The Lycan King's Healer
The Lycan King’s Healer – Chapter 58

Alan shot a glare at me before looking back at Danika. He spoke to her the most gently I’ve witnessed; I had never heard his voice lower to such a soft octave.

“You’re in the infirmary, Danika,” he said soothingly, then cracked a humorous grin, “looks like the tables have turned.”

“What?” she demanded before her gaze flickered around the room, at the white blanket cloaked around her, and then at our worried faces. Alan’s kindness must have been the most startling aspect of it all.

“We…” I hesitated, then decided not to sugarcoat it. She could handle it. “We found you unconscious in the woods. You’re not hurt, but you were out of it.” I watched for her reaction, chewing my inner l*p.

“You said the last thing you were doing was talking to Clement?” Alan interrogated, staring at her like a concerned parent that was trying to learn all the details of their child’s accident.

“Yes,” she said, looking at him with fogged over eyes, “I found him in the library. He mistook me for Cathy. Then I corrected him and I asked him more about what he knows. I remember he was telling me about his past…” she hesitated. “Shit. Then I remember nothing.”

Alan turned on me, and now he looked like the parent reprimanding the other that let the child get in the accident. “He is not to be trusted,” he snapped coldly before limping out of the room, shaking his head.

Danika snorted, watching him go. “What’s up his wolf a*s?”

I sighed. “He doesn’t trust Clement. Now it’s my fault.”

“He’s a baby,” she said, rolling her eyes.

“If I had even an inkling that Clement was the one to harm you, you know I’d be the first to rip his throat out,” I insisted, “but we found a note taped to your hand.”

She displayed her first expression of fear and outrage. My sister was strong, for what happened to her did not seem too traumatizing, but this fact seemed to irk her.

“It was a note threatening Clement. So unless he wrote a threat toward himself to seem less suspicious…”

“He seems to be way smarter than that,” she concluded, nodding.

“I’m so glad you’re okay,” I said. I leaned over and took her hand, squeezing it lightly. “Don’t ever worry me like that again.”

She laughed. “I’m the only person you don’t have to worry about, Cathy.”

“That’s not true.”

“It is,” she demanded, now frowning, “we are of the same b***d. You don’t need protection, you don’t need coddling,” she said with disgust, “I am the same.”

I nodded, unable to counter that.

***

A few dull days passed. I spent the day entirely with Clement or Danika; Alan and Aldrich were busy planning, but I doubted that was the reason I did not see them.

I had a conversation with Clement about my sister and the note, telling him that it connected back to Alan’s initial death. He seemed puzzled; well, Clement was never confused, but he was the most confused he could be toward the situation.

“I watched your sister leave the room after our conversation,” he said confidently, “I do not know of her whereabouts after the fact.”

Alan was angry with me. So much for saving his life. I never saw even a glimpse of Aldrich, but Alan I saw in small doses: when he was dropping off Theo from practice, when he picked up food from dinner, and in the morning when he was on his way to bed. And in those glimpses, he did not speak to me, even when I said something to him the first couple of times.

The third time he didn’t speak to me, I threw a croissant at him from the table. He didn’t even flinch or crack a smile. I felt like I lost a friend.

Whatever. Everything would go back to normal once I figured out how to explain to Aldrich why I hesitated that day. I would’ve theorized Alan vouching for me in gratitude for saving his life, but I guess he was quite literally a living example of “thanks, but I didn’t ask you to.”

I didn’t go out to heal the homeless with Clement again in fear of worsening the situation; instead, we continued to study how to fix Aldrich. In exchange for his help, I gave Clement full access to the estate. I did caution him about what happened with Aldrich, however, and told him to steer clear of him and any suspicion that made us appear “together.”

I also told him to stay out of the corridor of my bedroom, but I didn’t tell him why to stay away from that specific corridor. I didn’t want Aldrich to see him walking down that way.

“I am slaving away trying to discover an antidote for a man who wants to behead me,” Clement purred with a mischievous grin.

That afternoon, I decided I was so outraged by Alan’s stubborn silence and Adrich’s absence, I left the estate to go pick up Theo myself. I would not tolerate another exchange of Theo running up to hug me after practice while Alan takes his bow and arrow off his back then coolly walk away without a word.

He thought he was snide, but he was really just childish. Plus, if he was being a brat with me, Danika was a brat with him. She was even more intolerable to him as usual, and her version of that was the silent treatment. We both were aware how much Alan cared for her.

As I was venturing across the training grounds, muttering to myself in disdain as the clouds began to turn an ominous gray, I saw a very familiar set of shoulders.

It took everything in me not to throw an arrow in between them out of frustration.

“Hey!” I yelled without hesitation, my heart racing.

Aldrich turned around.When he realized it was me, he continued the conversation he was having with a soldier, as if a fly merely smacked him in the ear. He was writing something in a notepad as he was talking to the boy.

I raged at that. It seemed childishness was a trend around here.

“I don’t think you heard me!” I demanded, storming up to him, even though my hands were shaking. His scent kissed my nostrils with heavy lavender, and I almost cried as I realized how much I missed him.

The soldier noticed me then, and out of respect for his hostess, he immediately excused himself from the conversation. Aldrich sighed, watching him go.

“You can’t avoid me forever,” I said, and I willed it to not come out as a plea, but it did. We were only standing a few feet apart and it felt like miles.

He said nothing, focusing all of his attention on his notepad as he jotted down something.

“Aldrich,” I repeated, “you’re not getting rid of me. We need to talk.”

He continued to write. The gray clouds finally released the contents they were holding, and rain drizzled down. I felt it dampening my hair, immediately chilling my bones.

“I’m not leaving this spot until you hear me out and forgive me,” I insisted, placing my hands on my h**s.

He nodded at that, closing his notepad before walking past me toward the estate.

“Hey!” I yelled, whirling around. “Aldrich! You better—”

I didn’t get to finish my sentence, because an arrow sliced through the space between us before I could.