Wrath of the Wolf Queen [HOTWP #2]

Chapter Eighteen: NAOMI

(A/N): quick note about the update cadence, as I've been asked this quite a bit. As of now, I think I'm going to release an update once every five days. So, keep checking in every five days or so for updates! - J.M.

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I stare between the two men, extremely confused and even a tiny bit apprehensive. The man standing opposite us is Nikolai's brother, I know that for sure. The silver eyes are a dead give-away.

But that's where the similarities end. Where Nikolai's skin holds a deep golden tan, this stranger's skin is rather pale. And his hair is a dark brown, almost black, whereas Nikolai's is almost as white as mine.

Aside from their eyes, they really don't look related at all.

"Darius," Nikolai snarls, and the tone of his voice sends a jolt up my spine. I can't remember the last time I heard Nikolai speak this way, with so much malice and hatred. If ever, really. "Why the hell are you here?"

The stranger – Darius – takes a tentative step forward, but Nikolai's bristling form stops him from taking another.

"I've been searching all over the continent for you," he breathes. "I didn't think... I never thought I'd find you here."

"That is because I did not intend to be found," Nikolai shoots back. "Least of all by the likes of you."

Something conflicted passes over Darius' gaze. He takes another step forward. "Niko, please–"

"Do not," Nikolai growls, "call me that." He raises to his full height, and for the first time in a long time I see the man he really is. The one who hunts and kills without mercy. The one I seem to keep forgetting about. He is every but like the lightning he wields and I cannot help but tremble slightly under his wrath. It's a miracle Darius is even standing.

"You have ten seconds to leave before I rip your head clean off your shoulders," Nikolai snarls. Darius jolts. "And I am quite good at ripping heads off shoulders, rest assured."

I'm virtually gaping now. I'd been so disarmed by Nikolai's playful demeanor that I'd totally forgotten this side of him existed. I'm surprised by how much I dislike it, by how much I want to get this Darius out of here just so that Nikolai can return to his normal self.

Darius opens his mouth to retort.

"You heard him," I say before he can speak. His silver eyes whip to me. "Leave."

Darius stares at me for several moments, as though trying to assess me. I raise my chin with the cool regalness I've mastered in court, looking every inch the Raelian queen, even in my robes and cloak.

I must ooze that high-level aura because his eyes narrow. "Who are you?"

I don't respond. I just pass a look at Nikolai, who I can see is shaking. His skin has gone deathly pale, and despite the fury in his eyes and the hard line of his jaw, I can see the fright there. The ghost of some awful past as he stares at his brother, some silent trauma that renders him frozen despite his fury and rage.