Heart Of A Lycan King
Chapter 28

I pried my eyes open as sunlight poured through the drawn curtains. My phone was laying beside me and I tapped on it to see the time. 9:23 am. I g*****d, set the phone aside and pulled the quilt over my head so I could resume sleeping. But my eyes suddenly caught a movement from the far end of the room and my eyes shot completely open.

Aiden stood before the mirror, a white towel wrapped around his torso as he untangled his hair. Now, as he had his back turned, I got a perfect look of the burn mark on Aiden’s back. It looked too raw, like it was a fresh burn mark. And it got me wondering why didn’t the burn mark heal considering he’s a Lycan with a very speedy rate at healing than werewolves?

After a moment, he turned, just a bit so he could spray the deodorant on his left armpit and I caught a look of another mark on his abdomen.

Wait, was that the head of a wolf? I squinted my eyes, trying to see what that was. The last time I saw him naked was the night before he had traveled, and that tattoo mark wasn’t there. Did he get a tattoo when he traveled?

As though knowing I wanted to get a proper look on the tattoo, he turned a bit more and my insides melted. Was that a tattoo of my Erin’s head? But how? I mean, he’d never seen Erin and didn’t know what color she was. All he knew was the fact that she was two colored.

‘Erin?’ I called, hoping she was awake. When we got home yesterday, it was late evening because I refused to leave till the woman woke up and I was sure she and her son were okay. And Aiden never left my side either.

I met Tiffany briefly before I took a bath and slept. When I woke up, it was almost 10 pm. I had a late dinner while Aiden was busy with the papers before him. Noticing he was busy, I didn’t ask if he had found anything out regarding the accident and had laid the matter to rest. In between though, he received calls and I heard him talk to his team. They won the match, and Kane would be heading home early the next day. The rest would stay back since the next match is in three days and would return home after that.

I heard Aiden telling Kane to return with Sherneil. He repeated the same command twice and insisted he shouldn’t allow her to go to the team party.

I wanted to know who this Sherneil was and what relationship they both shared. But I didn’t ask.

Erin, however, had a hard time adjusting Aiden’s presence. Ever since our encounter yesterday, Erin swore the pull for the mate bond had increased, and we weren’t even marked. And she had been restless, which had made it impossible to get back to sleep peacefully after I had woken up.

‘That can’t be me, Nat. He’s never seen me. Maybe he just did it for fun?’ Erin offered and I nodded. She knew what I wanted to ask even before I voiced it out.

“You got a tattoo?” I blurted before I quickly covered my mouth and pulled the quilt over my face.

I heard the soft pad of his feet as he walked up to me. His scent invaded my senses, and unlike yesterday, he does not smell of dirt and sweat. Instead, he smelt of cedar and pinewoods. His perfect scent.

“Hey, Nala,” he rasped, leaning closer. He’s too big. Too much. Too much of everything. I heard him chuckle. “You’ve already seen me to your fill. Why are you shy now?”

“Uhmn, I didn’t really look at you without your permission,” I rushed to say from underneath the quilt.

Ugh! Damn! I just buried myself deeper.

“Ah, I see,” he said, his voice held a hint of suppressed laughter and I g*****d. I hated this. “Well, you have my permission to look now,” he added, pulling the quilt off my face.

I shut my eyes, refusing to meet his gaze. I felt the side of the bed dip as he sat down. How was I going to look at him? I had just admitted, albeit indirectly, that I was watching him without his permission. That, and the fact that I had already asked him if he had gotten a tattoo. Realizing I had no way out, I opened my eyes and our eyes locked.

“Hi, Morning!” he grinned, the edges of eyes crinkling.

“Hi, Morning,” I replied, less enthusiastic than he was. Goddess! He had caught me watching him. I dug the grave for that with my own damned hands!

“How was your night?” he asked, his hand hovering over my face. “May I?” he asked.

I nodded, not knowing what he was asking to do. Then I felt the light graze of the pad of his fingers as he pushed the curls on my forehead back.

“There, much better now. I can watch every inch of your face,” he said with a smile. “Did you have a goodnight rest?”

“Yes,” I replied, my voice barely above a whisper. This touch, this light touch of his fingers on my forehead had made the tiny sparks I was getting towards him ever since he sat down increase. “And yours?”

“The couch isn’t bad, you don’t have to worry,” he said.

Yesterday, despite my insistence that he take the other side of the bed and promise he won’t play a trick and roll down to my side, Aiden declined. I had thought he’d like it, especially because I wanted him to rest well after the long day he had and the flight. But he didn’t. He simply smiled and told me the couch was fine.

And he had slept there.

Maybe he doesn’t want to sleep with me. The thought had stung more than I was willing to admit, but I had brushed it off as nothing and slept off after spending a better part of the night reading. I figured I could do that while Erin was sorting her emotions out. I can’t wait to meet Lacie and discuss the latest book I found!

“That’s great then. I should go brush my teeth,” I mumbled, looking for a way to escape his intense gaze.

“You don’t want to look at the tattoo anymore?” he asked, his eyes searching my face, as though trying to replace something. “Can you see it?” he asked, pointing to the tattoo on his abdomen.

I furrowed my brows and nodded. Isn’t that obvious already? I mean, who’d miss that?

“What does it look like?” he asked, his voice edgy.

“Aiden, come on! That’s a wolf’s head. It is right there. Why are you asking me questions as though I am insane?” I asked, exasperated.

“Because from what I know ever since I got the mark two days ago, no one could see it,” he sighed, staring at the tattoo. “Only I could see it. So imagine my shock when you commented on it, Nala,” he explained, looking back up.

My mouth opened and closed as I tried to speak. What is this?

“I…only I can see it besides you?” I finally managed to speak.

“Yes,” he replied. “It’s the head of a two colored wolf, right?”

“Yeah. It is,” I was confused. None of this made sense. “How did you get it?”

Aiden stood up, undoing the knot of the towel on his waist just a bit so he could push it farther down to expose more of the tattoo. Although it was just a tattoo with no real colors attached, one part of the head had a darker shade than the other part. Erin doesn’t look like this so my theory about him getting a tattoo of Erin is wrong.

“In a dream,” he replied, touching the mark.

I pushed the quilt and moved to the edge of the bed so I could take an even closer look at it. On inspection, it looked like the mark was imprinted by something. Like a hot iron rod with the wolf head had been placed on his abdomen.

“In a dream? How is it possible to get a mark in a dream and wake up to it?” I asked, furrowing my brows.

“I don’t know, Nala,” he sighed again. “I had a dream with the shadows, for the third time in a week, and I got the mark. When I woke up from the dream, the mark was right there on my abdomen.”

“The shadows…” I trailed off, something clicking. “Was it the day before we had the video call? I remember you looked drained and I was asking you if you had a rough night.”

“Yes” he simply said.

“I saw the shadows on the wall too,” I told him as his eyes shot up. “When we were speaking on the phone and you mentioned the shadows that inhabit the Fiko dark forest, I thought I saw a movement on the wall. But I shunned it and thought it was because you had spoken about them that I felt that way. It was as though I was being watched,” I explained, and Aiden tightened his towel. “But after the call ended, I still felt the same, and when I looked at the wall then, a shadow was there. The disturbing part was after it spoke, I couldn’t feel Erin for hours.”

“Erin?”

“My wolf. I couldn’t feel her for a while.”

“You too?” he tilted his head.

“Don’t tell me…”

“Yes, Leo wasn’t there either. It felt like our bond was broken while I was dreaming,” he explained.

“How…?” It made no sense whatsoever. If anything, this just shows that what I saw that day was not a coincidence. “Did it speak to you?”

“Yes,” he ruffled his hair, the curls bouncing back and forth before some fell and covered his brows. “It said ‘The connection had been made. We’ll come back for you.’ And everything just vanished.”

“I got the same thing. Only that mine didn’t say the connection has been made, it said ‘the connection is there,'” I said. “I guess that explains the different scent you carried yesterday,” I added pointing to the tattoo-like mark.

“What scent?”

“You smelt like Charcoal and Wood, same scent the shadow left the night I saw them. But you don’t have it anymore.” I explained.

“It smelled like rotten animals in my dream,” Aiden said.

Silence stretched, each of us thinking of how any of this is possible and if it made any sense.

“I plan to go see the High Priestess later. Would you like to go with me?” Aiden said, breaking the silence. “She may have an answer to all this,” he gestured between us and the mark.

“Yes, please,” I nodded. “And you’ll let me know about the replaceings from the accident, right?” I leaned forward and maintained a steady eye contact.

His lips curled up slightly. “I see you are eager to do your Queenly duties. Maybe we shouldn’t wait for the Kalmanshe festival to introduce you to everyone and do it today,” he said, his eyes glinting with something mischievous. And I knew he was teasing me.

“I’ve never been to the festival,” I confessed, my eyes zeroing back to the mark. I had been ignoring it, but there was this undeniable pull that has been pulling me towards the mark. As though I was being called to it.

I want to touch it.

“Never?” Aiden asked.

“Yeah,” I nodded, my eyes still fixed on the mark.

Quite suddenly, Aiden shifted, and the only space between us was so little that only a pen could fit.

“Do you want to touch it?” he asked, and I swallowed. “You can touch it if you want, I don’t mind,” he added, his voice, a breathy whisper.

My fingers hovered over the mark, with each passing second I hesitated, the pull got stronger. Then I finally touched the mark, just a light graze. The jolt that shot from the tip of my fingers to my very core made me pull my hand quickly. Eyes wide, I looked at Aiden to see his mouth slack open, his eyes dark and hooded.

We both felt it. The undeniable pull. The spark. The tension. It was right there. And neither of us have marked each other. Wolves only feel this kind of connection after being marked, at least, from what I know and what I’ve seen from mated mates, the connection is deep and is felt to a certain degree. This connection I just felt with Aiden wasn’t what I knew when we had first met.

This was a lot stronger.

My train of thoughts cut off when I Aiden covered his hand over mine and brought it to the mark. Carefully, I found myself tracing every inch of it. All the lines. The curves. The edges. With each touch or stroke, the pull intensified, and by the time I was done, I was panting fast and hard.

“It feels strange,” I mumbled, my throat tight.

“It does. In a good way though,” he replied. His hand was still on mine and I loved the way he held it.

Then I tugged my hand away because it was getting too much to endure.

“You should go get dressed,” I cleared my throat. “Are we going to see the High Priestess this morning?”

“No. I need to do something. I’ll come pick you up when I’m done,” he said as he adjusted his towel.

“Okay. Go on. I’ll go brush my teeth now,” I stood up as he turned, and my eyes caught the burn scar again. “Does it hurt?” I blurted. I seem to be doing that a lot when I’m around him.

He spun around. “What?”

“The scar on your back.”

“It doesn’t, Nala,” he smiled.

I nodded. “I’m sorry for asking, but you don’t have to answer if you don’t want to. Why do you still have the scar? Shouldn’t you have healed? It looks like it’s not new…” I trailed off, pulling up the collars of my pajamas. As always, long sleeves and collars to cover up all the scars.

“Because it was acid. And it had a combination of Chinani and Fifily. Those are a dangerous combination even for us Lycans. It left the scar there,” he explained, turning his head a little to look at it.

Chinani and Fifily are two dangerous wild plants found mostly in the mountains of the Jaro pack. They are the deadliest plants around. For a wolf, it is instant death once consumed after two minutes. For a Lycan, it is worst. A wolf dies as soon as it consumes it, a Lycan, on the other hand, can spend up to a week battling with intense pain.

A combination of acid and both plants should mean instant death. But he survived.

“Are you ashamed of the scar?” I asked quietly. Are you ashamed of the scar like I am ashamed of mine? Was what I wanted to ask, but I clasped my lips shut.

“No. No, Nala. I’m not. I carry the scar with pride. It is something I have dealt with and survived. I do hate the scar, but I’m not ashamed of it.”

“I see,” I nodded then smiled. “I’ll go get ready for the day.”

“Sure. We can have breakfast and I’ll leave too. I’ll come pick you up in,” he looked at the clock on the wall before he continued. “I’ll come pick you up in five hours. That’s by 3 in the afternoon.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

It’s been two hours since Aiden had left and only Tiffany, I, and the maids were home. We were seated in the living room and I was watching Aiden’s match that I missed while Tiffany was scrolling through her new phone that we got from the store when we went shopping two days ago.

“I hate sitting idle. I’m not used to this,” I mumbled. “I need to replace something to do before I blow up from lazying around.”

“You’re the soon to be queen. What work would you like to do? Besides, I’m not sure the King would allow it.”

“I’ll talk to him about this later. But I can’t sit idling all day. It’s suffocating.”

“Well, you could do something in preparation for the upcoming Kalmanshe festival,” Tiffany offered as she bit into the apple in her hand.

“Like?” I sat up, turning my attention from the TV to her.

“I don’t know, I was just suggesting. It is when you’ll be introduced to all the twelve packs, so I thought you might want to do something,” she explained.

“Hmn,” I raked my brain to see if I could come up with anything, but nothing seemed to pop up. “I’ll sleep over it and see if I can replace something.”

“Is Donald not coming over today?”

“I’m not sure. But I told him not to,” I replied, recalling the scene from yesterday when I saw him and Phil in a heated conversation. I’m not sure if Aiden saw that, but even if he did, he ignored it and led me to the car.

I’m not sure why she’s doing this, but I intend to get to the bottom of it all.

My phone, which I had set beside me on the sofa buzzed, and I saw a new number. Aiden’s contact was the only contact I had and I began to wonder who was calling as I swiped the phone and received the call.

“Yata, kina lafiya? (My daughter, how are you?” Mama’s warm voice floated through.

A warm feeling filled my chest and I found myself smiling widely. “Mama ina wuni? (Good afternoon, Mama.)”

“How are you feeling? I just learnt about what happened because Donald didn’t say a word about it. Aiden just told me now,” she said.

“I am fine, Mama. It’s nothing major,” I bowed my head, as though I was in her presence.

“I’m happy to hear that. I wish he had come with you so his father can finally see you. But I asked him to bring you tonight, I hope you don’t mind?”

I have never met the Grand King, and for some reason, I was not looking forward to meeting him. But I can’t tell Mama no. So I said yes.

“That’s great! I’ll personally make you dinner so make sure you keep your stomach empty, okay?”

“Yes, Mama. Thank you so much.”

“Your mate is here burning for you though,” she said with a hint of a smile in her voice, and I heard a muffled voice and a g***n. “What? I wasn’t lying. You just said so,” she said, as though whispering to him but I was sure she wanted me to hear.

I didn’t know what Aiden said, but I did hear the sound of his voice.

“Amari! Bakada kunya koh? (You aren’t even shy of me?)” Mama shrieked through the phone.

“Let me speak to my woman, Mama. You can go talk to your man too,” Aiden’s voice floated.

I heard a smack sound, an ‘ouch’ from Aiden.

“Mama! That was mean,” he whined.

“Get your mate to stand up for you cause mine just did,” I heard Mama’s voice a bit distant and another deep voice. But I couldn’t make out what the voice was saying.

“Fine, you two go continue burning for each other and let me be. Tsofaffi daku kuna soyayyah haka. (Old people like you being so in love),” Aiden grumbled, and another smack sound came through.

“Babaaaa!” he whined.

“Go on, show your mate how much of a baby you are,” the deep voice said and I found myself stifling a laughter

After a few moments of shuffling and grunts, it stopped.

“Hey Nala,” Aiden’s voice was breathy as he panted.

My heart did a double take. I loved the way he calls me. The way the name rolls on his tongue every time he says it. I loved it.

“Hey! Are you done whining?” I teased.

“I wasn’t whining. Baba was just making fun of me. How are you?”

“I’m good. And I heard it all. Besides, how much burn are you getting over there?” I couldn’t help but giggle at the end.

“Are you sure you can handle this burn, Nala?” his voice had dropped a bit.

I shut my eyes, then pried them open to see Tiffany looking at me with a smile. I turned away, suddenly embarrassed.

“Forget I asked. You can go finish what you are doing,” I mumbled.

“I’ll soon be done. After we see the priestess, we’ll return to Mama,” he said.

“Alright. Bye.”

“Take care. And that’s Mama’s number so save it.”

“I will. Bye. Take care too.” I ended the call.

I had realized I was more comfortable talking to Aiden through the phone. This way, he doesn’t see me and I can have any reaction I want without the thoughts of hurting him in the process. All I need to do now is get as comfortable with him in his presence as I was on the phone.

“You both are cute. And it seems the Grand Queen likes you,” Tiffany commented.

“I guess you can say that,” I said with a smile. “That reminds me, are you truly scared of injections?” I asked, feeling uncomfortable talking about my relationship with Aiden.

She ducked her head and nodded. “Yes. I am truly scared of an injection. Funny right? But I rather take as many pills as I can than have that cursed needle pierce my skin. I hate it!” she finished, wincing.

I laughed. A loud laughter that filled the room, and for a moment, I wasn’t sure I was the one laughing. It feels good to be happy. Feels good to laugh.

‘And there are many more better days ahead, Nat,’ Erin murmured. She had been uncharacteristically quiet and I still wasn’t sure if it had anything to do with what she said about Aiden yesterday. Either way, I intend to let her be for the time being before I disturb her with questions.

‘Yes, Erin. Better days ahead. I love you and thanks for always being there.’

‘Love you too, Nat. Now, I’m going back to my little corner to rest,’ she said and tucked herself in the far corner of my mind.

“It’s not funny, Natasha.” Tiffany grumbled.

“It is to me, and now that I know your weakness, you are in for a mess,” I laughed again.

We both laughed for a while before we leaned against the sofa, the big grins on our face still visible.

“I forgot to tell you, I slept very late last night because I stayed up to read the book you suggested from the app!” Tiff broke the silence as she stuffed more apples into her mouth.

“You added two, you need to elaborate more on the one you stayed up to read.” I replied, leaning forward.

“The Forgotten Wolf Kin,” she smiled.

“I stayed up late for that too! Goodness, my eyes are still heavy and I want to sleep!” I giggled.

“What chapter are you? I’m about to start chapter 20 but had to reread those parts Mal and Rae first met. But the most exciting part was with Grams,” Tiffany said.

“Oh! You mean the part she told Mal he’s just a big puppy dog?” I asked, bursting into fits of laughter.

“Yes. And the part Grams told her she was going crazy because she was hearing Eero speaking. I can’t wait to continue and see how Mal explains this to poor Rae.”

“This is the third book I’m reading after ‘Daughter Of Light’ and Rae is my favorite of all the female characters. She’s just so…” I trailed off. I want to be like her. Strong. Independent. Badass. And not some weak female waiting for her mate to do everything for her.

‘That’s not true, Nat,’ Erin chided. ‘And that’s because I do not think you’re weak. One, if you were weak, You would not have asked Aiden to respect your boundaries. you were weak, you would not have spit on Matteo. If you were weak, you would not have asked for Tiff to come here. You would not have offered Donald help, you would not have saved that pregnant woman and her son, you would not have endured all those years of physical and mental abuse. You endured it all and you survived.

‘If you were weak, you’d have cowered behind Aiden and allowed him to handle all your problems. Yet you didn’t. You stood up for yourself and stood up for others. You have your own strength, and you’re yet to unleash more. Just look at you willing to investigate the accident. Besides, strength doesn’t only come physically, no, you don’t have to fight to show you are strong. Your wits are also your biggest weapon,” she finished, a big wolf-like grin plastered on her face.

‘You’re the very best, Erin. Thank you for always reminding me of my worth,’ I said softly.

‘Always here for you, Nat. Always.’

‘I thought you were resting?’

‘I needed to come knock some sense into your brain. Now I’m off, bye!’

I laughed. ‘Bye, Erin.’

As Tiff and I resumed our discussion, I realized how far I had come after getting here.

I had started therapy. Slowly getting comfortable around my mate. Making friends. And trying to push forward and become a better version of myself. If I had been told a few months ago that I’d achieve this, I’d have argued. I had thought it would be impossible to make friends, but here I am with two friends. Though I did still feel like I wasn’t wanted or that this would never last, but Aiden had made me feel wanted in so many ways that I couldn’t begin to imagine a life without him.

I had only just started. And I am going to keep fighting.