Dorian studied Nemia, sitting down on the leather couch in his main office tucking her head into Julia's shoulder. He could see the slightest of trembling coming from her limbs. Every bit of him yearned to walk around his desk, sit on her other side and try to console her. He knew better though, she'd already made it abundantly clear she wanted nothing to do with him. Wanted to.. reject him.
He shifted uncomfortablely at the thought. He couldn't let that happen. He heard the whimper in his mind before the snarl. 'Mine, never letting go.'
Dorian eyes snapped to Nemia's as she lifted her head off of Julia's shoulder. 'Mate. Claim.' The beast inside him growled. Dorian was seconds from leaping over his desk when Nik cleared his throat.
"Nemia... Julia.. are the both of you alright?" Nik's eyes grazed over Julia as she gave a gentle smile and nodded, then stuck on Nemia. "Nemia?"
Nemia's eyes seemed to slowly come back into focus the second time her name was said. They actively avoided Dorian, sweeping across the floor before rising them to rest on Nik's face. Her lips twitch just barely, Dorian unknowingly mimicking the light twitch.
"I'll be fine." She said softly. Then, as if a switch flipped, she plastered on a bigger smile that was an obvious fake. "So... Malcolm..." Nemia started, finally giving Dorian an acknowledgement of his own presence by turning her eyes to lock on his. "The Sol Invicta- what ever mark." She waved her hand in a careless motion before pulling at the top of her corset to show the mark in the center of her chest.
Dorian couldn't stop his heart from sputtering and the beast within growled in approval. The pull was strong and all he wanted to do was close the distance. He stood abruptly, staring at Nemia. Licking his lips, he started to move around the desk but...
"Don't you dare!" Nemia had stiffened. "Control yourself... My king." She almost, most literally spat out his title. Glaring at him.
He stood there for a long moment, breathing heavily as he fought the beast within. His hands flexing at his sides, looking deeply into Nemia's eyes. Those big, emerald drops against a relatively pale and freckled complexion. 'Gods she is beautiful.' He and the beast agreed. He had to stop staring though, before he lost himself.
He tore his gaze away, taking in a deep breath. Not necessarily the best idea as he breathed in her scent. Lemongrass, pine and a hint of honey. Mouthwatering. Wanted. Needed. No... He rolled his shoulders and moved back to his desk chair, plopping down with a defeated huff. He leaned back onto the chair and cupped his hands together loosely in his laps. "My apologies, Nemia. I just..." He trailed off, catching the narrowing of her eyes then shook his head and huffed out a small baritone laugh. "Alright... it's the mark of Sol Invictus. The mark of the God, Solis."
He watched as she thought for a moment. "Solis? Isn't he the supposed God of the sun and light? If you believe in the Gods that is.. What's he got to do with me though? Why do I have his mark? If anything, shouldn't it be a mark from the Moon Goddess with all things being considered?" She half laughed in disbelief.
Dorian cleared his throat, "Well, yes and no. It was a long time ago, when I was just a tiny tot. My mom spoke of a family being blessed by Solis. An old family, one that has already been around for generations. The Trugheta clan. They were a powerful hybrid family and well respected in the community. At the time, the youngest female of the generation was 28 at the time I believe and infertile. But it was said that the God, Solis, took pity on the woman as she begged to any God to bless her with ability to carry a child. Solis was said to come down from their empire in the skies, taking on a more human form and seduced her. Gifting her with a child, Maizakin." Dorian paused.
"And?..." Nemia pressed, curiosity peaking though still skeptical.
Dorian chuckles a bit and propped his arms on the desk in front of him, hands still clasped loosely. "And.. that child wore the mark of Solis, the same very mark you bare on your own chest." He pointed both his pointer fingers together in the direction of the mark she bared. Her hand rose to the mark. "The family carried on then for many generations with and abundance of fertility stemming from the demigod, Maizakin, Solis created with the infertile Trugheta. Maizakin was the only demigod created in that moment, but Solis had told the family that he would bless them again with his mark in a future generation. It was said that when his mark reappeared, that child would signify a change coming. That child would be the forefront of the change." Dorian paused for a moment, sitting back in his chair again. "Nemia." Her name tasted like the hint of honey her scent gave off. "Nemia... Yours and my fate is intertwined more deeply than this mate bond of the Moon Goddess ever could make us... That mark makes you the leader of... Us.. all of us.. You are it. The one."
Nemia scoffed. "I never agreed to any of this. All I want is to bring that bastard, that called me his fucking sister, to justice. Then I'm leaving." She pushes out a laugh of disbelief. "I can't stay here forever... And I can't lead a whole nation... I wouldn't even know where to begin if I even tried."
Dorian sat back up on the edge of his seat. 'I can't stay here forever.' rang in his ears and he could feel the panic creep into his heart and up his throat. "No, you can't leave!" He yelled, though his voice cracked at 'leave'. "Not after I just found you..." His voice was just above a whisper now.
Nik moved around the desk and put a hand on Dorian's shoulder. No words were needed to be said between the two to know what was being said in their silence. Julia pulled her hand out of Nemia's grasp finally, flexing her hand to get the feeling back. "Nemia..."
********************
Nemia's world was turning upside down. A mate, a long lost brother she knew nothing about but was obviously set on killing her, having the mark of a God, said mark means she's supposed to be a damn leader now?... It was too much too fast. Everything was wrong. And she's already hurt Dorian again.. twice.. in a span of fifteen minutes...
"Why does this blessing of the Gods feel more like a curse...." She mumbled softly, more to herself than the others but knew they could hear her nonetheless.
She focused her eyes on Julia, opening her mind to her to let her in so they could converse without Dorian and Nik hearing. "Jules... I'm not ready for any of this."
Julia gave Nemia a small smile. "And you'll never be if you don't just jump in." Julia glanced over at the other two, who were both looking at them confusedly but not saying anything. "They can help you, you know... And Nemia.. Dorian is your mate."
Nemia winced inwardly. "Please, Jules... Don't."
"Don't what? Tell you the truth." She looked at Nemia pointedly. "Do not reject him without giving yourself the chance to get to know who you are rejecting. Because if you do, we may just lose our king for good."
This time Nemia was the one to look over at the boys. Dorian's eyes were burning intensely, unwavering from her. She could get lost in those intense, blue eyes. She locked her lips ever so slightly and he stiffened, his nostrils flared. "He's really that close to losing his sanity?" She asked Julia through the mingld link without moving her eyes from Dorian's.
"Yes, Nemia.. he is over 500 years old, most lycans would have already went insane without their mate to quell the rage and bloodlust. He's hanging on by a thread.... He needs you Nem... Just... Try."
Nemia's mind fell into silence, disconnecting the mind link with Julia. Though still not shifting her gaze from Dorian. "Okay... We will try..." She said it out loud, Julia sighed in relief and threw her arms around Nemia's neck. Dorian and Nik brows both furrowed as they glanced at each other, confused.
Nik was the first to question. "Ummm, try what sugar?" He asked with his charming smile held in reserve. Julia let go of Nemia and answered him before she could herself.
"She's going to try it all." Julia said cheerfully and smiled brightly, standing up. "But first, I think we need to make a plan about this Malcolm fellow... We should probably go question that siren first. See what she knows of Malcolm, get her to talk." She glanced over at Nik. "You should be able to, uh, make her sing." She winked and let her laugh bubble out. Infectious as it was, the rest of them started laughing lightly along with Julia.
Nemia was the first to stow away the laughter a few moments later. "She is right though, we need to question Veera. She may know something and it doesn't hurt to follow any lead we can get considering the bastard has made it seem like he is just smoke on the wind. Much like the black miasma of smoke he disappeared into." Nemia grumbled the last bit, irritated at how close she was to getting him.
"I agree, after he was banished from your family when your mother was pregnant with you.. he became a menace. But always seemed to stay three steps ahead and just out of grasp. Though he seemed to have went silent for the past few years, until today that is." Dorian agreed with Nemia. Nemia gave him a small smile before the smile faltered, registering the first bit that he had said.
"You.. knew my birth mother?" Nemia asked softly, her eyes falling to the floor. Her arms wrapped around herself.
Dorian was kneeling on the ground in front of her in a fraction of a second. His face coming into view just a foot away from hers. Her body immediately torn and frozen, half of her wanting to push him away and get space as he filled her senses being so close. The other part, well, the other part wanted him. To lean into his scent, lean into him. Feel him.
He was still shirtless from his most recent transformation and him being this close she could see every definition of muscles as well as a few scars that was scattered across his chest, stomach, arms, shoulders. She wondered how many scars littered his back as well. He spoke then, finally.
"I met her a few times. She was beautiful, much like you." He reached up cautiously and tipped her chin up to make her look more directly at him. He smile softly and let his hand linger for a moment, his thumb lightly brushing against her chin. That small movement sending a jolt of electricity and warmth throughout her. "You have her eyes." He glanced around her face. Well, she thought her face till he spoke again, this time with a small laugh. "And her unruly red hair."
Nemia bit her lip lightly before smiling cheekily. "Yeah?"
"Yeah." He mumbled back softly. He licked his lips as she noticed his eyes focusing on her lips and they darkened. Then she noticed she had started subconsciously biting her bottom lip again. Her lip popped out, slightly damp.
She cleared her throat. "Sorry..." She mumbled softly and moved to the side in an attempt to stand but he moved with her.
"No, I'm sorry." He mumbled as he moved his head, closing the distance fast. At the last second, she put a hand against his chest to stop him.
"Dorian..." His name was used as more of a plea than a warning. "Please, not yet."
Dorian stopped, his lips inches from hers. She could feel his warm breath against her own lips. Her wolf whined inside her. 'Mate.' Dorian sighed, lowering his head a bit to rest his forehead lightly against her chin. "As you wish. I've waited this long." He mumbled softly.
She glanced over at Julia and Nik who was just standing in the middle of the office, both awkwardly smiling. Nemia cleared her throat and patted Dorian on his shoulder. "You need a shirt, and then we need to go speak with good ole Veera." Dorian sighed but rocked back up onto his feet and stretched out his hand to give Nemia a hand up. Nemia stared for a moment, mentally debating before giving in and just reaching out for his hand.
"You heard the lady, let's go get me a shirt before we go get that bitch, Veera." Dorian jeered giving a smile that only Nik knew and hadn't seen for a long while. Julia and Nik both nodded their head in a silent agreement and the four of them exited the office.