VII: Awake

VII: Awake

~XENOS~

“She’s fighting." In the last seven days, I really have lost count of how many times Landrace had mentioned that fucking line.

Every damn time, I'd asked him to be sincere… but this time, I could see it too.

After three days of fighting, the lines on her skin had darkened in an ever deeper shade.

"How long will she stay like this?” My thumb brushed her forehead.

"We cannot say, Your Majesty.” He checked her heartbeat with the stethoscope. "Her breathing is moderate. Sometimes uneven, but her wolf keeps resisting even though it's weak.”

She really was strong. None of my breeders had fought this long and this was only proof that she was… the one.

"Your Majesty,” Lowell walked in with a blazer hung over his shoulder. He'd just returned from a meeting with the Kings of other regions and Alphas.

“How did it go?"

He exhaled sharply. “How is she? We can always talk about that later."

I glanced at Landrace who already understood to brief Lowell.

There was hope. At least, she was obviously fighting it… and as much as I hated it, surviving would put her in a place more than what she was.

“The Alphas know." He said quietly when Franca and Landrace stepped out. “Everyone in the Nikolai Territory knows about it already.”

He didn't say it like a secret. He said it like he was expecting her to awake immediately so he'd disappoint the rumors and gossipmongers.

This was only proof that no matter how great one's name could be, people would still talk. They'd still mention your name—either good or bad—in places you never know.

"What's the point you're bringing out, Lowell?” A sigh escaped me. His methods were becoming a little predictable.

“You know what I'm bringing out." His eyes drifted back to her. Thank goodness I'd stopped brushing her forehead by the time he walked in.

“She is going to survive it. I know that.” I'd stopped believing otherwise. She'd already earned a point when she was still fighting until the third day.

“But…” His eyes met mine. " They'd be expecting something, the moment she conquers it.”

Today—no, right now, he wasn't rage-baiting or provoking.

He was being sensible because this wasn't a matter of accepting or denying.

It was a matter of realizing and choosing a fact even when the choice would eventually stand to affect every other choice that had ever been made.

"Can we talk about this some other time?” My voice dropped to a lower tone.

A part of me was expecting him to push further, trying to prove a point I was hiding from… but he didn't argue further.

He walked out with a word and for another moment, I lost myself as I watched her breathe… I didn't like it, but it soothed my wolf every time I looked at her.

Her eyelids twitched— my hope flickered. Landrace had said the twitching was a result of her wolf's inner hassle.

"You should hold on a little.” I leaned against the edge of the bed, wrapping her palm with mine. Truth was, I didn't even know how long it'd take her to fight it… sometimes, the fat that a situation looked promising wasn't really enough.

Sometimes, you needed more than the usual pattern of evidence to strengthen your hope. "You can hang on a little” I pressed the back of her palm on my forehead.

My guilt had tripled—but it was now wearing a skin different from the usual. My guilt was a ticking bomb waiting to explode… and hope was the fraying fuse keeping it from consuming me.

She'd struggled enough… every day without food or water—talk less of seven fucking days.

I stroked her hair, and for a second, I—not my wolf this time—was tempted to plant a kiss on her forehead.

I lowered my head, despite the lines on her skin. My filthy curse beneath her skin was the last thing I wanted.

Afterall, I'd claimed her. She was mine.

Nothing mattered. So I bent, held her forehead still and planted a kiss there.

“You're going to wake up," I said it as if I was so sure it'd happen. My faith even terrified me. "You're going to fight it.”

Beneath those words, there was something I wasn't sure I was ready to face… something that had always given me sleepless nights because literally, two things were contradicting each other.

If she woke up and I'd claimed her, she technically would be my mate… but I wasn't ready for that.

Or maybe, despite my glory and the power beneath my feet, I was scared of that.

My wolf wanted things I didn't… getting an heir to break my curse didn't make it compulsory that my breeder would be my mate, but my wolf had already started warning me since I met her.

Since the night my temple was bleeding.

I wrapped my hand around her, tempted to kiss her lips this time… and as I attempted, I heard a wince.

I froze, then my eyes dropped to her face. The wince happened again and it was really from her.

“Are you awake?"

Her eyes opened slowly and a painful, guttural groan escaped her.