Three

Crystal’s mouth gaped as if I'd just spoken a foreign language. She dabbed at my forehead with an almost warm rag, useless against the fever still gripping my body.

“Talk to me, Eve,” she paused, leaning closer. “You just smiled. What’s happening?”

What’s happening? Where could I even start? Could I begin to tell her that the murderer who just walked past was my mate—someone who didn’t even glance at me?

“I... I don’t know,” I said weakly, attempting a response. “I still feel sick but a bit... relieved.”

She searched my face, and her worry shifted into confusion. “You’ve been fading for weeks. I don’t understand.”

“Keep it down,” I muttered, my eyes darting to the nurses nearby. “I don’t want anybody knowing.”

“I’ve seen dying patients who experience a burst of energy as if they’ve been given a new lease on life. But it’s short-lived, and they die. I want to be sure—”

“It’s nothing like that,” I assured her.

She didn’t believe me, and while she turned back to the waiting section, looking for a way to get us in, I got lost in my thoughts. The pull of the mate bond was unmistakable, yet the king hadn’t even acknowledged me—not a glance, not a word, nothing.

The hours dragged on, with every patient and their relatives murmuring impatiently. Frustration grew heavier with each passing minute. Maya was growing stronger; she hadn’t been this animated in weeks.

The sharp click of a door opening drew my attention. A nurse emerged, her cheeks flushed and her hair slightly disheveled. She leaned against the wall, hastily fastening the buttons of her shirt.

Maya’s voice filled with venom, growling in my mind. “He’s ignoring us! He touched someone else.”

My stomach twisted, and for a moment, I thought I might wretch, but I ignored the pain that cut deeper than my illness.

“The bond means nothing—maybe it’s even a curse.”

The matron finally returned, clipboard in hand, and signaled for my turn. My chest tightened as the stretcher creaked beneath my body. It was time. The king was waiting for me in the next room. I hadn’t told Crystal about the bond yet, not because I didn’t trust her, but because I couldn’t afford to speak of it now. I needed to know where this was going before laying everything bare.

“I’ve never seen such nonchalance,” Crystal complained bitterly as she wheeled my stretcher. “All this time wasted while people are dying. If that silly nurse spent half the effort on patients as she does throwing herself at the king, maybe this place would function.”

I was too weak to join in, but I silently agreed. The nurses here smelled more desperate than a stray wolf in heat.

My breathing quickened when we entered a wide room with walls lined with shelves of labeled vials, jars, and mysterious equipment. A bed stood at the center, surrounded by machines.

The king stood with his back to us, slipping on gloves. The snap of the material was the only sound in the room, apart from the whispers of two nearby nurses.

Crystal and the nurses quickly transferred me from the stretcher to the examination bed. My body shuddered involuntarily—not from the pain, but because of my mate.

I couldn’t stop my gaze from lingering on him. My heart pounded erratically as the bond pulsed between us.

When his gloved hand brushed mine, a fire roared beneath my skin. My heart stumbled, and my breath hitched as if the bond dragged me closer to him. But he remained stone-cold and flipped through my file like I was just another name on a long list of patients.

“Which pack are you from?” he asked without glancing at me.

Crystal answered for me. “Wild Fangs,” she lied.

My lips pressed together in a thin line. Crystal’s lie was necessary. If the king discovered who I was, there would be no treatment. He might even kill me.

The lie felt like swallowing glass. I was the one who had been wronged, yet here I was, hiding.

“And you are?” he asked Crystal.

“Her doctor,” she said. “She has been unwell for weeks. It seems like a potent poison that progressed faster than anyone expected.”

When he held my hand again, the intoxicating scent of cedar and pine wrapped around me. “Stay still,” he ordered in a detached tone. I inhaled sharply.

Crystal’s eyes darted between me and the king. “Are you okay?” she whispered, holding my other hand, thinking I was afraid of the syringe.

My pain wasn’t from fear of the syringe; it was from the raw humiliation of being disregarded by my mate.

“We’ll start her wolf’s treatment first,” he told the nurse.

Maya exploded in my mind. “Tell him the truth! All we need is for him to mark us and seal the bond, and this will be over.”

“Shut up,” I gritted my teeth

The king’s gaze flicked to me. “Excuse me?”

“Not... not you,” I stuttered.

His dark hair swept to the side and stopped at his nape. His bronzed skin and muscles, earned from years of fighting and training, gave him an intimidating air. There was a hardness about him—a dominant presence.

He set the syringe down and spoke to Crystal curtly. “She’ll need lodging nearby. The next shot will be in five days. By then, she should feel better. When you get to the reception downstairs, ask for the keys to your room.”

Crystal nodded. The king returned to his preparations, mixing something at the counter.

“Find your way out. I have others waiting.”

My heart sank as I watched his back. Never in my life had I felt such hurt. Maya whimpered as Crystal and the nurse helped me up. I turned slightly, glancing back to see if the king was watching me. But his gaze wasn’t on me. He was busy preparing the next syringe, fully absorbed in his work.

A raw, aching silence has replaced Maya's previous excitement. Our mate didn’t care if we lived or died.