Mercy

It was the next morning when Nikolai gathered everyone again in front of the pack house. Roza was inside the home resting per Nikolai’s order. Faith was still in the medical wing healing but Nikolai wanted to address the issue right away to avoid any more mishaps. Standing in front of everyone, Nikolai’s posture demanded obedience. His eyes roamed the large crowd before speaking.

“I am sure every one of you has heard by now the incident that happened yesterday. After, carefully listening to several witnesses, I was told that Faith first approached Roza with hostility. It escalated and Roza snapped the moment Faith kicked Maksim. As Alpha, this is not acceptable in my pack. You do not harm pack members and especially pups regardless of their status.” Nikolai’s eyes darkened in anger. “I want to make one thing clear to everyone. Roza and Maksim are mine. Roza is my destined mate and Maksim is my blood son, the heir to this pack.”

Some people were surprised but most already knew even when they weren’t told that Maksim was his son. Nikolai was slightly surprised when he saw the look of outrage appear on everyone’s face.

“I know I have been a hard Alpha on all of you for the past few years.” Nikolai said. “But now I want to make things right. You all have a voice here. I do not want to make you feel that you should not speak up if you have an opinion. In order for me to lead you, I need you to guide me as well. Every father fiber in me demands blood from the one who will harm my child but I want you to decide what fate she should receive.”

“Faith has been dedicated member of the pack. Her family has helped us for many years.” Someone in the crowd spoke up.

“Yes but she hurt a pup!” Another woman voice came in the air.

“She deserves to die!”

“Sometimes people make mistakes. We are all well aware of it. She might’ve let her wolf taken over and didn’t realize what she was doing. I say, we wait to hear from her.” An elder in the pack spoke up.

Dimitri glanced at Nikolai. It seemed the crowd has split up into two groups. Many demanded blood because they harmed their future Alpha. Others were soft hearted and wanted to give her a lesser sentence.

The crowd began arguing and it seems the idea of having them make a decision was not a very good one. Nikolai was about to speak up but stopped when he saw Roza appeared next to him.

“What are you doing?” He asked her. “I told you to stay in bed.”

She gave him a lopsided grin that he found adorable. He fought to stay angry with her for disobeying him but it was hard when she was looking at him with those violet colored eyes.

“I can help you.” She pointed out to him.

“You’re hurt-”

“Healing.” She corrected him. He rolled his eyes and growled so that everyone heard him. Quickly the rapidly rising voices calmed down. Everyone turned to look at their Alpha.

“I want to say something.” She said and everyone’s eyes moved to her.

“I understand everyone’s dilemma. I don’t know Faith the way you all know her but I am conflicted just as much as all of you. A part of me wants to kill her for hurting my pup but a part of me feels that she doesn’t deserve that fate. She has already been punished in my eyes. I hurt her badly to the point she is lying in the hospital. I know what we are all capable of. Our emotions always get the better of us sometimes. Know that killing doesn’t have to be the result of everything.”

“We can throw her out of the pack—make her a rogue. She can fight for survival on her own.” Someone suggested.

“What if she comes back? You said it yourself, our emotions always get the better of us.” A young lady in the crowd spoke up.

“If she comes back then we will handle her then.” Nikolai intermitted. “I agree. With Faith’s and her family’s past with us, we cannot kill her simply because she harmed-”

“The future alpha.” Someone muttered. “We should kill her.”

“If it is one thing I have learned while staying here it is that we learn to give people a second chance. Yes, she kicked my son and yes I still want to tear her throat apart but killing her and staining our hands with her blood will do us no good. We throw her out and give her a fighting chance with the other rogues out there.” Roza replied.

“I agree.” An elder of the pack spoke up. He took a step forward and his eyes met Roza. “I agree, Luna. Rogues rarely survive on their own because it is dangerous for us to be alone. Throwing her out there, gives her a chance of survival. Killing her will do us no good.”

“It will make me happy!” Someone shouted. “After all, she hurt-”

“An eye for an eye doesn’t resolve anything!” Roza’s eyes flashed black. She turned towards the young man who spoke up. “I am just as angry but we should not let our emotions get the better of us. She is one wolf. If she comes back and exact revenge, I will handle her then.”

The air went quiet. The authoritative voice that Roza exerted could be heard. No one dared spoke up. She closed her eyes. She understood why everyone was holding doubts and why a few felt like they needed to kill Faith but she has already been punished from Roza’s wolf. When she opened them back up, she saw the expression on many of them changed. They all nodded their agreement.

“If what you see is right, we will allow it. Your decision is just and gives her a fighting chance.” The elder previously spoke. It was then concluded that once Faith was healed enough to travel, she will be kicked out of the pack. Border patrol will be enforced to stop her from coming back in.

Nikolai was surprised at how well Roza handled the pack. He saw her a little on the shy side but seeing her standing up for someone that harmed her told him many things about his mate. It showed exactly how strong and confident she was. He chuckled to himself as he thought about the fight she had with Faith. She fought smoothly and effectively—breaking Faith’s bone with precise manner. She was definitely a surprise to Nikolai—no wonder the Moon Goddess paired her up with him. She was perfect.

After the meeting, Nikolai took hold of Roza’s hand. She looked up at him with a smile and his heart swell. He leaned down by her ear and whispered.

“You were wonderful.”

She smiled sheepishly. “I know you might understand why I-”

“I do. People might see it as weak but I see it as a strength. You are far braver than I am.” He said as they walked back inside the pack house. He led her down a hall into a private room where he can speak to her alone.

“Braver?” She scoffed in disbelief.

“I kill because I don’t want to deal with anything that comes afterwards but you taught me that sometimes things aren’t always so black and white. It doesn’t always have to always be killing them or be killed.” He closed the door behind them and pulled her close to him. His arms wrapping around her waist as she settled her arms between them, she noticed then that he took her somewhere private. A slow smirk crawled on his face.

“Nikolai, what are we doing here?” She changed the subject. “I have to go check in on Maksim.”

“I already checked in on him before the meeting.” He responded as one of his hand came up to cup her cheek. “He is doing perfectly fine. He was hiding underneath the dining hall table away from the nurses who wanted to give him a bath.”

“A bath? But I just gave him one-”

“He ran into the pantry and found the bag of flour.” Nikolai informed her and moved down to kiss her forehead. “I need some time with you, Roza.”

She smiled and closed her eyes as she felt his lips move from her forehead to her nose where he kissed it gently before feeling his lips on hers. The tingles and instant flare of desire ran through her body like adrenaline. She shuddered and wrapped her arms around his neck and her hands through his hair, urging him to deepen the kiss.

He groaned and complied immediately; slipping his tongue into the warm cave of her mouth he tasted her sweetness slowly before he increased the urgency of the kiss. Their tongue intertwined in a playful teasing manner.

When he pulled back he sighed and rested his forehead against hers. “I have something to tell you.”

She frowned. “What?”

“While you were sleeping, your father called. He is on his way and should be here before the sun sets.”

What’s with the many updates? Hehe. I pushed on my assignments this week and got done a little early. So you have me all week!

Leila Vy