Chapter 20

Xander POV

I woke up early next to a shivering and sweating Ida. She was still sleeping, but the sheets around her were plastered to her wet skin.

Ida smelled strange, so I gently touched her red cheeks. She was feverish. This was not good.

My Lycan was howling inside.

Saul, the butcher, had mentioned he’d send someone in the morning. I just hoped she’d get here in time before anything else happened.

Ida’s bandaged hand was resting near the edge of the bed. Her three fingers stuck out, held by splinters and dressings. She’d have to keep it for at least three to four weeks, with regular bandage changes, until which time someone would re-examine and adapt the splint to how her healing was advancing.

With last night’s events, I needed to get her out of here. I knew what my father was capable of, and I certainly knew the extent of what he was willing to do to get whatever information he could. He was loyal to a fault to King Osprey. He was one of the few nobles under him who had successfully captured and killed most of the shifter population and magic wielders in half of the country. His raids were a massacre. Duke Kestrel was relentless, much worse than a bloodhound once the beast caught on a scent.

Preparations would have to be made, but I knew of a place Ida could go to recover and perhaps feel safer. I had a house far off in the country, near the ocean shore. She’d be protected there.

I barely had time to properly button my shirt when I went straight to Leo’s room. I required his services urgently. I knew a man who owed me a debt, and I had prepared a letter summoning him to my country house within the week. That would give me enough time to prepare and depart.

My house was about three day's ride from Seagull’s Bay. If I could get everything ready within two days, we should arrive around the same time.

I knocked on Leo’s door, and the boy answered shortly after. His eyes widened at my presence, and he hurriedly pulled up his pants, tucking his shirt into them. Leo patted his dishevelled hair and straightened once he seemed satisfied with his appearance.

“Yes, milord?”

“Sorry for the earliness, Leo, but you must send this letter immediately. Please be discrete. The content of that letter and its destined recipient could put him and us at risk. I trust you know what to do.”

Leo nodded and took the folded message from my hand. It displayed no mark or seal and only contained one person's name neatly written in the center of the envelope’s exterior.

“Once the letter is sent, please go to my mother’s chambers, and ask her here.”

The small boy turned on his heels and quickly turned right to where the stairs were. I hoped it wouldn’t take him too long. I needed my mother here to care for Ida while I made the necessary arrangements for our departure.

I had a plan and needed to ensure I did everything perfectly for it to work. As much as it pained me, I’d also have to inform my father of our parting, but I had to make it look as normal as possible to evade suspicions.

I returned to my room to finish dressing and checked on Ida. It took everything I had to keep my Lycan at bay. Seeing her so vulnerable this way made both of us exceptionally angry.

The way my Lycan took control of me the day before and almost revealed us to the one man who wouldn’t even flinch from killing his son worried me. I didn’t think the beast inside was that strong.

“We need to stay and keep her safe.” That was all my Lycan counterpart kept repeating to me. He disapproved of what my mind was grinding in its gears.

I planned to keep her safe, but I needed time before we could do that.

A slight rasp at the door brought me out of my internal struggles. I had frustrations I would need to let out in the coming hours lest my beast gets the better of me again. I already had difficulties keeping my eyes in their usual pale gray. They kept glazing over with the blackness of my Lycan’s.

It surprised me to find Diana—the head maid, at my door.

“Dee?” I asked quizzically.

She was holding a wicker basket with what looked like herbs and flowers. She had stuffed some clean bandages in there as well.

“To some, I am. How is Ida?” Diana didn’t wait to be asked into the room. She just came in and bee-lined to where Ida was resting.

I didn’t know she was a healer, but I was relieved that my mate would be in her hands. Diana had been the only other person to know of me and Leo’s particular lineage, and she was someone I trusted wholeheartedly.

“She’s burning up, I’m afraid,” I said in defeat.

Diana started removing the bandages and looked over at Saul’s work. She clicked her tongue against her teeth and went to the fireplace to boil water. I tried to keep fires in my quarters since I noticed Ida got cold quickly. I was naturally warm, so it never occurred to me that the temperature in my apartments was too cold for others.

“I’ll make a tea of yarrow, elderflower, and ginger root. It should help her sweat the fever out. I’ll make something else to help fight infection and inflammation. Looking at her hand, she may need it; Saul did a good job stitching her back up, but there’s always so much he can do.”

She returned to Ida’s side and placed a cold press on her forehead.

“She must be fighting something, or it’s an aftershock. I’ll do what needs doing now, then come back through the day to check on her. Will you be looking after her?”

Diana was worried. She had the same look Saul gave Ida the night before. She had placed more herbs in a mortar and started grinding them.

“No, I need to organize our things. But I have asked my mother to come and watch over her while I’m gone. I’m taking Ida to one of my country houses. I thought she would be safe here, but look at what’s happened! I need her to be far away from that man as possible. Faiths know what he’s capable of.” I said a little too loudly.

My rage inside kept making me lose my temper.

Diana bobbed her head and placed Ida’s broken hand in the water bowl containing the crushed mix she had been working on.

“Will you be able to accompany us?” I questioned Diana.

I did not doubt that Ida would benefit from having Diana’s healing knowledge from where we would be going.

She stayed silent for some time, then agreed. I was glad because bringing some staff would lessen my father's doubts about my abrupt departure.

Mother arrived maybe a half-hour later. She had concerned eyes when she saw Ida’s state. I briefed her about what had happened, and she seemed appalled that Father would resort to such a thing.

It pained me to leave Ida, but I knew she was in excellent hands with my mother. She’d keep her safe.

The first order at hand was with the butler. I called him and asked that the coachman prepare my carriage for the following morning and send some footmen and maids to the house to prepare for our arrival.

Once that bit was done, I went to my father’s study and asked to meet with him. The footboy standing before his door quickly went inside and announced my presence. It didn’t take long before he ushered me into the small room and stood before the duke.

We had never really seen eye to eye, even when I was a small boy. It became more apparent when he joined the then Duke Osprey and helped him gain control of the throne. In exchange for his allegiance and role in the attack on Cardinal City ten years prior, he was raised from viscount to duke, the highest rank anyone could be given. His actions had been radical and cruel—slaughtering innocent lives to further his quest for power.

I didn’t share in his beliefs, even more so when I learned I was a Lycan. I represented everything he hated in this world, making me despise him more.

“I expect you are here to ask for my forgiveness for how you acted yesterday?” Father stated, keeping his eyes on his papers.

The fact that he thought I had come here to apologize for the fury and the protectiveness I had shown to safeguard what was mine hit my nerves. If anything, he should be the one asking for my forgiveness.

I stuffed all my emotions in a drawer in my head. I needed to think clearly if my plan was to work.

“That’s not why I am here. I came to inform you I will depart for Saltsburry in the morning. I will bring a few staff members while I tend to the business with the salt mines. Their production has been inadequate of late, and with the most recent report on this issue, I wish to go there myself and see what is causing the shortage. Since they reside within your district, I thought it would be in your best interest to resolve this situation swiftly. We are already losing money.”

It wasn’t a lie, but it wasn’t the truth. The situation at the salt mines had been discussed for some time. This was the perfect opportunity to check them out while escaping Seagull’s Bay.

“Hmm, very well. I will expect your report in two weeks.” Father replied. He lowered his pen and lifted his head to stare at me. “I imagine you will bring the girl as well?”

I gritted my teeth. “Yes, I will bring my future wife with me,” I drawled the words since he didn’t seem to understand that she was mine, regardless of his prejudices.

“How convenient. Very well,” my father said in a dry and displeased tone. “You may take your leave.”

I bowed my head and left. I wanted nothing more than to return to my mate, but I had one last thing to do.

I went outside and hurried to the path that led into the forest. Once I was under cover of the thick foliage, I removed my clothes and placed them under a fallen trunk of an old tree.

I knew my Lycan was itching to be let out since yesterday, and we both had steam we needed to evacuate.

I rolled my shoulders and heard the bones in my body crack like they had been dislocated. Shifting to my Lycan form was excruciating. Everything inside me turned and rearranged itself.

I fell on my knees and hands, arching my back while the popping sounds of my spine and ribcage resonated in my ears. I had to hold my tongue, or else I would scream from the pain. Midnight-black fur sprouted from my skin, and I felt my gums itch from where my teeth morphed into wolf fangs. My fingers were bloodied and stretched with sharp, dark claws at their tips.

I let out a deep groan as the transformation continued and moulded my body into something bigger and stronger.

My eyes glaze over, finally allowing my Lycan to take control.

I felt powerful and angry.

I sprinted towards the forest's darkness, letting my inner beast guide me, hoping our fury would be tempered once we re-emerged from the woods.