Rejected, Then Reborn
Chapter 69

Reed felt Lacy stir on the bed, the action jolting him from his own sudden slumber. He couldn’t even remember when he had passed out beside her, all he recalled was cleaning her up, getting her in a t-shirt and some panties and covering her with one of the cozy blankets that had been on the bed.

He recalled heading over to his place for a quick shower and a change of clothes, and he remembered coming back to sit in the armchair, watching over her like a hound dog for any possible discrepancies.

But that was just about it.

He had no idea when he had passed out, nor how he had gotten in bed beside her for that matter.

“Lacy,” He whispered the words reverently as he helped her sit upright, feeling a surge of relief wash over him as he said the words, “You’re awake. Are you okay?”

Her light green eyes were wide, and she still seemed pretty disoriented, but other than that, the Alpha King could tell that she was back to her normal self.

The innocent, tired looking woman turned to look at him, smiling weakly, “I—I think so,” She said, “Though I don’t really remember what happened. It all kind of seems like a blur.” She said after a moment’s reflection. “So, what happened to me, Reed? Why do I suddenly feel so dirty, like I’ve just done something terribly evil?”

Reed took a deep breath, knowing very well that he had to explain everything to her, but was it really necessary?

Did he really have to put her through all of that?

“Don’t do that, Reed. Tell me everything, it doesn’t matter if it’s not so good, I need to know everything that happened.”

The Alpha King shot her a wide-eyed look. “How—how did you do that?”

“Do what?” She seemed genuinely confused.

“You read my thoughts, Lacy.”

“I did?” She asked, still perplexed.

“Yeah, just now,”

“Oh.”

Reed realised almost instantly that she had kind of done it involuntarily, but it made him super excited nonetheless. “You know what it means, Lace?”

She could only shake her head in the negative, not really knowing where he was going with all of this.

“You were able to control your powers on your own, and it didn’t even set your dark side off, Lacy!”

“Okay, okay, calm down, my love,” Lacy let out a tired chuckle, “I kind of need to know what exactly happened when I was unconscious, especially when I don’t really know what you’re talking about. What dark side?”

And so, Reed told her everything, from when her eyes had snapped open to her unexpected seduction… he told her everything, and it amused him greatly, for by the time he was done, she was a bright tomato red, and he on the other hand was so turned on all over again just talking about it.

Really, what a day it had been!

Her eyes had grown wide with shock and horror at all the things she had been said to have done, but she knew that her mate would not just make such a serious thing up if it had not actually happened. She really had no idea how to feel.

“So how do we control it?” She needed to know that there was no way vampire Lacy, (as Reed had called it) was coming back any time soon.

“For now, I really don’t know,” He told her truthfully, “What I do know is that your hair is changing color,”

Lacy shot him a weird look at the spontaneity of his thought, and he smirked, “I know, I know… but hear me out. I think each time another part of your hair becomes blonde, you seem to be more in control over the dark hold.”

“My hair is turning blonde? Really?” She raised an eyebrow, standing up from the bed and heading to the standing mirror to see exactly what he was talking about.

He really wasn’t lying; she was turning blond.

She fluffed her dark and light curls curiously, “I never thought about dying my hair growing up, but I’m not going to lie, I am kind of killing this blond look.” She admitted with a proud smirk.

Reed chuckled, but didn’t say a word, and how could he? He was pretty sure that if he opened his mouth, he was going to say something super cheesy, like she could have the ugliest hair color in the world and still look perfect to him, and while he didn’t mind telling her how he felt one bit, he was afraid that this was going to freak her out.

“How’s Anaya doing?” Lacy asked him suddenly, snapping him out of his thoughts,

“Oh, she’s alright, I think she’s almost back to herself now.” He told her contentedly and Lacy smiled, wondering if it had something to do with the return of the good doctor. She hoped for her friend’s sake that that was the case, because even though the Lyken princess hadn’t exactly confirmed it, Lacy had a gut feeling that her ‘episode’ had had something to do with the Healer Supreme.

She really hoped that they had been able to work past their differences.

“She’s strong, Lace… I know she’ll make it through.”

All of a sudden, Lacy felt emotional, the tears welling so fast in her green eyes that she actually laughed at the weird way she was feeling.

“Hey, now, what’s wrong, Lace?”

Damn adorable Reed!

She totally had no idea when her ruthless, uncaring mate had suddenly turned all loving, being the sweet man that he now was, it just made opening up and revealing whatever was bothering her much easier and she totally hated it.

“It’s—it’s just that…” She trailed off, sniffling as he wiped away her tears, “I feel so guilty, I mean it’s because of me that Lucius put her in that situation—”

“Don’t go blaming yourself, Lacy…” He scolded her softly, “This had nothing to do with you, your ex-husband is the bastard who did all of this. Besides, we got her back, and she’s doing fine,”

“But at what cost? A bunch of Lykens seriously got hurt,”

“And they all made a hundred percent recovery, Lace… seriously, don’t stress about this. We still have to figure out how to control your powers and make sure that any nouvelle ones that might unfold as well don’t take us by surprise. Synn had said that you’re Queen of all five realms, my guess is, it’s only a matter of time before all of those powers start manifesting as well. We have a lot cut out for us, my love.” He pointed out, taking her hand and leading her towards the bed and getting cozy in it, and then pulling her against him when he was finally seated so she rested against his chest.

Lacy looked up at him, her eyes filled with love and gratitude. “Thank you, Reed,” she said softly. “Thank you for being there for me, for loving me. I don’t know what I would do without you.”

“You’d survive without me, Lacy…” He smiled softly at her, but his eyes held so much sadness and clarity in them, “I am the one who is utterly lost without you.”

Reed leaned in and kissed her softly, feeling a surge of love and passion wash over him, even as he kept the k**s chaste and sweet. He knew that they had been through a lot, but he also knew that they were strong enough to make it through anything… if nothing at all, the ordeal they had gone through today was enough proof.

And as they held each other in the warmth of their embrace, he knew that he would do anything to protect her, to cherish her, and to love her for the rest of their lives, even if it was going to be at his own detriment.

They were quiet for a while, lost in the comfortable sound of their hearts beating together as one when the Alpha King finally broke the silence. “Lacy, I really want to stop thinking about it, but I can’t… I don’t know, but don’t you think it’s weird that Lucius knew you were still alive even though he had seen you die right before his eyes?”

You know, Lacy had always wondered the same damned thing!

But she had always been caught up in one problem or the other to give it that much thought.

Now though, she really had no idea what to think, and so she said the only words on her mind, “I honestly think about it every day, Reed, but I started to figure that wondering wasn’t going to get me anywhere, and so what’s the point? Honestly speaking, I just want to move on with my life,” She looked up at him and smiled softly, squeezing his hand that he had curled around her stomach, “To move on with my life with you. I have forgiven him from the depth of my heart, because I realise now that had he not hurt me like so, I would not have been led to you.”

Reed seriously had a lot of objections to everything she had said, and he knew that Ace felt the same way too, but he wanted to let her have this moment.

She had had a strenuous day after all and needed to relax after everything she had been through, and so he just smiled tightly at her and said the words that were on his tongue, but most certainly not in his heart,

“Well, I guess you’re right.”