Chapter 6: My Stubborn Patient

 Leah blinked awake, “shit, I'm still here.” After three seconds of processing her surroundings, before her brain remembers she wasn't in her cramped apartment. 

She sat up just as the room door was pushed open. A young maid in a uniform walked in, carrying a silver tray. The girl dropped the tray onto the glass table with a loud clatter. 

"Eat," the maid sneered, her eyes raking over Leah’s oversized t-shirt with disgust. "The King is busy. You are to remain here and keep out of the way, human."

Leah swung her legs over the side of the bed, crossing her arms. She had dealt with entitled patients in the ER for three years… a snooty teenager in an apron wasn't going to rattle her. "First of all, good morning. Second, if you're going to deliver breakfast with that much attitude, you can take it back. I don't eat food served with a side of complex," she muttered with a sigh. What was wrong with the people here?

The maid’s eyes flashed an unnatural yellow. "You dare speak to me like that? You are nothing but a stray mutt he picked up…"

Smack! A loud ringing sound of a slap echoed through the room. The young maid stumbled backward, clutching her reddening cheek in shock. 

The second woman stood in the doorway. She was older, her posture rigid, her dark hair pulled back into a bun. She glared at the younger girl. 

"You do not disrespect a guest of this house," the older woman snapped. "Get out. If I hear you speak to her like that again, you will be stripped of your position and sent to the outer borders. Am I clear?"

The younger maid bowed her head, totally terrified, and ran out of the room without another word. 

The older woman turned to Leah. "My apologies, Miss Banks. I am Jia, head of the palace staff. Some of the younger wolves have not yet learned their place."

Leah stared at her, still trying to process the speed of the slap. "Wolves…”she blinked, “Right. Because that's totally normal." She rubbed her temples, feeling a headache coming on. That never got old. "And she called him a King. What is this, some kind of billionaire cosplay cult?"

"Alpha King Lucien Blackwood is the ruler of our kind," Jia answered entirely unbothered by Leah’s sarcasm. "This is his kingdom and you are here at his command."

"Well, his command is about to get a reality check," Leah muttered. She stood up, grabbing the medical bag the guards had brought from the alleyway. "Take me to him."

"The King is in his study. He is not to be disturbed…"

"I signed a fifty-million-dollar medical contract last night," Leah interrupted, her tone leaving zero room for argument. "I am not a pampered prisoner Jia, I am a nurse and my patient is currently walking around with a gaping stab wound and a fever. So either you take me to him, or I’m pulling the fire alarms until he comes out and after that I'm leaving." She paused to look at Jia, “should I continue?”

Jia stared at her for a moment. "Right this way, Miss Banks."

Ten minutes later, Leah pushed open the doors to Lucien's private study. 

 Lucien sat behind a massive desk, looking over a stack of documents. Even injured, the presence of the man was suffocating. He looked up, his eyes locking onto hers, and the temperature in the room seemed to drop ten degrees. 

"I did not summon you," Lucien rumbled as he looked at her with a bit of curiosity. 

"Good thing I don't wait for summons," Leah fired back, walking right up to his desk before dropping her medical bag onto the polished wood. "If I'm your private physician, we need some ground rules. I need a sterile workspace. I need a fully stocked medical bay, an MRI machine, and an ultrasound. I can't treat whatever mysterious illness you have with a first-aid kit and a prayer." She eyed him.

Lucien leaned back in his leather chair, infuriated by her lack of respect, with a faint hint of amusement. No one had ever barged into his office and made demands of him like that. 

His eyes darkened as he studied her flushed face. "You are very demanding for someone who was trembling in the rain last night." He tilted his head, his wolf pushing forward. "Does your boyfriend let you order him around like this?"

Leah froze, blinking in genuine confusion. My boyfriend? She hadn't been on a date in two years. Between double shifts at the hospital and helping Chloe pay rent, her love life was practically a fossil. Why is this giant, terrifying mob boss so obsessed with my imaginary relationship?

"My relationship status is none of your business, sir." Leah said . "But for the record, any man in my life knows better than to get in my way when I'm working. Now, take off your jacket."

Lucien’s jaw tightened. The thought of another man touching her sent a shock of possessiveness through his veins, but he masked it. "I am fine."

"You are sweating, your breathing is shallow, and you’re clutching your side under the desk," Leah pointed out. She walked around the desk, stopping right beside his chair. 

When he didn't move, Leah reached out and firmly pushed his broad shoulder. "Sit back. Give me your arm. I need to draw blood."

Lucien glared at her hand on his shoulder. If it were someone else, he would have broken their wrist without a thought and ordered them thrown in the dungeon. Instead, with a heavy, irritated sigh, he unbuttoned his cuff and rolled up the sleeve of his dark dress shirt. 

"You are the most stubborn woman I have ever met," he muttered. 

"I get that a lot, but see… it pays." Leah replied, forcing a smile before slipping on a pair of latex gloves. 

 She tied the tourniquet, found the vein, and slid the needle in with ease. But the moment the blood began flowing into the glass vial, Leah’s breath hitched. 

She pulled the vial free, holding it up to the light of the window. 

This wasn't normal blood. It was unnaturally dark, almost pitch black and glowing with a strange, metallic sheen. 

"What is this?" Leah whispered, her medical curiosity entirely overriding her fear. She tilted the vial, watching the liquid move. "This isn't an infection. This looks like heavy metal poisoning... silver toxicity. But this concentration should have killed you hours ago. And your blood doesn't seem human."

She looked down at Lucien, her blue eyes wide with a sudden, horrifying realization. He really wasn't human? And he wasn't just sick. 

Something inside of him was actively destroying him, and whatever it was, it defied every rule of human biology she had ever learned.

“What are you really?”