Konstantin: The Heartless Beta
41. Visiting Dimitri

Konstantin

"You sure about this?” I ask Kai as I press the elevator button. My brother has had a bad feeling about Dimitri since we left here last night, and he couldn't keep quiet about it. Lily told me to go with him to see what it could be about, or we would not hear the end of it.

“You can't tell me you don't think this has all ended a bit too easily,” he says, keying in the code to Dimitri's penthouse and gritting his teeth.

No, I didn't want to fucking think about it. We've been through so fucking much already, and I didn’t want to dig up more problems. I wanted to remain blissfully ignorant until I couldn't take it anymore.

“It's always something,” I grumble and lean back against the railing with my arms crossed. Damn it, give me a break!

“You're right; it is always fucking something with our family and pack. But as the Alpha and Beta, we owe it to them to make sure they're safe while they remain blissfully ignorant.” He says, giving me a look that shuts me up immediately.

Fuck, did I say that over the link?

The elevator door opens, and we immediately catch the scent of blood. Kai's eyes switch to crimson, and I follow him as he runs to the room we had Dimitri locked up in. He breaks the door down, both of us expecting a bloodbath, but what we find leaves us confused.

Dimitri is lying on the floor right next to a puddle of vomit that looks like blood.

Kai goes to him and picks him up. "He's burning up,” he says, holding our brother in his arms. “Dimitri, brother, wake up!”

Dimitri stirs and mumbles something while Kai carries him over to the bed. “Dimitri!”

His eyes shoot open, and he looks at Kai with a terrified expression. “K-Kai? What...?” He says, glancing between me and then Kai again.

I walk towards him and sit down, drawing my hand up to his forehead. “Are you okay?” I ask.

He blinks, then looks down at the vomit on the floor. “I don't... I don't know. I keep having these dreams where I'm doing terrible things.”

I glance at Kai momentarily, then back at Dimitri. “Dreams? What kind of dreams?”

“I kill people - a lot of them before eating them. My last dream saw me tearing someone who looked like an older Nikolai in half. That's why there's a puddle of that on the floor,” he says as shame slips into his scent.

Kai sighs and slaps Dimitri on his shoulder before standing up. “Come with us; you're probably hungry.”

/“What the fuck are you doing?"/ I ask Kai over the link.

/“Follow my lead.”/ He answers while I glare at him.

/“What happened to “Dimitri is dead to me?"/

/“Konstantin.”/

He says my name, and I immediately stop talking. I know I'm being a fucking asshole right now, but I can't see myself forgiving Dimitri yet, even if he has been under the influence of something sinister for over a decade. The fact that he knew something was wrong with him for so long and didn't come to us with it proves just how much he trusted us

I don't care if he said that he didn’t want to burden us with his problems, but that's exactly what family is for; to help you sort out your problems, no matter how small. I used to think we were closer than that, but Dimitri's actions have proved different.

Kai leads Dimitri to the kitchen and tells him to sit at the island in the middle while he removes eggs, bacon and whatever else from the refrigerator. Dimitri sits down and glances up at me before looking away and down at his hands again.

“I did something to you as well, didn't I?” He murmurs before peering back up at me again. “I can tell by the look in your eyes.”

I sigh. “Yes, you did. You fucked us all around, Dimitri and betrayed us in the worst way possible-" “Konstantin,” Kai says with his back to us from across the room.

"What? We can't fucking baby him forever, Kai. He needs to know what he’s done.” I argue, pinching the bridge of my nose. “You didn't trust us enough to help you, and now we don't trust you at all.” If Kai isn't going to call him out on his bullshit, then I will. I've always been the asshole, I know this. It's part of the reason I got my Heartless Beta nickname, but I won't ever hesitate to call anyone out on their shit, even if it is my brother.

I hear Kai sigh and walk over to us, putting a plate in front of Dimitri then levelling me with a glare. “I fucking understand; trust me, I do. But we can't exactly put all of this on him right now, Kon. He needs time to realise just how deep his betrayal has gone.” Kai says and takes a seat next to Dimitri, who stands up and looks at both of us.

“No, Kon is right. You need to tell me what I did. There's no point in tiptoeing around the fact that I screwed up.” He says, then places his palms on the marble counter. “Your trust isn't easily won again, if ever, so please tell me everything.”

Kai glances at me. /“I don't think he's ready.”/ He says over the link.

/“Neither were we when he betrayed us.”/ I replied.

My older brother sighs then looks back up at Dimitri. “Fine, if you insist.” He says, then leans his elbow on the counter. “For the last twelve years, you've been under the influence of some sort of demonic parasite. It has influenced your actions, let the enemy know our every move, made you kill, and yes, you're possibly the one who killed Zofia as well.”

The horror on Dimitris face cannot be described, but what Kai has said is simply the tip of the iceberg.

"Your beast is the only one who knew about the parasite and tried to fight it, which led to you not being in control of your beast in the end. You described the feeling as permanently being under the sway of the full moon. But you never came to us for help, and we never knew you were struggling until a few months ago.”

Kai sighed, then gave me a “happy now?" raise of his eyebrow. Hey, Dimitri is a big fucking boy and a Volkov. He can handle it.

“You were the one who allowed my mate to be kidnapped. You were the one who allowed us to believe Nikolai had been dead for months when in fact, those assholes took him to use as a sacrifice. You were the one who knew where Konstantin’s mate was being held and abused. And lastly, you were the one who stole my firstborn, gave her to the enemy and left the pack.” “No-No...”

"Yes, that is what you did, plus I am sure you did a lot more that we're unaware of. So tell me now, Dimitri, were you ready to hear all of your sins?” Kai finishes off, then gets up from his chair.

Dimitri sniffs, then sits down again. “No, I needed that and understand now why Kon looks at me with such disdain and frankly, I deserve it.” He says, then shakes his head. “I don't want you guys to forgive me; I want to earn your forgiveness and my way back into the pack.”

My eyes widen when he says this. “You sure about that? The Dimitri we knew wouldn't even hurt a fly,” I say.

“That Dimitri is dead, wouldn't you say, brother?” he says with a scoff and shakes his head before looking at Kai. “Start me off as an Omega.”

Kai growls. “What?! No Volkov will be reduced to an Omega-!"

"Kai, please, it's the rank I deserve. I'll earn my keep and way back into your pack; I won't accept a hand out either.” He pleads with a desperate look in his eyes. “I know I can’t make this right, not by a long shot, but it's what needs to be done.”

"He's right; we should give him this at least,” I add, walking towards Dimitri and placing a hand on his shoulder. “Let him earn our trust again, Kai. He's our little brother, after all.”

I know I'm being mercurial now, but I can't help it. Dimitri fucked up, but it wasn't his fault the blonde bitch targeted him.

Kai sighs again. “Fine,” he says, then cocks his head towards the elevator. “We'll be back in a few days.”

I take this as my cue to leave as well and pat Dimitri on the back before following Kai out. If he wants to earn our trust and a place in a pack, then he will need to start at the bottom as all our recruits do. I want to believe him again. I want us to be close, but that trust is shattered right now, and Dimitri will have to carefully put it back together for us to be a united front again.

Dimitri

I watch as the elevator doors close and fall to the floor, holding my head. “Fuck, fuck, FUCK!" I murmur, holding my fists to my skull.

/“I told you they will forgive you,”/ my wolf says in a condescending tone, and I shake my head. “They shouldn't...they really shouldn't..." I whisper, the feeling of bile rising again.

I get up and finish the food my brother had made for me, knowing I do not deserve the kindness he offered me. Then I go back to the room and clean up the blood on the floor - the blood I continue to vomit up nonstop.

The guilt is gnawing at my heart again, its roots sinking deep. Konstantin is right; he has always been right. I should have come to them with my problem long ago instead of doing what I did. But I didn't trust them with my secret because I knew they would baby me; I could control the thing inside of me without their help.

Fuck, how wrong was 1?

My memories came back after Kai made me turn three times after each other. However, what my brothers know is only the tip of the iceberg: The real enemy was never Stefan and Morganna. If they ever found out everything I had done in the last twelve years, they wouldn't just banish me...

They would kill me.

The only thing I can do now is to prove myself to them and earn their trust once more. But I meant what I said earlier; the old Dimitri is dead, and in its place stood a man who is filled with anger and no longer afraid to let his beast out.

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