Chapter Four

Scarlet’s POV

"She is losing her healing abilities. The medicines are only going to help her temporarily."

My eyes weakly opened and I glanced around the room. The dimly lit room and the stench of disinfectant told me that I was in the school's clinic.

My head was wrapped up with a bandage as I laid on the bed.

"What could be the reason she's not healing?" I heard the stranger ask the nurse. I turned my head slightly to see them, but I winced in pain and drew their attention instead.

"Oh, she's finally awake." The nurse said, drawing closer to me. She narrowed her eyes as she tilted my head to examine my wound. "This should have healed by now but it's not."

She was right. My healing abilities as a wolf was supposed to seal up my wound after some minutes. I wasn't supposed to be wrapped up in bandages or feeling pain with every breath I took. What was suddenly wrong with me?

"What's wrong with me?" I whispered, weakly.

"You suffered a mild concussion and have some fractured ribs," she replied coldly, and pushed her fingers down to my ribs. "But that should be the least of your worries. You’re so lucky Prince Elias brought you here on time.”

Prince Elias? His name rang in my head like a bell. There was no other Prince Elias in the entire school except the Lycan Prince. The thought of him carrying me in his arms to the clinic sent shivers to my spine.

"Am I losing my healing abilities?" My voice was shaking and I could feel hot tears pushing their way out of my eyes.

"Scarlet, don't cry." She sat beside me on the bed. "I'm here to help you." I nodded but my lips were still quivering. I couldn't fathom the reason I would suddenly lose my healing abilities. Without them, what kind of wolf would I be?

"Today is your eighteenth birthday, isn't it?" She asked. "Have you found your mate already?" Her question came as a shock to me because I didn't know how it was connected to any of the things happening to me.

I wasn't ready to admit that my mate didn't want me and as a matter of fact, preferred another girl to me.

"I–I haven't-"

"Don't lie to me." She cut me off. Leaning closer, she wiped the tears at the edge of my eyes. "I know it can be hard to accept rejection especially after waiting for so many years to be mated. But this is not just about your healing abilities as a wolf. A rejection from your mate can permanently stop you from shifting forever."

At that moment, I felt like my entire world was crumbling. I was losing my abilities because of Brad, my fated mate. "He didn't pronounce his rejection but he said we can't be together. He wants Valerie instead." The gnashing pain in my chest returned and I tried not to cry again.

"Oh sweet Scarlet, that's why you're unable to heal. He’s causing you to lose your abilities." Her eyes were filled with pity for me. "If you must live without him, he must reject you completely and you'll have to accept it. If you don't do that, he will keep taking a part of your abilities till you're nothing but a fragile, weak, wolf."

I sniffed back a sob. "I will be deemed a rogue wolf if he rejects me. I will be banished from the pack forever. I would rather lose my abilities than my family."

"Nonsense!" Elias’ voice echoed across the room and I jerked. I had clearly forgotten he was still in the room with us. He drew closer to me, his eyes burning with rage and lowered himself to the bed. "Brad doesn't deserve you. What kind of guy would reject a girl like you? You must reject him first so you'll be free from the consequences of his selfishness."

"Reject who?" I turned sharply to the door side to see Brad casually walking in, his eyes flaming in anger as he saw us. I could sense Brad’s disapproval as he glared at Elias, and with each passing minute, the disapproval inched toward hatred.

"I'll leave the room for you three." The nurse quietly slid out of the room, eager to avoid any drama.

"Brad–"

"Shhhh. Don't talk, you're still hurt." Brad inched closer to me and rubbed my forehead gently. He smiled down at him, a smile that was clearly void of any emotion . "I came as soon as I heard what happened. Are you feeling better now?"

"What the hell are you doing here? Your girlfriend did this to her. You don't have any right to be here. Now leave!" I felt the pitched authority in the room as Elias spoke.

Brad chuckled slowly. "I have every right to be here because she's my mate. You can't use your authority to stop me from being with her."

Wait what? I replayed Brad's words in my head to know if I heard him wrong but I didn't. Did he suddenly call me his mate? What happened to his rejection earlier?

"She's not your mate anymore, Brad. You lost her the moment you chose Valerie over her." Brad seemed to be wresting with himself internally as he heard those words. "Now, I'll take it from here."

What? What was he talking about? How did Prince Elias who just popped up minutes ago know many details about Brad and I? He spoke with certainty, almost as if he wanted to claim me as his. His statement seemed to pierce through Brad's heart and for a second, it looked like he would get violent.

"I'm not scared of you." Brad folded his arms. "I haven't pronounced my rejection to Scarlet. Therefore, I still have every right to claim her as mine. You should back off and stay away from her. After all, she doesn’t even know who you are."

It took me a moment to realize that something was going on between the two of them. Something deeper than a surface misunderstanding and it was about me.

"She's losing her abilities because of your rejection. Can't you see you're dangerous to her? You shouldn't be allowed to touch a strand of hair on her head."

Brad slammed his hand against the wall and I flinched slightly. "You can't tell me what to do!!!" He barked. What had suddenly come over him?

"Walk away, Brad." Prince Elias said, his tone fierce and cold. “She’s mine now.”

"You know what? Why don't we let her choose?" Brad came up to me and grinned. I was still trying to wrap my head around Elias’ claim on me when he dropped the bombshell. "I'm ready to accept you as my mate and you'll get your abilities back. But the problem is that you have two mates and you have to choose between the two of us. Now. Who is it going to be? Me or him?”