Forbidden Mating With The Alpha

Chapter 16

"... we've waited for three hours already," said Layla with an irritated huff. She was pacing back and forth across the room while the other women were seated on the couches and chairs. They all did not seem to mind waiting but Layla's impatience had grown thin.

"Go and see if she still can't wake up," Layla commanded at Ida, who simply lowered her head and entered the bedroom. Layla watched as Ida disappeared into Lucy's bedroom and held in the urge to smile. She may have been impatient but a part of that was a farce.

The effects of her work would not wear out until another day or so, and though she could not tell the others that, she had to make the day progress instead of waiting about for whatever they expected to happen.

"This is nonsense. We've wasted enough time already. We should start without her-"

"We won't be doing that," Karena interrupted Layla, receiving the woman's icy glare in return.

"We obviously cannot start without her. The preparations are set for the six of us," Robin said next and Karena nodded to agree with her.

"And we can't change it to accommodate five?" Layla asked, and instead of receiving a response from either of them, Yelena gave her input.

"Why are you so insistent on leaving her out of the preparations?" She was suspicious of Layla and her behavior made it evident that she had something to do with what happened to Lucy.

"Why? Because we're wasting time, that's why," was the reply that Layla gave. She did not want to say too much in case she might give away more than she intended to.

"That's very unreasonable of you. Would you not want us to give you a chance to recover if you were in the same predicament?" Yelena's words caught Layla off guard. She grit her teeth behind her closed lips. She never did give a thought as to what she would feel if she would be left out of the wedding ceremony but the reality was that she was in no position, and therefore did not care.

"If I'm to be honest, I would want you to proceed with the preparations," Layla lied.

"I would want the same," and a new voice entered the conversation. Everyone turned their heads to see Lucy standing by the door... barely standing actually but leaning against the doorframe with her right arm. Her shoulders were slouched forward and her left hand hung down her side as she could hardly control her arm.

"You shouldn't let me hold you back. Go on-"

"That's stupid of you to suggest!" Kiko interjected from her seat, "Are we all forgetting that we can't decided on anything such as changing the preparations or the ceremony?" Her reminder worked well in getting the others to remember that they did not yet have much authority. The preparations were a fixed procedure that could not be altered to fit one person's desires.

"Then what should we do?" Karena asked, speaking for the first time that day as she had been too nervous to contribute to the conversation.

"The rest of us will proceed with the preparations but someone should try and figure out what happened to Rosalie. Call a doctor or something, I don't know. If it doesn't work out, we'll find a way to switch things up to incorporate her in that state," was Kiko's suggested. Nobody had anything to say against it. It was the only thing they could do that was reasonable.

"You should stay in bed and recover in the meantime," Kiko said to Lucy next, who lowered her head to look at the floor. She felt like a heavy burden. It may not have been her fault that she ended up in that situation but she was still an inconvenience nonetheless.

Ida appeared beside Lucy and carefully draped her left arm over her shoulder to help her get back to bed. She had been capable of standing up but that only lasted for a little while because after Ida supported her body, she lost all feeling in her legs. By the time Ida safely got her into the bed, she had already closed her eyes and had fallen asleep.

"It's like she's under some curse or spell," Ida heard Karena mutter to herself when she entered the room.

"Is there anyone here who's capable of such?" Ida asked and Karena shook her head.

"None that I know of. Besides, we don't know much about each other. It's possible," Karena said and Ida glanced at the door before leaning in closer to Karena.

"I suspect Miss. Layla is involved. Miss. Yelena does as well," she whispered and Karena turned her head to face the door for a brief moment. If there was anyone who would want Lucy out of the way, it was Layla. But it was uncertain if she actually was capable of such a feat. Spells and curses weren't magical attributes that vampires were capable of but that was not to say it was impossible.

"Perhaps, but we can't be too sure yet. We should have a doctor come and look her over," Karena suggested, and as the other women began with the preparations, that was exactly what they did. However, as Ida predicted, he had the same things to say.

"Her body's simply exhausted. There's nothing else concerning to note..."

When the doctor had left, Ida sat on the edge of the bed beside Lucy's feet. She was still sleeping like a baby and had slept through the entire examination. She did not know when Lucy would wake up again but the hours were passing and soon the day would have ended.

It was late into the afternoon when Lucy's eyes opened but she still felt the same. Her speech was still slurred and she could barely keep her eyes opened. Her body was numb.

"I wish I knew what I could in this situation," Ida muttered to herself as Lucy stared up at the ceiling. Lucy was deep in thought. From the little she managed to hear, she presumed that someone was responsible for what happened to her, but she could not figure out whom it had been or how they had done it.

The only other thing that had been strange about that day was when she woke up for a brief moment when she heard the sound of paper being shuffled about. But she immediately returned to sleep to wake up in the morning when Ida came in.

"I heard something last night," Lucy managed to say just loud enough for Ida to hear her and stand up to get closer to her.

"What did you here?" Ida asked.

"Paper... in this room," Lucy replied and Ida furrowed her eyebrows. It really was strange that one would hear the sound of paper in the middle of the night. She did consider that it could have been a dream but assumed that Lucy would not have mentioned it if she thought the same. And so, Ida got to searching about the room to see if there was anything amiss.

She began by getting down on her knees to check under the bed, but found nothing. Next was the wardrobe and behind the mirror, the beside tables, and every other nook and cranny she could search. But in the end, she found nothing. Could Lucy really have dreamt about hearing the sound of paper? She did not want to dismiss it in case it was something important.

It was when Lucy turned her head on the pillow so that she was laying on the side of her face that Ida realized there was another place she hadn't checked. She walked up to the side of the bed and gently lifted up the pillow Lucy was sleeping so as to not disturb her. And under the pillow, she saw a small piece of paper shaped like a butterfly neatly tucked away.

"What is this?" Ida asked, holding the paper between her fingers. Lucy opened her eyes just wide enough to see the paper, hummed a response, then closed her eyes again.

Ida had no idea what that paper was for or why it was under the pillow. She did not know what to do with it either. What damage could a small piece of paper do? Was it the one that put Lucy in that situation? She had so many questions and so little answers.

After taking some time to consider her next move, she decided to burn the paper to see what would happen. After opening the window, she pulled out a lighter and turned it on, then brought the paper close to the flame so that it would catch fire. The paper burn up withing seconds, leaving behind nothing, not even ashes. Ida knew that it was no normal piece of paper.

She looked down at Lucy to see that she had opened her eyes.

"Are you feeling fine?" Ida asked and Lucy nodded.

"A little. I'm still exhausted," she said. Something had happened when the piece of paper caught flame. Her eyes had opened wide in an instant and gradually the sleepiness she felt started to dissipate. It was not until late at night before midnight that she was finally able to gain full control of her legs, her arms having woken up earlier.

It was very late and the other women had already completed the preparations, but it was not too late to begin. She and Ida worked fast and Karena came in to help as well. They had to be done before midnight and when the day finally ended, they could say that they were really exhausted this time, and it wasn't because of any spell or curse.

The day of the ceremony finally arrived and Lucy became more nervous than ever. She struggled to sleep as always and realized that she would not be able to sleep peacefully until the day she would be married. Until then, she would fall asleep to the thoughts of Creed and the feeling of his touches and kiss against her forehead.

After spending one day without seeing him, she saw that she missed him so much it brought tears to her heart. But she would not have to wait too long. The ceremony would finally be completed and she would have to live under the same roof as him... along with the other women.