Chapter 4

Third POV

Erica's eyelashes flickered. She slowly opened her eyes and saw the familiar dusty ceiling. She was in her room!

How did she get back?

"Woke up?"

A deep voice cut through the silence, sending shivers to her body, chilling her bones and itching her wounds.

She immediately turned her head only to see the wounded man she helped. She was surprised when she noticed his wounds had healed already. He looked quite healthy.

"Y-You! D-Did you help me to get back?" She could not help but stutter.

He was leaning against a wall. His body looked powerful, and his aura was different. She could feel heat radiating from him, causing her to gulp.

When her eyes met him, she felt her heart beat faster. It was because there was something in them. It made her refuse to believe he was an ordinary man.

Even in ordinary clothes, he looked mighty and powerful. It was quite strange.

"Why did you help me?" she whispered, trying to sit up on the floor.

He approached her and pressed his hand on her shoulder. His touch jolted her body.

But before she could respond to the jolting sensation, he pressed her down on the floor.

"What are you doing?" she asked, feeling his heavy hands pressing her shoulders.

"Just relax. Let me help you with your wounds," he muttered and grabbed a small bowl that was near her.

She glanced at the bowl and noticed the green liquid inside it.

"What is it?" she asked, but he did not reply.

He grabbed her hand tightly and dipped his own hand in the bowl, then rubbed the liquid on her palm.

"Ahhh!"

She screamed when she felt a burn in her hands. It was like he was rubbing salt over them.

He paused and glanced at her. She immediately shut her mouth, her eyes turned teary.

"It's for your own good," he said, grabbing her other hand.

She shook her head. "It hurts. Please let me go."

He refused to listen to her and rubbed the liquid on her other palm. Soon, she felt the pain start to ease.

She could only stare, her eyes wide with shock. He was so calm, yet the way he rubbed her palm was so intense.

Then she gasped. "Hey! What are you—"

He cut her off when he held the hem of her dress and pulled it up till her knees.

"Oh, no!" she murmured in embarrassment.

Kael's eyes furrowed when he saw many scars on her legs. They were like rebounds again.

"I-I can do it myself. Let me go."

She was about to move her legs when he held her ankle tightly and looked at her.

She froze by his dominating gaze. He looked back at her legs and applied the liquid on her bare skin.

She felt burning but then a different feeling by his touch.

The touch was so intimate it made her tremble. No man had ever touched her like that before. Other than Justin, she never got close to any other man.

She moved her legs away from him before his large palm could reach her knees.

"Thank you. But you didn't need to do that," she said in a low tone, pulling down her dress to her ankle again.

Kael gave her a frowning look. It was as if he understood her thinking.

Staring at her for a while, he finally asked,

"Why were you sent here? What crime did you commit?"

The question shook Erica. She didn't want to answer. She didn't want to remember the man who sent her here.

She turned her face away and sighed, pushing the locked pain in her heart.

Seeing that she was not answering, Kael broke the silence with his deep voice.

"You should take a rest."

Suddenly she recalled she had a late night shift.

"No, I have a night shift."

Kael frowned. "How many works are you assigned?"

She lowered her head. She could not tell him why she was getting a load of work.

She was afraid if she did not do her work properly, the people here would inform Justin, and then he would hurt her nanny, Salma.

"Whatever! Rest now. I will wake you up," Kael muttered.

Erica was feeling really exhausted. So she could not help but agree.

"O-Okay, thanks."

She lay down and covered her body with her torn blanket. The liquid rubbed the blanket, causing her feel the pain. Yet she held it tightly and fell asleep.

On the other hand,

Kael's eyes were on Erica as he was sitting on the floor, head resting against the rough wall.

After staring at her for a long time, he closed his eyes. Through the mindlink, he summoned someone.

After an hour, the door was knocked.

Kael’s eyes snapped open. He didn't need to hear the knock to know someone was there. He stood up silently and glanced at Erica, who was in a deep sleep. He moved like a shadow, reaching the door before another knock broke her sleep.

When he opened the door, there was a young man outside. 

"Beta Lucian," he murmured.

The man almost immediately got to his knees and bowed his head to Kael.

"Your Majesty, it's been a long time!"

He looked at Lucian. His eyes glowed red, but then they turned back to black.

Lucian was kneeling before him because he was not an ordinary wolf but the second Lycan prince, Prince Adam Scott.

He was the man everyone was afraid of, like a disaster.

That night, Erica mistook his name, and he did not bother to correct her. He thought Kael was a better hideous name for him.

"Raise," he ordered.

Beta Lucian quickly got to his feet and said, "It's my fortune that you summoned me, letting me know where you are."

"Come inside. I don't want other people to know who I am," Adam said, letting Beta Lucian inside the house.

As Lucian stepped in, he was stunned. He was shocked that Prince Adam was with a woman.

"Your Majesty—"

Before he could ask him anything, Adam said, "I am letting you see her face because I want you to investigate her for me."

Lucian was surprised when he saw the curiosity in the prince's eyes. 

Adam gave him a look and said, “Remember her face and this cabin then match it with the criminal record. I want to know what could a girl like her possibly have done to be exiled to a place like this. Find out before the sun comes up.”

Beta Lucian immediately nodded his head and left.

The night was long.

Soon, Lucian mindlinked him. Adam did not let him enter the house again.

Adam left the house, closing the door lightly behind him. He then went to meet Beta Lucian in a far distance in the woods.

"Half a year ago she was imprisoned for consorting with rogues. She is the gamma's daughter of the Frostfall Pack."

Upon hearing about Erica, Adam muttered, "Interesting…”

He extended his hand toward Lucian.

Lucian immediately pulled out a packet of cigarettes. He handed one cigarette in Adam's hand.

When Adam put them between his lips, Lucian quickly lifted his lighter and lit them for him.

Under the moonlight, Adam looked the epitome of power.

While smoking, Adam thought about something. “A few months ago, Frostfall Pack attempted to marry off a Gamma family's daughter to me.”

"But that time you rejected it, Your Majesty," Beta Lucian reminded him.

A glint of curiosity shone in Adam's eyes. "I didn't expect her to be... intriguing," he murmured.

Beta Lucian felt a chill run down his spine. "What do you intend to do with her, Your Majesty?”

He took a pause and asked again, "Take her back to the castle—like the others?"

Adam cut him off coldly. "That's none of your business."

His eyes darkened, the smoke swirling around him. He returned his gaze to Lucian and ordered,

"Just bring me every detail about her life. And do it faster."