Chapter 8
Chapter 8
The door opens and Natalie freezes. She jumps off the bed she was sitting on, her hands clasped together, clammy with sweat. Her lower l*p caught between her teeth as three people were asked into the room. A middle–aged woman stood in front, her stance held one of authority, and her great hair was neatly packed. To her side were two ladies, one of them whom Natalie recognized.
“Sit down, child. Alpha Thorne asked that we check on you. I’m aware you recently had a miscarriage. Is that right?” The woman goes straight to the point, walking towards Natalie, her face straight, giving nothing away. Natalie is stunned, not only by the information but also by why Thorne had asked that she be taken care of.
The woman stood in front of Natalie, a few inches shorter than her, her eyes seemed to harden at Natalie’s disobedience.
“Sit.” She lets out, this time a tad more commanding than before.
“Sorry,” Natalie mutters and takes her seat. She’s been in the room for hours, waiting for instructions on what to do. “You haven’t replied to my question. Did you have a miscarriage recently?” The woman asked, grabbing Natalie’s hand, she placed two of her fingers on Natalie’s wrist, checking for something the other couldn’t recognize.
“That’s right,” Natalie answered, her gaze falling to Katherine who stood behind the other girl in the room. Katherine looks at her and looks away again like she doesn’t recognize Natalie. Like she wasn’t talking her ears off even at death point.
“Your wolf is dormant. When did that happen?” The woman asks again, jolting Natalie out of her reverie. Natalie swallows hard, clutching her other hand tightly. “Some days, weeks ago? I’m sorry, I didn’t keep track.” She replied, looking downwards. The woman hums dismissively.
“There isn’t much I can do about that. What I can do though is try reaching out to your wolf. She can only resurface voluntarily. Whatever happened must have been so rough to have her unresponsive.” She says casually like Natalie didn’t suffer the worst days of her life in that cell, locked up like some low–life animal.
The woman drops Natalie’s hand and places two of her fingers under Natalie’s chin, tilting her head upwards to look at her. She looked her dead in the eye, unblinking for some seconds.
“Okay.” She says and stepped back, looking at the two girls. “Cool up some herbs for her
+5)
and give her. I’ll be back soon.” She tells them, walking towards the door. Natalie wondered what she meant by okay. She wondered if the herbs would help her wolf.
Katherine stood by her side while the other one started to get ready for the herbs she was supposed to be given. Natalie looked at Katherine and sighed internally. “D–Do you not remember me?” She asked as quietly as she could. Katherine’s eyes widened slightly, she
bent down.
“Of course I do, I thought you wouldn’t want me to speak to you. I did almost wear your ears off and I tried to..” she doesn’t get to come to her words as the other girl hissed quite loudly, her eyes on a kneeling Katherine.
Katherine smiled at her, it’s a nervous one. The girl rolls her
eyes and what she was doing. Katherine looks at Natalie again. “She hates me.” She mouths at her. It
goes back to doing
invites a smile from Natalie.
Katherine looks around the room, her mouth falling open. “Are you going to be staying here now? You’re so lucky. I wish Alpha Thorne chose me too. We could’ve been roommates.” She says, almost pouting. Natalie wondered if it was worth it. She still had no idea what the Lycan king wanted from her.
“Don’t utter his name, fool. You can get killed around here for saying his name so shamelessly.” The other girl hissed out again. Natalie and Katherine flinched at the thought. Anyone could get killed for uttering his name carelessly?
“H–has anyone been killed for that?” Katherine asked shakily. The girl turns around, looking at the two of them. “People have been killed for worse. Once, a maid was killed for serving him the wrong fruit. He wanted oranges but she brought bananas. He didn’t have it. He killed her right on the spot.” The girl says, shuddering as though remembering the day.
Natalie swallowed harshly, her palms suddenly getting clammy with more sweat. So she could be killed for something as simple as that? How long would she last?
“I’m suddenly thankful he didn’t choose me. I think you can enjoy his goodness all alone.” Katherine says and Natalie rolls her eyes.
“What happened after I fainted?” She asked the one question that’s been burning in her mind over and over again.
“The gamma took you away himself. Alpha Thorne looked very concerned though. I can’t forget the way he looked.” Katherine voiced out after a second. Natalie’s eyes widen in surprise. “The gamma? The one reciting the rules to us and telling us our posts?” She asked and Katherine nodded.
016
“That one? I wondered if that’s how the people Alpha Thorne chooses are always treated. Must be nice.” Katherine says with a forlorn look in her eyes. Natalie’s l*ps quirked into a little smile at the thought of the girl forgetting she just said she was glad he didn’t choose her.
“Alpha Thorne has never chosen anyone. You’re the first.” The other girl pipes up for the first time in a while. Natalie reeled back in shock, her words echoing in her ears over and over again. She tuned out from what Katherine was saying.
“You’re excused,” Thorne says, dismissing the two men and stood up, walking to his alcohol stash. He pulls a bottle of whiskey and a glass cup to go and pours himself some whiskey.
He walks to the large window, looking outside to the training field. The grunts, screams, and shouts of the wolves could be heard from there. There were three batches of wolves fighting in the four training fields that surrounded the pack. This was the closest. The more they got people into the kingdom, the more they required more space for practice.
Thorne lifts the glass to his l*ps, taking a sip of the alcohol. Chrissy’s words came back to him again.
and even
“She’s weak. Her b*dy cannot take much anymore. Her wolf is gone
know you what that means, your grace. The doctor’s treatment alone won’t help, Your grace. She needs more help.” She had told him with her head lowered.
“I know, that’s why I called for you. Fix her.” He snapped. Isn’t it just classical that he’s waited for his mate for years, decades that he’s finally given up on the fact, and the minute he turns to look elsewhere, he finds her, and that too in the most horrible way ever? Is this his punishment for the crimes he’s committed over the years? Is this his punishment for living for so many years and terrorizing the world? The moon goddess played her card and now he’s stuck. Thorne Ashbourne never gets stuck but here he is. Stuck!
“It’s not as simple as that. These treatments could take weeks, months, and some years. Some people don’t ever get their wolves back.”
“What is a werewolf without her wolf?” Throne had slammed his fist against the table in a fit of rage, breaking it in the process.
“I don’t care how long it takes. Fix her.” He growls angrily.
“Yes, Alpha. We will begin treatments immediately. I will have sessions with her twice a week. If Monday and Thursday are okay then I’ll schedule it for then. W–we will need your
permission so she’s able to come to my-“
“You’ll treat her here! In the pack house.” Thorne spat out before she was able to land.
“I–I’m sorry, your grace but I have all the herbs and treatments back at my house. It’s nearly impossible to get everything here. The plants will die with that many trips. Please
reconsider.” She says, bowing. That seemed to do the trick.
“You have two hours every Monday and Thursday. Fix her and make sure no one knows of this. No one outside you and I. Of word gets out that..”
“I would never. I would take this secret to my grave.”
A knock at the door pulls him out of his reverie, he turns around, dropping the glass of whiskey to the table and calls in for whoever it is to come in.
Her scent filled his nostrils the moment she stepped into the study. A seductive smile sat on her l*ps. She had a black lacy dress on that left little to the imagination. Her blonde hair was let down, and her l*ps coated in shiny l*pgloss. She looked exactly like he’s always liked her.
Frances walked towards him, her hips swaying enticingly. “Hey.” She muttered, holding his arm and resting her b*dy on his. She leaned back up, looking at him as she fluttered her eyelashes so prettily.
“I missed you.” She practically purred, hugging him again, her nose on his n*eck, sniffing more of his scent. She tipped her tongue out to lick a stripe on his n*eck. He’s quick to stop her, holding her back by her shoulders. Her face falls at the blatant rejection. It’s never happened before. Her eyebrows furrowed together. “What’s wrong?” She asked, taking a step backward.
“I’m not in the mood.” He replied, taking the glass from the table again and sipping it a bit.
“You’ve never not been in the mood.” She replied casually and that’s the thing. Frances gets his blood pumping. He’s never not been in the mood if it’s with Frances. He’s always wanted her no matter where it was but now…
“First time for everything.”
Frances had left a while back after asking severally if something was wrong. There wasn’t
anything wrong except for the fact that he suddenly has a mate and was losing his mind.
Thorne stood up, gulping the last bit of the whiskey, and walked to the door. He pulled the door open, ignoring the greetings of the guards as he walked out. He walked to the room he had placed her. It’s weird. His quarters were just for him and not even Frances was given a room there. It was just for him and yet. He had her brought there the moment she fell unconscious. He was hanging by a thin thread as it was.
Thorne pulled the door open and stepped into the room. His eyes widened slightly as he looked around. She wasn’t there, not anymore. He rushed to the bathroom and threw the door open but it was empty. She wasn’t in the room anymore.
Thorne’s return to the room crackles with raw intensity as anger radiates from him like a
storm.
His voice echoes through the pack’s corridors, a thunderous demand that summons the guards with a sense of dread. The door bursts open, and the guards, once stationed outside, now stand before the seething Alpha.
“Alph-”
“Where is she?” Thorne’s words cut through the air, his anger palpable as he confronts the guards with a ferocity that leaves no room for evasion.
Confusion and fear dance in the guards‘ eyes as they grapple with the severity of Thorne’s wrath. One attempts to stammer out a response.
“We didn’t see her leave. She should be in here.” Another pipes up immediately
“You’re telling me she left and not even one of you saw her leave? Is that it.” Thorne growls reverberates through the room. His alpha was on edge.
“Alpha..”
“Find her. Search every nook and cranny and bring her here. If she’s not back here within an hour. Consider yourselves dead!”