Heart Of A Lycan King
Chapter 50

Twice.

This was the second time I was nursing Aiden. And this time around, my fear was much more than the first time. I hated this. I didn’t like this one bit and I wished it wasn’t happening.

I sniffed, brushed the tears from my eyes, as I continued to stare at his lifeless form laying on the bed. I held his hand in mine, while I constantly wiped off the sweat on his forehead with the cool cloth in my other hand.

It’s been four days already, yet, there was no progress. The hospital couldn’t do anything, and after staying there for two days, Baba asked that we return home. Mama and Baba always visited, but Kane, Mav, and Donald seemed to have moved to our house for the time being. Including Lacie.

Nothing seemed to make a difference regardless of what we did. Not my touch, nor my k****s. Nothing. Not even when Baba had cut his wrist and dripped the b***d into Aiden’s mouth had it helped.

Nor when Mav did it.

Inna Laniya had been the only one who seemed to be making any improvement with him. According to what everyone had been saying, he shouldn’t have survived this. No Lycan had ever survived the poison of the roots. They do not get past two days with their sanity before they succumb to the dark side and slow death. Inna had said the poison was slowly leaving him, although she had no idea how. She also didn’t know how long he’d be in that state.

But my mate was fighting it, and I will be fighting this with him. I will not give up!

I thought back to how I had dreamt of The Shadows thrice in the past four days. Each time though, all I could see was Leo howling as the chains tightened themselves around him every time he tried to move. Most times, he howled and threw up dark, sticky substances before he went unconscious again. My heart squeezed with pain from seeing him like that. I had the wild urge to run to him, hug him, run my hands through his fur and reassure him that everything would be back to normal.

But I couldn’t. I was always rooted down on the spot and could only watch in agony as he howled and threw up the sickly, nasty substance that smelled so bad I wanted to throw up myself.

Each time, the wolf recites the same words.

‘We’ll keep him safe.’

I don’t know why I trusted what it said, but for some reason, I found that I could trust it. And I did.

I sighed. My eyes stung from lack of sleep and constant crying. But I didn’t want to move. I slept beside him and only move away from there when necessary.

I wanted to be here when he wakes up. I had to be here.

‘I feel restless,’ Erin whimpered, laying on her paws. ‘I miss him. So much,’ she added, her voice broken and full of despair. If she had been human, she would have had streaks of dried tears from her eyes. I wasn’t much better myself, but I willed myself to be strong for my mate.

What if he wouldn’t make it? What if he gets consumed by the poison? Then that would end the hope I had once held onto at the thought of being happy. I would end up alone. Again. I won’t get to feel his warmth. His smile. His gentle touches. His soft k****s. His voice. The way he pushes me to be a better version of myself. What if he comes back only as the feral beast? What if…? What if…? Wha… NO! STOP!

My throat clenched, a tight lump squeezing it shut. For a moment, it felt as though I couldn’t breathe. All these horrible thoughts and “what if’s” were making my heart race. I broke out in cold sweat from the fear. It got worse and worse with each passing day.

No. Erin wasn’t the only one restless here; I had my own inner demons to fight. Every day. Every hour. My strength was slowly dwindling as he remained unconscious.

‘We can fight this. We have to fight this, Erin.’

‘It gets harder with each passing day, Nat,’ she whimpered. ‘I can’t even feel the bond anymore,’ she added with a shaky whimper.

It’s true. The bond was gradually slipping. I could feel it. And it frightened me so much that I just want to run from it all.

I stared back at him. Thankfully, his burn had stopped reacting the past two days. The first two days were the hardest, because he was in double pain. The burn and the poison from the Fiandron root.

A throat cleared from behind me, and I whirled around just a bit to see Donald closing the door, his brows puckered. He cringed with each step he took, a reminder of what my mate made him suffer from. “You need to rest, Natasha,” he said quietly.

“I’m resting,” I laughed humorlessly. “I’m alive, healthy, and resting while he’s laying there lifeless, Donald,” I replied, my voice breaking from laughter to a sob. My lips trembled as my eyes got misty again.

“It’s not your fault…”

“He got into this state for my sake,” I hiccuped. He shouldn’t have done that. He shouldn’t. Above all, he should’ve told me about it.

I hated that I had to replace out about the fight from Donald.

“I didn’t tell you about it so you could blame yourself. In fact, if I knew you had no idea, I wouldn’t have mentioned it,” he sighed.

“You did the right thing,” I whispered as I bent in and pressed my lips against Aiden’s forehead. I rested my forehead on his for a little while. It was hot, as always.

He hissed softly, creased his brows, and lightly clasped my hand. He always does that from time to time, and that gives me hope that somewhere in between that darkness and pain, my man still exists.

“Well, you can also try doing the right thing by resting, Sis,” Mav’s voice filled my ears. He shut the door behind him and strolled in lazily, his hands in the pockets of the black pants he wore to pair it with the cream colored sweaty shirt he wore.

He placed his hand on my shoulder and squeezed lightly. I looked up at him and smiled slightly, taking in the way dark circles framed his eyes.

I recalled the way he had arrived at the arena. The atmosphere instantly changed the moment he spoke. Erin had stiffened when she got a whiff of his scent, foreign yet not. It carried an air of Aiden’s scent as well. For a moment, she had assumed he was waking up. But the calm composure Mav had used when he spoke amidst the chaos had pissed her off. I remembered how Baba had slapped him so hard on both cheeks the moment he had stopped beside us. How Baba had yelled at him and asked why he dared to return. I knew instantly that it was Mav. But he said nothing besides smiling a bit and inclining his head towards Erin, before he scooped Aiden in his arms. He didn’t wait for anyone to say anything or try to stop him. He ran to the car and settled Aiden in while I ran… Erin ran after him.

I didn’t shift back until after Aiden had been admitted into the hospital. Erin refused to let me take over, frantically pacing around while waiting for news.

From what Kane had told me, Matteo had been locked in the underground cellar in the palace, and Kamal was guarding him twenty-four hours straight.

I can’t wait for all this to end so I can pay him back for all the s.hits he had fed me and be happy with my mate.

But first, Aiden and I are going to talk!

“What a time to return home,” I teased, trying to lighten up the mood. “You couldn’t have chosen a better time,” I added.

He chuckled a little. “I wouldn’t have wanted this any other way, Sis.” He had called me that ever since he found out who I was. “I am happy to be here for you both.”

I stared at him for a moment, seeing the slight resemblance between him and Aiden. They have the same skin shade, but while Aiden had long curly hair, Mav had a low undercut. And his beard was shorter than Aiden’s, almost as if he usually trimmed it off.

“I’ll go get you something to eat,” Donald murmured as he stood up from his seat, eyed Mav, hissed and walked away.

I sighed heavily. A lot of things seemed to be going on and I had no idea which one to focus on. First, Donald had accepted the rejection the morning we had met in hopes of him taking me to therapy, so I could try to patch things up between him and Phil, which didn’t happen because I didn’t even get to the hospital when he told me about the fight.

Second, he was badly wounded by Leo and was healing slowly because the root was the cause of it. I had wanted to tell Aiden about Donald and Phil the night before the fight, but Donald had made me promise to keep his secret, and that was exactly what I planned on doing till he’s ready to tell everyone. And then Mav’s return, who seemed to have made everyone around him uncomfortable.

I hadn’t seen him exchange a single word with anyone yet. They all seemed to be avoiding him? The one time I had seen him interact with anyone was when Mama came and they hugged tightly. Same with Lacie. He never spoke to anyone even if they were around, and I seemed to be the only one he talked to from time to time.

“I guess I’m making everyone uncomfortable,” he mumbled quietly as he sat on the chair adjacent to me. “Maybe I should just leave and …”

“You will do no such thing,” I said quickly. “I’m sure Aiden would be very happy when he wakes up and sees you. Please, stay,” I pleaded.

“You seem to be the only person who wants me around,” a pained smile was etched on his face as he said that. “The last time I saw my brother, he was also in pain. The coward I was, ran away from it all.”

I stared at him for a moment before I turned my gaze back to Aiden. He had squeezed my hand again, and my heart swelled at the gesture. I brought his hand to my lips and kissed it lightly. His body was still blazing hot. As always.

‘I can feel the bond, Nat,’ Erin squealed suddenly, lifting up her head, ears peeking up. ‘I swear it! I feel it. It seems to be returning,’ she added excitedly and jumped up.

I felt it too, and it gave me more hope when I kissed his forehead again. I felt how the tears started again, but this time it was because of the hope. He might come back!

“I’ll be here waiting, Aiden. You have to come back to me,” I murmured, allowing a single tear to fall on his chest. “You need to wake up so I can tell you what I feel. How much I love you,” I added before I pulled the quilt to properly cover him when I saw him shiver a little before I turned my attention back to Mav.

“And now you’re back to see him in more pain,” I replied.

He simply nodded. “I failed him,” he said. “I’m sure he hates me as well. But…I just couldn’t stay and watch him fight for his life,” then he chuckled a bit. “But I guess he always likes to put himself in danger.”

“I suppose you could say that,” I replied. “I just want him back,” I added solemnly. “Where have you been?” I couldn’t help asking.

“Away. Trying other things so I could replace my footing,” he replied. “I later finally settled in the human world.”

I was surprised. “Why there?”

He shrugged slightly. “It is the only place I can be accepted without having the whiff of being a b.astard,” he smiled bitterly.

“Don’t say that,” I mumbled. Why is everything and everyone so sad these days? Why can’t everyone just be happy?

“I know Donald and Kane were both pissed about what you did. But I’m not, if anything, I’m proud of you for standing up for you both. And I’m sure Aiden would be too,” he changed the topic. “But did you see the way Baba looked at you? He was proud of you. Same way I am. And I bet you’ll make the b.astard pay even more.”

I swallowed, nodded my head then smiled a bit at him. “I wasn’t really thinking when that happened…”

“I know that. I overheard Lacie and your friend talking about it. They both said they’ve never seen you that way. I caught the gist about what happened from them.”

“Oh,” was all I could say.

Before he could reply, a small knock came from the door before Tiffany stepped in with a tray.

“Donald asked that I bring you this. You need to eat,” she spoke as she strode into the room.

“Set it there, Tiff. I’ll eat when Inna Laniya visits later and I hear something from her,” I replied, my voice hard and firm, leaving no space for argument.

“Nat…”

“Please, Tiffany,” I cut her off quickly, pleading with my eyes. “I’ll eat later. I just don’t have an appetite now.”

She nodded and bowed at us both before she left.

“You know Aiden wouldn’t like it when he wakes up and sees you this way, right?”

“I will worry about that when he wakes up. I want him to wake up and yell at me for being this way. Tell me I shouldn’t be looking this way. I want him to wake up so I can hug him. I just… want him to wake up,” I sobbed.

“I know you are angry,” he said quietly. “I overheard your conversation yesterday with Kane. I assure you Aiden only wanted to protect you and…”

“Which didn’t end well and now he’s hurt,” I cut him off while angrily drying the tears away. My voice sounded harsher than I had intended it to be.

“Only because your ex-mate played dirty, which I’m certain he’ll pay for. But as a king, and a mate, Aiden was only doing what he thought was the right thing to do,” Mav continued softly.

That doesn’t change the fact that he got harmed for my sake, or change the fact that this happened because of me. Truthfully, I was angry, but not really at him anymore. I was angry at myself for not catching up in time, or for not finishing off Matteo when I had the chance.

I was furious at everyone for letting him go through with this fight. He might have wanted to defend my honor, but what use would that be to me when he’s laying here unconscious.

Silence stretched, and I liked it. I didn’t know what else to say or do anymore. I could feel the hope slowly slip away from my grasp.

Suddenly, his hold on my hand fastened so hard that I thought he’d break my fingers. I gasped at the sudden pain. Then he g*****d, a loud throaty growl that made his entire body shake as he tried to sit up.

I stood up, panic gripping me from within. “What is going on?”

“No idea. But don’t let go,” Mav said as he quickly rushed to the side.

I wouldn’t let go even if I wanted to because his grip on my hand didn’t lessen one bit.

When he roared again, the warmth on his body increased. Mav pressed him down, stopping him from waking up as he wanted.

“He seems to be battling something and it is not making it easy for him,” Mav explained as he pressed down even more. “Whatever you do, stay with him, he needs it.”

I nodded, placing my other hand over the one he clutched. I’ll always be here.

‘The bond is getting stronger,’ Erin said. ‘But…painful,’ she hissed, rolling around.

My skin heated up as well, like hot charcoal had been placed on it. I hissed, shutting my eyes tightly.

“What is going on?” Kane said as he ran into the room, wincing. He and Mav pressed Aiden down, but that only lasted for a few seconds before he threw them both off and terrifyingly screamed.

The scream was too loud. Too disturbing. But despite that, he never let go of my hand. The scream continued to rip out from his throat with each passing second.

Every time Kane and Mav tried to hold him down, he growled at them, making it nearly impossible to approach him.

Then quite unexpectedly, he stopped screaming and threw up, the black, sticky substance ruining the white sheets. It smelled terrible.

He continued to throw up, and I thought all his intestines would come out as well. Then everything stopped. And I saw his eyes, which were yellow when he had begun the chaos, clear a bit when he looked at me.

His lips curled up slightly before he shut his eyes and fell back on the bed.