Mercy

Nikolai helped with dressing Roza’s wound and giving her antibiotics. With his nearness, it has helped her heal a lot faster. However, Nikolai felt better if she remained in bed until her wound closed completely.

Roza was going out of her mind because she has been stuck in the room for the last few days. Although, she has never seen this side of Nikolai before and found she secretly enjoyed his care and protectiveness, she also wanted to get some air.

When he was away on training and Doctor Trevin came in to check on her she spoke up.

“I should be able to leave, right?” She asked.

Doctor Trevin grinned. “Yes. You are almost completely healed. Moving around should not affect your wound.”

“Then why wouldn’t Nikolai let me leave?” Roza asked.

Doctor Trevin noticed Roza’s pouty state and sighed. “Alright. I’ll let him know that it is doctor’s orders that you move around to get your blood flowing again.”

Roza’s eyes lit up immediately. After Doctor Trevin finished checking Roza’s wound, he told her he no longer needs to check in on her, because everything was healing perfectly. He also noted that it had to do with Nikolai’s help and care which made Roza blush a little.

An hour later, an angry Alpha came storming into the room. His eyes narrowed in on Roza who was reading a book. She looked up to see Nikolai looking at her accusingly.

“You made Doctor Trevin order me to allow you to walk around?” Nikolai questioned and pointed to his chest.

Roza sat her book down and fought an eye roll as she faced Nikolai. “I am tired of sitting here, Nikolai. I need some air or I swear I will become crazy. Do you want me to be crazy? I don’t think you want me to go out of my mind, because if I do you will have one crazy person on-”

“Fine!” Nikolai barked. “We will walk outside together.”

“Nikolai, I got bit. I didn’t die.” Roza pointed out and threw the covers off.

Nikolai walked to her side. There was a faint knock on the other side of the door before a small voice spoke.

“Mommy?” Maksim asked. He knocked again.

Roza smiled immediately. Nikolai has been kind enough to bring Maksim to visit Roza in bed every day. At night, Nikolai brings him back in so that she can read him a book and sing him a lullaby before Nikolai carries him back to bed.

Nikolai headed over to the door.

“Daddy?” Maksim’s questioning voice perked up when he saw his father open the door. “Where’s mommy?”

Roza appeared right next to Nikolai and squatted down to Maksim’s eyes level as she ruffled his hair. He growled playfully and tried to remove her hands. She chuckled and moved to pinch his cheeks.

“Did you miss mommy?” Roza pulled Maksim into a hug. Maksim had a huge goofy grin on his face as he nodded. She tried to pick him up but Nikolai stopped her.

“Maksim weighs more than you should be carrying.” Nikolai scolded and moved to remove Maksim from her arms and into his. “Now c’mon. Since you want to go outside, let’s go.”

*

Nikolai took Roza and Maksim to a nearby pond that had crickets and frogs jumping around. Maksim’s attention was completely enraptured at the frogs as he jumped around with them. A soft breeze blew past Roza and she sighed as she closed her eyes and looked up to the sky.

It felt so good to be out of the room and into the wild. She missed this.

When she opened her eyes she saw Nikolai looking at her with intense heated eyes. She bit her lips and glanced down at her feet, a little embarrassed to be caught. Maksim jumped on his father with his arms wrapped around his father’s neck.

“Let’s go, daddy. Let’s go!” His eyes wide with excitement and a goofy smile slipped on his face. Nikolai’s face transformed to one of mischief as he growled and fell to the ground. Their brief moment temporarily forgotten as he played with his son.

“Oh, so little Alpha wants to challenge me, eh?” Nikolai teased and pulled Maksim away from his body.

Maksim went down onto his knees and started snarling. Roza couldn’t stop the giggle that slipped her lips. Her hand immediately went to cover her lips but it was too late. Nikolai heard it and his own smile appeared at his mate’s beautiful laughter.

Glancing back at his son he shifted into his wolf. His wolf jumped and picked Maksim up by his shirt between his teeth. Maksim wiggled and laughed as his father’s fur brushed against his back.

“Daddy!” He whined.

His father released him gently to the ground. The second Maksim’s feet hit the ground Maksim jumped at his father, tackling his father down.

“Summmit!” Maksim growled.

“I don’t know, Maksim. Your father is an Alpha. I don’t think he will submit.” Roza joked and Maksim’s face contorted into an angry growl. It was the cutest thing ever to Nikolai as his son wrestled his huge wolf to the ground.

Roza watched Nikolai and Maksim playing together and she quickly realized just how fast they were getting along. Nikolai’s wolf recognized his own pup and Roza can see just how much Nikolai adored Maksim. However, an ache spread through her chest. She was hurting because this was like a dream she couldn’t have. She was happy for Maksim because now he gets to know how having a father was like, but she was sad that Nikolai and her might never be able to have a normal mate relationship.

She was so deep in thought that she didn’t see Nikolai’s wolf walking up to her with Maksim riding on his back. His snout brushed against her cheek. She closed her eyes and savored the feeling of Nikolai’s wolf comforting her.

“Thank you.” She whispered as she gently scratched at his face.

After a few more hours of playing, Maksim yawned and crawled into his father’s fur and clung to him as he fell asleep next to his father. Nikolai lifted his head to look at Roza who was staring at them.

He knew that Roza was feeling sad and it broke his heart to see that look on her face. He would give her anything just to make her happy. If she wanted him to cut out his heart and lay it out for her to take, he would do just that. If she asked him to jump into a raging river, he would do just that without a second thought. He would do everything he could to make her happy again. The only problem was he didn’t know how to.

Shifting back into his human form, he took control again. Slowly, he bent down to pick up Maksim and walked over to Roza. A soft faint blush appeared on her cheeks as she could see how naked he was, but she accepted Maksim anyhow -- holding him close to her chest as she watched him walk behind a bush to get dressed.

When he reappeared again, he took Maksim back into his arms. She stood up next to him and they walked back silently. Nikolai needed to fix this and he needed to fix this fast, before he loses them both forever. A new determination was enough encouragement for him to speak up. He was going to lay it all out for her and it will be up to her to choose him or reject him. The thought literally has his wolf whimpering and his heart breaking, but he needed to give her a choice.