Chapter 79

Aiden stood close to the window, peeping through the small open space. He retracted his head as he heard the approaching footsteps outside. The guards had been going and coming, looking for the unknown. Their voices were low but firm, exchanging words as they passed through the area.

“Lucy!” he whispered.

Lucy's grip on his wrist tightened. It was like she already knew what he wanted to say—what he wanted to convey to her.

“Stay,” she whispered, her voice barely audible.

Aiden exhaled through his nose as light mist could be seen coming out. He glanced toward the door. He didn't like this. He had already risked enough by coming here. Yes, he might be a Prince—not just a prince but a Lycan Prince… it didn't exempt him from abiding by the rules also. He didn't want to get in the way of Alpha Eric since everyone was to stay indoors whenever there was an intruder and the only people to be seen were the guards. Even the Alpha and his son, Leo, were meant to stay indoors.

He can't be seen like this, not inside Lucy's room. It was going to raise questions—how a Lycan Prince stooped so low to go for a slave.

But just then, after he had that impulse of thoughts, he looked at Lucy. Her eyes were steady, holding their gaze on him. Aiden himself could not know what happened—why he had a change of mind within seconds. 

Against his better judgement, he stayed.

Lucy turned to notice Marie who was still sleeping, as she lay curled on the mattress, her breathing low. The blanket had slipped halfway down her body, her arm dangling off the edge. She hadn't stirred when they entered until now. She watched as she adjusted on the mattress, turning around until she was sleeping with her belly. She smiled and took a glance at Aiden who just stood there, his focus on Lucy.

Aiden looked away, glancing at Marie and then his gaze flickered back to Lucy. She had turned away slightly, her hands gripping the edge of the blanket and flung it up, so that it didn't touch the ground.

Aiden stepped closer, lowering his voice. “How did you escape?”

There was silence and it hung in the air. Lucy stood up and wondered for a moment. She didn't know how to answer. She didn't know where to start from—the way she had fought them off. The way she growled. The way she stood her ground with confidence. The cut around her arm, how she had gotten injured.

Lucy didn't look at him, not until Aiden moved carefully, his instinct sharper now. He picked up the scent he had before—blood. Lucy's blood. He had missed that when he came closer to her… when he embraced her. Maybe he was into her and didn't capture the scent at first until now

His eyes fell on it—her arm.

A dark stain on her fair skin. A wound, the edge barely closed. The scent of blood, though it was faint but undeniable.

“I knew it… you're hurt. I had hoped I was wrong.”

Lucy flinched, just slightly, before forcing a shrug. “It's nothing. I'm fine.”

Aiden grabbed her wrist gently but firmly, pulling her arm closer so he could see the damage. The gash wasn't deep, but it wasn't small either. It stretched from her forearm to just above her wrist, jagged, fresh.

His eyes snapped up to hers. “This is not ‘nothing.” He sighed. “You can't be fine like this…. Don't give me that.”

Lucy hesitated, then nodded, a smile curling around her lips. “I fought back, Aiden.”

His grip tightened just a little. Aiden had already suspected she had been in a fight—he had thought about it when he noticed the steps. They were signs of struggle. Somehow, she knew she had fought them and that was how in no doubt got injured. Now hearing her say it herself—feeling the proof beneath his fingers—confirmed his guesses.

“Who were they?” he asked, his voice low, trying not to wake up Marie.

She looked away, her lips pressed into a thin line. “Omegas.”

Aiden inhaled sharply at her response. He didn't need to ask why. He already knew—they had attacked her because someone sent them and they were there to kill her.

His thumb brushed against the skin near her wound, more gentle now. “And you… you win?”

Lucy gave a short nod, though something in her expression told him it hadn't been that simple. And yes, he was right… it couldn't have been easy. The question ‘how’ pressed against his chest. He swallowed, his mind racing. He wanted to ask more, to demand who had sent them, to hunt them down himself if he had to. But right now standing in the dim light of her room, with Marie sleeping just feet away and Lucy looking at him like she wasn't sure what had just happened to her—

He exhaled slowly and folded his arms, his gaze was steady in Lucy. The dim light in the room cast shadows across his sharp features, but there was no mistaking the intensity in his eyes. The room went silent for some moment except for the rhythmic rise and fall of Marie's breathing. She lay motionless, half-covering by the blanket, oblivious to the presence in the room. Lucy stood by the window, the faint glow of the moon casting a pale shimmer across the room. She had hurried down to have a clear view when she heard voices—voices of the guards on patrol. Aiden was a few distance away from her, his tall frame barely visible in the light.

He soon broke the silence. “Tell me, Lucy… how did you escape?”

The question lingered between them like a cat that was about to be let out of the bag

Lucy inhaled deeply, her hands curling into fists at her sides. She wasn't sure how to put it into words. The memory was still raw. It was still vivid—the masked figures surrounding her, the sting of claws digging into her skin, the way her own body had moved, almost like it wasn't entirely her own.

She swallowed and exhaled slowly, ready to speak up.