Chapter 24
Alora’s POV
The physician excused himself to go and pick up some herbs for my treatment after making sure that I was well rested on the bed. He had instructed that I didn’t move until he came back so I simply just remained in that position.
With painful tears gathering my eyes, my mind drifted off to the good times. The time when I was still happy. When I was with my parents and when everything was alright in the world.
The time when Ryan loved me and promised to get married to me so that we could be bonded as mates for all eternity. I was the most happiest girl, the one that everyone envied in the pack and now, I’ve been reduced to nothing but a slave that he had ordered to be killed and casted away.
I’m sure that he thinks I am dead. Even the Royal physician had said that I wasn’t supposed to survive this but what happens now?
I want to be grateful that the Lycan King, whoever he was was kind enough to have saved my life but I wished that he didn’t. I wish that he had just abandoned me there.
Surviving something as horrible as what I went through only meant that I would never forget it. That I would live with the trauma forever.
I heard someone walk into the tent and quickly blinked my tears away.
“Did you find the herbs?” I asked in a hoarse voice but didn’t get any reply.
Fear and panic crept up inside me and settled in my gut. I knew that someone was in the tent because the energy had shifted into something clear but unfamiliar for some reason. It felt like something unusual had walked in here?
“W-Who are you?” I stuttered in fear, afraid that whoever had just walked inside had come to hurt me.
“The ruler of this land.” He answered in a deep voice that sent shivers down my spine. I forced myself to rise up in a seated position and just then, our eyes met.
A shock gasp escaped my dry lips when I came face to face with the man standing in front of me. It was Lycan Kyrell, the same man that I had bumped into the night when I tried to escape.
He’s the one who rescued me? He didn’t even give me so much as a backward glance before so why now? Why did he choose to help me? Was it because he wanted to send me back to Ryan?
My chest tightened at that thought. My throat suddenly going dry. How is it possible that the very person who casted me aside, went to such lengths to make sure that I was safe?
“M-My Lord,” I greeted, my eyes casted down to the bed. My hands trembling. I was scared that if I continued to stare at his face then he might lash out at me and do even worse that what Ryan had already done.
Among the rulers of the seven kingdoms, he was the most powerful and the most feared. If I considered Ryan bad then he was definitely far worse.
“The physician sent a message that you were awake so I came to see for myself,” He walked closer to my bed till he was standing in front of me.
I felt a tingling sensation that raced through my pulse just at our shared proximity alone. It was faint, almost unnoticeable but it was still there.
Before I could process why he was suddenly so close to me, his hands gripped my chin and in a split second, I am forced to stare at his face that was tightened in a deep frown. I noticed the almost faded scar that ran from the top of his left eyes and disappeared into the neckline of his robe.
My heart immediately sank to the depths of my stomach when I saw the his angry orbs staring down at me in disgust and another emotion that I couldn’t quite decipher.
“You are not welcome here, slave.” He stated frostily, tightening his grip around my cheekbone. The dislike in his voice, visible with every word he uttered.
“I do not tolerate traitors like you nor do I welcome them into my pack so your time here is limited. As soon as you get better, you will be escorted out of this place and must never return p>
He pushed my face away roughly and I yelped in pain as I tried to steady myself. The injures inflicted on my body almost scratching open again.
“I-I I trailed off, my voice stuck in my throat as tears blinded my vision. “I don’t have anywhere else to go p>
“I do not care.” He snapped at me, his voice sharp and edgy. “You cannot stay here and that is final. The king of your pack is my sworn enemy and we do not see eye to eye. Anyone from your pack is considered an enemy of mine as well p>
“If it weren’t for my Beta who pleaded on your behalf then I would’ve left you to die in those woods where I found you because I do not owe traitors like you anything p>
I sniveled, blinking the tears away. I thought that he had rescued me because of our shared mate bond but I was wrong. He didn’t care just like he didn’t care back then.
I don’t blame him though. How can someone like him help a mere slave like me? I’m sure that the news of me being a traitor has been spread across all packs after Ryan had announced it at the banquet so no matter how much I may try to defend myself, it will be pointless because he wouldn’t believe me.
The opinion he has about me wouldn’t change.
“Then I trailed off, my voice stuck in my throat. “Treat me like one of your slave as well. If I should go back to my pack then I’ll be surely killed.” I blurted out, not sure why I did though.
He didn’t care for my sob story so why would he care if they wanted me dead or alive?
“I cannot afford to go back, My Lord. Dying here is better than dying anywhere else.” I whispered desperately, my trembling hands clasped together in a pleading gesture. “Please, take pity on me and let me take refuge here p>
“I promise that I won’t cause any trouble.” I went further to say when he didn’t respond. “As soon as I get better, I’ll work here as a slave to pay off my debt. I will serve you for the rest of my life if you want me to but please, spare my life p>
Tears trickled down my cheeks with every sob that escaped my throat. I know that staying here might not be pleasant but still, it was better than having to go back to the place that wanted me dead.
He may be considered ruthless and a tyrant but the fact that he had gone out of his way to help me even when he shouldn’t have only proved that to an extent, he was better than Ryan.
“My help is not without charge. It comes with a heavy price slave.” He said in a gruff voice. “I do not give it out so easily and I promise that you will not enjoy every bit of it. You will repay it for as long as you live p>
I shivered at those words. It sounded like a threat more than a statement but I only nodded my head in agreement. As long as he spared my life then I will accept anything than going back to Ryan.
“Y-Yes, My Lord p>
Without saying anything more, he turned and walked out of the tent without so much of a backward glance. The almost suffocating air slowly becoming more clearer to breathe.
I exhaled slowly, the tension that had risen inside me slowly dying down.
Just then, I saw the physician standing at a corner, leaning against the wood in his tent, eyes staring at me with intent. I don’t know when he came back or how long he has been standing there but judging from the pitiful look on his face, I could tell that he has been there for a while.
“He didn’t say anything else. He just left.” I mumbled to myself, my brows creased with worry. The little glimmer of hope that I had left, gradually fading away.
“That’s because he has accepted your desperate plea.” The physician spoke out and I glanced at him. “The Lycan King is a man of a few words. His silence means more than any word he utters out of his mouth. That’s just the way he is p>
“You can be rest assured that has allowed you to stay but I wonder why though. He has never given anyone such grace or mercy before now so, why you p>