Forged In The Flames By Karima Sa’ad Usman
Chapter 66 A Picture And A Light (Nikolas POV)
Morning came, and I could see Aliana had a good night’s sleep. Contrary to what I thought, she was fast asleep after our first round. I guessed it was the pregnancy making her so tired. I
watched her sleep peacefully and was thankful for her strength. I gently snuck out of bed to freshen up and plan my day.
As things were, every second counted.
I needed to get the crown before Aliana began to show, so I needed to get on it quickly. Being on a clock made me more focused because now the time of achievement was no longer indefinite, and there was no room for unfounded situations. I planned to discuss Doctor Newton with Qusack and tell him about Aliana1 s pregnancy before we headed to Gabriel’s house.
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Aliana had finally given up the name of the nurse that attended to her at the clinic. I needed to control the situation.
I showered in a hurry; Ania and Lisa were plating our food by the time I left the bathroom.
I noticed their demeanour change, and it made me chuckle a bit. The three of them were unlikely friends, and their loyalty towards each other was extreme.
Ania and Lisa had stuck out their necks for Aliana countless times. Especially when I was acting like a fool and battling with the mate pull. They continued doing so up till now.
Seeing Ania, I remembered the brand on her neck, and I planned to also deal with that matter and abolish it today. People should not be rejected and branded simply because they aren’t full breeds. It was wrong what Grant did to her. I planned to fix it.
“Good morning, Alpha?” The women said, and I placed my index f*inger on my lips to indicate they should be quiet.
“Link me instead,” I linked both of them, and they nodded.
“I am heading for a meeting now; remain with her and ensure she has everything she needs. Also, no one should get close enough to know she is pregnant, not even my mother,” I linked both of them, and Ania looked at me with surprise.
She did not think Aliana would have it in her to tell me.
I wondered what they were planning to do if she did not tell me. I did not have to think too long. I figured terminating the pregnancy seemed like the only option to them.
I gazed at Aliana where she lay and remembered the fear in her eyes. I really needed to watch my emotions around her. She was easily affected by it. I guess I sometimes forget she is a Werewolf. I wondered how she and Raven cope when I am annoyed.
I headed to the closet and dressed up.
Ania and Lisa remained in the room. They looked more relaxed, and I could see that Ania was a little bit happy. She must have been worried for Aliana and the baby.
Well, now she knows she has nothing to worry about. Her friend was safe.
I left the room and headed to my office. I planned to walk with Qusack while discussing the matter, then head to the Wolf clinic with him before seeing Doctor Newton. I had it all planned out. I hoped to finish before noon so I could see Gabriel. Hopefully, he would be forthcoming and have credible things to tell me.
“Are you in the office?” I linked Qusack.
“As always, Niko, good morning to you,” he said, and I walked down the stairs.
I feel light-spirited and happy. Indeed the news would have been great had it not been for the circumstances surrounding us.
I entered my office and was glad to see it was only Qusack there.
“Care to take a stroll with me? I plan to check on the werewolf hospital construction this morning, and then I will see Gabriel and get his side of the story.” I said, and Qusack raised an eyebrow.
“Wow, that serious?” he asked, and I nodded. “My mother told too many lies for me to rely on her account of the event. I would use Gabriel’s instead since some things he told Aliana checked out,” I said, and Qusack joined me outside my office.
“So you spoke to her?” Qusack asked on our way out of the building, and I nodded.
“We had a lengthy discussion last night. Some of which I will link to share with you because I need your help, and you are the only one I can trust not to betray me,” I said, and he was attentive. We walked out of the compound onto the road.
“Are we taking a Rickshaw, or are we walking?” he asked.
“Let us walk a bit, then take a Rickshaw. I am not in the mood for exercise today,” I said, remembering my ordeal the last time I walked home from the werewolf clinic. It wasn’t funny, and I did not plan on doing it again.
We walked a bit, and I decided to link him.
“Aliana is pregnant,” I said, and he stopped walking abruptly.
“What!” he exclaimed, and I widened my eyes to let him know he was to keep it down.
“What?” he linked me, and I nodded.
“That was why she was acting weird. She found out she was pregnant while we were away.
She was planning to terminate it. She was scared, Qusack.
You should have been there. She was terrified. Not because of me but because she felt it would jeopardise our mission,” I said, and he was silent.
“That isn’t all. Aliana thinks doctor Newton misguided her on how to use the birth control pills deliberately. She feels he is a traitor,” I linked him, and he frowned at me, unable to make sense of what I had told him and relate it to Aliana being pregnant.
I broke it down for him, as Aliana told me, and he agreed.
“If she puts it that way, it seems so, but we must be sure. There was a high possibility that he was genuinely clueless about female reproduction, and as for your mother, maybe he did not feel there was a need to waste resources on a feral wolf. You know, even Doctor Adam was difficult sometimes,” Qusack said, trying to be logical about it. It seemed coincidental if he put it that way, but I did not want to dismiss Aliana’s view. I needed to take her seriously because she would be my life mate. She was also brilliant.
“Still, Qusack, I want to test his loyalty,” I linked my attentive friend.
I told him what I planned to do. Qusack felt it was the best idea yet.
Feeding Newton false information and waiting to see what he would do with it. Confronting the doctor will have to come after the test, not before it but for now, I will limit his interaction with everyone close to me.
Qusack felt we should send him to Woodland to work for a month after we have fed him the misleading information.
Once the issue with Newton was out of the way. I figured we could talk about other things.
“So, hope you know we have to get the crown before the news about Aliana’s pregnancy spreads, or you will violate the Unity law, allowing Fredrick to attack should you refuse to submit yourself to the committee for a trial. We already know what would happen if a trial should ensue,” Qusack said, and I knew it was a problem.
There was no guarantee that we would achieve our goal before then. If I hid Aliana away, people would know something was off. I had to come up with a plan B first.
“Let’s take it a step at a time. I want to figure out Nurse Alison and ensure she does not speak of it to anyone. She needed to know the dangers of what would happen should it get to the wrong ears,” I said, and Qusack stopped me from walking.
“If that is why you are going to the clinic. Then do not bother. I will do it on your behalf. It is best this way,” He said, and I contemplated for a while, then agreed eventually.
“So, what is next on our list?” Qusack asked me playfully when we turned back.
“Abolish the branding tradition. Every person branded should be allowed the right to mingle. We should also find a way to eliminate traces of the brand from the back of their necks.” I said, and Qusack was in shock.
“Your heart is indeed increasing in size. Please tell me what made you think of this?” He asked me.
“Ania,” I said, and he was silent.
“Honestly, I fought Grant for what he did. It was completely unnecessary. So she was a mixed breed. I rejected her because I wasn’t in the mood for company, and she could not play chess. Ingham said she did not smell right. You know him; it has to be a Lycan or werewolf, nothing in between. Grant should have left her for the kitchen work. He completely ruined her life with what he did. I am glad you are ending that practice, Niko. The woman is too young for that kind of thing,” He said, and I was surprised he never supported the branding.
“Honestly, when I saw Fredrick’s slave with the mark at the back of his neck, I felt we were one and the same. I do not want to be anything like my uncle. Both he and my mother are mentally unstable. I am beginning to suspect madness runs in that family.” I said, and Qusack laughed. “They are just extreme people. I learned their father was worse,” Qusack said, and I was silent.
We headed back to the palace, and I went to get Aliana to join me to see her father. Qusack had already gone ahead of me. I dreaded my discussion with the man, and I hoped it would yield something substantial that I could use to my benefit. Had his wife been with him now, I would have used her testimony under compulsion to debunk what my uncle said about me. But she wasn’t.
I wondered when Uncle Fred*ic*k would stop getting Lucky.
Aliana was dressed when I went to my room but did not look too good. Following my better judgement, I asked her to remain and instructed her friends to take care of her. Seeing Gabriel with Qusack had to do. I did not want to do anything that would put the baby at risk.
I took a deep breath when I stood by Gabriel’s door. He made the small quarters look homely. I wondered how he got the time to plant flowers in the front. The glass on the windows was clean too.
Something about the house screamed contentment.
Gabriel was a man that was easily content. I could tell from how he ran Forest and how much gold he left.
Everything seemed to add up.
He must have kept the gold to keep his promise to my mother, waiting for her return.
He indeed kept his promise literally by not touching or changing anything.
Could it really be that my father was misled and fell on his sword because Gabriel did not seem like the type to betray his master?
I knocked on the door, and Qusack was the one who opened it to let me in.
I entered the small house. It was tiny and homey. The kitchen and living room were in a small space, and then there was a tiny hallway that led to the rooms and the back door.
Everything was visible from where I stood in the living room by the entrance. The house was practical.
Gabriel stood up with worry in his eyes and a thin breathing tube across his nostrils. I was glad I did not come with Aliana because he looked ill. I decided I would send for a werewolf doctor to attend to him and treat him instead. Since Aliana did not trust Newton and he had given me a reason to believe her theory, we could not expose Gabriel to him.
Gabriel offered me a seat. It was evident he knew what I came for. I sat on the couch, and he sat on the three-seater that was placed against the wall.
Besides the three-seater was a stool with a small picture frame of a blonde woman. She looked so familiar that I pointed to it, and Qusack reached for it to give it to me.
“That was my wife, Gwendolyn. Aliana’s mother,” Gabriel managed, breathing heavily and sounding hurt, but his words flew over my head while I stared at the image in the frame.
Aliana was a brunette with honey-coloured eyes. I guess she took after her father.
I would have never suspected this woman to be her mother; I wouldn’t have, but that wasn’t what drew me to her. I began to think about Fredrick and how deep his plot was because this was the same woman that served me dinner when I was in Snow.