Chapter 264 The Fading Alpha

Chapter 264 The Fading Alpha

"That's not possible," Felda argued, shaking her head as she pulled away slightly. "I've given it all to Tovanna. Every last drop of it."

"But it can come back, right? Can't it?" The king tilted his head, a playful, knowing light in his eyes. "I know you didn't know you were doing it, but you used it on me just a moment ago, to freeze me right in place before we made love. I wouldn't lie about a thing like that. Honestly, I've missed you using it on me."

A hot, furious blush rushed up Felda's neck and settled deep into her cheeks. She quickly looked away, staring fixedly at the corner of the fur-draped room. "You don't have to say it like that," she muttered, a wave of old memories washing over her as she recalled the various ways she used to tease and bind him with her ancient gift.

King Daze let out a low, rumbling chuckle. "I can say it however I want, and the truth is, I want you to use it on me again."

Narrowing her eyes with sudden curiosity, Felda turned back to him. She decided right then to put his words to the test. Raising her hand, she focused her mind and cast a silent spell aimed at cooling his feverish, burning body down.

At first, nothing happened.

A long, heavy second ticked by, and she opened her mouth to tell him he was mistaken, that his mind was playing tricks on him.

But before the words could leave her lips, a sudden shiver ran through the king. The unnatural heat radiating from his skin vanished almost immediately, leaving him pleasantly cool.

Her eyes went wide as saucers.

Without wasting a single heartbeat, she lunged forward to test the bounds of her restored gift. She shot a quick spell to lock his limbs in place, watched with glee as he froze mid-movement, then released him to test mobility, followed by a playful, binding command that kept him from moving a single muscle while she leaned in and kissed his lips.

King Daze let out a deep, amused chuckle as she played around him like an excited child.

The moment she broke the spell and released him completely, Felda threw her arms around his neck, burying her face against his shoulder.

"Oh no! I can't believe it! I actually have my magic back!" she screamed softly, pure joy bubbling up in her voice.

The king wrapped his heavy arms securely around her waist, pulling her flush against his chest. "I'm happy you did... But does that mean my daughter will not be able to use it anymore?"

Felda froze mid-celebration. Her eyes widened a second time as the full weight of his question crashed down on her. "Oh. Yes... Tovanna will not be able to use it anymore." Her face dropped instantly, a shadow of maternal worry clouding her features. "She will be so sad. She's grown so used to having it."

King Daze gently cupped her cheek, his thumb tracing her jawline to soothe her. "Come on, it's better this way. The magic is back with its rightful owner. It will stop her from using it to do evil; it has done its job perfectly, and now she can finally focus on shifting and using her wolf like a normal young woman."

His steady, comforting words helped cheer her up. Felda nodded slowly, though her gaze drifted away, landing on the floor as she lost herself in a sudden wave of complicated thoughts.

She had spent weeks keeping her own inner wolf locked away and hidden, terrified of letting the beast out, completely unaccustomed to sharing her mind and body with it.

Now that her magic had unexpectedly returned, she found herself wondering if she even had the strength to manage her stubborn, dormant wolf.

'Are you in there?' she whispered mentally, calling out into the deep corners of her mind to the beast that had slept for so long.

Her wolf remained dead silent, refusing to answer back. Felda let out a quiet sigh of frustration.

The king noticed the sudden shift in her mood. He leaned down, studying her face closely. "What's going on in that small head of yours?"

Felda blinked, snapping out of her daze. She looked up at the handsome, rugged man who was finally, truly hers. She offered a small, dismissive shake of her head. "It's nothing."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes," she lied smoothly, leaning in to press her lips softly against his.

Before she could pull back, a strange, violent shudder rippled through the king's frame. A metallic taste flooded his mouth, and he knew instantly what was coming next. He couldn't let her see this.

With sudden, desperate urgency, King Daze grabbed Felda by the shoulders... she was still sitting comfortably right in his lap and shoved her gently but firmly onto the mattress.

Before she could even let out a breath of protest, he scrambled off the bed and lunged blindly toward the attached bathroom.

He slammed the heavy wooden door shut just as his body betrayed him. Collapsing onto the cold stone floor, he retched violently, a thick, dark pool of blood spilling from his lips and spattering against the dark tiles.

He was growing weaker by the hour.

A massive war was looming on the horizon because he had already made up his mind to execute a brutal, uncompromising punishment upon Celeste, no matter the personal cost.

Yet, he had sworn to himself that Felda would never find out. He couldn't bear the thought of her knowing the horrifying truth: that his resurrection had come at a devastating price, that his own alpha wolf had completely withered away and died inside him, leaving his physical body to hollow out day by day until it finally gave way to death.

He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to force himself back up to his feet before he lost consciousness entirely.

But he was too late.

The bathroom door creaked open. Felda stood on the threshold, frozen in place. As her eyes took in the sight of him crumpled on the bloody floor, hot tears instantly spilled over her lashes and raced down her cheeks.

The horrifying reality of his condition hit her like a physical blow. This was the dark, hidden aftermath of his pulling himself back from the gates of death. She had to save him; she had to find a way to anchor his failing life force before his body gave out for good.

But how? What kind of magic or medicine could reverse the death of an alpha's soul?

'You can use my strength for him. You don't want me anyway,' a sharp, sudden voice echoed loudly inside her head.

Felda gasped, stumbling backward. 'What?' she shot back mentally, her mind spinning. How on earth did her wolf know what was wrong with him when she hadn't even had the chance to examine his pulse or check his energy?

'I couldn't smell his arrogant, powerful wolf the moment we walked into this room... that's how I knew he was dying,' her wolf snapped, surprisingly sharp and urgent. 'You can use my life force, my core, to push into him and regain his strength. You might end up losing me in the process, though. I might fade away for good.'

The shocking gravity of the offer hit Felda like lightning. Her knees buckled under the weight of the revelation, and she slumped onto the floor just outside the bathroom.

King Daze, panicked at the sound of her fall, forced his heavy limbs to move. He crawled out of the bathroom, grabbed her face in his trembling hands, and forced her to look at him.

"Felda... What happened?" he whispered, his voice cracking.

Tears streamed uncontrollably down her face as she glared at him, a mixture of pure fury and agonizing heartbreak breaking her voice. "Why didn't you tell me about this? Do you honestly want to die and leave us behind? Why must you always be so stubborn, so heartless every single time?"