CHAPTER SEVEN
1130 Words
ILYANA’S POV.
Thank goodness for the arrival of the beta and the doctor, how else was I going to explain that seeing just his arms, and the way he was taking care of me was enough to spread warmth through my body.
“Check her, Atasha. A lycan attacked her.”
The woman moved, turning my hands, my back, checking and cleaning, her movements not the same as the Alpha King and definitely enough to dampen the heat and warmth in my body. After checking through, she wrapped a bandage on my arm and applied some medicine on my back.
“Just a few broken bones but you’ll heal faster with this. Did you shift to your wolf?” She asked.
“Yes.” I said, a part of me was scared as I glanced at the alpha, then to the beta and to her, “I was trying to fight him off. Is that a problem?”
Back at the other packs I lived in, omegas were not allowed to shift or fight for no reason at all. The woman looked at me like I had grown two heads before chuckling, “Not at all. It’s even good you shifted. Your wolf is quite strong. If you had not shifted on time, the throw would have broken most of your bones and you’ll be paralyzed now.”
My eyes widened. Paralyzed? I had just started to live a good life but I would have been paralyzed.
“Don’t worry,” She chuckled again, tucking her hair behind her ears as she finished the bandage, “You look like you’ve seen a ghost. Once you sleep and get enough rest, it’ll all be fine.”
She stood up. She looked my age, but also looked a few years older than me. She wore cat eye glasses, dressed in fine nice pants and a fitted blouse with a long jacket to cover. Her brunette hair poured behind her, stopping at her shoulders.
“Apply this to your back tomorrow again, and everything will be fine," She said, dropping a small salve container and passing me a smile before turning to the Alpha king.
“I’ll take my leave now, my lord.” She bowed.
“Thank you, Atasha.” the alpha king replied, his eyes still on me as she walked out.
She left the room, the beta disappearing with her and shutting the door. The temperature in the room dampened, my muscles tensing as I remembered my last words. I half expected him to bring it up again, but he didn’t, disappointment twinging in me.
“How did you get inside that room, Ilyana?”
I blinked, trying to figure the room until it dawned on me, “It was open. I just entered.”
He squinted, trying to gauge my reaction but there was nothing before he sighed, “Why were you down there? Carius left you in that room. We could not find you.”
“I’m very sorry,” The apology left my mouth quickly. “A woman came in and asked me to leave. I was trying to find my way and landed in that room.”
Two lines deepened on his forehead, “A woman? Lucianne?”
Jealousy and irritation twinged within me, my wolf burning with the need to know who Lucianne is and why he knows her name and why he calls her.
“I don’t know. She was just a woman.” I replied, coming off a bit curt than I had intended.
Silence drummed through the room before he finally stood up from where he was seated and stalked towards me, stopping in front of me and pulling the chair beside the bed and taking his seat, “We need to talk, Ilyana.”
The tone of his voice, the way he sat, the curtness and swift change, something was definitely wrong. It was like being Alpha Theo, or being in the car with him again. I tried thinking through what could have happened in the minutes of now that could have made him change again.
“I do not need a mate, Ilyana.”
The room stilled and Elara froze inside of me. My eyes glued to a part of his bicep stopped on it, unable to see past that.
Something chuckled within me, cackled even. What had I thought? That someone would finally accept me? That the cruelty of the moon goddess would suddenly stop?
Tears burned at the back of my eyes. But this was too cruel. Why? Why would the moon goddess do this? Was the normal rejection of the first seventh too boring? She had to invent a new one?
“But I need an heir.”
I looked up to meet his eyes, confused by what he was saying, “What do you mean?”
“I mean, I need my mate to bear an heir for me.”
The words swirled in my head, every little part piecing together to make a meaning. He wanted me, me, to give him heirs, without…
This was even more wicked.
“You won’t acknowledge the mate bond? You won’t mark me?” I said, the tears too close to lacing through my orbs.
He sighed again, “I do not need a mate. I do not need a wife. I do not need anyone to spend the rest of my life with. But I need heirs, and heirs with mates are stronger. That’s the only reason I came to the ceremony. That’s the only reason I took you, and brought you here.”
It felt like my entire life, the care, the concern, everything was spinning. Why? Why me?
“I’ll take care of you. Feed you. Give you everything you want. And you’ll provide me with an heir before the next full moon.”
I forced the tears to stay inside my eyes, looking up at him, "And if I refuse? If I don’t want to do this?”
The temperature in the room turned colder, his face immediately getting graver, not with anger, not with cruelty, but with shock and surprise masked with coldness, like he hadn’t expected that I might say this.
“Ilyana…
Before he could finish his words, the door opened, revealing a wide eyed Carius who looked like he ran all the way here, “Your highness. It’s the lycans. They’re attacking the pack.”
He stood up instantly, gone the caring alpha, now replaced with the brutal King I saw tore a lycan into pieces, “We’ll finish this, Ilyana. You can sleep here tonight.”
And then he walked out, closing the door and leaving my wolf to weep for a bond I thought for once was too real.
- Writer
