Present day…
Darius didn't think that there would be a time that he would even find out the identity of that woman who he helped that night. The mother of the three children had been quite a thought that hadn't surfaced that recently… until she was continuously being brought up as a mask and a slight inconvenience to the situation. However, at this moment…
"Her name is Nikita Rudolf. She came out minutes before me, and she had been quite a mother figure in my household." Nicholai chuckled as he slightly tugged on his clothes and secretly opened the shirt wider. "Sadly, she got pregnant and chose to run away from us. I had long known that my sister was a blessing, but I didn't realize that chasing after her would bring me to you."
"…so, you were lying that night. You were looking for her." Darius hissed through his teeth and looked down to see if the area was still soaked. It's just that… the shirt was already baring the man's chest to his eyes. Darius's hand, surprisingly, trembled.
Nicholai's frame was bigger and more chiseled than that of Darius, and the skin was clearer than what he could expect from a man. It's just that they were werewolves. He could still see a thin layer of body hair that lightly covered the sternum and the inner sides of the pectorals. It could go straight to the belly button, connecting with the happy trail without a solid line.
It didn't help that the beads of the apple juice still rolled down despite the weak shield of the fabric.
At this, Darius froze his entire body. Not only was he confused about why his body was reacting to it strangely, but it was also a gateway to a more inconvenient relationship with this delusional Alpha. In the end, Darius only forced his hand to pat-dry the skin to get over it.
With the tissue crumpled underneath his palm, it was inevitable for his fingertips to touch Nicholai's skin. The more he tried to make the tissue stay to absorb more moisture, the more his fingers could test the firmness of Nicholai's muscles.
As if being entranced by a strange song of attraction, his hand had forgotten the task and decided to trace the contours of the muscles with his fingers. He was even pressing the tips hard enough to feel the body hair turning underneath his skin. Darius's red eyes started flashing uncontrollably, his nails beginning to morph into claws that would want to tear the smooth skin.
"Undo it if you like…"
A whisper came to his ear, and Darius's fingers slid on top of the expensive-looking belt buckle that had a wolf emblem on it. The sting of the cool metal and the snap of his mind telling him to work the buckle out woke him up. Darius then realized what the scene would have looked like.
A strong red blush covered the entirety of Darius's face, also causing his wolf ears to fold in embarrassment. After all, they had long shot out of his head as if his body was doing things in the background. He didn't even realize that his hands had morphed into claws until he poked himself in the face with them. Darius just wanted to cover his face, but the panic showed and made him act ridiculous.
Nicholai only leaned on his arm that was mounted on the back of the couch. "Why did you stop? How disappointing. I was looking forward to more from you."
"I wasn't—! Why do you think I was trying to do?!" Darius roared to conceal the shriek he made in his head. He was even holding onto his own hands in case they shot to places that shouldn't be touched.
"It's clear what you think and what you want to do, Darius. Should I remind you that we… are…" Nicholai whispered at Darius's human ear as he rubbed a thumb on one of the wolf ears, "…connected?"
"No, we're not! The only connection I'm willing to have with you is my fist connecting to your face!"
The other Alpha only chuckled with a wide smile. He then shook his head as if not pushing matters too far at this juncture. He only moved to collect his bottle and refill his glass. The entertainment he had was already so much that his day was completed.
As for Darius, he only glared at the man while blushing madly. How could this delusional man trick his mind into thinking that he wanted an inch of the delusional man that way? It was too strong, whatever it was. In the end, Darius just nudged Nicholai's side lightly. "Hey, I still want to see Dylan!"
"Master," an Omega maid called out from behind, "the Second Young Master Dylan is now ready."
"Right on time." Nicholai slowly rose from his seat, leaving the glass whose contents he had downed before the maid came. He then reached out a hand to invite Darius, who stared at the maid. "Shall we?"
Darius didn't say more as Nicholai led him to a maze of hallways to get to where Dylan was. Due to the design of the mansion, Darius couldn't distinguish the scent of real werewolves from the ones embedded on the walls to keep enemies from locating the household. Moreover, the stench was producing multiple scents that would imitate the scent of the people inside the mansion.
It didn't seem like much, but there was surely a witch involved in the construction of this mansion. Else, the magic defenses wouldn't be this powerful.
The two arrived at a room, and Darius saw how Dylan lay on the bed. He was still hooked to the same kinds of equipment Darius saw at the hospital. The only addendum was the insanely fragrant blood that was hanging from the blood drip stand. Since Darius was a powerful Alpha, he could contain the urge to snatch the bag and drink it for himself.
"As I've said earlier and before that, I am more capable of taking care of them than that human." Nicholai leaned on the wall next to the door. "Darius, come home to my mansion. Accept me as your mate and help me take care of my sister's children."
"…too early…" Darius only pouted before walking closer to the bed. He kneeled down at the side and smiled at the sleeping boy. He combed through the fringe that stuck to the boy's forehead. "Hey, buddy. Daddy's here. How are you holding up? I heard that you were almost poisoned by the human blood given to you, but everything's okay now. Just concentrate on healing yourself…"
The father planted a kiss on the boy's forehead before moving away and hesitating to look Nicholai in the eyes. "They are your sister's children, so… they're rightfully part of your pack, right? They wouldn't be treated as Omegas or outsiders, right?"
Nicholai nodded as if it was enough for Darius to take his word for it. The father still sighed before turning away: "I'm collecting the kids from Rica. Leave her out of this, okay? It's like what you said, she's important to the rogue community…"
"Darius…" The father turned at the call of the delusional man, the voice of the man quite grave in sound. "Are you staying here, or are you leaving them to me?"