Chapter 118

Anila’s POV

Xaden looked so broken as he lay on the bed in the infirmary. I hated seeing him like this and I hated that it took this long to get a cure for him. I gave the doctor the Dragon Scale dust and he got to work on completing the potion needed to heal him completely. He was cold as I touched his face when he used to be so warm and inviting.

I missed the way he looked at me, the way he felt when we held one another. I missed his lips on mine. There was so much I wanted to tell him, but I couldn’t until he was awake.

The doctor returned a few minutes later with an injection.

“Okay, I’m going to put this into his arm and then we have to hope for the best,” the doctor said as he stuck the needle into Xaden’s upper bicep.

Once he was done, he bandaged the wound and stared down at his sleeping form.

“How long will it take for him to wake up?” I asked after a beat of silence.

“Only time will tell,” the doctor told me, running his fingers through his hair. “Hopefully not long. But I’ll keep monitor of his conditions.”

I nodded and turned to Jaxon who was watching me from the doorway.

“Do you know how long it’ll take for it to work?” I asked him.

He shook his head.

“No,” he murmured. “I’m sorry, little one.”

I blushed at the nickname and then turned to Harley, Zach, and Damien who were seated around the bed, their eyes fixed on Xaden. I knew they were all worried about him, even Damien, which I found to be strange. I wondered what had happened since I’d been gone. Had he bonded with the others? I was honestly surprised to see him in wolf territory, but I chose not to comment on it.

“So, I guess we just wait,” I said, sitting beside Xaden and touching his cold hand. I hated how cold it was…

“I have somewhere I need to be,” Jaxon surprised me by saying. I turned to look at him, a frown marring my lips.

“Probably better if you aren’t here anyways,” Zach muttered in return.

“Zach,” I scolded, my eyes narrowed. I felt my wolf and bear both on edge and a low growl escaped my lips.

“What? He’s in wolf territory. He shouldn’t even be above the ground. It's illegal,” Zach said, defending himself.

“Zach is right. It’s bad that the receptionist saw him. Once word gets out that he’s around…it could be bad.”

My chest tightened even more. I knew it was dangerous for him to be here, but I didn’t want him to leave.

“Hey,” Jaxon said softly, and soon he was by my side. He lifted my chin up with his fingers, forcing me to look at me. The moment my eyes connected with his, my heart skipped a beat. “I’ll be back soon. I just have to be somewhere this evening. I have a meeting. I’m not abandoning you, Little One.”

I bit my lower lip, hating that I didn’t want to separate from him. But I nodded. He lowered himself to me and brushed his lips against mine, silently claiming me in front of the others. I could feel their eyes on me as Jaxon claimed my lips with his, sucking on the soft flesh making them swollen. As he pulled back, my face was consumed with heat and my heart was pounding against my chest.

A smirk spread across his face as he straightened himself and turned to the others who were glaring at him.

“Gentlemen,” Jaxon said, winking at them as he turned and left.

Zach scoffed and stood to his feet, the legs of his chair scraping against the hard ground. I looked up at him to see his clouded expression. He wouldn’t look at me. He was angry.

“I need air,” he muttered and before any of us could protest, he stormed out of the room.

Harley stared after him with a frown on his face and then he too stood.

“I’ll make sure he doesn’t get into anything bad,” Harley said as he gave me a soft and reassuring smile. Though, I could see the hurt in his eyes as well. Is it because I had yet to mark him? My chest tightened; I didn’t want to hurt my mates, but it was clear that I had.

He too left the room following after Zach and leaving me alone with Damien.

“Are you going to leave too?” I asked after a beat of silence.

Damien pulled his eyes away from Xaden’s heart monitor to look at me.

“Why would I leave?”

I shrugged and met his eyes.

“Aren’t you mad too?” I asked him.

“I’m not mad,” he told me, staring back down at Xaden. “I arrived here last night, and I asked myself why I’m bothering with these people,” Damien said, breaking the silence that developed between us. “I tried to talk myself out of coming here, but I found myself standing outside the infirmary and before I knew it, I was breaking up a fight between Harley and Zach.”

“Why did you come here?” I asked.

“I’m not sure,” he admitted. “Maybe because I wanted to be closer to you.”

My cheeks grew warm from his words.

“You have this strange hold on me, Anila. I’ve been denying it for a while, but I don’t think I can anymore. I don’t know what any of this means or what my relationship with them is… but I know there's something inside of me that makes me want to make you happy. I know getting along with them makes you happy, so here I am. I’m trying…”

“That’s all I can ask for,” I said softly. “I don’t understand any of this stuff either, Damien. I’m just as lost as you are and I’m terrified. I don’t want to hurt anyone, but it seems that’s all I’ve been doing. Zach hates me and—”

“He doesn’t hate you, he’s in love with you.”

I froze at his words, and I peeked up at him, meeting his eyes.

“What?” I asked.

“Zach loves you, Anila,” Damien repeated. “I don’t think he really understands it either, but it’s true. I can see it in the way he talks about you and the way he looks at you. He’s upset right now because he’s hurt. I’m not entirely sure what happened to make him think that you don’t care about him, but he somehow has it in his head that you would rather spend your life underground with the dragons and the Dragon King than you would here with him. He thinks you falling in love with Jaxon means there’s no room in your heart to love him.”

“But that’s not true,” I said quickly. “I… I love all of you.”

Damien met my eyes and for a moment, I could see the hope and happiness in his gaze. But it disappeared so quickly I was left wondering if it was my imagination.

“Then maybe you should tell him that,” Damien suggested. “I mean, he pretty much forced his mark on you. But you willingly let Jaxon mark you and you even marked him back. I can see why he’d be a bit jealous over that.”

His gaze shifted and he was staring at the ground now. I glanced down at Xaden who remained unmoved. This entire thing was so complicated. I could barely manage one mate, let alone 5. How did the queen handle any of this?

“How had our lives gotten so complicated?” I asked, leaning back in my seat, feeling defeated and suddenly so tired.

Damien let out a soft chuckle.

“Not sure about you, but mine got complicated the second I agreed to tutor you,” he replied, the ghost of a smile still on his lips. “Speaking of which, are you going to stick around for a while? The competitions are fast approaching, and you still have a ton to learn before you compete.”

I let out a soft laugh and nodded.

“Going back to school and having things be normal sounds really good right now,” I sighed.

“I don’t think things will ever be normal again,” he admitted.

“Maybe not,” I murmur. “But we can pretend.”

He smiled, but he didn’t look at me. We remained silent for a moment longer before I relented and stood to my feet.

“I don’t think his condition is going to change any time soon,” I finally stated. “I’m going to see if Zach and Harley are okay. Do you think you can stay here with Xaden?”

Damien nodded.

“Yeah,” he said as he reached into the bag that was resting on the ground by his feet. He pulled out a textbook and placed it on his lap. “I need to do some studying anyway. Some of us have midterms to prepare for.”

I smiled at him.

“I’ve been a little preoccupied,” I teased. I started towards the doorway, but then I paused. “Hey, Damien?”

He glanced up at me from his book.

“Hmm?”

“Thanks,” I said, meeting his eyes. He gave me a short nod before returning his attention to his book. I quickly left the room and pulled my wolf and bear forward, channeling their strength and senses. I needed them to find my mates for me because I wasn’t sure I could do it on my own.

I picked up Zach’s scent first and then Harley's. They were close together and they weren’t too far. They were still in the pack, which meant they hadn’t walked too far away. I let my wolf guide me toward the scents. I quickly hurried out of the infirmary, ignoring the look the receptionist was giving me as I walked through the waiting room. As soon as I was outside, their scents grew even stronger. I didn’t bother shifting into my bear or wolf, I only allowed them to tug me in the direction of my mates.

I hurried through the pack grounds until I reached the packhouse. There were a few people occupying the house at the moment, but they really didn’t pay me much attention. There were a few guards, but not many. Most were retraining and strengthening themselves for any future battles and some were recovering from the last battle.

I didn’t really know my way around the packhouse because I had only been here once, and it wasn’t for long. But my wolf seemed to know exactly where we needed to go. Zach and Harley were in Zach’s room and the closer we got, the more I could feel Zach’s emotions. He was angry and Harley was trying to calm him down.

The second I reached his doorway, I froze when I heard Zach saying, “She’s going to leave us for him, Harley. I just know it. I can feel it. She doesn’t care about us. She only cares about the Dragon King!”