Chapter 4

~Klaus

I rose from the bed, feeling very tired. Just as I was about to stand up, a hand held me back, pulling me down to the bed. I rolled my eyes. "Claudia!"

Tilting my head in her direction, I growled, "What are you doing here, Claudia? I have told you severally to stop coming to my room at night until we are married?"

She sat upright, blinking her eyes as if she were warding off tears. She was at it again, trying to blackmail me emotionally with her tears.

 "I am your betrothed, Klaus, as I have been for the last few years! I am a woman with needs! Needs to be satisfied. Why do you keep treating me this way?" she sobbed.

I yanked my hand from hers. "Just stop it, Claudia. It is too early for these shenanigans. We will have all the time in the world to cuddle and make out when we get married."

"That is all you say. I am tired of hearing that excuse, Klaus. I am your chosen mate. There are a lot of men I turned down for you, and that is because I love you!" she yelled.

I sat down beside her on the bed, feeling a bit remorseful for the way I treated her.

Placing a hand on her chin and tilting her head until our eyes locked, I said in a calm, controlled voice, "In a few months' time, I believe my father will get well, and we will get married. You will rule by my side as my Luna. Until then, we can't get married yet." I believed my words would soothe her, just as they had done in the past, but to my surprise, it didn't work this time.

She lashed out, "What if your father stays ill for another year or two or three? Then I have to wait that long before we get married? He has been ill for the past year, and nothing seems to be getting better. Haven't you been crowned heir yet? Don't you have the guts to make your decisions yourself? Why should we wait until he is fine before we get married, huh?"

My eardrums were beginning to ache from her nagging. "Enough, Claudia! Enough of your nonsense! We will wait because I said so! I am Alpha, and what I say rules!" I snapped angrily.

Just then, there was a knock on my door, drawing our attention to it. I was about to go check who it was when Claudia jumped out of the bed and rushed towards the door.

She pulled the door open just enough to see who was outside. "Yes? How can I help you?" she barked.

I heard a soft female voice outside but didn't make out what the person said.

"Not now! I am busy with the Alpha and won't be needing any interruptions for a few hours, so get lost!" she asserted viciously before shutting the door in the person's face.

How audacious! I rose from the bed furiously, taking long strides to the door.

"Where are you going? It is nothing urgent. Let's finish our discussion," she said, trying to obstruct my path. I roughly shoved her away and went to the door to check who it was.

As soon as the door swung open, I saw the retreating figure of my father's personal maid, Lorrita.

"Lorrita!" I called out, and she turned. Upon seeing me, she took hurried steps towards me. "Alpha Klaus, the Royal physician sent me to come and call you. Your father's condition has gotten worse," she said breathlessly.

"Was that what you came to tell me?" I asked in surprise.

"Yes, Alpha," she replied.

"Is that what you told her?" I said, pointing in Claudia's direction.

The maid simply nodded her head, not wanting to implicate herself any further.

I glared at Claudia, who was a few inches away from me, my eyes filled with rage. I raised my hand to hit her but suppressed myself. I was never one to hit a woman, but time and again, she keeps pushing me to the wall.

"I didn't know that was why she came. If I had…" she started.

"Save it!" I raised my hand, not wanting to hear any of her lies.

I walked past her and hurriedly grabbed a shirt from my wardrobe.

"Let's go, Lorrita."

When I got to my father's room, I saw him still unconscious.

Upon getting to where my dad lay, I saw the Royal physician and his assistant standing over him. The physician was holding two defibrillators in his hand and exhaling in relief.

"Jude, what is wrong?" I asked in a hasty voice.

"Your father's heart flatlined. We had to revive him with the machine. He is getting worse, Klaus. There is really nothing much I can do," he averted his gloomy gaze to my father, who looked so peaceful in his comatose state.

I ran a hand through my disheveled hair as my mind raced with a daunting thought, "Just what am I going to do? All the best medical personnel from different packs have come to try different treatment methods on my father to no avail."

My father's illness has lasted longer than it was supposed to, longer than it usually did. This was not the first time he was falling sick, but this was the first time it had lasted longer than necessary.

 It first started five years ago, a few months after that night, the night that still remains the worst day of my life, the night that everything changed. The night that I had wronged the only woman I had ever loved, my one true mate. I still remember it as though it were just yesterday.

It has been six months since he has been in a comatose state, his condition not getting any better, rather getting worse. I can't lose my father; a lot would be at stake if he dies.

Just then, someone knocked on the open door, calling my attention. I craned my neck to see who it was. It was a guard who had probably come to deliver a message.

"Good morning, Alpha Klaus," he greeted.

I arched a brow, urging him to state his reason for coming. He cleared his throat, "there is a strange woman here to see you."

"A strange woman? Did you perhaps ask who she was and her reason for visiting?"

"I did ask who she was, Alpha and she simply said to tell you her name is Nora from the Calypso pack."

My heart dropped.

Nora? From the Calypso pack? No, it can't be. There was no way Nora was here; I have searched everywhere for her, and it seems as though she just disappeared from the surface of the earth that night.

"Take me to this woman at once!" I commanded.

The guard nodded and led me to the great hall. I stood at the entrance, watching the woman who had her back to me. There were some familiarities I could spot between her and Nora; my heart raced uncontrollably at the sight.

"Nora?" I called out, my voice unsure.

She turned, my blue eyes meeting her familiar green ones. I was absolutely gobsmacked. It was really Nora, except this Nora was different from the one I knew five years ago.

Her eyes were different from the ones I have dreamt of in the last five years. Where love and warmth had existed, emptiness now resided, causing me to wonder just what had happened in those five years and how dire her situation must be for her to come back to the pack whose Alpha had slaughtered her entire family.