Second Assault — Bond And Treason — novel Chapter 38

Friday, May 9th. Magnus Mansion, 2:25 p.m.

ALEXEI

—Honey, do you know where Cooky is? — Xander's questioning, worried —. I haven't seen him in a while.

—I think Fred's got him. He said he was gonna feed him. They must be in the kitchen.

—The kitchen's already working? — asks in amazement, I just nod, watching the men keep unloading the trucks, with arms crossed over my chest —. Well, I didn't think they'd fix it so quickly.

Suddenly, I hear a big crash behind me. One of the henchmen dropped a vase, large and tiny pieces of glass scattered on the stone floor of the garden. Fuck, Lev's gonna be so pissed. The man looks at me in sorrow and I just give him a signal to hurry up and pick up the mess made. It'll be deducted from his pay for being a sloppy asshole. My mind suddenly clears and I turn to Xander and, just as I suspected, he's barefoot.

—Go inside, kitty — I place one hand on his back and guide him to the entrance —. I don't want you out here, there's too much movement and someone could hurt you.

—Okay — smiles and kisses my mouth —. I'll try to get our bedroom set up as quickly as possible.

—While the bed is ready, it's all right with me — I smile maliciously and he blushes.

—Make sure you don't force yourself too much, Alexei Magnus — warns me seriously, pointing an accusing finger at me —. I know your wound doesn't look so bad now, but I don't want you to take any chances anyway. Am I making myself clear?

—Kiss me and I'll obey without any problem — I hold his waist and draw him into my body. He blushes even more, but still wraps both hands around my neck, standing on tiptoes to attempt being at my level. I love that he is so small.

—A tiny one — whispers before joining our lips with tenderness and slowness. I sigh between the kiss, and squeeze harder, reluctant to let him go.

When it dawned after having fought against Dimitri, it was that I could realize the seriousness of the wound on my back. The fact that I could not change to speed up the healing process, was even worse.

If I had done so, I would not have now a big scar from my shoulder blades to my lower back, and even though I was later able to change successfully to improve and accelerate the healing, about its appearance, I was not very lucky.

It no longer hurts as much as it did in the beginning, but at the end of the day, when my body is already taking its toll from exhaustion, it feels hot and stiff, causing annoying pain stings that are a real headache. Lev told me that it is possible that, in the future (not too soon, from what I could understand), the scar will disappear or become so small that it will barely be noticeable. So patience should become my best friend and wait.

I have never been that patient. Xander has taken care of me with extreme dedication and I always enjoy his attentions. He offered to disinfect the wound and apply the cream that Lev prescribed after the first day, and has not allowed anyone else to do so since. Later, every evening, he massages my muscles that lead me to glory, relaxing me until I end up falling into a deep sleep.

In the mornings, when I wake up, repeats the whole process despite my complaints, including the massage. Together, we eat breakfast in bed, between caresses and stolen kisses. I've never been so happy. While I have to endure Angelo's presence more often and bite my tongue every time I see Derek hovering over my brother. Xander, upon realizing this, always sends reassuring waves through our bond, but the glance warns me that, if I do anything out of place, I will be doomed.

I must admit that the situation has not turned out as badly as I expected. Angelo behaves like a perfect gentleman and despite that Derek, in my eyes, is a piece of shit, I can't deny that he treats Fredek very well, making him laugh constantly and being attentive on every single thing he needs. Fredek seems radiant and full of life, smiles more often and he and Xander spend a lot of time together, which fills me with joy.

Seeing the two people I love and adore the most in one picture, is more than I ever wanted. Mother Moon has blessed me greatly. It happens that Nikon did a spectacular job, searching every corner of that mansion, and managed to find a safe that, if it weren't for his keen sense of smell, he would probably never locate it.

An ordinary human would never have done this, unless there were technologically advanced tools at hand, and all the time in the world, in possession.

Hide it between the tiles on the bathroom walls? Very clever, the bastard.

And though it was a pain in the ass to get it open without risking whatever was inside getting damaged in any way, when we finally did get it open, thanks to a special solvent created by Fred, the reward was much more than we expected.

He had all the information of the headquarters, including the ports where he usually received or sent merchandise, the address of all his warehouses, with an extensive list detailing any weapons in his custody (including ammunition) and other valuables obtained through black market or smuggling. I would never go so far as to traffic human organs, but it seems that this was not a problem for Dimitri Zhukovski.

I don't want to be misunderstood, I'm not a good man. Throughout my life, I have done many things that I could never be proud of, and the work that I have now is no exception. But I'm fucking good at what I do, and despite everything, I've got a taste for it. Among those and many other things, including quite a bit of cash, I had the opportunity to finally prove my suspicions, after twelve long and infernal years. Dimitri was the cause of Yurik's death, my father.

I must admit, I was not surprised. Instead, an explosive fury so massive, took over my body with such force and impact that even Xander, with all his effort, could not quell it. I lasted for hours in my animal form, destroying everything in my path, blinded by anger and without controlling the immense pain that was tormenting my soul. Thank heaven no one was hurt.

Everyone stepped aside, letting me handle the situation in my way, and waiting for me to calm down. Because of that, my wound opened up, ruining all the progress I had made. Lev and Xander got pretty angry and almost tied me up, to prevent me from losing control again. They made me reluctantly promise that it wouldn't happen again, taking advantage of my pride and loyalty.

I always keep my word, after all. But the desire to have condemned Dimitri to a far worse end than he had suffered, still haunts me and makes me look red with wrath. Two days later, under the pressure and insistence of Angelo, we sent Dimitri's body to his father. Not because he fucking deserved it or I gave a shit about him. It was more like a peace offering, as I made sure to send him a copy of the documents that were the proof of his son's involvement in my father's murder. An eye for an eye...

I left out the Xander situation, out of respect for him and his desire to bury the whole thing in the past. Angelo was the intermediary regardless of my brother's complaints and insistence, and even though Dimitri's father was not very happy about how things finished, he agreed to leave us alone and never mess with us again. I would never have agreed to such an action if I were him, but I imagine that the hatred towards his son for being a shifter was not badly formulated.

Angelo told us that not even a tear came down his wrinkled cheek when he saw the body of his only son, which justifies what a great piece of shit Dimitri turned out to be after all. I'm not quite sure what my fate would have been if I didn't have to take care of Fredek when he was just a kid, or if Yurik hadn't given a shit about us.

Maybe the result now would be that Dimitri and I would even be good friends. I don't know and thanks to the moon, I'll never know. Right now, we're occupying The Mansion again and while it's not yet fully restored, its condition is safe and stable enough to take us in. I hope that in less than two weeks, it will be completed.

—Hey — Xander pinches my cheek and pouts —. I said a tiny one — I have no fucking idea how much the kiss lasted, but it was pretty long... And pleasant.

—How can you ask me to resist those sexy, full, delicious lips that drive me so crazy? — I purr with a lustful tone, pleased with how his body responds to my touch, arching to stick more to mine —. I must be dead or delirious not to be attracted to you every time I have you around, kitty — laughs and walks away, despite my attempts to stop him.

—Stop it! — slaps the hand that inevitably went to his right buttock —. We're in public, Magnus.

—So? — I smile maliciously and he, blushing, runs out the entrance, disappearing through the door soon after. In the night, there will be no escape. 

XANDER

I can't believe he's so brazen to touch me like that in public. Fuck, anyone could see us, we were in the middle of the garden, almost all the men were still outside, unloading the stuff from the trucks. I love that he's possessive and authoritative, but I'm ashamed when he does things like that in front of other people.

I prefer him to do it when it's just the two of us, in the privacy of our bedroom, where I'm free to love him as I please and he can be as perverted as he likes. Frustrated and pouting unconsciously, I wander through the familiar corridors, henchmen pass me by, carrying boxes and suitcases, distributing them efficiently in the right rooms. When I'm near the one Magnus and I share, I get dizzy and start to feel a sudden upset stomach.

I have to hold on to one of the walls to avoid falling, grabbing my rebellious stomach with the other hand. But what's wrong with me? This morning I was completely fine, I don't understand why this suddenly happens to me. Could it be something I ate?