Chapter 47: Chapter 47

CASVAN

^Dakhur, King Castle^

I was about to go hunt for the poor bastard Alaric and drag him here when the door banged open. Alaric and the two guards rushed in, carrying several medical apparatus in their hands.

“What happened?” he asked, preparing a syringe.

I moved, giving the doctor space to check on Reyna, still unconscious.

“She woke up, we talked. She got angry, then she started to cough. She was bleeding, from both her mouth and nose,” I replied wretchedly.

“She’s going to be okay, Cas. She was poisoned. The shot I just gave her will help with the pain and stabilize her. We’re trying to create an antidote for her. She’s a fighter, and her animal spirit is already trying its best.

She wouldn’t have stood a chance without it, so take it easy, she will wake up healthy and strong,” he said.

I nodded and thanked Alaric without correcting the assumption that Reyna was the same as our race, who had different animal spirits and could change occasionally.

I knew what he didn’t—Reyna was a hybrid. Born of a human woman and lycan father, my queen was stronger than she looked.

Alaric and my guards walked out and left me alone, feeling like my world was about to end.

I took her hand and kissed it lightly, as I quietly watched her sleep, hoping and praying for once in my long life for Alaric to succeed in making the antidote.

^THREE DAYS LATER^

I leaned my back against the wall a little distance away, watching Reyna as she sat there on the couch near the huge fireplace with the women and younglings all around her.

For hours, my Kitten had been pretending I didn’t exist while she talked with the other women and listened to the ramblings of the younglings with patience.

My heart ached for hurting her, for being the reason she was sad and angry.

Watching her cry her heart out and feeling her pain and despair had to be one of the worst things I’d ever seen and felt. It fucking broke my heart.

It had been five days since we brought the women to Dakhur. Three since she woke up, fell unconscious, and then woke up again.

I hated that I was part of the reason she was hurting emotionally. Though I’d explained why I had to do what I did—attacking Marl and kidnapping the women and children en masse.

My mate felt betrayed by my actions, and her anger was justified, but I knew that wasn’t all. Her anger toward me also stemmed from not hearing anything about both her mother and her nana.

I had already dispatched some of my most capable warriors to find both women and anyone they might have found in the fallen queendom. Any day now, my men would be back with the news.

Hopefully, they were both okay for Reyna’s sake. If my men didn’t find her family, I would go back to the queendom—or what remained of it—and look for her mother and Nana myself.

My mouth suddenly twitched when I recalled how, after she’d woken up and I’d explained everything to her—she had demanded, like the queen she was, that I take her to where I kept the women.

Fierce little Kitten—even in her despair, she was more worried about her people than her own pain. She didn’t talk to me until she saw the women.

I might not have known Reyna for long, but I knew the kind of person she was. Fierce, loving, protective, and always giving.

I’d miss her, miss her smile, miss how she would look at me with unabashed desire in her eyes, miss how she would talk to me for hours. I missed holding and touching her, damn it. I was literally burning with the urge to mate her and make her mine permanently.

But she was denying me, denying us, punishing me in the way she knew hurt—with her indifference. And I got it. I got her.

My mate would not stand for lies and half-truths. And I respected that. I wanted there to be nothing between us as well.

I knew she was affected. I knew the bond was restless, twisting and yanking at us both. I doubted, though, that she would be receptive to my touch right now, but then, knowing how strong the bond between us was—

All I’d need to do was a little bit of groveling and growling, and she’d be soaking wet for me.

Earlier, I’d noticed the approval on her face when she saw the women, though she acted angry when I asked, “Are you satisfied now that you have seen your people?”

I had tasked my brother with preparing accommodation for when we arrived with the women in Dakhur, long before my sentinel left for the queendom. Reyna had been amazed by the mansion provided for the women.

It was a stone mansion like the one I’d first bought in this world, before the war with the other species destroyed it. It had several rooms and everything the women would need. There was enough food, drinks, and clothes for everyone.

Whatever else they would need, I would provide. They were Reyna’s people; as such, they were now my people and my responsibility.

As I walked Reyna through the mansion earlier, I could see the surprise on her face. So far, she’d only seen a part of Dakhur—the palace, the waterfalls, and this mansion.

I could feel that she liked everything she saw. She was also very happy when she saw the women.

When we walked in, the place was lively—women and children eating, drinking, and talking to each other excitedly. Some of the children were sleeping. Others were playing without any worries.

Except for the few women who were separated from their families, like Reyna, who had sat apart from the others, still mourning. I had every intention of finding their families and reuniting them.

When the women saw Reyna, they were all happy to see their princess. They greeted her with love and respect. The children talked to her animatedly.

I’d been watching her with a hunger and love I’d never felt for anyone. I imagined how she would look in a few years with our younglings all over her.

Clamoring for her attention just like these human children. That’s if she allowed me anywhere near her in this century.

I smirked at the thought. I could be very convincing when I put my mind to it.

Reyna was my mate. I would do anything for her, my Dar’sen Kitten.

The better half of my soul—the parts that were good, kind, selfless, and gentle. It gave me great satisfaction to see her wearing the clothes I’d chosen for her. Only the best for my Reyna.

Though she’d refused to wear the jewelry I’d given her now, I was sure when she was no longer angry, she would accept and love them.

She didn’t understand her power over me just yet, but everything I was and everything in this kingdom was at her disposal.

I growled when an image of her draped in nothing but jewelry around her neck while I made love to her, claiming her completely as mine, came to mind.