Heart Of A Lycan King
Chapter 60

AIDEN.

The tension was so high that it could be cut with a knife. I watched him staring at his hands, a slightly defeated expression on his face. Years of distance and estrangement sat between us, and the gap which had widened over the years now seemed too great to cross.

How did one address a brother they had forgotten? How was I supposed to react to the man who turned his back on me, turned his back on our family, and left without any explanation?

Resentment festered in my heart, and I wanted to hurt him. I wanted to make him pay for all the pain he caused Mama and I after he left. He was a selfish man for doing that, and I didn’t know if I would ever forgive him.

To avoid strangling him right then and there, I chose to keep my hands busy instead. I typed away on my phone, completely ignoring Mav who was sitting across from me. I had arrived at his hotel room almost an hour ago, but neither he nor I had been able to say a word to each other.

He looked up briefly, as though he was ready to say something but then thought better of it. I suppose he was waiting for me to break the ice, but it was thicker than he imagined and there was no way we were going to get past it.

In all honesty, I just didn’t know what to say, or how to even begin a conversation with him. It’s been years since he left. I’ve heard nothing from him since then. Not a call, not even a text. Which was why it felt too awkward sitting before him now in an attempt to start a conversation.

Damn! Why didn’t I just train with the boys, or go for the council meeting and spend the rest of the day with Nala instead of saying yes to this? Heck, even watching paint dry would be more productive than this meeting.

I closed the message app after sending Nala another message. Three messages, yet no response to any of them. It seemed she was having a good time with her friends. It was almost 1pm, yet nothing good had come out of the day except my woman.

A lazy sigh escaped my lips, and I leaned my head against the sofa and shifted my gaze towards Mav. He looked everywhere but me. It was as though he was purposely trying to avoid making eye contact with me. Every time it seemed like I was about to catch his gaze, he looked away, tapping his fingers nervously on the sofa.

The loud shrill of my phone broke the uncomfortable pinning silence that had engulfed us. I picked my phone from the armrest and my mouth curled up into a smile as soon as I saw the caller ID.

“Hey handsome,” her voice floated to my ears after I picked the call. “Missing me that much?” I could hear the teasing in her voice.

I grunted. “Hey beautiful. Yup, missing you that much!” I replied.

“I love it when you pop that ‘P’. Makes you sound so damn s.exy!” she murmured. “Especially when you say it in my presence. You know how puckered your lips get when you pop the ‘P’, right? It makes them look kissable,” she added, her voice dropping a bit. “Anyway, how’s your meeting with Mav? I’m having a good time here,” she finished.

I simply swallowed. How can she switch from talking about how I sound and look sexy when I pop the ‘P’ to asking about Mav? How does she expect me to react to that? My heart hammered, the tendons in my hands aching from the strain of not being close to her so I could touch her.

“You do know this isn’t fair, right?” I g*****d.

“What?” she asked innocently. I could swear her large doe eyes had widened even more in her attempt to play innocent. But my Nala isn’t innocent, at least, not after what we did yesterday. She was pushing herself to try new things, and knowing I was the one that gave her her first o****m filled my chest with a sense of pride.

She is grooming herself. Getting herself ready, and I can’t be more proud!

The memories returned in full force, sending a surge of heat to my nether region and making my trousers tighten. If anything, the control I had thought I once had was slowly slipping away from my grasp, and that wasn’t a good thing. Leo had been silent all day. I can’t remember clearly when I shifted back to my human form, because Leo had exhausted me by trying to chase Erin just to lick her.

The tease of a wolf had a lot up her thick fur, and mostly only allowed him to tackle her down, and then she licked him before she would slip away, without giving him a chance to lick her back. That had upset Leo so much so that he stopped chasing after a while and just watched her continue to jump in the rain and get dirt all over her fur. Later though, she got tired as well and came to lay beside him, placing her head underneath his and accepting the little warmth his wet fur had to offer.

And that was how she slept. I remembered how I laughed at Leo as we made our way home after he had mindlinked Kane to come drive us home, and how he had carried Erin on his back with the help of Kane, despite the fact that he hated the idea of Kane touching her.

After tucking her in bed, I tried to take over, but Leo wouldn’t let me. He insisted he was going to watch over her as she slept. I didn’t argue.

However, I woke up around midnight to find that she had shifted, and was now dressed in a white long silk sleeping gown, fast asleep beside me. And I was only clad in shorts, my desire to have her still obvious from the bulge there.

When Nala woke up this morning, she was all smiles and giggles. And the most surprising part, she was attached to me. Somehow, it was as though our little moment yesterday unlocked something in her. But I knew it wasn’t just that. It was the fact that she was slowly accepting this relationship. Accepting me. Accepting the bond.

And above all, accepting herself.

“You can’t just say something like that and switch to talking about something else, Nala,” I muttered.

“It’s called flirting, handsome. FLIRTING!” she emphasized the word so I could get the meaning. “And it seems like my mission was accomplished,” she added, laughing at the end.

Nala was flirting with me! That struck me. I was slowly uncovering layers to this woman I had never known existed. Layers a dark past had ruined. Layers she had been afraid of accepting because she was made to believe otherwise.

And as selfish as this may sound, I’m glad to be the one unlocking all of them.

“Sarki?” I heard her call softly. “You there?”

“Sarki?” I asked, my voice hitching a bit.

“Uhmn. It is a name Erin gave you,” she said, a nervous tint in her voice. “Does it make you uncomfortable?”

“Of course not!” I grinned. “You just never called me with a pet name, so I was just surprised.”

She giggled, the soft sound floating through my veins and setting a mark in my heart. As always. “For a moment, I thought you didn’t like it,” she mumbled.

“Like is an understatement, Nala,” I could slowly feel the tension that had gripped my shoulders ever since I arrived at Mav’s hotel room begin to loosen. That is the power Nala has on me. Her voice alone, and knowing that I have her tends to do so many miracles in my life. “I love it. I’ll have to personally thank Erin for the name,” I added.

“Glad you love it,” she said, a bit distracted. Then I heard muffled voices from the background before she spoke again. “Sorry, Tiffany is being a pain! How are things over there? Have you two talked yet?”

I shut my eyes, unable to speak. How do I begin telling her that I find it awkward to talk to my brother? That the one person I had once shared all of my secrets with now looked like a stranger from an unknown land?

“It’s fine to feel awkward around each other, Aiden. It’s been years since you two met. But you have to at least make an effort before the awkwardness eases,” she sighed, then continued. “Can I say hi to him?”

“You want to say hi to him?” I asked, surprised.

“Yup!” she replied, popping the p. I couldn’t help chuckling at that. “He’s your brother after all, and mine as well since he’s already accepted me as a sister,” she added.

I chuckled again before I stood up from my sofa and walked up to Mav, who had been looking at me with a small smile etched on his lips. I handed the phone to him without a word and saw the way his smile deepened the moment he placed the phone to his ears.

“Hi, sis.”

I didn’t know what Nala said, but I watched as he laughed out loud. I can’t remember the last time I heard him laugh. I turned and walked back to my seat, sucked into the memories Mav and I had shared in the past. I saw him laugh again, throwing his head back in mirth. It reminded me of the times he and I used to laugh this way as we shared and cracked jokes.

I missed those days. But I have no idea how to get them back.

At some point, I completely missed what he was discussing with Nala, because I had inadvertently let my thoughts drift to the past. To the days we played football together, the times Mav had helped me train because he only played football for my sake. How he forced me to run every morning before breakfast. I remembered the way we had family meals, albeit Baba’s brooding personality and growls, we ignored it all and chose to enjoy our time together. I recalled the nights we stole meat from Mama’s pot, and how I always end up blaming Mav for it, because he always says to do that. I remember them all, and I yearned desperately for those days again. As much joy as those memories gave me, as much sadness and longing did they bring with them.

“Here,” Mav said. I looked up to see him standing before me, with my phone outstretched. I took the phone and saw that Nala was still connected.

“Hey.”

“Okay. Promise me you’ll be a good boy and talk to your brother,” she said softly.

“A boy you say, Nala?” I asked, instantly grinning. The heaviness in my heart had vanished after I heard her voice again, and I was determined now more than ever to put more effort into talking to my brother. “I don’t remember you calling me a boy last night,” I added, knowing fully well that she may duck her head and giggle.

“Okay. Let’s agree to disagree. You weren’t a boy last night but right now you are. My big boy that is,” she whispered.

My zip tightened again, and I fought to swallow and wet my throat trying to distract myself from the images flashing before me. Who knew that Nala had this in her? Certainly not me, and certainly not what I had ever expected from her. She just needed time to evolve, and I’m glad I gave her enough time and allowed her to become this comfortable.

“You’ll be a good boy, won’t you?” she continued. “Be a good boy and when you get home tonight, I’ll reward you,” she said in a breathy whisper.

“A reward,” I murmured. It was thrilling. I didn’t know what layer of hers I was going to see, which meant I had no idea what to expect. That made it even more exciting. “I like the idea. See you tonight, Nala.”

“Take care of yourself for me. And if you need to kick Maverick’s a.ss to feel better for leaving you and going away, do it,” she laughed a bit. “I told him to do the same if he needs to,” she added.

My body shook from the laughter I’ve been trying to hold back. “If he breaks my jaw, I have you to babysit me,” I replied.

“Certainly, My King. As it is, I am an excellent babysitter,” she laughed. “See you later. Sending you a virtual bunch of k****s, My King,” she blew a k**s through the phone, laughed, and ended the call.

I sat frozen with my phone still pressed to my ear. I could hear that loud thudding of my heart, the dangerous need to have her close, to feel her warmth, and better yet, to have that k**s physically than virtually.

‘Look who’s being impatient now,’ Leo scoffed. He had been quite a handful since morning, and I guess it has to do with the time spent with our mate. ‘As you can see, I don’t mind waiting. And while I’m yet to empty my sack, it feels less heavy after yesterday.’

‘Shut your mouth!’ I grumbled, setting my phone away and looking up at Mav. He had his eyes pinned on me so I quickly looked away.

‘This is going to be pretty awkward,’ Leo mumbled as he recoiled back. ‘He doesn’t feel like the brother we knew,’ he added, and I couldn’t help nodding in agreement.

“Extend my regards to Leo if you may,” Mav suddenly said.

My eyes snapped up to meet his, and he had one of those signature smirks he normally had back in the day. At least, this was something about him from the past to help me connect with him.

“How did you know I was talking to him?”

“You always have this blank expression when talking to him. Especially when he’s making you angry or teasing you,” Mav answered.

I said nothing after that. I hated that I still felt familiar to him. That he could still recall little things about me and put them to use, when all I have for him, all I feel towards him was pure unadulterated rage. When I can’t even remember the familiar habits he once had because I had allowed my rage to get the best of me.

Maybe I need to kick his a.ss like Nala mentioned.

“You have a strong woman beside you. Makes me feel less guilty for leaving,” he said again, this time, he wasn’t smirking, and his voice didn’t carry the air of certainty like the first time.

“Guilty you say?” I chortled. “If you’ve felt guilty once for leaving Mama and I, you’d have returned sooner,” I snapped.

“I could’ve,” he sighed, rubbing his temple. “But I didn’t want to,” he added.

Rage bubbled in my chest, and for a moment, for the tiniest, briefest moment, I wanted to punch him square on the jaw.

“Why are you here now?” I couldn’t help but yell. “You didn’t want to, yet you are here now. Why?” I gritted.

Mav looked at me for a moment without saying a word. He simply clenched and unclenched his fist. It angered me even more, and I could feel my burn heat up. Damn! Why does it always act up when I’m angry? Why, dammit!

“You grew into a fine footballer, brother,” he said quietly as his mouth stretched into a small smile.

“Don’t act as though you’re interested in what I do with my life, Mav.”

“Oh, but I am. Otherwise, I wouldn’t watch your games live. Every single one of them,” he said, his tone growing less and less confident. “Ever since you got signed up and began playing professionally, I watched every single game you played for the past six years.” He added.

An obstruction formed in my throat, and I had a feeling I’d never be able to swallow it. I didn’t know what to think. Or how to process what I just heard. It just made…no sense whatsoever.

“You…what?” I wetted my bottom l*p as I said that, waiting for Mav to say something. Anything.

“I stay with the humans, Aiden. And every time you have a game to play, I hear about it. You never played a game here in Zambele, most of the time, you either played in the human country or the neighboring wolf kingdoms. I watched every single one of them, Aiden.” He explained.

“W…hy? You…I…”

“Because regardless of what you may think of me, regardless of how much you hate me, you’ll always be my baby brother. Always, Amari.” He finished.

My eyes stung, but I refused to give them the attention they needed. Mav always said it is okay for a man to cry, and that it is nothing to be ashamed of. But right now, after ignoring him for days since he got back, I don’t think I have the right to cry.

I stood up and began pacing the room, trying to make sense of everything.

“I’m sorry for leaving without a word. But if given the chance again, I’ll do that over and over.” I stopped in my tracks, turned and found him standing as well, with his hands clasped behind him. “That may have sounded selfish, but believe me, Aiden, I regret leaving without letting you know. That is the only thing I’ll change. That is why I’ve returned.”

“You shouldn’t have bothered then,” I grumbled, turning away. “It doesn’t matter to me anymore. As you can see, I’m happy with my mate. You can go back to where you came from. After all, you just said if given the chance, you’d do it over again.”

“Aiden…”

“You left, with no care about how I’d feel, or how Mama would feel. You didn’t care about any of that, and for a moment, I thought you came to apologize for that, even if you plan to leave again. But to hear you say that now with no remorse shows you never truly cared about either of us.That maybe, just maybe, you never thought of me as the brother I thought of you as, Maverick.” I growled, the anger and dejection I had been struggling to hold back holding me in a tight grip. “And I hate you for that. I hate you for making me feel this anger, this much rage towards the one person I once looked up to,” I added, turning to face him.

However, Mav was standing beside me, with only a few feet between us. His eyes were bloodshot, and the vein on his forehead popped out even more. He looked…defeated, as though he was giving up on something.

“You can hate me all you want, Aiden. But I assure you, you’ll always be my brother. I’m sorry for leaving without saying a word, I’m even more sorry for making you hate me. But it was a choice I willingly made, and it was the best solution for you and I. Had I still lingered around, you’d have been unhappy, and maybe, you’d have hated me even more. I…”

“Don’t you dare tell me how I should feel!” I growled, instantly pinning him to the wall behind him, my hand had a tight grip around his neck. “You have no right to justify what you did. I mean, you HAVE NO RIGHT, MAVERICK!”

“Hit me if that’ll make you feel better, brother. Do it,” he said so calmly that I was tempted to actually hit him like he requested. After a moment of deliberating and recalling that even though Nala did tell me to kick his a.ss, she wouldn’t want me to do that, so I let him go, wincing in the process.

“You found your mate,” I decided to change the subject.

“And neither of us want each other,” he laughed humorlessly. “She hates my guts and everything about me. And I hate the fact that I had to get a mate. I enjoyed being alone.”

“So what?” I asked in shock. “You rejected her?”

“Nooo!” He said too quickly. “Neither of us did. We’ll just let the bond be and live our lives separately.” He replied.

“You won’t tell me who she is even if I ask, would you?”

He grinned. “Absolutely not. I promised her I won’t.” He added. “How’s your…burn?” He asked after a moment of a bit of comfortable silence.

“It’s fine,” I shrugged absentmindedly. “It acts up only once in a while.”

“I see,” he nodded, looking everywhere but at me. “I’m sorry, Aiden.”

I looked at him for a while. Whatever reason Mav might have had for leaving, It’s in the past, and now we’re in the present. I may still be angry, but I’ll never wish to have a strained relationship like this with him again.

“Let’s have dinner with Mama and Baba next week,” I said abruptly.

“I saw Mama yesterday, and we had a long chat. She’s still the best mother anyone could ever ask for. I mean it.” Mav sighed. “I almost never remember that she isn’t my birth mother. And if Baba had not mentioned it, I’d never have known, because Mama never showed it in all the sixteen years I spent thinking she was.”

“Not to boast about it, but my Mama is certainly the best,” I smiled faintly. “Have you…did you find anything about your mother?” I asked nervously.

He shook his head. “Nothing. It’s like she…vanished.”

“I can help…”

“There’s nothing anyone can do. It’s like she doesn’t want to be found. I have hired private investigators all around, including the human countries to keep an eye out for her. Yet, I got…nothing. I mostly only get reports about you, which mostly only have to do with your games so I could go watch and see you, even if it was from a distance.”

“You masked your scent,” I said, realization dawning on me. “That was why I never noticed you.” I added.

He laughed, hitting me lightly on my shoulders. “You guessed right. I pulled my old trick.” He added.

“Do you always have it up? Was that why your mate didn’t react in that room?”

He simply laughed again, and I knew that I was right. That explains it. Regardless of Mav’s outburst back there, his mate should’ve reacted to the bond, yet none of the four unmated women there had reacted. Because Mav had blocked his aura and scent, like he normally did when we played hide and seek in the past.

“So…”

“I visited her afterwards with my aura unblocked and…”

“That rules out Tiffany from being your mate, and Lace as well. If Tiffany was your mate and you visited her, I’d have heard from Nala, and if it was Lacie, she’d have blabbed about it all around. Which left us with two options, Ivyane or Sherneil.” I said thoughtfully.

“How about we bet on this? If you find out who she is, I’ll do anything you want, excluding telling you why I left of course.” He chuckled, stretching his hand for a shake.

I grinned, clasped his hand in a firm grip before I pulled him in for a hug. “You’ve got yourself a deal, brother.” I replied, patting his back the same way he did mine. “It’s good to have you back, brother.”

“It’s good to be back,” he said.

Maybe this wasn’t going to turn out so bad. But I knew deep inside, that the thoughts of Nala’s reward and what she has in mind was another reason I was adding more efforts to this.