Chapter 44

Atwood

After the events from the past few days, I’ll admit that I’m utterly exhausted. I never wanted to pull Ruby out of school, but it seems as though that was the only viable option after her behavior. I mean, who gives a thong to a new transfer, let alone someone that is living with them?

Admittedly, I never wanted Edith here. After the way that my mother tried to force me to marry Edith when we were younger, I honestly want to be as far away from the both of them as possible. Can I not just marry my fated mate and run my kingdom in peace?

Still, Edith and my mother being here, as well as Ruby’s misbehavior, are the least of my worries right now. My beta is dead and my kingdom is at risk. If I don’t keep up with my work, the Bears will have their way and take over the Lycan kingdom. After that, they’ll likely go for the Swan kingdom, too.

When the three kingdoms were first formed hundreds of years ago, the original leaders of the Lycans, Bears, and the Swans lived in peace. Each mostly kept to their own territory, but they coexisted peacefully and even traded resources between kingdoms. If only we could go back to the days during which the kingdom leaders would get along with one another and work out whatever issues they had during their annual summits without the need for violence.

I would give anything to have been crowned King of the Lycans during those days.

Now, I wish I had never been crowned King at all.

The stress from the recent events has exhausted me so much that I decide to take a break from work for the rest of the day and retire to bed. When I first discovered that Ruby is not yet nineteen I arranged for a private room to be prepared that can be accessed through a hidden door disguised as a bookshelf in my study, where I’ve been sleeping alone and resting when I need some space. It doesn’t sit well with me to bed with a girl who is not yet of age, so I’m more than happy to let her have my bedroom all to herself until we eventually mate -- if that ever happens at this point.

I enter my study and walk to the hidden door, where I push on the spine of one of the books. The door unlocks and swings open. Once inside, I close it behind me.

I remove my shirt to get into bed, but stop when I catch a glimpse of my reflection. I haven’t looked at myself much since my fight with the Bear -- partially because I haven’t had the time but also because I’m simply afraid to look -- but I decide to look now.

Although my body feels fine now, thanks to Ruby’s presence when I was healing, some of the wounds that the Bear left me with were too deep to heal perfectly, which has left me with some scars on my chest and abdomen.

It’s no matter to me to be covered in scars, but I can’t help but wonder if Ruby will be repulsed by me.

Swallowing my negative thoughts, I climb into bed and quickly drift off to sleep.

“Atwood… Atwood…”

It’s Vivan’s voice. It whispers to me from afar and I follow it, yearning to be closer to her, to feel her breath on my skin. But the more that I search for her, the further away her voice becomes.

I’m in a dark room. The walls are so high that I can’t see the ceiling; it’s so black up there that I wonder if maybe there even are walls or a ceiling, or if I’m just floating in an inky black void.

“Atwood…” Vivian’s voice sounds close now, so close that it feels as though she is whispering directly into my ear, moving from one side of me to the other. I can feel her lips brush my ear, then travel down to my neck.

“Viv?” I call out into the void, turning around to see that she is no longer there. It’s silent for a long time.

“I’m here, Atwood,” her voice says again. But it’s not just Vivian’s voice anymore: it’s Ruby’s voice, too. They’ve melted together into one. It sounds as though it’s coming from above me.

I start to float upward, reaching into the void. Far away, I can make out a pale hand reaching out for me from the darkness. If I can just go a little further…

I grab the hand and pull.

Instead of Vivian or Ruby emerging from the darkness, only the arm comes, severed from the body. It sticks firmly in my hand when I try to let go, squeezing so hard that I feel as though my own arm will rip from my body as well.

Just then, a ghostly face rushes at me from the darkness. It’s neither Vivian nor Ruby, but rather a sickening combination of both, with four bloody holes where four eyes used to be.

The face’s mouth opens to speak.

“Why did you let me die?”

I awake with a start to hear the sound of movement coming from my study. Sweat coats my back as I stumble out of bed and pull my shirt on.

I emerge from my secret bedroom, still buttoning my shirt, to see Noah standing in my study. He looks at me with a surprised yet concerned look on his face. He’s got a folder with papers in his hand.

“I’m sorry to wake you, my Lord,” Noah says, holding the folder out to me. “But we have new information on the Bears.”

Without speaking, I snatch the papers away from him and sit down at my desk. I open the folder and start to pore over its contents. There are multiple typed documents with photographs of the human forms of various Bears, as well as information on each Bear.

“This is excellent,” I mutter groggily, flipping through the papers. I feel dizzy and nauseous, but try my best not to show it to Noah.

“There’s one more thing, my Lord,” Noah says, holding out one of the mock pens that we frequently use for audio surveillance. I’m so dizzy that the pen swims in front of me, almost as though there are two. “The Bears discovered the date of Ruby’s birthday, and plan to launch another attack on that day. We’ve got audio of the plans here, straight out of the leader’s mouth. They think we won’t be prepared due to the party.”

I take the pen out of Noah’s hand and bring it into focus, forcing down a bit of vomit that has bubbled up in my throat due to my dizziness.

“Thank you, Kayne-” I begin, but then stop myself as I realize what I’ve done. “Sorry, I mean Noah,” I say quietly, looking down at my desk. Noah says nothing.

I gather my thoughts again, running a hand through my tangled hair.

“Let’s double the guard in the castle for that night,” I say, “and I want a patrol around the castle perimeter as well. For every man in his human form, I want two shifted.”

Noah nods, jotting my orders down on a notepad.

“Is there anything else?” he says, looking at me inquisitively.

“I need time to think,” I say.

With another nod, Noah excuses himself. Before he leaves the room, however, I call out to him.

“Noah,” I say, my voice hoarse. He stops and turns to look at me.

“Yes, my Lord?”

“With Kayne gone, I’m promoting you to the position of beta.”

Noah’s eyes widen and his mouth drops open slightly before he collects himself and bows deeply.

“Thank you, my Lord,” he says. “I won’t let you down.”

I simply nod in response, calling out one last request before he leaves again.

“Send for Doctor Yang, will you?”