Control (Dark Romance)

Chapter 38

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Nikola's P.O.V

I hadn't been expecting a cat.

A dog. A bird. Perhaps even another bunny to add to his family's obsession, but not a cat.

Hagen didn't like cats. He never had, and that included the only feline consistently in his life, Levi's jaguar, Caspar. So the prospect of a kitten being the animal to answer the spell I had cast for my mate— much like the one I'd cast for myself as a child for Knots— had never crossed my mind.

It was too late to undo it. Hagen was attached now, and seeing as the still unnamed kitten seemed absolutely enamoured with him as well, there was no cutting that bond. Not that I wanted to. I could grow to appreciate the kitten's presence once I kept what it did for Hagen at the forefront of my mind.

The kitten would be his companion, his confidant, and though it might not have magic imbued within its flesh like Knots did, magic had been involved with its appearing. If need be, it'd keep Hagen safe should I be absent. Still, I found it rather hard to imagine how that small thing would ever come to protect my mate if he kept insisting on cradling and pampering it.

Don't tell me you're jealous of the kitten — Neo teases with a mocking laugh — It is only a kitten, Nikola. It will not replace you.

I am not jealous of the creature — I reply with some annoyance — I am grateful for its presence.

Neo laughs and his disbelief is clear, but I ignore both him and it. I was not so hopeless to find myself jealous of a kitten— even my obsession had its limits. It was simply that I hadn't expected it to be a kitten.

But what was done was done.

Carrying on the path ahead, I try to centre my thoughts on something other than my mate, which had always been a gruelling task, but I find it slightly more challenging now given what lay ahead.

Physically, it was a two-story house coated in a light-blue, almost white coat of paint and outlined by pink roses, but in reality, it was Damon, William and their girls, all of whom I hadn't seen in far too long.

Uncharacteristically, I'd been avoiding Damon for quite some time, and not just within our usual meetings, but it had been for two very good reasons...

Firstly, while he was my mentor and I needed him possibly more than ever now, he was Hagen's brother, and given the tumultuous state of our relationship, I didn't want to drive a wedge between them by depending on him.

The second was slightly more shameful. While I usually preferred to deal with my problems head-on, if I spoke to Damon, I would have to tell him everything. I wouldn't be able to stop myself from doing it, and I was pitiably scared of how he might react. Damon had put so much time into helping me over the years, and to know it had all fallen apart in the end... it was hard enough dealing with Hagen's ever-present disappointment, and my parents' as well. I couldn't take Damon's on top of it.

But what I wanted ultimately lost in this case because the last time Damon had messaged me, asking to see me, he'd pulled out the 'big guns'.

'Will's really worried about you, and Alex keeps asking about you.'

I'd told Damon that it was not fair to play 'the William card' or 'the Alex card' when he knew she was the one I favoured most of all his spawn, but as Damon had said himself, he loved to play dirty.