The Ruby Wolf

Chapter12

***Nikkita's POV***

I excuse myself from the table and carry the wine into the kitchen. There is no way this will end well… Logan will know that we haven’t had any of the wine and that will give him information that we are onto him, and what happens if Tony gets caught following him? This is a disaster waiting to happen. Theo doesn’t know what he’s getting into. And when Theo leaves, what’s stopping them from coming for me? I know I’m a strong fighter, but even I have a limit.

“Nikki?”

I turn at the sound of my name and see Theo’s concerned face.

“Are you doing ok?”

I laugh dryly at his question. Why would I be doing ok? It feels like my life is falling apart! My mate is a king who has enemies trying to overthrow him. My brother and I are being hunted for our powers that no one is supposed to know about. I can’t even be with my mate! Now that I know who he is, my mind will be stuck on him and, to make it worse, I’ve heard what happens to un-mated wolves after they find their mate. It’s painful, and they go through a terrible depression. I don’t want that for myself!

“Nikki?” he calls my name and takes a cautious step forward.

I try to breathe but all I smell is him. And it hurts more with each breath. I watch as his face softens, and he places his hand on my cheek. He rubs his thumb under my eye as he sighs.

“I’m sorry.”

I feel the wet tears slide down my cheek. Great, now I’m crying in front of him. I try to move my head away, but this only makes him pull me closer.

“I never want to see you cry Nikki, it hurts seeing you like this and not knowing what to do about it is killing me.”

“How is this ever going to work?” I ask quietly.

“What do you mean?”

“You know what I mean Theo, wolves can go mad without their mates near them, especially un-mated ones. Am I supposed to just sit here and slowly go crazy? And what if I’m discovered? What if they find me, and I’m locked away while I start going insane?”

“Calm down Nikki, I won’t let that happen!” he growls. The sound makes my knees weak.

“You should just reject me… it would be so much easier.” It took all of my strength to even say that.

“I didn’t think you were the kind that would try to take the easy way out.” He says, sounding disappointed.

“I'm not! I fight for what I want!”

“Then why try and give up on me? On us?”

“I'm not! I thought…”

“You thought what? That I would reject you and go about my life like nothing happened?” he let out a deep sigh “Nikki, I know this hasn’t been ideal, but I will not give up on us. You are my mate and I will do everything in my power to make you understand that.”

“I know… I’m sorry… I’m just so stressed out and fed up with everything, so much has happened, and I haven't had enough time to process it all.”

“I get it, just don’t give up on me.”

“I won’t, you're my mate. I can’t live without you.”

I look up at his beautiful eyes and feel my breath catch. I feel his hands on my waist holding on tightly as if he's afraid I will drift away. Every spot he touches lights up like the sky on the 1st of July. How could I have ever doubted him?

“So what are we going to do?” I ask in a quiet whisper.

“Well, you could come to the castle with me… but you’d have to wait, it can’t be right away.”

“That sounds risky, but I like the idea.” I smile at him.

“You would need to wait a week, then I could say that there is an opportunity for warrior training or something. You could come for that and stay with me.”

“Ok.”

“Ok, wait for one week, and I’ll be back for you.”

“Shouldn’t we discuss this with my father?”

He groans. “Yes, I guess we should.”

I give him a small smile. I can tell he hates this just as much as I do.

“You know I still need to dump out this wine.”

“I just can’t believe he tried to poison us.”

I sigh and wiggle out of his arms.

“You know, if we all drank just one glass we would be paralyzed, at least with the amount of wolfsbane he used.”

“Why enough to paralyze but not enough to kill?”

“For a kidnapping, why else?”

I hear a low growl erupt from behind me. I turn and look at Theo. The look on his face morphs into one of pure rage. His eyes darker than I believed they could go, his breathing becoming ragged. Surprisingly, I’m not scared.

“I should kill him!” he growls.

“Honestly, if you think about it logically, it makes sense. Have everyone paralyzed, so nobody can react. Take the person you want as they can’t fight back. Their only mistake was that I knew how to detect poison.”

He growls again. “Thank god you do. Now let’s get rid of the bottle and finish dinner. I really want to hear you sing again.”

I blush and quickly turn away, dumping the bottle into the sink.

“Let's just hurry.” I say knowing full well that my blush is growing.

I try to move past him, but he stops me. I spin around and look at him. He is so handsome, just one look from him could turn me into a puddle.

“Nikki.” He says my name, his voice husky and deep.

I shiver and unconsciously move closer. I stay silent, too scared of how easily I could ruin this moment. I stare into his eyes; they show so many emotions, yet I can’t decipher any of them. If only we were normal werewolves, we could claim each other and start the mating process. But I’m not a normal wolf, and he is a king… everything is much more complicated than it should be. Our relationship will consist of us sneaking around and pretending that we don’t have any interest in each other. Even if we do beat our enemy, will we be able to have our happily ever after? He calls my name again, bringing me back to the present and out of my head. The way he says my name leaves me breathless and full of want.

“Theo…”

His eyes darkened even more. I didn’t know a wolf’s eyes could get this dark. He leans in closer to me and I can’t help but lean towards him. It’s like there is a magnet pulling us together. I just want him to hold me, make all of this vanish, even if it’s only for a moment.

“Theo, Nikki, dinner is getting cold.“

I jump out of Theo’s arms as I turn to see Nick with a smug smile on his stupid face. I glare at him but he just smiles wider.

'Your terrible!’

‘Yeah, yeah, I’m just saving your ass from an awkward question from dad. You can thank me later.’

‘I hate you!’

‘Love ya too sis!’

He smirks at me one more time before heading into the dining room.

“I guess that’s our queue,” I say with an empty laugh.

He shakes his head quickly and takes my hand into his.

“I knew he would be trouble when I first met him…”

“You have no idea.”

He laughs slightly and squeezes my hand.

“Might as well get back.”

“Yeah, there is a discussion we need to have.”

We look into each other's eyes and I swear we both can see the disappointment lying there. I release his hand walking quickly to my seat.

“Sorry for taking so long, I didn’t want to make a mess. We all know how wolfsbane can hurt us just by touch.”

“It’s alright dear. I’m glad you're alright.”

I smile gently at my father and start eating the small portion of food on my plant. I'm not very hungry at the moment.

“So, I was thinking… What if Nikki came to the center of the kingdom about a week from today?”

“And why would she do that?” Instead of my father speaking out about it, Nathaniel does.

“Well, we all know how depressed a wolf can get from being separated from its mate, it would be cruel to put her through that.”

“True, but wouldn’t that raise suspension?” Tanner says, making an excellent point, as always.

“Unless we disguise it as a training seminar for warriors, I would invite the top warriors from the nearby clans for special training, a chance to learn the ways of the kingdom's elite.”