“He would be fine,” Frost assured me for what felt like the hundredth time as we waited outside the healing chambers. The scent of medicinal herbs and blood hung heavily in the air, making my stomach churn with anxiety.
“Is he alright?” I asked again, unable to stop myself despite knowing Frost had no more information than he’d had five minutes ago.
A door opened, and Thalia emerged, her ageless face betraying nothing of what lay beyond. Her eyes swept over me briefly, dismissively, before settling on Frost.
“He is healing well,” she said, her voice as cool and smooth as polished stone.
“I have to see him, Elder,” I stepped forward, unwilling to be ignored
Thalia’s gaze returned to me, something like amusement flickering in her ancient eyes. “He had asked only for a certain Lysandra.”
The words landed like a slap. Lysandra? Not me, not Frost, but Lysandra?
“And I am his Luna,” I replied, struggling to keep my voice steady despite the hurt blooming in my chest.
“Then I apologize,” Thalia said, not sounding apologetic in the slightest. “You cannot see him now.”
I looked to Frost, hoping for support, for some explanation that might dull the sharp edge of rejection.
“He’s injured; he does not want you to see him in this state,” Frost offered, though I couldn’t tell if he was sharing knowledge or merely speculating.
Thalia nodded slightly. “Precisely. Now if you’ll excuse me, the Alpha King requires my attention.”
Alpha King. The title hung in the air, a reminder of what this had all been about–Kaius’s ascension, his claiming of the power he’d always sought. The power that, according to Lysandra, had been his primary reason for needing a mate in the first place.
As the door closed behind Thalia, I felt something crack inside me a hairline fracture in the fragile hope I’d been nurturing that perhaps, just perhaps, I meant more to Kaius than a convenient piece in his game of power.
I sat heavily on the bench outside the healing chambers, suddenly exhausted. Frost settled beside me, his presence oddly comforting despite everything.
“He’ll explain when he’s ready,” he said after a long silence.
I nodded, not trusting myself to speak. We remained there, side by side, as the hours stretched on. Servants came and went, bringing fresh supplies to the healing chambers. Lysandra emerged once, her hair disheveled, dark circles under her eyes suggesting she’d been there through the night. She barely glanced at me before disappearing down the corridor.
Eventually, the sun began to set, casting long shadows through the marrow windows. Still, no word came for me.
“Can I… see him now?” I asked when Thalia emerged again, my voice smaller than I’d intended.
“The Alpha needs his rest, and it wouldn’t be wise for you to see him now.” Her tone was final, brooking no argument.
As she walked away, I turned to Frost, unable to hide my distress any longer. “Kaius doesn’t want to see me; did I do something wrong?
“No, you didn’t. I will talk to him,” Frost promised, though the uncertainty in his voice did little to reassure me.
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Chapter 113
One week later, I stood in our chambers staring at the small bag I’d packed. Seven days. Seven days of being turned away from the healing chambers. Seven days of watching others come and go–Thai, Lysandra, even Ophelia once–while I remained excluded.
Seven days of silence from the man who had promised he would always come back to me.
At first, I’d made excuses for him. He was gravely injured. He was embarrassed by his weakness. He was concerned for my safety. But as the days stretched on with no word, no message, not even a request to see me, those excuses had worn thin.
I wasn’t a prisoner here–not anymore. If Kaius had no use for me, no desire to even see me, then perhaps it was time I left**** The contract that had brought me here had clearly been fulfilled; Kalus was Alpha King now. He didn’t need me for that title any longer.
Frost had been sympathetic but unhelpful, merely repeating that Kas had his reasons, that I should be patient. Patient! As if t hadn’t spent my entire life being patient–waiting for my wolf to emerge, waiting for Dorian to publicly claim me, waiting for Kaius to say he loved me.
I was done waiting.
The door opened behind me, and I steeled myself for another round with Frost, who had taken to checking on me regularly. “Frost, I
don’t-”
The words died in my throat as I turned to find not Frost, but Kaius himself standing in the doorway.
He looked… different. Thinner, certainly, with shadows beneath his amber eyes that hadn’t been there before. A new scar traced the line of his jaw, still pink and healing. But there was something else, something in the way he carried himself–a new kind of tension, a wildness barely contained beneath his usual control.
“Are you okay?” The question escaped before I could stop it, concern overwhelming my anger for just a moment.
“I am fine,” he replied, his voice rougher than I remembered.
Relief, joy, and fury battled within me. Before I knew what I was doing, my hand had connected with his cheek in a sharp slap that probably hurt me more than it did him.
ry
His eyebrows rose slightly, but otherwise, he didn’t
react to
the blow “That’s a real nice way to express your delight.”
“Seven days I tried to reach you,” I spat, backing away when he moved toward me. “Not a word, not a single message. You shut me out completely.”
“I wanted to see you, but I couldn’t.” His tone softened slightly, though his eyes remained unreadable.
“Why? You can’t tell me Thalia locked you up in there.” I glanced pointedly at the bag on the bed, wanting him to know I had been ready to leave.
“She thought it would be best that way.” He stepped further into the room, closing the door behind him.
“So the ancient lover of yours makes decisions for you now?” The bitter words tumbled out before I could stop them.
“Ancient lover? Is that what you refer to her as?” Something like amusement flickered across his features.
“Yes, but there are other more suiting nicknames; would you like to hear them?” I crossed my arms, hating how childish I sounded but unable to stop myself.
Elowen,” he said, using my old name in that way that always made my heart skip. “I am sorry; there was a reason you couldn’t see me. In my healing phase, I was unstable; this had never happened to me before, but I had to be restrained to avoid hurting anyone,
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Chapter 113
so it sounded about right to not let you in.”
I was done keeping silent; now we had to talk, and I was no longer going to keep all my insecurities to myself.
“I thought you didn’t want me there because… I was no longer of use to you,” I finally admitted, the words scraping my throat as they emerged.
Kaius paused, turning to face me fully. “Why would you think that?”
The dam broke. All the insecurities and fears I’d been holding back came flooding out in a torrent I couldn’t control.
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