dearest reader, make sure to always read the author's thoughts!
RAFAEL VOSS
RAFAEL'S POV
"You need to get out more brother."
I barely looked up from the paperwork on my desk as Nikolai Volakov, My Beta and Childhood friend turned brother said, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed and a lazy smirk tugging at his lips,
"Not interested," I muttered, signing off on a deal worth more than some packs made in a lifetime.
"Not even for a club opening?" Nikolai drawled, watching me closely and hoping to convince me "VIP section, exclusive guest list, plenty of distractions, plus…networking, it's good for business"
I set the pen down and exhaled slowly, finally giving him my attention,
"I have no need for distractions brother."
Nikolai scoffed "Right, because brooding in your office all night is such a fulfilling life." I ignored him.
Before Niko could push further, the doors to my office swung open, and Thalia Voss, my mother, the woman who made gods bow stepped inside; The moment I saw her, I was already rising from my chair and walking toward her "Mother."
She smiled, looking regal as ever, I bent slightly, kissing her cheek as she did the same to mine, her hand briefly cupping my face like I was still a child, even now, she still looked at me like I was her little boy and not the Alpha of Nightbane Pack or the CEO of a multi-billion-dollar empire.
"Do you always have to greet me like you haven't seen me in years?" I muttered, though I didn't pull away,
"You will always be my little boy before anything else," she said simply,
"mother please" I remarked,
Nikolai had a smile on his face as he mocked me with his eyes and silently muttered words that only I could see "mamas boy" and I muttered back "I'll kill you", he laughed silently, but mother noticed, she then glanced at Nikolai, "Nikoooo! it's good to see you, my boys are growing up so fast." She said as she squeezed his cheek.
Nikolai was flushed with embarrassment and he quickly regretted mocking me "Always a pleasure, Mother," he said, inclining his head; He moved back to the corner, not speaking but listening.
Mother sat gracefully in the chair across from my desk, her expression was guarded, I knew that whatever she came here to say, I wasn't going to like it.
"I came to give you a heads-up," she said, watching me closely, "The council will be coming to you in a few days to demand that you take a bride." The air in the room shifted, my jaw tensed,
"I will not," I said immediately, shutting the conversation down before it could even begin "a bride would be disastrous for me." Mother sighed, pressing her fingers to her temple,
"Rafael, you have not found a fated mate yet, and you know that in Nightbane Pack, leadership can only be passed down to a pureblood that descends from the Alpha, you need an heir."
"I am aware."
"Then you know why this must happen."
"I cannot take a bride and that's final mother."
She frowned, her exhaustion was evident. "You've been saying that for years, and I'm sick of it?"
I exhaled sharply, running a hand over my jaw, "mother, taking a bride would be pointless and trying for an heir would be equally pointless and disastrous because as we all know, I am impotent, Or have you forgotten?" I said as I pointed between my legs, I saw a faint smile come upon Niko's face and he tried to hide it but mother was silent.
Getting a bride or having an heir has never been in the works for me, first I'm impotent and second, I have a curse looming over me, one that forbids me from loving anybody, mother knows that I'm impotent but only Niko and I know about the prophecy of the curse;
I was ready to compromise a little for my mother,
"I draw the line at getting a bride, but If you want an heir, I can give one, I can adopt or find other ways to have a son without the hassle of having a bride mother" I said,
"And risk having whispers about your incapabilities? That would dismantle the pack Rafael, I forbid that! Plus…finding your fated mate, having a wife by your side, solidifies your reign" mother added, she was about to continue talking and I knew I had to shut it down before it spiraled, before they forced a woman into my life and before the one thing I deeply feared would be activated, THE PROPHECY OF THE BLOOD OATH CURSE.
I kept my voice calm, but my words were final.
"I will not take a bride mother and there is nothing you or the council can do to change that, if you will not accept the option of an adoption, I have nothing else to say to you." Mother didn't argue.
She simply sat back, watching me like she was figuring something out, I hated that look because Thalia Voss never fought battles she wasn't sure she could win, and if she was this calm, it meant she knew something I didn't and that as dangerous.
"I'll escort myself out" she said before picking her bags and walking out the office, little did I know that this was the beginning of a war I had just started with my mother.
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Later that night, I closed from work and decided to return home and as soon as I stepped into the foyer, MY foyer, I regretted even showing up because the council of elders of the night bane pack were already there, standing like they owned the air in my house; some of them were major shareholders in my company, while others were secretly enemies plotting my downfall, while smiling in my face but none of that mattered to me;
Then I see my mother standing amongst them, that was the only thing that shook me, how did she manage to plan a coup against me in less than twelve houses?
I immediately gauged myself, I didn't slow down, I just walked past them, straight toward the stairs because I already knew why they were here, and I wasn't interested, I headed to my room for some much needed rest.
"Alpha Rafael," I hear an agitated voice call out to me, I ignored him but in his foolishness, he continued "A leader must provide an heir—"
"I will not take a bride," I cut him off without looking back, I kept walking, but suddenly, a sharp, arrogant, and commanding voice rose behind me,
"YOU WILL LISTEN WHEN THE COUNCIL SPEAKS!"
I stopped and turned slowly, so much anger was riled up within me and I wanted nothing more than to rip his head out of his body but my father taught me that 'a man without control, is a man without power' and I lived by that.
The room fell into thick silence, but the elder who spoke, Darius Velkan stood his ground with his chin high, staring at me like he had power over me; normally I would let it slide and simply ignore, but today, after seeing how they so boldly barged into my house and disrespected my authority, I knew that I needed to teach them some lesson;
"Rules are rules, Rafael," he said, "and if you don't obey—"
"You dare command me?" Something snapped in me and I was consumed with rage,
I immediately moved with an otherworldly speed before any of them could even register it, one moment, I stood at the base of the stairs and the next, I was across the room, a blur of motion so fast the air itself seemed to stop, the waiter barely had time to inhale before my hand was on her throat, with my fingers locking around the fragile column of her neck, her tray crashed to the floor, the sound of the shattering glass was terribly loud and silence fell across the room and then, I sank my sharp teeth into her skin, a chorus of horrified gasps echoed through the room;
The girl trembled in my grasp, barely making a sound as her pulse pounded against my teeth, the taste of her blood filled my mouth, it was hot and sweet, dripping down my chin but I wasn't really interested,
"RAFAEL, STOP!" My mother's voice was sharp, but I didn't move, I ignored her and I kept going,
I finally lifted my head and turned around with a slow grin, blood dripped from my lips and stained my white shirt, the horror on their faces,
"DO NOT bite or kill any member of the pack…that is rule number one and I just broke the number one most important rule of the pack," I murmured with a grin, I turned to them with a daring gaze,
"Who's going to challenge me now?"
The entire council was silent.