SURPRISE MOTHERFUCKERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is my early Christmas gift to you!

———-

Nikola’s POV

I hated surprises.

I hated being a part of them. I hated witnessing them, and I had always been certain that, if forced, I would hate organising them as well.

I thought I could go through life without having to confirm that theory. I thought wrong.

Using my earth magic, I sprout a makeshift platform from the ground, placing upon it a ping-pong table with two paddles on each side and a small basket filled with balls. Besides that, I construct a half-court for basketball, just big enough for four or maybe six.

“This isn’t permanent, right?” Aiden asks for the third time within this last hour alone. “I don’t want half a basketball court in my backyard. If it’s permanent, I want the full thing. Otherwise, what the fuck am I going to do with half a basketball court?”

“What are you going to do with a full one?” Damon retorts while he crosses the backyard with a barrel of Crescent Bliss in each hand. “I keep telling you, you’re not a spry old man, just an old one, but the dementia keeps making you forget.”

“Fuck you. I’m spry as fuck!” Aiden retorts. “Just ask your father.”

“My God,” William groans while Damon almost drops both barrels as he gags. “I’m going to be sick.”

Cackling wickedly, Aiden lifts his gaze back to the sky, “So? Is this shit permanent?”

“No,” I reply through the wind.

He shudders, “It’s like I’m talking to Jesus.”

It’s Jayson’s turn to laugh” this time as he says, “‘Cause he’d stoop so low.”

“You know, what runt—”

“Nikola!”

I jolt, pulling my splintered consciousness out of my spell and depositing it back in the present with the rest of it, with Hagen.

The scene that unfolds before me is a perplexing one.

Knots, who’d been on the floor when I’d mentally slipped away, is now wrapped around my chest with the majority of his shrunken down scales piled atop my head. Shaking all over, he hisses irritably while trying to escape the kitten currently struggling to scale my leg.

“What happened?”

Hagen stops trying to pry the demon off of my leg and pins me with a gaze steeped with horrified disbelief, “What happened? What happened?” He echoes with a dry huff. “What happened to you?! We were doing this together, and the second Knots freaks out, you just zone out and leave me to fend for myself?”

“I did not zone out,” I foolishly correct.

Hagen leaves Wreck to maul me so that he can glare at me instead, “Then what were you doing?”

… well, this wasn’t good.

I didn’t lie to Hagen. There was no need for it now, so much so that the thought of doing so sickened me, but this was different. To tell the truth would be to ruin the surprise, and after how much I’d endured over the last week in coordinating this, I would not ruin this surprise.

Small lies would have to be made, but I would confess to them all once Hagen knew the truth.

“I zoned out.”

The lie is so bitter on my tongue that it forces me to bow my head. Hagen nods, pleased enough with my shame to refocus his attention on the unravelling situation at hand. The moment his gaze falls upon Knots again, all aggravation escapes him as his shoulders and lips dip down.

“He won’t get down,” he informs.

I did not blame him.

Hagen pins me with a warning look that startles me into action. I slide a searching hand up, sliding it over Knots’ scale to soothe him, but Knots only sees his salvation and delves towards it. Shrinking himself down to the size of a coral snake, he slides beneath the sleeve of my shirt and loops himself around my lower arm.

“Oh, Knots, no,” Hagen whines, but it’s too late. Knots locks himself in place with no plans of coming out. “Knots don’t hide. It’s just Wreck.”

“Just Wreck,” I echo as I drop my gaze to the vicious kitten still pawing at my leg, either unaware or unconcerned with the havoc he’s causing.

“Knots,” Hagen tries again, but Knots doesn’t peek out, not even for him.

“This isn’t how this was supposed to go,” Hagen complains as he ducks down and finally manages to pry Wreck away after a few tugs. Wreck makes a protesting sound but allows Hagen to cuddle him to his chest, his dilated eyes never shifting away from my sleeve.

“I never thought that he’d be scared when they met,” Hagen mumbles sadly. “If anything, I thought it would be the other way around. He’s a fucking python.”

“He’s Knots,” I remind while I pet my assaulted conduit through my sleeve. I infuse a sliver of dark magic to my touch and breathe a little easier when it stops his shaking.

Unlike my mate, I never thought that Knots might try to eat Wreck when they eventually met. It had taken him months to stomach eating other animals before I’d learned how to sustain him with dark magic alone, so I knew he had no appetite for Wreck. That being said, I had never assumed that he would be scared of the cat.

Knots was not scared of very much. He was naturally optimistic, unfortunately friendly and extremely playful. Wary, I’d been prepared for, but not scared. The reasoning escaped me, but perhaps Knots sensed something in Wreck that we could not.

I return my gaze to the kitten, and still when I find his stare still fastened on us. Frowning, I take a step back. Maybe Knots was on to something.

“What are we going to do?” Hagen asks, his brown eyes wide and fretful. “We can’t live together if we always have to keep them apart.” I part my lips, “I don’t want to live like that, Nikola.”

I sigh but nod, “It will take time. Knots will warm to him eventually.”

Wreck meows, and it sounds somewhat mocking, especially when Knots trembles around my wrist. My frown deepens. ‘Eventually’ suddenly seemed too far away, and I did not think I was particularly willing to endure it.

I resist the urge to sigh as this matter slots itself alongside all the others congregating at this very moment, the collective testing my mind’s bandwidth of just how much I can juggle.

I did not know what had possessed me, but I was throwing a party— a surprise party, and I hated every moment of it.

When Hagen’s birthday began to make its approach, some masochistic corner of my mind decided that the best gift I could give him would be to throw a party for him and do it all in secret.

A party. A surprise party. By Goddess and the Gods, why had I done this?

I’d intended it to be a small affair— a celebration rather than a party with only Hagen’s friends and families in attendance. How naive I’d been.

My first mistake when I reached out to Hagen’s family to inform them of my plans and ensure they would be present, was reaching out to Hagen’s family. I should have kept it as a celebration with only Hagen’s friends– I saw that now.

Instead of agreeing to be attendees, the Heil-Calderons immediately promoted themselves to party planners, and with all their ‘contributions’, it was now a much larger event than I’d initially intended. Unfortunately, they wanted to celebrate his and Josey’s birthdays at the same time. Their reasoning for the additional toiling was that they were twins, and they always celebrated together.

I told myself that was fair, so here we were. Or rather, here I was, quietly suffering.

You could have said no. You should’ve said no – Neo informs unhelpfully. I would have said no.

Yes, I’m sure. Then you would’ve said yes when Theo threatened to skin you alive –I remind him, earning a disgruntled growl from him.

Regardless of what the celebration had turned into, I was only concerned with Hagen’s side of events.

Levi and Jayson were, of course, coming with Kane and Elijah, Aiden and Julian were in charge of entertainment, and Damon and Will were helping me set it all up. I had deployed Peter to prepare his favourite foods and Josey to contact Hagen’s friends and get them to come since she already knew about the party. According to her, she hadn’t even given them a date before they were packing and making travel plans.

Since we returned to the pack, Hagen had reached out to each of them to tell them he was fine, but that had been over the phone, and apparently, that had not been enough. They wanted to see him for themselves, and now, they would be.

Despite the uninvited altercations to my plans, it was all coming together nicely, with only a few days remaining until this torture ended, and I could not wait. I wanted all the secrecy and additional social interactions to end, but I was also uncomfortably eager to see Hagen’s reaction.

I knew he would be happy with anything and grateful, too, but that was not good enough for me.

I did not just want my Hagen to be happy. I wanted to make Hagen ‘lose his fucking shit’. Anything less would be a failure.

“Nik?” Hagen calls. I blink, focusing on the handsome man himself, who is now frowning at me. “Where do you keep going?”

“I was thinking about how we’d resolve this.” Another lie.

He sighs, “I guess with time like you said. Maybe we can try again tomorrow.” Turning, Hagen walks back into the sitting room Wreck had slowly claimed as his own. The fur was one thing, but if Ma saw what he’d done to her favourite couch, I would be a dead man.

“Are you sure that’s all?” he asks as he sinks onto the couch. “You’ve been feeling a little out of it lately. Is it the shutdown? Are you still kinda out of it?” He freezes. “Should I get the Lego penguin out again?”

“No,” I reply, smiling as I approach him. “I am fine, I promise. I have just had a lot on my mind.” Technically, that was not a lie.

Sensing the closing distance between him and the source of his fear, Knots slithers from my wrist, growing in size as he rushes to the floor. Wreck perks the moment he spots the slew of dark scales, his predatory eyes filling with excitement. Knots is off first, his dark magic speeding him away so that he has at least a head start before Wreck scratches his way out of Hagen’s hold and bounds after him.

Hagen tries to stand but settles when I place a hand over his shoulder. Peering after them, he wearily asks, “Are they going to be okay?”

“Knots is well-protected, if Wrecks gets too close, a spell will activate,” I assure him, though when Hagen’s eyes bulge, I add, “It will keep a distance between them.”

While Hagen sighs with relief, I readjust Knots’ protection spell to do just that instead of neutralising the perceived threat.

Without the distractions, I step into the space between Hagen’s spread legs, forcing him to crane his head back as he spreads his hands over my thighs. I sink my fingers into his hair, forcing him back another inch and making his eyes droop as he gives into me.

Hagen’s throat bobs twice as he stares up at me, visibly fighting against the urge to lower his eyes. My cock twitches within its confines at the beautiful sight.

Breathing in slowly, he asks, “A lot like what?” I raise a brow. “You said you had a lot on your mind. A lot like what?”

I grit my teeth. More lies.
I force my heart to remain steady while I remind myself that a good lie is always wrapped in truth.

“I want us in a place of our own before your birthday,” I state as I slip my palm down to his cheek. My fingers tingle as Hagen leans into it, his eyes still on me. “I want to make a home for us, and I want to keep you in it.”

Hagen shudders, the sensation vibrating up my arm with an addictive buzz, “Oh, yeah?”

“Yes,” I confirm lowly. “I would fill it with everything you have ever desired and everything you could ever need. I would make it perfect.”

A lopsided grin forms across Hagen’s face as he breathes me in, “That sounds nice.” He lets himself be wistful for only a second before he unfortunately sobers. “But I don’t think we’ll find the perfect place for me and you in a couple of days.”

I glower, even knowing it’s the truth, and Hagen chuckles.

“It’ll happen when it’s meant to,” he promises wisely. “Please don’t stress about that. I’m happy wherever I am, once I’m with you.”

My heart bucks as if I’ve just taken a kick from a pair of hind legs to my chest. It burns as I try to breathe. I’m not sure the sensation is a pleasant one.

“I must go,” I state, wrongfully tugging the smile from his lips. “I’m sorry, but just as you’ve seen Josey, I must see Jacob.”

It wasn’t entirely a lie, since I did have to see Jacob, eventually, but I did need to go. I was uninclined to continue weaving lies and also entirely distrustful of what Aiden would do to my layout when he was not constantly monitored.

“Okay,” Hagen mumbles as he leans forward, resting his chin against my thigh. “I’ll hang here or maybe fuck off if someone is free.”

No one would be free. I provided each of his family members with files outlining believable and carefully curated excuses as to why they would not be able to see Hagen today, and even a sheet of what to say to respond to the questions he was most likely to ask.

“That sounds good,” I reply as I slide my fingers back into his hair. I scratch his scalp until his eyes roll and smile as I watch him give, that is, until he moans. My smile fades as blood rushes south, reminding me of just how close he is to my cock.

When Hagen’s eyes open again, he notices it too, and unlike me, he takes immediate advantage of the situation.

Straining against my fingers, Hagen rests his cheek against my thigh and tucks himself in close so that his breaths tease my leaking tip. When I shiver, he inches closer to drag his lips over me through my trousers.

“Hagen,” I hiss but he ignores me.

Kissing my outline, he teases my quickly filling cock before his lips suddenly suck on me. I groan as he mouths my cock over the fabric, gifting me with a wrecked whimper as I twitch against him.

“Stop it,” I snap as I fist his hair to keep him still.

“Why?” Hagen pants against my cock, each breath a torturous tease. “I could get you off before you go.”

“No, you can’t, because then I won’t go,” I reply through gritted teeth.

Mischief sparks within his brown eyes, “And what’s wrong with that?”

Before I can reply, Hagen inches his hips forward, bringing himself to the edge of the couch so that he can wrap both his legs around one of my own. His eyelashes flutter over his slitted eyes as he brings his cock against my leg and grinds himself against it.

“Uhn,” he moans, moving slowly to drag every inch of pleasure he can out of the friction.

“Hagen,” I growl, but I can’t drag my eyes away from his parted lips or his shifting hips.

Lost within his arousal, Hagen’s fingers curl over my waistband, already tugging them down while his cock bucks against my leg.

“I haven’t had you in days,” he complains as he wets his lips. “I just want to make you cum.”

Gods help me.

Freeing his hair, I grab Hagen’s wrists and spread them apart so he can’t touch, but Hagen doesn’t let that stop him. He leans in, burying his face between my legs and pressing against my pulsing cock until I moan for him. Inhaling deeply, he mouths my cock and tries to tug the waistband down with his teeth.

I almost cum on the spot.

My magic saves me the embarrassment. It wraps itself around his neck, pulling him back until he’s locked down with his head craned back for me once more.

Panting, I lean down until I’m hovering just over him and his contracting chest. “Stop it,” I growl over his lips. “We don’t stop when we start and I can’t afford not to stop today.”

Hagen juts his lip out while he glares up at me, “But I want it.”

Goddess have mercy.

“I want it,” Hagen says again as if I didn’t hear him the first time. Grinding his cock against my leg again, he whimpers and moans, “I want… want your cum in my mouth.”

“Pup,” I groan as I clutch his wrists tighter.

Hagen stares into my eyes, his gaze like a vixen’s, “Not down my throat, in my mouth. I want to taste it.”

“That’s disgusting,” I spit even while my aching cock leaks to give him a taste.

“Yeah, it is,” he agrees, but there’s no shame in his eyes as his lips brush over mine. He kisses me gently, “Give it to me anyway?”

I was mated to a monster.

You’re mated to an angel, and so am I – Neo declares resolutely – we should be so grateful. Fuck him. Fuck him right now!

“When I get back,” another lie. I tell this one to both Neo and Hagen. “I will when I get back. For now, I need to go, Hagen.”

Hagen’s eyes dart between mine, looking for an in, but when he finds none, he tries another attack. He strains against me and my magic, groaning as he does until he realises that he’s not gaining an inch.

By the time he gives up, I’m leaking profusely in my trousers, and when his glare returns, I consider giving him a taste.

“Fine,” he grumbles, slumping with defeat. “I’ll jerk myself off.”

My arousal plummets, falling upon the ground so quickly that its crash ricochets through me.

My fingers tighten around his wrists, digging into his skin. “No.”

Hagen’s frown remains as he raises a brow, “No?”

“No,” I grind out.

“Like hell,” he retorts with a chuckle. “I’m hard as fuck and you’re not even going to let me suck you off. I’m at least going to get myself off.”

A growl rumbles from my chest as I bring us closer until my eyes are all he can see. “Don’t.”

Hagen’s eyes widen, first with shock and then something else that feels vulnerable before he replaces it with resistance.

“You can’t stop me,” he retorts firmly. “You can’t stop me from making myself cum, Nik.”

I part my lips to tell him that I very much could only… I’d promised to give him space and time when it came to such dynamics, and this conversation was very much in the realm of BDSM.

In my private reading time, I’d been learning more about D/s relationships, expanding my knowledge so that whenever Hagen was open to exploring that side of us, I would be ready.

I’d learned a lot, including common rules between certain dom-sub types, such as self-denial.

It was something I very much wanted where Hagen was concerned, not because I didn’t want him to pleasure himself but because I wanted to be present every time he reached such heights. I didn’t want him to ever cum without me right there to taste his pleasure before I made it happen again. But that was a desire, a private one for now, and I couldn’t inflict that on him without his permission.

“Fine,” the word tastes like cement on my tongue. Hagen’s eyes widen in surprise, doubling when I free his hands and step back. “Go ahead.”

“Seriously?” He asks sceptically. “That’s it? A second ago, you’re all ‘don’t’, and now you’ve got no fight?”

“No fight,” I confirm with a nod. Hagen eyes me carefully, waiting for the catch, but there’s none. However, with his eyes on mine, he notices too late the moment my hand drops between his legs. Jerking with a whimper, Hagen’s brown eyes meet mine as I give his cock a squeeze. “Touch yourself if you want, but I would very much like it if you did not.”

“Nik,” he whimpers, grinding himself up and into my palm.

“I want it,” I tell him honestly. “I want your cum, so if you kept it, that would make me very happy, Hagen.”

“Uh, shit,” Hagen whimpers as he closes his eyes. “This isn’t fair, Nik.”

I smile, “No. No, it’s not, but I want it. Can you keep it for me, pup?”

It’s the killer shot, and he knows it. Hagen swallows down his next whimper before he nods his head weakly.

“Thank you,” I whisper, kissing his cheek and giving his cock a pat that makes his shaking legs close. “Such a good boy.”

“Go away,” Hagen grumbles as he shoves me back. “You’re the devil.”

I chuckle as I push against his hands and tilt his chin up, ignoring his protests to kiss him tenderly. Hagen stops his fighting, melting beneath me with a happy moan as he parts his lips and lets me in.

“I’ll make it up to you,” I promise, meaning it too. “I’ll use your throat and then your hole until they’re both dripping with me.”

“Oh God, oh— Nik!” Hagen whines, nipping at my lips as he tries to follow me as I stand. When I’m out of his reach, he weeps, “Fuck! You’re so— get out! Get the fuck out! I’m serious!”

Laughing, I peck him once more before I finally step back, leaving him hard, aching and miserable for now. He hated me for it now, but it’d all be worth it in the end.

I knew that for certain because he was worth it all in the end.

———————-

Hagen’s POV

Life fucking sucked when you fell in love with your mate, and they refused to fuck you.
Okay, slightly dramatic, since it’d only been a couple of days since our last go around, and I guess, Nik wasn’t wrong about our inability to stop whenever we started going, but the point still stood!

It sucked ass, especially when Nik refused to let me play with my ass– not that I was going to. I didn’t think I could finger myself no matter how much I loved having him do it, but he took the choice away from me, and that wasn’t right.

Another thing that wasn’t right? The way he kept zoning out around me lately. I knew I talked a lot, maybe too much sometimes, but he always used to listen.

Old Nik would listen to me talk for hours, weeks– fucking years. New Nik, who put a chastity belt on his dick, would only last a couple of minutes before he’d be in his head, thinking about penguins and pie charts or whatever.

It was bullshit.

“Don’t fall in love, guys. If you do, don’t fuck them because as soon as they hit, they lose interest,” I impart my words of wisdom on Knots and Wreck, but neither of them hears me.

Knots is too focused on trying to make himself small in the corner beside my leg Wreck has caged him in, and Wreck is too focused on trying to bypass the invisible shield keeping Knots safe.

I sigh and flop down on Nik’s bed, “Nobody listens to me anymore.”

I listen to you — Zyair argues with an offended huff — even when what you say is repetitive and annoying, I listen.

Gee, thank you, Zyair.

He preens — You are most welcome.

It wasn’t just listening either; nobody wanted to hang out anymore, which was crazy because you’d think my family would want to see me after how long I was away from home, but nope. Everyone was too fucking busy to make time for me.

In fairness, they all had legitimate reasons why they couldn’t just fuck around like me.

Josey was swamped with all things Academy-related, and Dad and Pops were understandably giving their all to helping her. Peter was packing to head back to university soon and trying to go over everything he learned last semester. Damon and Will were actually employed with jobs to do and kids to take care of, and Levi and Jayson were the same, only they were in Canada.

Random hangouts were hard because most people weren’t unemployed like me, which I guess was fair. It still sucked though.

It probably would’ve been easier to manage if Nik was living my unemployed life with me, but when Nik spoke about us returning to some kind of life with routines, he really meant it. He was always thinking or planning our next steps, which I got was just how he operated, but fuck, weren’t we supposed to be in our honeymoon phase?

Groaning, I roll over, breathing in a lungful of his scent and keeping it there before letting it out. These little hits were what was getting me through the days, and as long as I kept it to myself, I didn’t feel ashamed about it.

“What are you doing?”

I jump up, scrambling off the bed so fast I almost trip over Wreck, but I rather die so I throw myself to the floor in the opposite direction. The pain that rushes up my back is worth it.

Nikola tilts his head to one side, looking confused and alarmed in one go. He also looks sexy as fuck which isn’t helping.

Nik always looked sexy, it was like ingrained into him or something, but he was sweating now, and while there was nothing straight off the bat sexy about sweating, it wasn’t something Nik did a lot. He was too composed, too prepared and armed with way too much magic to ever find himself in such a state, but he’s sweating now in a tight black shirt, and it’s fucking sexy.

Goddess help me I was so fucking horny.

“You just let me fall,” I groan from the ground as I stare at him. “You saw me fall and you just let me fall.”

Nikola blinks, looking from me to the bed and then back to me, as if he’s replaying that mess in his head, “I did not think it was possible to move one’s body in such a way.”

“Oh?” I retort, barely managing to stifle my groan, but it comes right out when Wreck panters over to sit on my face. Great. Life was fucking great.

“We need to go,” Nikola says, coming over to yank me up. Wreck meows at him, but he ignores it as he flicks a hand to his left that opens a hole for Knots to escape. Knots takes it and Wreck almost trips himself up as he gives chase. “We need to go.”

“Now?” I ask while Nik drags me to his closet. “What’s going on?”

“Abifepafghe,” he mumbles.

I blink at his back. “A what?”

“Abifepahgut!” Nik replies, a little harsher this time.

Was I having a stroke?

Nikola turns around with a bag and shoves it into my chest, “Put this on.”

“Where are we going?” I ask while I tug his shirt off and then his pants. “Nik?” I ask when he doesn’t answer only to get sidetracked when I dig in the bag and find some of my clothing waiting inside. My chest squeezes painfully. “Why do I have to change?”

Nikola, who’s already stripping and hastily redressing in one of his nicer jumpers, turns to pin me with an almost pleading gaze. He looks exhausted.

“Hagen,” he whispers as he settles his hands on my shoulders. “Please— please — don’t ask me any questions for ten minutes. No– five! Just five! I’m so close now, and I can not fail. I don’t want to fail you.”

I frown, “Fail me? Nik, what are you talking about?” I slide a hand over his and squeeze, “You could never fail me. I just don’t understand what’s happening.”

Nik ducks his head, mumbling something that sounds like a threat to Satan and his lies, and then he looks at me again, “I’ll tell you after we’ve dressed and left, but we need to go now. Can you trust me?”

“Of course,” I reply quickly, and then I smile. “Always, Nik.”

Nikola’s eyes flood with my favourite shade of purple before his lips pull into a smile and he steps back, “Thank you. Thank you,” he sounds like he’s praying. I chuckle, “Dress please.”

I do. Despite the fact that I really don’t want to put on clothes without his scent, I slip the loose shirt and dark grey trousers on, and then the black loafers waiting at the bottom. It’s some of my nicer items, so maybe we were going on a date? Somewhere important?

I keep my questions to myself though as Nikola dresses himself in record time, finishing with his boots and tying his hair out of his face. I hate to see it put away, but I bite my tongue as he looks us both over and nods to himself.

“We’re going to teleport and then you’re going to close your eyes while we walk a short distance. I am going to take your sense of smell away while we walk, but it won’t be for long,” Nikola informs, his gaze imploring as he lists the instructions. “Can you do this?”

“Yes,” I carefully reply while I eye Nik.

Nikola was up to something, but Nik wasn’t really the type to be ‘up to something’. Maybe this was his way of putting together a really nice date night, but Nikola loved planning things so much I couldn’t imagine him planning something like that without telling me. My birthday was coming up so maybe this had something to do with that. Maybe he wanted to do something nice for me, and this was Nik’s way of trying to build suspense.

Whatever it was, Nikola was here, with me, and that was good enough for me.

“Ready?” He asks, nerves suddenly _ all over him.

I lean forward and press my lips to his until our bond melts between us, allowing our souls to join, “Always.”

When we teleport and all I can do is hear with my eyes closed, a rush of deja vu slides over me. It’s almost an entire year later, and an entire lifetime ago, but it feels like when Nik and I had our first fight, or tumble, and he’d showed me what he couldn’t put into words.

How the world was without me, and then what it became with me. It amazed me then, and it does now, because I get it. I get the way everything loses colour when he’s not around, and how the little things seem so much brighter when he is.

I also can’t help but smile at the memory of us back then. We’d been so scared, so nervous, and so fucking desperate to make it work. It felt like reminiscing about a younger, more innocent version of me, who had no clue what was coming.

My smile remains as Nikola starts walking me forward, using a hand on my arm and his arm around my waist to direct me. He makes us take baby steps which is fucking hilarious when I’m pretty sure we’re walking down an open dirt path.

I can hear the distant sounds of the pack, so I know we’re still in our lands, but nobody is directly close, so maybe this was like a little picnic or something.

“Leg up,” Nikola instructs. I lift it, “Higher.” I lift it again, “Higher.”

“What the fuck? Am I stepping over an asteroid?” I ask as I hoist my leg high enough that my dick hurts.

“Now, step,” Nikola says, neither confirming nor denying the asteroid’s presence. We keep walking, with me stumbling a little and him right there to keep me on track. “We’re almost there.”

“Good,” I mumble, turning my head to meet his cheek, “‘cause you smell really good, and I’m dying not to touch you.”

“Hagen,” Nik whispers, sounding as pained as my blue ballsack.

“Not only like that,” I reply with a laugh. “I just want to hug you. You keep slipping off these days.”

Nik’s quiet before he mumbles, “I know. I won’t anymore.”

“It’s okay if you’re busy,” I promise, “just… just don’t get bored of me now that you have me.”

Nikola stops us as he sucks in a breath, and I can feel his shock through our bond. Heat races up my cheeks as I struggle to keep my eyes shut.

“Bored of you?” Nikola echoes. He sounds like the wind has just been punched out of him. “I could never grow bored of you, Hagen. Never. To be bored of you would be to suggest that I am no longer interested in you, and I am absorbed by your every move. Every time you breathe, I feel relief. When you smile, I see stars, and when you’re sad, there is only darkness. Your joy sprouts mine. Your laughter feeds my soul. Hagen, you are my very will to live, my will to breathe. I could never grow bored of you.” Nik brushes his lips against my cheek, delivering a kiss so tender it almost hurts. “You are my everything, Hagen. Don’t you dare ever think otherwise. Not even for a moment.”

My chest hurts. It’s locked tight, as if someone’s pulled the strings around it, leaving my racing heart caged inside. I can’t breathe. I can barely keep myself upright, and even with my eyes clenched shut, the tears spill free.

I open my mouth but my throat is too tight to get any words out. I swallow, trying hard to breathe as Nik holds me close.

“C-Can I open my eyes? Please,” I beg, voice shaking.

Nik makes a soft sound, one so sad that it makes Zyair howl long before Nik says, “Not yet.” Suddenly, I’m making the same sound and I understand it all too well. “Soon. We’re almost there. Soon.”

He kisses my cheek and my nose, kisses over my lips and wipes my tears away until they stop coming. He starts us walking again tentatively, and I follow, even while I feel like glass with each step.

“Nik,” I whisper carefully.

“Yes, Hagen.”

“I love you too.”

Nik and I keep walking, and soon enough, my ears prick, and I immediately notice the lack of sounds. Usually, you could hear creatures skittering about or people walking past, hearts in the distance. I hear nothing now as Nikola slows our steps and slides his palm over my eyes.

“Alright,” he whispers as we come to step. “Are you ready?”

“I don’t know,” I reply honestly, straining hard to hear or smell anything, but there’s nothing. “I’m sort of scared.”

My family bond wavers strangely, warming the way it did when we were all together or laughing. I frown. Did those fuckers get together without me?!

“There’s nothing to be afraid of,” Nikola promises against my ear. “I will count from three, and then you’ll open your eyes.”

“Behind your palm?” I ask, and then howl when he pinches my side.

“Smartass,” he mumbles, but I can hear the smile on his lips. “On one.” I nod.

“Three.” Did he find us a home?

“Two.” Were we back on our planet, and he’d put roses all over the bed?

“One.” Ah!! Fuck!

Nikola moves his palm, and I open my eyes, blinking them quickly as sunlight makes it hard to see the people surrounding us first, with the balloons and—

“SURPRISE!”

“AHHH! FUCK!” I scream, jumping back and almost falling on my ass if not for Nik’s arm around my waist. I cling to him, almost scaling his body as I look at all the faces peering back at me. “FUCKING! SHIT BALLS ON A—”

I freeze, recognising my family, recognising faces and people like— “Ruben?” I gawk at my green-eyed friend as he waves at me. “How the fuck are you— Jaspar?! Max?!?!” I shake my head, blinking hard as I spot Max next, just standing there next to my parents in my pack as if it’s completely normal. “What the fuck is going on?”

Everyone laughs. They all laugh and smile like I’m not scared as hell and confused.

“It’s a surprise party, idiot,” Josey says as she shoves her way forward. She’s got a beer in hand, and she looks more than tipsy, “For you at least. My half of the party knew, and that shit started a few hours ago. This is your half and it’s a surprise.”

“A surprise?” I echo like a dodo bird as I carefully put my feet back on the ground. “A surprise party?”

“Yes, Hagen,” She drawls extra slowly. “Doesn’t it look like one?”

For the first time, I let my gaze drift, looking around what was our backyard, or used to be. It’s transformed now with benches stacked with food, beanbags in front of a projector, a fucking basketball court, ping pong table— was that a section for fucking hide and seek?!

I pull away from Nikola as I step out, taking in the popcorn machines, the barrels stacked with Crescent Bliss, no doubt, and this was just what I could see.

“Holy shit,” I whisper as I turn back around. “You guys did all of this for me?”

It wasn’t as if I’d never gotten a birthday party in my life. Josey and I had awesome ones each year, but this was on another level. There were things here that people shouldn’t even know that I liked. Like fucking hide and seek! I loved hide and seek, but I stopped asking to play that years ago when everyone started looking at me strangely when I asked.

“It ain’t your birthday just yet, but it’s close enough,” Pops bellows as he comes in to slap my back. “But we can’t take all the credit. This was all his idea.”

I follow his gaze, landing it back on Nikola, who stands where I had only a moment ago, and suddenly there are tears fillling my eyes again.

“You did this?” I ask, throat tightening all over again.

Of course, he did. Of course, Nik threw me the best party in the world, even though everything involved was his kryptonite. Of course, it was Nik.

Nikola hesitates as he eyes me. There are people all around, noises coming from inside and out, but he doesn’t seem to notice any of it. He just looks at me, and he looks nervous again like he’s scared to admit it.

“Yes,” he replies carefully.

“You threw me a surprise party?” I croak while my heart throbs in my chest.

“I lied several times,” he suddenly blurts.

“What?”

“I didn’t zone out; I was making preparations here. I wasn’t thinking about how we’d resolve the warfare between Wreck and Knots; I was thinking of how I wanted you to react to this. I do want us in a place of our own before your birthday, but that wasn’t what was on my mind. It was this— planning and preparing for this.”

Nikola deflates after his confession, the air rushing out of him like a popped balloon as he pants before me.

“I’m sorry,” he whispers after a moment. “I’m sorry for lying.”

I CAN’T!!!!!!!!!!!!!! UGH!! HE’S SO FUCKING PERFECT! I LOVE THIS MAN!

“I don’t care if you lied, Nik,” I whisper as my lips stretch into a wobbly smile. “You threw me a surprise party? You, Nik?”

He shifts, “Yes?”

“You hate surprises,” I whisper, and suddenly, his shoulders slump with relief.

“I do,” he confesses.

“You hate parties.”

“I hate them so much.”

“But you threw me one,” I basically sob as I stumble back over to him. “You threw me a fucking surprise party!”

I watch Nikola’s eyes grow wide with alarm for a second before I jump at him. He catches me, stumbling a little while I take his face in my hands and kiss him hard.

“Oh shit,” I hear Jaspar whisper, but I drown it out along with everything else while I kiss this man I love too much but might never deserve. But I’d try, Goddess, I would try every fucking day to deserve him.

When I pull back, Nikola blinks up at me while his fingers dig into my thigh, “You’re happy?”

“Happy?!” I laugh, sounding almost manic. “Nikola! Nikola— This is fucking amazing! I can’t believe you did this for me?! You put this all together for me! I can’t even— Nikola!! There’s a fucking hide-and-seek section!”

“You love hide and seek,” he argues because he knows. Of course, he fucking knows.

“You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me, you know that?”

Nikola stills, looking somewhat lost and then— his cheeks warm, growing redder as he fucking blushes. Goddess help me.

“The best thing,” I whisper as I smile down at him and kiss him hard again.

I lose myself in him, forgetting the world and everything else as I give him with all the love in my heart and then everything else. Someone coughs behind me, but I ignore it. They cough harder, and then others join in, and then there’s a whole fucking virus behind me that has Nik and I parting.

My friends stare at me like I’ve grown a second head, and my family stares at me with open disgust. My family has no excuse for the shock with the things I’d witnessed over the years. My friends, on the other hand, I guess their wide-eyed, open-mouthed stares were warranted.

Well, that incoming conversation was going to be awkward.

This can be your coming-out party, and then it’s a two-in-one! – Zyair tries, and I send him a grateful hug for at least trying.

“No shame,” Pops tsks while Nik puts me back on my feet. “In my day, people had shame. Animals, the lot of you.”

“Pot meet kettle,” Levi says with a snort.

“More like Vantablack meeting the kettle,” Damon whispers, earning a startled chuckle from Dad and then Ruben. Fucking nerds.

Rolling his eyes, Pops fixes me with a look, “Look, kid. We just went through weeks of living under your mate’s dictatorship to pull this shit off, so if you don’t mind, we’d like to enjoy it with you. Do you think you can do that? Can you let Nikola go long enough to do that?”

I glance at Nik, and it only takes that one glance to know that neither of us stands a chance of doing that, but they didn’t need to know that.

“Sure,” I say as I step forward with Nikola’s hand in mine.

As if I was ever going to let him go. 

——————

I feel like I say this with every handful of new chapters, but this is one of my favourite chapters!!!!!!

Thoughts?????

Thoughts on Nikola’s surprise??? Thoughts on Nik struggling to lie??? On the pets meeting??? On Hagen’s POV??? rEaction??!?! 

THOUGHTS ON NIKOLA’S FUCKING LOVE CONFESSION AGAIN UGH THIS MAN!!!!!!!!!!

ON NIKOLA FUCKING BLUSHING?!?!?!!!?

All I know is that man better get his the suckatron 30000 from Hagen because its deserved!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! But that’ll have to wait cause we’ll be enjoying the party and seeing Hagen with his friends next chapter. 

It’ll be from Hagen’s POV, so we’ll see him breaking down sucking Nik’s face off to them hehehe. I’m excited for his first conversation with Max, poor guy.

Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and the surprise of it! It was extremely easy to write and I had such a blast with it so I hope you guys did too!!!! 

Remember to vote and comment, and since I’ll be working on some extras now, check out my Patreon if you want to read more about these guys, especially in the future. One extra this month is about them making a s*x tape heheehe~

Until next time,

Byeeeeeeee Humansssssssssss