even gotten used to Tessa's meekness. I loved that she loved Ava and pampered her and didn't let her lift a finger if she could help it. Ava had taken Eliyah under her wing and there were hardly any things that my woman would ask me and I denied her. Eliyah was clearly not one of those things.

So here we were— Dimitri, Mikhail, Vladimir, Sofiya, Eliyah, Tessa, Jessica, Rhazien, Jester, Marc, Ezra, Javier, King Josias, Ava and I having dinner in the living room. I had Ava on my lap to 'save space'. Not that she was complaining.

Ava and I were sharing a plate 'for convenience' and we would feed each other things we thought the other would like. It was a lot like what we did in the mornings when we had breakfast in bed, but a more PG version of it. As much as Javier was cool with everything, I don't think he will appreciate Ava straddling me in front of him and me purposely 'dropping' things on her so I could lick it off her creamy soft skin. And Ava didn't mind PDA but she drew the line when it came to anything more than a peck in front of her father. And I respected that.

"For how long will you be staying there?" Ava demanded. Javier just broke the news and she was quite upset.

"Two months at the most." Javier replied.

"But that's too much, Papa." Ava complained. "What if we need you? Or what if something happened? What if something happens to you? What if you are attacked and you need to be healed? It's too far for me to make it on time. I won't allow it. I simply wont." Ava shook her head stubbornly.

"Voda is safe, Queen Av—" King Josias started but Ava cut him off.

"Please call me Avalyn."

"Then you must call me Uncle." He smiled at her.

A grin covered Ava's face. Javier looked very happy too. "Thank you." Seeing Ava happy made me happy too.

"Of course. So as I was saying, Voda is safe and nothing will happen to Javier. I can promise you that." King Josias smiled at her.

"Do you swear on your life?" Ava demanded.

I chuckled and she shot me a cute little glare. I pinched her side playfully.

"Yes, Avalyn." King Josias looked amused too.

"But that's not really enough. Why don't you call your parents to Soare-Luna? And they will get to see your new home, Papa. I want to meet them too. And I'm sure they will like to meet me and Nikolai and everyone." Ava tried to convince them, desperation seeping in her tone. I could feel her frantic desperation to get Javier to stay with us through our bond.

"I think it will be the best if he comes alone to face our parents as of now." King Josias said. "A full family meeting is long over due, but after everything is smoothened out."

She was searching for scrapes at this point because she knew they were right. It has been almost sixty years since he has seen his parents. It was long overdue.

"I will be alright, Firefly." Javier smiled at her softly and I saw a little pain in his eyes too. "I'm not going to leave you. No one can make me leave you again. If I'm not back in two months, I'm pretty sure Nikolai will send a search party to drag me back home." He tried to joke.

"Damn right I would." I wouldn't let Ava suffer more than that.

"If it's all settled then we must get going." King Josias said. "My flight is already on stand by."

"But—" Ava tried to protest weakly I squeezed aways waist, silencing her.

"He needs to go, Love." I whispered in her ear low enough that no one could hear. "There are things he needs to take care of. Just like you have been away from him for over a decade, he has been away from his parents for a couple of decades. Once everything is good, he will come back."

She nodded, her eyes filled with defeat. But I knew she understood. I quickly pecked her lips.

"I wish you both a very happy and safe journey. Keep in touch." Ava told them.

"Good girl." I whispered in her year and I saw Javier nod gratefully at me and I nodded back.

We all bid our goodbyes before they left.

"You sure you aren't coming?" Ava asked Sofiya.

"Yes." She nodded. "We need to stay there for a while longer." Damn right. We are going to fight another war soon and I'm not going to put the baby in harm's way. They are much safer if they stayed away from the main island.

"There is something that we need to announce." Vladimir enveloped Sof in his arms and his hands covered her's which were over her belly. "We have chosen a name for her."

A grin spread over everyone's faces at the news.

"What is it?" Dimitri asked eagerly.

"Valeralyn." Both of them smiled at each other before they looked at Ava. I smiled at the meaning of the name. Fitting.

"It is only because of you that she is alive. So we gave her a part of your name to honour you." Vladimir told her.

Ava gave him a tumultuous smile. "You shouldn't have..."

"We wanted to." Sofiya spoke with a soft smile. "We couldn't come to a decision. Its tradition in Vlad's family for every child's name to start with 'V'. And none of the names felt right. Until Dimitri suggested Valera, which means healthy and strong. And the only reason she is healthy and strong is you."

Sofiya grabbed Ava's hand and placed it over her tummy.

"Hi, Valeralyn." Ava whispered thickly and then gasped. "I think she likes the name." She must have kicked.

"We do too." Vladimir smiled.

Ava threw her arms around Sofiya's neck and hugged her before she hugged Vladimir.

All of us congratulated the happy couple and then finally bid goodbyes before we left to finally go home. The sad mood that Ava was in since after Javier left was replaced by a happy one which pleased me greatly. I knew she was eager to leave this place and return back home.

~~~~~~

"We need to talk." Adrian said as soon as we entered the west wing.

"What's up, bud?" I smiled.

"I need to tell you something. It's urgent. And important." And very serious, going by the expression on his face.

"What happened, Adrian?" Ava gathered him in her arms and hugged him to her, worry etched in her features. "Are you alright? Is everything okay? Is Vanessa okay?" She ranted.

A smile cracked his face as he hugged her back. "Yes, both of us are fine, thank you for asking."

"Of course, Ad." She ruffled his hair playfully and then grinned when he adjusted them back to it's place. "Now what is it that you wanted to talk about?"

His eyes shifted from Ava to me and then back to her. He was nervous to say it in front of her.

"I'll leave you men to do your thing." Ever the perceptive Ava took the hint. She placed a kiss on Adrian's cheek and then another on my jaw before she left.

"We should go somewhere private for this." His eyes moved around, eying the ears around us.

I nodded and he led me to his and Vanessa's bedroom. What did he want to talk about? Was everything okay at his new school? I'm sure it is. I made sure that it was the best one around and had personally visited to check it out. I had read reviews and talked to kids who went there. I received excellent feedback.

Once the door closed shut, he went to his closet and then brought out a controller and a...brown block? No, I realised as I looked closely. It looked like a poor excuse of a bird. It had a bad paint job and the beak was all crooked and the bird's body looked more like an aeroplane's body. What kind of toy is this? Who had the audacity to make this ugly bird and sell it to Adrian?

But the boy looked quite attached to it so I decided to be gentle about it. "Someone gifted you this...bird?" I said for the heck of it.

"No. I made it." He said, flipped it and turned it on before placing it on the ground.

"I can buy you a better one?"

"You can't." He said and then he fiddled with the controller and then the loose strings attached to the body and the strings straightened and then so did the wings. They started flapping and then the bird rose in the air a little before it flew higher and higher before it circled the room.

Oh fuck. He made this? I looked at Adrian. I knew the little guy loved to read. Andrei told me that when we came to Montana to make it our's and they were back in Rogue pack, the TV broke down and Adrian had repaired it. And then he fell in love with machines and had started opening and repairing everything he could get his little hands on. But this...the kid's a genius.

And then the bird flew out of the window. We both moved out to the balcony and saw the bird fly far away and then turned around the palace. We couldn't see it anymore.

"Look here." He pointed to his controller and surely, in the centre of the controller was a screen which projected an image what I can only imagine the view the bird was looking at. It circled around the entire palace and for the first time, I was seeing the palace in that angle until it came back and then I saw us on the screen. I looked back up and and surely, the bird was flying towards us and it started slowing as it neared us. And then Adrian caught it with his hand.

Goddamn.

"This is brilliant, Adrian!" I was not expecting this at all.

A shy smile formed on his face. "Thank you. But I didn't call you here to show off."

I waited for him to say more.

"I wanted to see how far it could go without it affecting the signal and the vision." His voice grew scared. "It went a little further than the borders of Soare-Luna."

My eyes widened at that. Damn. We were in the centre of the entire Kingdom and any border—in any direction is quite far, if I do say so myself. And the terrain in rough with numerous mountains and valleys. So the altitude the bird flew at would have been filled multiple with ups and downs.

"I saw something there."

"What did you see?" I asked.

"I saw Adrik." He whispered and I sucked in a breath.

"Did he see you?"

He immediately shook his head. "That's why I made it a bird. So it wouldn't look out of place. And he didn't even look in it's direction." I didn't tell him that the thing doesn't look like a bird.

"Oh."

"Yes." He nodded and then gulped, looking terrified. "I saw him with an old witch. And they killed three people. And then those people became alive again."

"You sure that the woman you thought was witch wasn't a vampire and the three people humans? He could be turning humans into vampires." Which meant he was making an army. Which also meant that we would have to work fast.

But it doesn't make sense because he hates vampires. Any vampire who crossed his territory was executed on the spot. Did things change? Was he really that desperate to increase the size of his army?

"I'm sure. The woman had some dust in her hands and she was throwing it on those people. And her mouth was moving all the time— she was chanting spells."

"Are you sure?" I pressed. It doesn't make sense. And I trust him enough to take his word for it. Adrian might be a kid but he's not stupid.

"Absolutely. You have to trust me, Nikolai. I know what I saw. I'm serious." He looked worried that I wouldn't trust him.

I took a moment to think everything through. "I have an idea. It will help to backup what you've said and give us more information." And in any case, if it was a mistake made by him, we'll know that too.

"What is it?"

"Let's make another bird. With the best equipments and a state of the art technology. You can have anything you need. And then we can have someone make it look like a real bird. And then we can fly it there and see what we find. You up for the challenge?" I asked.

"Yes." He agreed with determination in his eyes.

Avalyn

There is a deep sense of peace you feel when you step into your home after some time on foreign lands. And I'm extremely glad to be back home.

Adrian had dragged Nik away to talk about something and with Max, Nat, Papa and Andrei gone, we had our work cut out for us. There were a few changes I wanted to make in the Kingdom after the amazing ideas I heard during VARS. There were a few places I needed to check upon in the pack and I needed to look into the new company I wanted to start, which reminded me that I needed to get into touch with a lawyer and then King Ciro.

"This is your home?" Eliyah seemed baffled as he kept looking around us and then at the high arched ceilings and then around us again.

"Yes." I smiled. "It is now your's too."

"Come, I'll show you to our side of the palace." And lead him to the west wing. "The entire palace has four floors and four wings—north, south, east, west. The west wing is our private wing, no one other than family is allowed there. The north wing holds the Royal Dining Hall, the Throne Room, The Council Room, a smaller council room and then a few living rooms and numerous offices and conference rooms. Basically all the work related areas. Then the first floor of east wing have recreational areas like the gym, swimming pool, indoor garden and greenhouse, a theatre, multiple ballrooms and all that. The second floor has guest rooms and quarters. And the third and the fourth floor will be for the council members that are yet to be chosen by the way. And the south wing has more guest bedrooms and the main kitchen from where most of the food comes for the entire palace but mainly it's for the staff."

"You mean slaves." Eliyah said.

"Yes." I nodded. He looked disgusted by that fact.

"Why a separate wing? Are they 'untouchables'? You need to have them far away from you so you gave them an entire separate wing? What about when you want someone to to do your work or punish them huh? Not so gross then, are we?" He spat bitterly.

My heart went out for him.

"I don't know what you've been through, Eliyah. And I pray to the Goddess that all the slaves in Prajini aren't treated the same way. Once you see how different it is here from there, you'll know that we don't believe in whatever you just said. I know you won't believe my words, which is why I want you to go exploring today. Roam around in the palace and see for yourself. Go to south wing too. If you want to go outside, you can. If someone asks, just give them my name and you should be fine. But I'll prefer it if you don't go outside just yet, no one knows you or that you're—you're mine," I said softly, knowing he doesn't like being owned, "but it's your wish. Stay out of other people's way and you should be fine."

"Mistress," Tessa came rushing towards me, a piece of paper in her hand. "Alpha asked me to give this to you. Also, a lawyer is here to meet you. He is waiting for you in your office."

"Thanks Tess." I took it from her hand and quickly scanned it. It was the minutes of our meeting with King Ciro and Queen Prajini. And on the bottom of the page, Nik had written in his bold handwriting 'the lawyer is here to help you form your company. Tell him whatever you have in mind, he'll do it for you. All the best. I know you'll kill it :) —Nikolai'. I smiled at his thoughtfulness.

I looked up to see Tessa staring at Eliyah with wide eyes. But unlike most males, she wasn't scared fo him. She was...taken by him. And Eliyah was staring at her blinging collar. He seemed pissed. He didn't notice Tessa's staring and nor did Tessa notice his anger. But I sensed some potential so I decided to butt out and let it play out on it's own.

"I'll be taking my leave. Tessa, why don't you give Eliyah a tour of the palace? And then if he's up for it, take him outside too."

Her wide eyes snapped towards me. I gave her a smile, an encouraging pat on the shoulder and then walked away. I turned around the corner and stood there, my curiosity taking the best of me.

"I'll be taking my leave. Tessa, why don't you give Eliyah a tour of the palace? And then if he's up for it, take him outside too." Eliyah mimicking in an exaggerated high pitched, shrill voice. Which I guessed was his impersonation of my voice.

I almost gasped at that. I do not sound like that!

"What was that?" Tessa snapped at him, out of her daze now.

"Your 'Mistress'!" He rolled his eyes.

"Your's too." Tessa said. "You should be grateful to have such an amazing Mistress. You shouldn't mock her!"

"Ooo, I'm scared. What will you do? Snitch and get me punished?"

"If you think she will ever even punish you, then you're stupid." Tessa said. You go Tessa!

"Whatever. Why do you care anyways? You're a slave. And she's given us free reign to leave. I say, let's run away." Eliyah suggested, sounding like he was seriously considering it. For some reason, it hurt.

"Why would I want to run? And if you do, I'm telling Mistress!" Tessa declared.

"Why would you want to belong to someone, huh? Why would you want to follow someone's orders all day? Why would you ever want to wear a collar?" Eliyah demanded with a scowl.

"Becoming a slave wasn't my choice. Alpha Nikolai saved me. And then sent he me back to my sister who lived in a vampire kingdom too. But vampires are cruel and I couldn't live there for one more day. Mistress was kind enough to take me in. And not once has she made me feel like I'm less than any other person in this palace." She fumed.

"And open your eyes, you live in a kingdom. You'll always have to follow your King and Queen's orders. Regardless of you being a slave or not. And this collar—" she tugged at it, "I love it, okay? It is a well deserved and rightfully earned gift. I'm proud to be owned by her and this is a proof of that." And then she took out a chain that was hidden underneath her top. A key was looped through it. "This is the key of this collar. She gave it to me when she collared me because she believes that my freedom is mine. And I can remove it any time I want, I just choose not to." She tucked the chain safely back inside her top.

"You're delusional." Eliyah rolled his eyes after a beat. "You can go back to doing your slave work. I'm leaving this hell hole. See you never. Peace out." And then he turned around and left.

Tessa stood there, watching him leave. I could feel her anger, sadness and longing and pain. It tugged at my heart too. And seeing him leave hurt me too. But I didn't do anything to stop him. I figured it wouldn't do any harm, would it? I was sure he wouldn't tell our secret to humans. He knew that much. And he would be happier this way. It wasn't what I had wanted but not everything went according to our wishes.

I turned around and walked to the west wing for the meeting with the lawyer, disheartened about what happened with Eliyah. But the only reason I had taken him away from Adira was to free him. And if he felt like he was trapped here, then that was defeating my purpose.