Chapter 187

Carol’s POV

“I don’t care if she hadn’t given me permission to enter her hospital room! She’s my best friend and I demand to see her right now!!” I heard Fiona yelling from the hallway, bringing my attention away from King Bennet.

It was nice to hear her voice again, but King Benne’s request still lingered in my mind, making it difficult to feel any type of real joy. The door swung open, and Fiona walked into the room, her lips pressed in a thin line and her eyes blazing with fury after being kept away from me. Oliver trailed after her and then the doctor.

The doctor looked at me with an apologetic look and I held my hand up to him to let him know that it was okay and that he could leave. He got my message loud and clear and gave me a head nod before backtracking and leaving the room.

The King seemed startled by my friend’s boldness, and she was completely oblivious to his presence. Oliver on the other hand was not and bowed to him deeply, murmuring his apologies.

“Holy shit,” Fiona breathed as she stopped beside my bed. “You really are alive.”

Tears were in her eyes and seeing them brought tears to my own eyes.

“I am,” I told her. “Did you think I was dead?”

I looked at Aiden who was staring at his feet and then at Fiona who was barely able to contain her emotions. Then, it hit me. I gasped and covered my mouth with my hands.

“You really thought I was dead?” I asked, my voice coming out raspy. “And yet you still looked for me?”

“I wasn’t going to stop until you were found, dead or alive,” Aiden told me. I knew that he meant those words to be reassuring, but it only made a tight knot form in the middle of my stomach. I didn’t like the idea of them finding me dead and having to bury me. I couldn’t imagine how much fear they were facing during the last couple of days since I went missing.

“I was so scared I’d never see you again,” Fiona whispered, the tears finally breaking out of her eyes and soaking over her cheeks. “If anything happened to you—”

“Hey now,” I said, grabbing her hand and giving them a gentle squeeze. “I’m completely fine. A little banged up and thirsty, but I’m fine.”

“I’ll get you some water, Luna,” Oliver said, giving me a polite smile, and then he winked. “I’m glad you aren’t dead.”

I smiled at him.

“Me too,” I agreed.

He quickly left the room to get me a glass of water as Fiona slid into the bed beside me and rested her head on my shoulder.

“Easy,” Aiden warned her. “Carol is still pretty banged up and the doctor said she needs to rest.”

“She’s my best friend, Aiden. I have every right to cuddle her right now. She went through something awful, and I wasn’t there…” Fiona said, her eyes narrowed in his direction.

He blanched at her words and gazed at the ground again.

“I wasn’t there either and I feel just as bad if not more,” Aiden agreed, sounding ashamed of himself.

My biological father just hummed and huffed. I shot a nasty look at him, feeling irritated by his presence suddenly. I don’t care if he was the King, I didn’t want him in my room right now. He seemed to understand that from the look I was giving him, and he cleared his throat, turning away from me. He didn’t leave the room, but he did give me some more space. I think he was afraid of actually leaving the room because he didn’t want me to take off or anything. I smirked at the idea of him returning to the room to find me gone. I almost wanted him to leave so I could make that happen.

“Your parents are on their way by the way,” Fiona told me, holding onto me tightly. “As soon as they found out you were found and safe, they got in their car and headed straight here.”

I smiled at the thought of seeing my parents again. It felt like I hadn’t seen them in months. I missed them like crazy and my chest squeezed.

“Thank you, Fiona,” I whispered to her.

“It’s what I’m here for,” she told me gently. “I am your Beta Female after all.”

“Future Beta future,” Aiden reminded her. “You hadn’t married Oliver yet.”

“True,” she murmured. “I hadn’t married him, yet…”

I chuckled and looked up at Fiona.

“Don’t ever change,” I pleaded.

“I never will,” she said with a shrug. “I heard you almost kicked Katrina’s ass.”

She blushed and sat up in bed.

“When I saw her throwing your stuff out, I might have lost my temper,” she admitted. “But the bitch had it coming. She was the one who set this entire thing up.”

I nodded.

“I know,” I murmured. “I heard Allen on the phone with her. He told her he loved her. It was a gross conversation. I could tell she thought I was dead because Allen kept telling her he was going to dispose of my body and return to her.”

Fiona’s eyes widened.

“So, he kept you alive even after telling her that you were dead?” She asked, glancing up at Aiden. “That explains why she told us Carol was dead.”

Aiden nodded in agreement.

“Is that why you thought I was dead? Because Katrina said so?” I asked, looking between the two of them.

“Yeah, Katrina must have thought you were dead because Allen told her that you were,” Aiden said, rubbing his chin as he thought more about that. “I wonder why he would keep you alive after she gave him the order to kill you.”

“Yeah, it’s weird,” Katrina muttered, shaking her head.

I bit the inside of my cheek and stared at my hands, fiddling with my fingers uneasily.

“Do you know something?” Aiden asked, narrowing his eyes at me.

I lifted my gaze to meet his only to find him watching me; he was studying my facial movements.

I sighed and then nodded slowly.

“He told me that he loved me,” I admitted. Fiona sucked in a sharp breath and Aiden’s wolf nearly surged to the surface. He let out a breathy growl, desperate to keep his wolf at bay.

“What do you mean he was in love with you?” Fiona asked, still shocked by my words.

I shrugged.

“It’s honestly no big deal; it didn’t mean anything,” I muttered.

“Tell us anyways,” Aiden said, barely in control of his own emotions.

I sighed, running my fingers through my hair.

“He said he wanted to be with me and raise this child as his own,” I murmured. “He wanted to adopt it and be its biological father.”

Aiden let out another growl, only this one was louder and teeth chattering. He was scary when he was pissed, but I knew I had nothing to worry about. Aiden would never hurt me, regardless of how mad he got.

“He was taking me away to hide me. He wanted to go to a different pack and start fresh. He mentioned something about the full moon and doing a spell that would get rid of my mating mark. Then he was going to mark me himself and—”

“That’s enough,” Aiden growled; I knew now that he was no longer in control. His wolf was at the surface and his human was being pushed back. He was still in human form, but the eyes of his wolf were clear as day. “I don’t want to hear about another man’s desire to claim my mate.”

“He’s going to need your touch to calm down,” King Bennet informed me, watching Aiden warily.

I nodded and reached my hand out to him, touching his arm gently and giving him a small smile.

“Hey,” I whispered. “It’s okay. I’m here and I’m safe. I’m also yours and nobody is going to take me away from you. I promise.”

He seemed to have relaxed from my words and gave Aiden control again. Aiden slumped against the bed and looked defeated.

“I can’t believe I could have lost you,” he whispered; he sounded so broken and upset. I kept my hand on him; I also needed his touch to get through this and feeling his arm against the palm of my hand sent warmth throughout my entire body and I found myself relaxing as well.

“But you didn’t,” Fiona reminded him. “We need to start looking on the positive side. Carol is here and she is safe.”

“I don’t believe she truly is safe here,” King Bennet said stepping towards us. “At least not yet.”

“What do you mean?” Fiona asked, looking at him and then at Aiden with a frown. “What’s he talking about?”

Aiden looked at me and I bit my bottom lip I really didn’t want to talk about this right now. Fiona was not going to like the King’s idea, and I certainly did not want to go anywhere.

“Carol had been kidnapped under your noses twice now,” the King said, folding his arms across his chest. “I understand that it wasn’t anyone’s fault, but with someone who has as much power as she does, Carol shouldn’t be an easy target.”

“So, what do you propose we do?” Fiona asked.

I already knew what the King was going to say, and I knew Fiona wasn’t going to like it.

“I think she should return to the empire with me for some time now and train her abilities so she can be stronger,” the King told her and then he looked at me, his face hard to read. “My warriors are already packing your things. You don’t have a choice, Carol. You are coming home with me tomorrow morning.”