Free Web NovelChapter 119: Chapter 118: The First Meeting
The tension in the room eased fractionally....not gone, but manageable.
They’d reached an understanding, even if it was built on mutual suspicion and territorial posturing.
"When do I meet my niece?" Raphael asked, genuine eagerness entering his voice for the first time. Twenty-three years of watching from shadows, and he was finally going to talk to her. Really talk to her, not just observe from a distance.
Silas spoke up, his voice warm. "She is getting ready to see you as we speak. We told her about you this morning. She’s... excited and desperate to meet the uncle she thought was dead."
Something flickered in Raphael’s expression....vulnerability, hope, fear all mixed together. "What did you tell her about me?"
"The truth," Damian said. "That you showed up claiming to be her father’s brother. That you helped stabilize her power after she killed Zane."
"And she believed you?" Raphael asked.
"She wanted to," Silas said gently. "Wanted to believe she has family left. We could see it in her eyes.....the desperate hope that she’s not alone anymore."
Raphael closed his eyes briefly, composing himself. When he opened them again, they were suspiciously bright. "She’s not alone. She’s never been alone. I’ve always been there. She just... didn’t know it."
"Well, now she does," Damon said, and for the first time since Raphael arrived, there was no hostility in his voice. Just understanding....one protector to another. "And fair warning.....she’s going to have questions. A lot of them.
"I know," Raphael said. "And I’ll answer them all. Everything she wants to know, everything she needs to hear."
"Good," Damian said, standing from behind his desk. "Because she deserves the truth. Deserves to understand where she comes from and what she’s capable of."
He moved around the desk, positioning himself closer to Raphael....not threatening, but definitely asserting dominance. "But understand this....if telling her the truth breaks her, if learning about her family’s history damages her somehow, we will hold you responsible. Clear?"
"Crystal," Raphael agreed without rancor. "Though I suspect you underestimate her resilience. She’s Azrael’s daughter. My brother’s strength runs in her veins. She won’t break from learning the truth. If anything, it will make her stronger."
"We’ll see," Damian said.
A knock sounded at the door....soft but insistent.
"Come in," Damian called.
Mrs. Catherine entered, carrying a tray with coffee and what looked like a list of names. She set the coffee on the desk, then handed the list to Damian.
"The volunteers you requested, Alpha," she said, her voice neutral and professional. "Pack females who are unmated and willing to... assist... our guest with his feeding requirements."
Raphael took the offered cup of coffee, glancing at the list over the rim with open amusement. Twenty names. They’d found twenty females willing to fuck an incubus they’d met exactly once or not met at all.
"That was fast," he observed.
"We’re efficient," Damon said with satisfaction. "And our pack females are... generous with their hospitality."
"I’m sure they are," Raphael murmured, his eyes still on the list. "Though I suspect their generosity has more to do with curiosity about incubus lovers than actual hospitality."
He wasn’t wrong. It was widely known that incubi and succubi were exceptional in bed.....it was literally what they were designed for. Any chance to experience that firsthand would be irresistible to curious werewolves.
"Does it matter?" Damian asked bluntly. "They’re willing. You need to feed. Everyone gets what they want."
"True enough," Raphael agreed, setting down his coffee. "When do these... generous... volunteers expect me?"
"Tonight," Damian said. "After you’ve met with Eve. After training begins. We’ll have them arrive in shifts....three at a time, every few hours. That should keep you well fed and thoroughly occupied."
The subtext was clear: too occupied to spend excessive time with their mate.
Raphael’s smile turned sharp. "Three at a time. How thoughtful. Though I should warn you.....incubi have considerably more stamina than most beings.
Three might not be enough to keep me ’thoroughly occupied’ for long."
Damian’s jaw clenched. "Then we’ll send six. However many it takes."
"As you wish," Raphael said agreeably. Too agreeably. Like he was indulging children playing at manipulation.
****
Eve stood outside Damian’s office door, her hand raised to knock, frozen in a moment of paralyzing uncertainty.
She’d faced down an assassin less than twelve hours ago. Had killed him without hesitation, drained his life force until there was nothing left but crystallized dust. Had executed a traitor in the dungeon with cold efficiency. Had dominated Damian himself, tied him up with her power and taken what she wanted.
But standing here, about to meet the uncle she’d thought was dead for twenty-three years?
Terrifying.
Her hand trembled slightly as she finally knocked....three sharp raps that sounded too loud in the quiet hallway.
"Come in," Damian’s voice called from inside.
Eve took a deep breath, smoothed down the deep crimson blouse she’d chosen....the color of Seraphim royalty, though she hadn’t consciously known that when she selected it....and pushed open the door.
The first thing she saw was her three mates, positioned around the office like a protective barrier. Damian behind his desk, Damon near the window, Silas by the bookshelf. All three watching her with expressions that mixed pride, protectiveness, and barely concealed territorial tension.
And then her eyes found him.
Raphael stood near the far window, backlit by morning sunlight that made him look almost ethereal. When he turned at the sound of the door opening, their eyes met across the room.
Amber to amber. Exactly the same shade, the same shape, the same way they seemed to glow from within.
Eve’s breath caught in her throat.
He looked like the man from her dream....her father. The same aristocratic features, the same dark hair touched with silver at the temples, the same elegant bearing that spoke of centuries and nobility. But younger, more beautiful in a way that almost hurt to look at directly. ƒгeewebnovёl.com
And the energy radiating from him.....that overwhelming sexual presence that made the air itself feel charged....was so similar to what she felt from herself that it was like looking into a mirror. Like recognizing a part of herself she’d never fully understood until this moment.
"Evangeline," Raphael breathed, and his voice cracked with emotion. He took a step toward her, then stopped himself, his hands clenching at his sides like he was physically restraining himself from crossing the room and pulling her into his arms.
Eve couldn’t move. Couldn’t speak. Could barely breathe as twenty-three years of loneliness and longing crashed over her in a wave so powerful it threatened to pull her under.
Family. Real family. Blood family. Standing right there. Alive. Real. Not a dream or a wish or a desperate fantasy.
"I...." she started, her voice barely above a whisper. "Are you really.....?"
"Yes," Raphael said immediately, his own voice rough with unshed tears. "I’m really your uncle. Your father’s brother. I’m really here."
Eve crossed the room in a rush, not walking but nearly running, and Raphael met her halfway. They collided in the center of the office, his arms coming around her in a fierce embrace that felt like coming home to something she’d never known she was missing.
She buried her face in his chest and sobbed....great, heaving sobs that came from somewhere deep and broken inside her. All the grief she’d carried for parents she’d never known, all the loneliness of being the only one of her kind, all the fear and confusion and desperate longing for family.....it all came pouring out in a torrent of tears she couldn’t control.
Raphael held her tightly, one hand cradling the back of her head, the other wrapped around her waist, and he was crying too. She could feel the dampness on the top of her head where he’d buried his face in her hair, could feel the way his body shook with emotion he’d clearly been holding back for decades.
"I’m sorry," he whispered against her hair, his voice breaking. "I’m so sorry, Evangeline. Sorry I couldn’t reveal myself sooner. Sorry you grew up thinking you were alone. Sorry you had to face so much without knowing your family was watching, was protecting you, was loving you from the shadows."
"You’re here now," Eve managed to choke out between sobs. "You’re here and you’re real and I’m not alone anymore."
"You were never alone," Raphael said fiercely, pulling back just enough to frame her face with his hands, his thumbs wiping away her tears even as his own fell freely. "Never, my darling girl. I have been here every day of your life. Watching you grow. Keeping you safe. Loving you with everything I had to give."
