Chapter Twenty-two - What just happened?

Aria’s POV.

“Come on, angel, take a seat,” Shane nodded at the chair he’d pulled out for me as he placed a plate of food on the table.

With a smile spread across my lips, I sat down and he leaned down to kiss my temple before taking the seat across from me. We were in the kitchen, seated at the breakfast bar.

As soon as he realized I was hungry and had skipped lunch, he quickly ordered one of the maids to fix me a quick lunch. Thereafter he sent them out of the kitchen so we could have our private moment.

“How about you, where’s your food?” I inquired, with a mouthful of food but he shook his head, chuckling at me from how I sounded. I cocked a brow in question and he simply shrugged.

“I’m not hungry, love,”

I frowned.

“Are you sure?”

“I’m not hungry, princess. Quit worrying about me,”

His nickname made my cheeks heat up as I looked down and continued with my meal.

“So tell me about your day,”

Suddenly, my eyes lit up, a bright smile stretching my lips as I remembered my encounter with mysterious Lucy. I was about to jump into my tale when the kitchen door suddenly burst open and Chase stormed in, a hardened expression with an undertone of worry etched on his face, with sweat pouring down from the sides of his face.

“There’s been another attack,”

His words spoken in a bitter tone had Shane flying out of his chair, his smile and relaxed exterior giving way to a worried and furious one.

“When?” he barked out, his jaw clenching. I stared between the two of them, feeling the sudden tension in the room with my heart racing. Chase's eyes darted to mine and he nodded curtly in acknowledgement but his gaze quickly returned to Shane.

“It appeared it happened a week ago and this time it was an entire family, abducted from their residence. Neighbors confirmed they hadn’t seen them in a week and had assumed they traveled until they woke up this morning to see the house was on fire.”

“How am I just hearing of this? How come there were no reports of the burning house all day?” Shane thundered, his anger getting the best of him. I’d never seen him so angry before that the intensity of his fury made me jump in my seat, with my heart rate increasing. He must have noticed my reaction because an expression of remorse crossed his face and he walked towards me, leaning down to kiss my temple. “Forgive me, angel. I’ll be back soon,”

I nodded. In the next minute, he was out the door, pulling Chase with him. A deep sigh left my lips and my shoulders slumped in distress. I tried to continue eating but it seemed I’d lost my appetite. I was beginning to realize why he was so scared of failing his people and why he always looked so stressed.

Amidst trying to find a cure for his father’s ailment, he had to struggle with keeping his people safe, while looking for a means to end this chaos that had befallen them and the pack members were looking unto him to catch the perpetrators and bring them to book. Coupled with all of these, he still finds the time to look after me. I felt my heart squeeze painfully.

Shane was a good alpha and a very caring man. He put the interest of his people and those he loves before his.

My heart leaped at those thoughts. I could still remember the day he said those words to me. I’d shifted them to a corner of my heart because I wasn’t ready to face the truth or to even tell him that I was incapable of returning those feelings. After seeing everything my mom had gone through in the hands of my father, I didn’t want to be tied to anyone in the name of love. I hope one day, I’d be able to explain to Shane and he’d understand. But in the meantime, I had to help him relieve some of his worries and stress and the only way I could be of help was to look after his sick father in his absence.

I struggled to finish the rest of the meal so it wouldn’t be wasted. Thereafter, I retired to my bedroom to study. I must have lost count of time because by the time I was done, it was 9 pm and Shane wasn’t yet back. I had no way of reaching him, and I also realized I had to check on his father in his absence, as I’d promised to take care of him.

Thus, I exited my room for the alpha’s chambers. I nodded at the sentinel guarding the door and he let me in without question. At first, fear gripped me as I thought of setting eyes on the same man I’d seen on the bed the first time Shane had let me in. It was a scary sight to behold and I wasn’t sure I could be with him in the absence of Shane.

“But you have to keep to your promise and it can’t be that bad,”

Hailey assured me and I swallowed.

Slowly, with bated breath, I approached the bedroom and pulled the thick curtain aside to reveal the frail man. I approached the bed and stared at him. Truly, he didn’t look that bad. He was just really skinny and dark but as I continued staring at him, I noticed he wasn’t breathing. Fear gripped me and my heart began racing.

Was he dead? This question hit me hard and my heart dropped as a cold shiver ran down my spine, and sudden anxiety began to brew in my guts.

No…no. He couldn’t be dead.

Ignoring my fear, I quickly placed my palm on his neck to feel his temperature but he was deadly cold. A gasp of terror fled my lips as I quickly retracted my hand and leaned over him, gently pressing my ear to his chest to listen for his heart beat. At first, nothing came but suddenly, it began to beat so fast that I could feel the tremors against my ear and it sounded as though the organ was on a mission to burst through his chest.

I straightened my stance, my fear began to grow. I reached for the covers to pull them up to his neck to keep off the cold but then my eyes landed on thick beads of sweat sliding down the sides of his face to his neck. My lips parted in shock and I blinked to make sure my eyes weren't deceiving me.

The last time I’d checked, he was as cold as ice. And considering there was no intense heat in the room, why was he suddenly sweating?

Just to confirm my thoughts, I pressed the back of my palm to his sweaty neck, but this time he wasn’t cold at all. His temperature was so hot that I was scared of burning my skin. It was as if he’d contracted an instant fever. My mind raced with different questions as confusion began to set in. The more I stared at the sleeping body, the more sweaty he became. At a point, I had to pull off the covers and open the window to allow more air to get in.

Thereafter, I ran into the bathroom and returned with a bowl of cold water and began to clean off his perspiration, while pressing the wet cloth to his chest and neck in an attempt to reduce his temperature. I didn’t know how long I did it but after a while, I felt him begin to calm down. His racing heart slowed to a gradual rhythm and his temperature returned to normal.

I heaved a sigh of relief as I exited the room, with all that had happened still fresh in my mind.

I was still in shock and I couldn’t fathom a possible realistic explanation to what I’d just experienced. But on the good part, it meant he was recovering and maybe the new doctor must have given him a working medicine or so I hoped.