Six

ASPEN VESPER

“Wh-what?” Kailin took some steps back. His shock could not be hidden. “You did this?”

The woman quickly fell to her knees. With tears in her eyes, she cried, “I am sorry. I thought it was an herb that would make her feel better. I didn’t know it was poisonous. I really-”

“Do you have any idea what you have done?!” Kailin roared while the small bottle in his hand shattered against the ground. When Aspen saw that, she quietly got up and stood in a corner to watch the scene unfold. “Not only did you threaten the Luna’s life, but you attempted to kill our child!”

“No!” The woman screamed. “No, no. That’s not true.” Her head danced left to right frantically. “It’s not true. I didn’t mean to. I j-just wanted t-t-the Luna t-to be fine. That’s all!”

“Is it?” Kailin drew a sharp breath. “How is it possible that you merely fed some herbs to the Queen without anyone knowing? How do you expect me to believe that you meant no harm.”

“I am your mother, Kailin.”

“Stepmother,” the man corrected through gritted teeth.

“I cannot hurt you or the Queen. It is impossible.”

“I can’t do this right now.” Aspen noticed how he quickly closed his eyes and remained still for seconds. He usually did that when his wolf energy tried to take over him. When he opened his eyes, he hollered, “Guards! Take this woman away!”

The guards who shamefully stood close to the entrance rushed in and dragged the screaming woman out of the room as though she was some stranger to Kailin.

Once his stepmother's noise disappeared, Kailin faced Aspen. His face pulled into extreme seriousness; it truly looked as though he had become a sculpture promoting silent anger.

“This means you are free.” He wasn’t pleased. “For now.”

“I find it annoying that you want to find some dirt on me.”

“I am very curious about the nature of the people that approach my pack. And, seeing how things went haywire barely minutes after you arrived, I am certain now that you are bad news.”

“Lycan Kailin,” Aspen scoffed loud enough for him to hear. At the same time, she slowly walked towards him, “I don’t care what you think of me. Curse me in your mind all night, if you please. But the next time you throw me or my mate in a cell without proper evidence,” she reached where he was, and used the confidence in her body to threaten him, “I will make a mess of your pack. A mess you will never be able to clean up.”

His thick brows, which she used to love grooming, knitted. “Are you seriously threatening me?”

Aspen relaxed her stance. “Is that what you think it is? If so, yes. I am threatening you. You ceased every affair of my life because you wanted a doctor for your Luna. I respect that. I truly get it.” Aspen laughed bitterly when she realised that she was about to let a little bit of her true, intense feelings slip out a little. “But you throwing me in jail without proper investigation is a huge slap in my face. Your refusal to listen to the voice of reason tells me how much of a mediocre leader you are.”

“Doctor Sabrina, watch your words when you are in front of me,” he sternly warned, his hands pocketed in a way that made him look more intimidating than she wished for him to be.

“Or what?” Aspen folded her arms. “What will you do? Skin me alive?”

“My wolf would prefer eating you alive.” He moved closer. His chest almost hit her forehead, and with a deadly look in his eyes, he said, “Nobody will question me if my wolf does that. So, make sure that the next word you spit out of that small mouth of yours is sane enough to save you from my wolf.”

At that moment, Kailin Blackwood was serious. Aspen knew it would be stupid of her to provoke him any further. There would be plenty of opportunities to mess with his head later.

So, with a sharp exhale, she unfolded her arms, bit into her lip and said, “That’s a fair warning. I will pack my things and leave. I would have loved to check up on the Luna, but the last time I did that, I was accused of trying to murder her.”

“Good. Leave.” Kailin’s voice grew colder as seconds passed, and within her high horses, Aspen was slightly bothered by that. “Never show that ridiculous masked face of yours ever again.”

She rolled her eyes at him and walked out while a tiny part of her soul was still perplexed about the vicious side of Kailin she never knew he could have.

~~~

KAILIN BLACKWOOD

The moment Doctor Sabrina walked out of the room, Kailin felt the knot in his chest worsen. His wolf didn’t take the bomb his stepmother dropped on them too well. At that point, he preferred if it was the rude Doctor who was the culprit, at least he would not have to deal with having to calm his wolf down.

“Lexus, I will deal with this,” he said to his wolf. “You don’t have to be this angry. That woman will pay for what she has done and- Argh!” The pain that shot into his chest brought him to his knee.

Kailin shut his eyes, and while he bore the pain, he recalled that the last time something like that happened was after he got mated to Raven Vesper. Lexus refused to listen to a word Kailin had to say.

Back then, Kailin let his wolf do as he wished. He handled the pain that came with that as well as he could and survived.

But, at that point, Kailin knew he wouldn’t survive his wolf’s punishment for whatever it was he did wrong, so he asked his beast a question he never wished to have to ask.

“Lexus, what do you want from me?! Huh?”

‘She has to stay.’

Kailin frowned. “Who has to stay?”

‘That woman. That doctor.’

“Seriously? That rude, lowly thing?”

‘I want her around.’

“Lexus, are you hiding something from me?”

‘You don’t even remember the face of our mate,’ Lexus suddenly spoke about the woman he was trying to forget. ‘If you are going to keep doing as you wish, allow me to do as I wish as well.’

“Lexus, you have always been doing as you wish!” Kailin’s shoes hit the ground. “Fuck! How could you bring that woman up? She left us. I am trying hard to forget her. So, I am fucking glad that I forgot what she looks like ever since she left me.”

‘Once it is sure that the doctor will always be here, let me know.’

The Lycan King dug into the smoothness of his hair. “Why the heck is everyone threatening me today?”

Lexus went back to not answering him, and Kailin gave up trying.

But, the moment he got to his feet, he decided to do as his wolf wished.

At least, that would shut him up for a while, Kailin thought.

So, he went after the woman who had probably not gone too far.

When he found her, she was looking out of a window while the guards walking her stood behind, waiting for her to be done.

Kailin had no idea why, but as he watched her look up at the sky and stretch her hand to admire a butterfly, something in his heart softened as though he was watching a familiar scene. The moment the Doctor was having seemed very peaceful, and he wished to leave her be.

“Lycan Kailin,” a familiar voice whispered behind him.

“Oh,” it was Ezekiel, one of his trusted guards, “what is going on? How is the Luna’s surgery?”

“Huh…”

Kailin’s forehead creased as he asked, “Is there some sort of problem?”

“It’s bad. The Luna is still bleeding, and uhm, she lost the baby.”

Whatever the man said after that, Kailin didn’t hear. At the same time, he refused to come to terms with the terrible news Ezekiel had just delivered. All that he could weirdly think of was trying to find a way to ease the pain of the Luna Queen.

So, within the thick cloudiness in his soul, his feet led him to where the Doctor was. He gripped her shoulders in a way that startled her, and without taking a hesitant breath, he said, “I want you to stay. Stay and make my Luna better. She mustn’t die. So, please stay.”