Chapter 10 - Nikos
These massive gunmetal gray forged iron gates always make me roll my eyes - the Elders don’t even
try to be covert with their wealth. Scoffing, I think about how this gate alone could finance a small pack
for three years.
The four old wolves who serve as our pack advisors are supposed to be just that, but they’ve taken it
upon themselves to govern us alone. They had my grandfather under their thumb, as well as my father,
but I have refused to bend to their will.
I think it’s why they don’t like me and Bastien - while I continue to run my pack as I please, Bastien left
to establish one in Sin City. We’re the only Ioannides heirs left, so they can onlyin so much.
However, their recent barrage ofints has me worried; A Luna of their choosing or an Heir.
Knowing my revulsion of both, they yed on it, thinking I would crumble, but I havee here with
news.
Grinning, I walk into the so-called pack house that’s actually a mansion and make my way to their
conference room. Seated at the head of the room as if royalty, sat the four Elders.
Evalina, Marcos, Dimitrios, and Mairi Karras - sibling mates and as old as theye. The fact that their
Content is property ? N?velDrama.Org.
offspring didn’t die because of their incestuous lineage will always be left to spection.
They look at me with old crimson eyes, sizing me up and no doubt wondering why I am smiling. These
cunts should have been dead long ago; white hair and skin the same consistency as parchment.
“Nikos!” Demetrios cries out when he sees me, as if he was anything but annoyed by my presence
alone.
“Karras Elders, it is always a pleasure to be called to see you,” I say with the same fake pleasantry as
they’ve shown me.
Mairi, the cruelest of the Elders, bristles in her seat. “It has been over a year and we’ve seen no Luna
nor heard of an heir. Do you have any news for us, or are we to take matters into our own hands,
Nikos?”
I ce my hands in the pockets of my cks and chuckle. “Ie bearing good news; I have acquired
a surrogate for my heir. She’s about three months along now.”
The shock on their faces brings me nothing but happiness and their gasps are like music to my ears.
Mairi’s wide eyes are the highlight of my day since I cannot stand the prissy old bitch.
“This is outrageous!” Marcos shouts. “Why keep us in the dark for so long? Who is this surrogate?!”
I show them my palms. “She is someone of Alpha blood who will disappear as soon as she has done
her duty. I have done what you’ve asked of me, tripled our ie by going legit, and now I have an
heir on the way. Why are you still so unhappy even when I yield results?”
This seems to shut them up; they turn to look at each other, then Mairi sighs and pinches the bridge of
her nose. “This is just… all so sudden. Will we meet her?”
“No, there is no reason to. But in a few months’ time, you’ll meet the child who will be the next
Alpha as you requested,” I say with finality.
They don’t need to meet Mia; they’ll attempt to look into her past to find out who she truly is and no one
can know that but me. There’s something she’s hiding, and I will find out what it is before she leaves
my property. The na?ve look is a smokescreen, that’s for sure.
Evalina nods, then she turns to her siblings. “It is true. He has done what we’ve asked of him. So let us
leave him to bring us the heir we requested; it’s one step closer to ensuring the pack’s future sess.”
She says.
Evalina is the only one I like, well, the only one I tolerate. She has her head on straight and speaks
without prejudice. Being the oldest of them, she’s the leader. Although she was also the one who
suggested the Luna or heir option, I know Mairi was the one who came up with it.
“Very well,” Demetrios says, leaning back in his chair. “We will converge when this heir is brought to us.
Until then, we wish you well.”
I bow my head to hide my grin. “Thank you, Karras Elders; I will not disappoint you,” I say, before
turning on my heel and walking out of that mansion-cum-museum.
Being here always pisses me off, so the second I am in my vehicle, I call up the one person who I know
hates them as much as I do.
“To what do I owe the fucking pleasure?” my brother, Bastien, says in a voice dripping with boredom.
He’s older than I am and by right he should have imed the Alpha title. But after what happened with
his wife and mate, he decided to leave and start his own pack in a city he could run single-handedly.
I’ll always resent him for making that decision and leaving the pack, but I understand his reasoning.
“I’m about an hour out. Are you free for drinks?”
He chuckles. “An hour out means you went to those fossils, didn’t you? Sure, I’ll be in my office soon
and the bar is always stocked.”
I kill the call and advise my driver to head to Sin City. He already knows the way to my brother’s offices,
so I sit back and think about this fucked up predicament I am in.
It’s been three months since I’ve kept myself busy, three months since I saw Mia after that meeting we
had, and three months since I have wanted nothing more than to taste her again.
How can someone so unassuming be so fucking intoxicating? Does she not know what she does to
men? I wonder if Josef has the same thoughts as me, and anger fills my chest just thinking about it.
She may have been terribly abused, but there’s an innocence about her that I know I would ruin if given
the chance.
I need to get that Omega out of my system and going to Sin City might just help.
Marching into Bastien’s office, I head straight to his bar and wait for him to arrive. I know he’s in the
middle of making sure the ten-year anniversary of his auction goes well, so he’ll be a while.
Only elite Alphas and packs go to this annual auction where anything, but lives, can be bought for a
price. There are whispers in the underground that Bastien sells humans and supernatural creatures
alike, but it’s far from the truth.
Weapons, art, and obscure and taboo ingredients for spells can all be found at his auction and that, to
him, covers the costs about five times over. Trafficking was one of the things he put a stop to when he
was Alpha in my pack, too.
I respect him for that.
The door to his office opens, and he walks in, chuckling. “I knew I’d find you by the alcohol,” he says
and joins me at the bar. We embraced, and I gave him a tumbler filled with his favorite whiskey.
“I findfort in my amber liquid, sue me,” I say and lift the ss to my lips.
He shoots me a look that says he doesn’t believe me. “You gonna tell me why you’re here, brother?
There’s no pissed-off scenting from you, so your meeting with the Elders can’t have gone bad.”
I shrug. “They’re not happy that I met their demands,” I say, allowing him to digest what I have just said.
When the realization hits, his eyes grow wide, and he nearly chokes on his drink.
“Met their demands? Don’t fucking tell me-”
“She’s three months along, and before you ask, it was through an insemination procedure,” I say and
this time he actually coughs out loud.
“Fuck, Niko,” he says, leaning back with his hands over his mouth. “How did this happen so quickly?
What made you do this?”
“It was either do this or get a Luna and you know why I refuse a Luna,” I say, watching as a sliver of
pain dances in his eyes.
He was the only person I trusted with what happened to me, and the only one who knows what I went
through at the hands of… them.
“I understand, brother… but a child? How will you raise one if you cannot stand the touch of another?
The child will grow up forever craving a warm touch or embrace; have you thought this through?” He
asks with nothing but concern in his eyes.
I breathe out a sigh and empty my ss. “Why do you think I decided to do this, Bastien? I have to
keep my position as Alpha; there’s no way the Elders will rip my legacy away from me.”
He shakes his head, gets to his feet, and ces a hand on my shoulder. “I hope you know what you’re
doing,” he says.
“I do.”
“Will I get a chance to meet her?”
I shake my head. “No. No one will.”
Nodding, his lips are a thin line of concern, but he says nothing more about it. He’s the only one who
shows concern for me, and I get that he’s worried, but surely he understands that I had to do this?
There was no other way, and if the child wants the touch of a family member, there was always
Ariadne. They’ll want for nothing; they’ll have money, status, power, and a waiting title. That’s all that
should mean something, right?