The Lycan's Healer Mate

Chapter 5 Red Mansion

Ryan's POV

"Morning, sleeping beauty." I greet the brunette security guard, who is breathing through his mouth and snoring as loud as a hay mower.

The young man jolts and wakens abruptly. His eyelids flutter but do not fully open. He is barely half-awake but his muscle memory allows him to fetch the spear in a split of seconds and he look in my direction with a stern look. It is hard to tell if he is alert or just unhappy about waking up on the wrong side of the bed.

Either way, he isn't quite satisfied with a visit from an uninvited. He squints his eyes and asks suspiciously, "May I help you?"

"Yes, I appreciate that. I need to see General right now. Sorry to disturb you but this is an emergency. You may continue your nap after I am in."

"General was already in bed. He wouldn't be happy to be awakened at—" he glances at his watch and then back at me, "a quarter to four in the morning. You may come by later."

"I wouldn't be available then. I have endless daily issues to address." I try to reason with the security guard to improve my persuasion skill despite my eagerness to yank off the hood and identify myself.

"That's your problem." The security guard answers curtly, "I am sorry sir, but you are not allowed to enter the house."

"Fine. I will not enter the house then." I hold back the urge to abuse my privilege and step forward, which startles him.

He raises his shield higher in a defensive gesture and remindsme, "You just said you would not enter the house."

"Exactly. Don't worry, I am a man of my word and I keep every promise I make, which is why I need you to bring General down here to meet me, since I am not allowed to meet him there." I look at the balcony on the second floor and back at the guard, smiling at him, "Don't turn me down before hearing me out. What's your name, may I ask?"

"Patrick."

"Ok. Here is the deal, Patrick. You have three minutes to fetch General for me, or I would come by later, like what you suggested, and I would kindly inform General of the delinquency of his guard. Maybe he wouldn't mind it. Maybe he would. We can never tell, do we? Now I am starting to count down."

"It is difficult to stay awake the whole night!" Patrick yell with his face reddened.

"Point taken, yet that's your problem." I shrug, glance at his watch and informe him, "Two minutes and forty-eight seconds to go."

"But—"

"Two minutes and forty-six seconds to go."

Patrick shivers and sends me a glare before he leaves both his spear and shield behind and bolts to the house like a hare. Five seconds later, Uncle Red is on the balcony, dressed up in a burgundy nightgown, shouting and swearing.

I look up and listencarefully to enrich my knowledge of slang yet the lesson doesn't last long and comes to an abrupt end when Uncle Red recognizes my face.

"Ryan!" He greets me in surprise and yanks Patrick to him, shouting at the poor guard, "Why didn't you tell me the visitor is our king, huh? Is that so difficult for you? You stupid dumbass."

My identity comes as a complete shock for Patrick. His eyes widen in terror and he stutters to apologize, "Ple-Please forgive my ru-rudeness, You Majesty. I didn't know it was you."

"No worries. It is your job to stop suspicious strangers and inquire about them. You are doing well at your job, but you could do it better if you can be more polite."

"Be more polite?" Uncle Red narrows his eyes, "What did this stupid asshole say to you?"

"Nothing worthy to be mentioned. Just regular check." I shake my head, "Would you come down, Uncle Red? My neck might be sore tomorrow if I keep talking in this poor posture."

"I'll be there immediately." Uncle Red calls from above and is quickly out of my sight.

Ten seconds later he reappeares at the end of the doorway, striding to me with Patrick following behind. When Uncle Red is a step from me, he grabs my hand, pulls me into a chest-to-chest hug and then give me a fist bump. The closeness makes Shadow anxious and I have to free myself from Uncle Red.

"It has been a while since the last time you came here. We miss you so much."

"I feel the same way." I smile at Uncle Red, "How've you been? Have Aunt Agnes finished her encyclopedia?"

"She is still working on it." Uncle Red grimaces, "Agnes is quite busy these days, trying to teach her apprentices how to tell different types of herbs."

"Apprentices?" I am surprised by his use of plural form, "Did Agnes find Aurora a companion?"

"Yeah, a week ago she took in a siren from the Emerald Sea. Agnes didn't say much about it and I had my own business to mind. You may ask her yourself if you're interested." Uncle Red shrugs and his sharp eyes suddenly fixes on my cloak, eyebrows in knits, "You've been to the Sliver River again?"

"That's not my initial plan." I shook my head, "I was on the outskirt of the Sliver Forest, where I spotted a suspicious figure so I decided to follow it. It turned out that the creature I chased was not a spy but a lady who had no idea she was trespassing our territory—"

"A lady!" Uncle Red echoes in exasperation and sends me an apologetic look, "Go on. What did you do then?"

"Um, we were chatting when some vampires suddenly appeared and disturbed us—"

"f*****g savages. "Uncle Red growls with fury in his eyes, "someday in the future I will rip their heads off."

"I wish the same. Should I continue?"

"Yes please." he nods eagerly, "Did you beat the s**t out of them to impress the lady?"

"No. You overestimated me. There were four of them and it would be too risky to start a fight since we were outnumbered. Safety was my prior concern so I took the lady to the White Cliff, from which we jumped and fell in the Silver River."

"Excellent start of an epic romance!" Uncle Red exclaims excitedly. He grabs my shoulders and shakes me back and forth, bombarding me with questions, "Why did you come back ALONE? Why didn't you elope with her? That's a slip of the tongue. I mean, why didn't you invite the lady to visit our pack? Did you tell her you are the lycan king?"

"It is you who told me to keep a low profile when I am alone outside."

"But you were not alone. There was a lady. A lady! And you just let her go." Uncle Red shake his head, disappointment written on his face.

I clear my throat a little bit and add, "Actually, I didn't let the lady go. She didn't come with me mainly because she needed the approval of her pack. I had also invited her to the ball and she gladly accepted it."

"That's my nephew." Uncle Red's stoic expression relaxs with the corners of his mouth moving up.

The placid silence lasts no more than three seconds and is interrupted by Uncle Red.

"Hold on a second." Uncle Red raises his hand in the air and asks in confusion, "What ball? No one has ever informed me there would be a ball coming."

"I am here to inform you, Uncle Red."

"When and where will this ball be held anyway?"

"Promise me you wouldn't be angry with me after I answer this question."

Uncle Red narrows his eyes and examines my face as if I were a trespasser. He hesitates for a while and eventually nods, "I am ready for the blow."

"I was desperate to see the lady again but it seemed her pack had very strict rules and her freedom was so limited that I had to pave the way for our reunion. Therefore, I told the lady there would be a ball open to everyone and her pack shall let her attend." I take a deep breath and continue, "I told her the ball would be held on Red Mansion tomorrow."

"You mean today," says Uncle Red with a blankness overtaking his face.

"Yeah, today." I flinch at Uncle Red's gaze and give him a guilty smile.

"This is insane." Uncle Red rubs his temples and mutters, "Fine. We will have a ball tonight. Agnes and I will handle it. And here is a piece of advice for you, Ryan."

"Yeah?" I ask nervously, hoping it wouldn't be some lengthy lecture.

"Don't powder your face tonight." Uncle Red grimaces, "You are too pale. Women won't like to date a man whose face looked paler than them."

I gave a half laugh and someone coughs behind Uncle Red. I look over his shoulder and see Aunt Agnes in her nightgown.

"My love, did we disturb your sleep?"

"You did." Aunt Agnes answers in a flat tone and shrugs, "I don't mind, though. Guess I've been used to it."

She then turns to me with a wry smile on her face, "May I ask you a question, Ryan?"

"Of course."

Aunt Agnes kisses my cheeks and she c***s her head, whispering to me, "Were you bitten by a vampire?"

"I don't know what you are talking about." Her words sends a shiver down my spine but I manage to maintain the calmness in my voice.

"You don't?" Aunt Agnes gives me a sad smile, "You don't know or you don't trust us enough to let us know? "

I stare at her, speechless.

"I had thought there were no secrets between our families." Aunt Agnes murmurs.

Her silent blame causes a sharp, stabbing guilty in my chest, forcing me to ask for forgiveness. "I am sorry. I should have told you earlier but I just didn't know how to start. The mistake could have been avoided as long as I listened to Uncle Red. I could have stayed in the palace during the nighttime, or I could have found myself a guard to escort me on the journey. The Great Council and your husband offered me numerous practical methods and I was too stubborn to take in any of them. Then the accident just happened. The bite I got was the consequence of my arrogance. I felt so stupid about myself and the bite didn't seem to leave any dreadful sequela so I didn't tell you in the first place. And I was wrong. Again. A few days later Eve noticed my face was whiter than usual——"

"So you didn't powder your face!" Uncle Red shouts with an expression of dawning comprehension, "I knew it was a rumor!"

"You missed the point, my lord." Aunt Agnes interrupts him impatiently and sends me a stern look, "Still, you didn't seek help from us when you knew the bite had an impact on you."

"The symptoms are so weird and make me look like a vampire."

"That's because you were bitten by a vampire." Uncle Red points out the simple truth for me, which makes me even more annoyed.

"Anyway I felt ashamed and I was afraid people would laugh at me and I'd better secure my dignity by fixing this problem myself. So I've spent a long time in the wildness at night, seeking healers who couldn't possibly know me in the name of catching trespassers. Sorry Uncle Red, but I do need an excuse to persuade the Great Council to let me out and an anti-espionage action is the most convincing reason I could conceive."

"A healer shall never laugh at the patients regardless of how ridiculous their symptoms appear to be." Aunt Agnes clenches her jaw with anger flaring in her eyes, "Mind you, I am not only your aunt but also a royal healer! I've been served my duties here for ten years, and never had I ever given away any secrets of my patients. How could you trust those healers over me? They could be medicasters!"

"I trust you with all my heart, auntie. It isn't me who cannot trust you. "I give her a bitter smile and explain, "It is my wolf."

Aunt Agnes blinks and asks quietly, "What do you mean?"

"Somehow the bite had an influence on Shadow, too. He became more and more paranoid. If someone got too closer to me, he would be restless about the approach of other wolves and be ready to attack. Alerted, I will lose control of my body and shift into wolf form. Once Shadow is in charge, I'd be unconscious and I wouldn't be able to know what would happen next. You see, the treatment might be totally out of control and the first one to be hurt would probably be the one who stands closest to me. And I suppose in this case. It will be the healer."

"My poor Ryan." Aunt Agnes steps forward, trying to pull me into her hug and suddenly halts as she recalls what I've said. Then she steps back and keeps a distance from me, pinching her nose, "How am I supposed to heal you when I am shunned out by your wolf?"

"I had thought I am doomed, as well." I can't help but smile a little bit, "And all of my desperation was gone tonight."

"What happened tonight?"

"He got himself a girlfriend!" Uncle Red cuts in.

Both Aunt Agnes and I look at him, dumbfounded. Our stare makes him squirm uneasily and says, "Well, so far it might not be necessarily true but theoretically speaking it could come true, right?"

"Right." I laugh and turn to Aunt Agnes who is still clueless, "The truth is I met a lady in the Silver Wood tonight."

Aunt Agnes raises an eyebrow at me, "And?"

"She is daughter to a healer, and more coincidentally, she is wolfless."

"This is not a coincidence, Ryan." Aunt Agnes muses, "I'd rather call it a miracle."