Chapter 4 /-Kaelen-/ As soon as she exited the room, I turned to Thorne. Was he being serious? "You know you cannot be cured, right? You were born blind," I said. "Are you toying with her?" "You speak as though I was the one who made the offer," he returned casually to his throne. He was a lot calmer now. "You heard her. She's a healer. She might as well try her luck and if she fails, I will have her head, just as agreed." My eyes widened. Was he being serious right now? "You don't mean that, do you? You can't just kill her. You know how important she is to us!" I stated. "I asked you for a breeder and you brought a deformity to me. You should be thankful that she is still breathing," he said coldly. "I have brought many breeders for you, Thorne and you have killed all of them due to either your stubbornness or temperament. You know I didn't bring her here simply because she is a breeder right?" I said. "I do not know what you are talking about," he denied. "She doesn't know because she hasn't gotten her wolf yet but I know you sense the bond just as strongly as I do. She is our mate." "You expect me to accept that thing as my Luna?" He huffed. "She is the only one who can give us children. We don't have to acknowledge her as Luna, just keep her around for breeding sake," I tried to convince him. "I do not care for children, Kaelen. I am not touching that thing, and those four weeks are over; I will kill her whether you like it or not!" He said. It was clearly pointless trying to talk sense into him. So I walked out of the place to clear my head. I expected to see her outside the door but she was nowhere in sight. I sniffed the air for her scent and followed it to the back of the palace. She was right there in the fields, surrounded by maids, who were laughing and throwing things at her. "What is going on here?" I thundered and they scurried away in fear. I walked to her feeling sorry for her as I took in her miserable state. I took a squat to her level and lifted her tear-stained face. Those beautiful emerald eyes made my chest clench. "I'm sorry," I apologized before I could stop myself. A sad chuckle rumbled from her chest as more tears streamed down her face. "You don't have to apologize to me, master. I am used to it," she wiped away her tears. "They are only laughing because I look different." "Selene..." "Maybe if I looked a little average and didn't have this hunchback, they wouldn't feel the need to treat me like this..." she sniffled. "But that is just wishful thinking, right?" My heart tugged. "Let's get you cleaned up," I said, lifting her off the floor in bridal style. Her eyes immediately widened and her cheeks went bright red. "You... you can't do that!" She gasped. "People..." she glanced discreetly at the wolves that stood around, trying to pretend they were minding their business when they were really looking at us. "... are staring." "Let them. It's one of the perks of being Alpha. I attract eyes wherever I go," I told her. I carried her to the guest room where she would be staying. I dropped her at the edge of the tub and turned on the faucet to fill it. "Master..." she called softly and I glanced at her. She immediately averted her gaze and strangely, I found it adorable. "Why are you so nice to me?" I hated the way those innocent eyes looked at me. "Be a good girl and get clean first; I have something very pretty for you," u said, and her face flamed. Her little reactions were so cute. "What is it?" She asked, barely containing her excitement. "Are you comfortable with me cleaning you up or you can do it yourself?" I asked and she stared at her hands like they had the answers to my question. "Selene?" "I... can... do it m..myself..." she stammered. "Okay then, I'll wait outside," I patted her head and walked out of the bathroom. I wanted to ask her how she was going to pull off the healer lie but most importantly, I wanted to see her expression when she saw the new dresses I got her. I took them out of the wardrobe and laid them out carefully on the bed. The plan was to wait for her but my attention was drawn by one of the guards. "Alpha, your attention is needed urgently," he said and only one thing crossed my mind. "Is the King throwing a tantrum again?" I asked and he bowed. "A maid accidentally spilt coffee on him; now he wants all the servants on that floor fired." Typical Thorne. At least he wasn't asking for their heads. I took one glance at the bed before going with him. I hope she likes them. Two Days Later. /-Selene-/ I wandered the forests with the guards just behind me. I had no idea what I was supposed to be doing but I needed to get herbs for the King's treatment. Thinking about it now, that was a very stupid move however effective it was. I only managed to buy myself four weeks to live. That is if I didn't somehow kill the King with these poisonous herbs. I held tightly to the basket, walking around and checking out leaves like I actually knew what I was doing. In the end, I ended up plucking a bunch of randoms for a concoction that might most likely lead to my execution. In the end, I ended up plucking a bunch of randoms for a concoction that might most likely lead to my execution. I bent over and pretended to inspect a patch of moss, biting my lip to keep from screaming into the dirt. I didn't know the difference between wolfsbane and thyme. For all I knew, I'd end up giving the King a deadly rash or summoning forest spirits with the wrong brew. Behind me, one of the guards cleared his throat. "You've been staring at that plant for ten minutes." I straightened slowly. "It's a very... contemplative species." He gave me a long look but said nothing. The other two just shifted restlessly, probably wondering if they were guarding a genius or a lunatic. Jokes on them, I wasn't even a good liar. I moved on, plucking more leaves, whispering nonsense like "Ah yes, this one's got good medicinal value," to keep up the act. But just as I was about to pick a pretty-looking purple flower, a deep voice rumbled from behind the trees. "What exactly do you plan to cure with that?" I froze. The chief guard, the one who stopped me from getting close to the King the other time, appeared. My breath caught my throat. Did the King send him here to inspect me? Most likely. He stepped out from the shadows like the forest itself had summoned him, arms crossed, eyes narrowed. His black cloak made him look like death incarnate, and I was the stupid peasant girl collecting ingredients for her own execution. I held up the flower anyway. "Insomnia," I lied. His gaze dropped to the basket of random weeds, then returned to my face. "You'll be curing it permanently, I assume." Heat crept up my neck. "I'm still refining the formula." He stepped closer. The guards stiffened but didn't move. Clearly, he outranked everyone and terrified them. "And what would you have done if Alpha Kaelen hadn't intervened two days ago?" he asked coldly. I looked away. "I would've died." "Exactly, which is why you would most likely die this time." He reached into the basket and plucked out a jagged, spotted leaf. "This one will kill the King. This," he added, pulling out a yellow root, "will paralyze him. And this..." he plucked the last one with a grim smile, "will make him hallucinate for three days." I stared at the basket, horrified. "Are... are you going to tell him?" "I should," he said, turning the leaf between his fingers. "But I'm curious to see how far you're willing to go for survival. Not that you are worth much anyways." With that, he turned and left. I didn't waste time emptying the basket. Oh, goddess! That was a close one! I plucked another set of randoms that looked safe. I was sceptical about leaving with them. If only he could come back and take a look. Unfortunately, he didn't so I had to return to the palace and prepare the medicine. When I finished, I turned it into a bowl and headed to the King's chambers. I muttered a thousand prayers by the time I got to his door. I knocked repeatedly but there was no answer. That should have been a sign for me to leave, but somehow, my stupid brain thought I should enter the room instead. Just as I entered the room, he was emerging from the bathroom with nothing but a towel hanging dangerously low around his waist and water dripping from his hair, down that sinfully sculpted torso, running past his abs down to that vaguely exposed v-line. Oh. My. God. Discover our latest featured short drama reel. Watch now and enjoy the story!