Rejected, Then Reborn
Chapter 13

Lacy watched as the Lyken who had saved her life smiled sheepishly at her, a guilty look on his face. “Hello, Lacy…” He started, “Now, I know I’d promised to come see you, but I’ve had a serious medical issue to attend to since that day, and that’s why you haven’t seen or heard from me.”

He was handsome, there was honestly no denying that.

Clean shaven, and towering over her with his impressively toned frame, and with two full sleeves of intricate tattoos that made him look even more intimidating and the most surprisingly kind, hazel eyes… the good doctor truly was a walking contradiction, a mixture of hard and soft if you may call it that way. If anything at all, he was supposed to be the ruthless one… the one whose presence chilled people’s b***d and scared people senseless, the one who needed to be reverently feared, but instead, here he was, wielding her evening meal so daintily in large hands that could oh so easily snap one’s neck in a blink of an eye. She was so lost checking him out that she honestly blanked out for a little bit, and wouldn’t have recovered anytime soon had he not called out her name, “Lacy?”

“Oh,” She blushed, moving right into action, “Sorry about that, where are my manners? Please, come in, have a seat,” Lacy gracefully took the tray from him and placed it on one of the coffee tables. “Thank you for bringing me dinner,” She eyed the covered plate and the bottles of fruit juice and water, her stomach shamefully rumbling in that moment even as she sat in one of the armchairs facing his. She could smell chicken and something else entirely delicious. “You can eat… I will go and come back later—”

“No, no… that will not be necessary at all, I’m alright eating in your presence, if you don’t mind.” Lacy cut him off, “It’s the first time in three days that I’ve had company in the evenings, and I’d be damned if I let you go. What if he doesn’t let you come back again?” She asked, grinning when the man chuckled, “You make a fair point, human.”

Lacy reached for the tray, placing it on her laps. For some reason, she felt completely at ease with this man, like one would a close friend, or a dear brother even. He was handsome, undeniably and intimidatingly so, but he equally had such an engaging personality and a kind demeanor that it was really easy to look over it and be around him and be comfortable while in his presence, but maybe, it had something to do with the fact that he had saved her life as well. “What medical issue kept you that busy, if you don’t mind talking about it?” She asked as she dug into her finger licking good meal of chicken and vegetable rice.

“Pregnancy complications,” Xavier responded, leaning back so he could better fit his large frame in the chair and feel comfortable as well, “We had a Lyken she-wolf go into one week long painful labor… and nothing we did was relieving her pain or bringing out the baby… and she stubbornly refused a C-section.”

“Even epidurals didn’t work?” Lacy asked, very surprised.

“Great question… oh, I forgot that you’re a nurse,” He scoffed, “The stubborn woman refused any. Honestly speaking, I don’t know what she had to prove, and who she had to prove it to… but she made something that could have been an easy birth process so difficult for my team and I. Look, I get that some people make the decision to stick to a medication-free birth process, but for a first time she-Lyken going into labor, it is honestly not encouraged or accepted.”

“It’s that tough for them?”

“More than you can imagine, Lacy… most of our pups are born in their wolf state… another difference between us and werewolves, and given how big we are, you can just imagine how uncomfortable it is going to be for the mother.”

“So, are you like a general practitioner or you specialize in a specific field?” Lacy found that she wanted to know more about the man who had saved her from near death, and from how he answered her questions enthusiastically, it was obvious that he did not mind sharing at all, “I’m a general practitioner, but I also specialize in Neurosurgery.”

“That’s an interesting choice. May I ask why you chose that field in particular?”

The two spoke at great length, gradually moving from medicine into other topics. The man was wickedly hilarious, and Lacy found herself in stitches over and over again, for one grateful that the man had decided to honor his promise of coming to visit her.

*****

Was he a creep for having a camera in her room?

No.

Reed tried to justify it as needing to check on his prisoner from time to time, especially when his guilt was still so strong that he had resorted to avoiding her. The small voice at the back of his head that wasn’t Ace screamed at him, calling him out for invading on her privacy like that, but he did not even care.

So you can imagine his surprise, and anger when he decided to check what she was up to for the night, expecting her to be eating her evening meal, sad and alone as she watched TV, only to find her doing something else entirely. Laughing so hard with…

Xavier.

Damn that bastard.

Why was he in there talking to her?

Even through his anger and annoyance, the Alpha King couldn’t help observing them. She was at ease around him, more at ease than he had ever seen. And look at the way she was laughing in joy at whatever the bastard was telling her. If only she was this happy when she was in his presence. Reed did not know when it happened, but before he knew it, his legs were carrying him towards her room.

*****

“Would you rather have your upper body and be a horse from your waist down or you’d be a horse and be human from your waist down?” Xavier asked with a smirk, causing the human girl burst out in laughter. “What the hell, Xavier?” She giggled. Xavier couldn’t help but join her. For a dainty lady like her, she truly had the most unladylike laugh he had ever heard, but it was adorable as hell. He was really glad he had decided to come see her after all, she was making his night just as much as he was making hers.

The sudden burst of the door opening cut their happy moment short, startling the poor girl out of her mind, while he remained surprisingly calm. He had known this moment would come, one of the guards were bound to have told him… he just didn’t expect it to be this soon, or for his friend to be that upset about it. Xavier and the girl stood up, while he bowed his head in submission, “Your Eminence,” He addressed.

“Xavier, leave us…” Came the order. Xavier noted how the girl’s eyes widened in fear before she quickly masked it. “Very well, your Eminence,” He nodded at his King, and then turning to Lacy, he said, “I’ll see you soon, beautiful,” noting with delight how his best friend’s jaw clenched at the nickname. Then he left, leaving the two of them all alone.

“Hello, Lacy…” Reed called out, his tone cold and calm, even though he wanted nothing more than to roar in frustration. Xavier’s parting words towards her had a light blush covering her face, a tell-tale sign that it had had some effect on her. “You look like you have had a great time this evening.”

She looked up at him, but she did not utter a single word, which unnerved the Alpha King even more. He did not know what he had expected, charging in here like that… but he knew without a doubt that it was certainly not silence he had been hoping to get. Perhaps a little smile? Or perhaps, a defiant remark at how he had ruined her lovely evening, but certainly not bloody silence? It irked him more than he cared to admit. “You won’t say anything?”

She was still silent.

“I order you to speak!” He was losing it, and fast… but he really couldn’t help himself. “And what exactly do you want me to say, Your Eminence?” She looked up at him, hate shining ever so bright in her green eyes.

Wow.

That was most certainly not the reaction the Alpha King had been expecting. It made him surprisingly… confused?

Was it wrong of him to want her to smile at him the way she had Xavier? He had left her all alone for a whole week, dammit, surely that was enough to forgive everything he might have done? And what about when he had agreed for her to walk around the castle grounds? Granted, Anaya had had to spend days convincing him, but he had still given in nonetheless… surely that had to count for something? Surely that had to grant him some kind of grace?

“Very well,” He cleared his throat, “I require your services tonight, so finish your meal, and take a bath… someone will bring you clothes to change into and you will be brought into my chambers.” He took one last look at her, “See you soon.”

And then he was gone.