The Silver Lycan Queen

Chapter 7 - Human

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Novah

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I’ve been trying to convince Nolan to move into the apartment for more than an hour, I’m sure, but he won’t budge. He doesn’t want to and I don’t know what else to do or say to him. I walk to the entrance, wanting to feel the chilly breeze on my face. I suddenly feel very hot but my vision becomes blurry, and my knees give in. I gasp about to hit the ground but feel the familiar sparks shooting up my bare arms as a strong pair of arms wraps around my waist, saving me from the fall. “What’s wrong?” Nolan asks with concern now grasping his facial features.

“I’m fine. I just got dizzy for a moment. It must be the side effects of the medicine.” I reply honestly as he sets us down before pulling me onto his lap.

“Medicine? Are you sick?” he asks, his face creasing with worry, and I open my mouth to speak but stop mid-sentence before scrambling out of his arms as I get to my feet and run outside into the rain. “Novah?” I hear him call out to me, but I don’t reply and get on my knees, throwing up. I hate Wolfsbane. I feel his hand on my back and I try to tell him to go inside between the retchings, but he doesn’t move. “I’m not leaving you out here,” he says, kneeling next to me and starting to rub my back as I continue throwing up until nothing comes out.

I scoop some water using my hand from a rock next to me and rinse my mouth when I’m done, and he helps me to my feet before picking me up bridal style, both of us soaking wet as we head inside. He sits down and places me on his lap again, causing me to rest my head on his shoulder before taking a deep breath and taking comfort in his scent. His hand goes to my hair, and he starts gently massaging my scalp, causing me to close my eyes, enjoying the sensation.

“Novah?” he calls out to me after a moment, and I hum in response. “Are you sick?”

“No, it’s the wolfsbane.” I unconsciously reply, enchanted by the pleasurable sparks shooting up everywhere our bodies are in contact. But my eyes snap open, feeling him pull back to look me in the eye. “Wolfsbane? What do you mean?” he asks, alarmed, and I mentally cuss myself. I forgot he knows about Wolfsbane from our previous chat.

“I… I came in contact with it by accident." I lie, but quickly realize it’s not a good move as he stares at me incredulously. If I need him to trust me, I can’t lie to him. So I sigh, looking him in the eye.

“I haven’t been completely honest with you. My kingdom, the Novah Kingdom, is the smallest of the eight kingdoms. The largest kingdom is Brakendel. I will show it to you someday.

Now, the only way a small kingdom like mine can become stronger is by allying itself with more powerful allies. This means my father has to secure an alliance with someone with more power and influence, and that’s what he’s in the process of doing. The strongest way to secure a lasting alliance is by creating a bond, and the best way to do that is by marriage.” I pause for a moment, my heartbeat speeding up at the thought of what I’m about to tell him. “Nolan, I’ve been promised to Kellan Hagen of Brakendel. We are engaged.” I tell him and watch his eyes immediately fill with an emotion I can’t decipher before going black. He sets me down and gets to his feet.

“I’m not going to go through with it,” I start explaining, walking up to him. I’m about to touch him when he speaks, causing my hand to freeze in mid-air.

“You should.”

“What?” I ask, shocked by the words that just came out of his mouth. There’s no way he could have said what I think he just did.

“You should marry him,” he repeats, still facing away from me and my breath catches in my throat. “Are you being serious?” I ask, my voice quavering as this gloomy feeling comes over me. “Look at me!” My voice comes out loud as I grab hold of his arm, trying to force him to turn around. “Why?”

“Because he’s the better man,” he says, turning around and looking me in the eye, his eyes black.

“That’s not true! You don’t even know him.”

“So, he’s the same as me? Is he lost and falling apart too?”

“Nolan-”

“-Is he?”

“He’s not lost or falling apart, but that doesn’t make him a better man, at least not for me. Don’t you feel it? Don’t you feel our bond?” I ask, tears now falling freely on my face. I can’t believe he’s really saying this. He’s my mate; he is supposed to love me. Does he not feel what I’m feeling? Is it different for him because of what he is?

“Of course, I feel it. It’s precisely the reason I can’t let you throw away your life. Look at me, Novah! I have nothing to offer you. I live in a cave. I’m a mess. I’m nothing.”

“No, you’re not nothing. Please, don’t say that.” I say, stepping up to him and placing my hands on his chest, looking into his eyes, “You’re not nothing, Nolan. You’re my soulmate. You’re the man I want, and no one can ever be better than you. I don’t care what they have or who they are. I want you and if that means I’m throwing my life away, then so be it. I wouldn’t even have a life right now if it weren’t for you.”

“Novah, you’re a princess. You’re supposed to marry your equal. No one will ever take you seriously with me by your side. Don’t you see? This will never be accepted.”

“I don’t care. I don’t care, Nolan. The only acceptance I want is yours. Please don’t push me into the hands of another man. Fight for me, as I’m willing to fight for you. I have never felt what I feel with you, and I never will again with anyone else. If you break my heart, I will die.” I tell him now, cupping his face, our faces only inches apart, and he slowly closes the gap between us, capturing my lips in a kiss that has my stomach flipping over, the sparks causing my toes to curl as I kiss him back as best I can, pouring all my emotions into the kiss.

•

•

I sigh, plopping on my bed after taking off my shoes. It’s 4 a.m., and everyone will be up soon. I wasn’t even sure if I could still make it over the wall without being seen, but I did. It’s risky, though, and I won’t do it again. I had no choice this morning. There weren’t enough hours last night. The night just flew by.

A smile makes its way onto my face, thinking about Nolan. We had our first kiss last night, and it was truly magical. I know it’s the first time kissing a guy, but I’m sure no one could compare. Nolan ended up finally agreeing to go to the apartment after telling him about the wolfsbane. I didn’t want to tell him because I knew he’d feel bad, but he asked me again after our talk and since I decided not to lie to him, I told him.

He cried when I told him and begged me never to do it again. I promised I wouldn’t and he, in return, agreed to move into the apartment. After getting there, I couldn’t just leave him, which is why I’m only getting home now. I don’t know how I’m going to be able to sneak out during the day to go see him since I’m constantly surrounded by people, but I’m going to think of something. I’m going to send Ana to see that he’s got everything he needs this morning.

I’m thrilled he agreed to move into the apartment. It feels like a tremendous weight has been lifted off my shoulders. It tore me apart to see him living like that. I’ve already organized some books for him so he can read about vampires and I’m also going to start searching for his family. It would go much quicker and be easier if I didn’t have to do it in secret. I could use my father’s resources, but I can’t. I must still find a way to tell my parents about him and it’s terrifying me. It’s one thing if he were a werewolf, but the fact that he’s a vampire makes it a whole different kind of scary.

Training starts at five and that’s an hour from now, so I decide to lie down for so long but my phone rings, causing me to frown. Who could it be so early? I pick it up and it’s Ana. I put it down and link her instead. Since I’m a high-born, Ana cannot mind link me without me opening the link first. She can only reply but she cannot initiate a conversation. Only high-borns can start conversations with other high-borns. It’s the same with the supreme king. He can link all the kings under his rule, but they cannot link him. They must wait for him to link them first. Everyone else can link each other just fine as long as they’re from the same pack.

Even though we high-borns can link each other at any moment, we don’t do it because it’s intrusive. The fact that we are high-born doesn’t mean we are friends or familiar with each other. So we opt for technology instead.

I open the link, and she says she wanted to check if I made it back. I tell her I have, but remember, I haven’t explained to her yet what Nolan is. She must have felt he wasn’t a werewolf, but the way she remained calm surprised me. I didn’t think she would take seeing a live vampire so well. It made me wonder if Nolan is the only one or if she knew of others.

On that note, I decide to ask her if she’s up, and she says she is, so I call her up to my room. A moment later, there’s a knock on the door and I get up and open it for her. “Is something wrong?” she asks as soon as she comes in.

“No, why would you think something’s wrong?”

“You sounded a bit off on the link,”

“There’s nothing wrong. I must be tired. Please take a seat.” I tell her and she does. “First, I want to say thank you for last night and for everything you did.”

“You’re welcome. He’s handsome, by the way.”

“Thank you,” I reply with a smile. She’s right; he is. Even as rugged as he is. You can still see it. He resembles someone, though, but I can’t figure out who.

“So, what’s up?” she asks, snapping me out of my thoughts. “I’m sorry for not being upfront with you about what he is, but I need you to please promise me you won’t tell anyone, Ana. You know how crazy everyone will become if they know a vampire is living in our midst,” I tell her, desperation clear in my voice, and she looks at me silently for a moment before bursting out laughing, making me confused.

“What’s so funny?”

“You,” she says, still laughing.

“What’s funny about me?”

“You’re trying to freak me out and, as usual, you failed.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I know he’s not a werewolf, Novah, but he’s definitely not a vampire.”

“He’s not?”

“Stop it; you’re busted, she says, still laughing.”

“Okay, fine, you’ve got me, but I bet you don’t know what he is."

“You mean, besides being human?” she says, shocking me even more. She thinks he’s human. How? Humans give off a clean aura. Nolan’s aura is nothing but. I’m his mate and yet I can feel it.

After determining that she really didn’t feel his aura, I feign a laugh, making it seem as if she’s right and the whole thing was just a joke. I tell her I just wanted to thank her for everything, and we discuss our plans for today. After that, I change into my training gear and head downstairs for training.