The Lycan King's Healer
The Lycan King’s Healer – Chapter 17

“But not now,” Aldrich declared, climbing off me.

I looked up at him incredulously, surprised that he was relinquishing. He straightened up after lifting himself from the bed, brushing off lint from his shirt.

I cocked an eyebrow at him.

“What kind of punishment did you expect, Cathy?” he questioned mockingly, mirroring me by raising an eyebrow right back. “Gather your mind from the gutter. I don’t take advantage of women like that.”

I glared at him, knowing he was well-aware of what he had been implying. “You’re a liar.”

He scoffed. “You know, just for that, I will punish you,” he then abruptly grabbed the glass of water from my nightstand and poured it over my head.

I gasped as the cold liquid washed over me, extinguishing any of the heat growing inside of me for him. It dampened my hair and dripped icily down my spine.

I glared at him with ice more cold than the water, and he smirked in response.

“I did witchcraft on them,” I fearlessly admitted in that moment, not an ounce of guilt or regret in my voice. “That is how I made them ill.”

He nodded as if in agreement, not surprised by the confession, but his smirk did disintegrate. I was beginning to shock him less and less, and that bothered me. He was unraveling me.

“I made a certain medicine cling to their skin when I was close enough to them,” I snarled, water dripping from my hairline to my nose. “But quite honestly, they deserved much more.”

I straightened up into a sitting position, preparing to defend myself. “The Luna Queen had whipped me bloody, and all I did was make her fart more. Which was just exposing the rot that is already inside her,” I demanded coldly, shaking my head at the memory of the reptile woman. I traced the petals of a flower stitched into the pattern of the comforter “As for Emily, she deserved the better punishment.”

I did not want to give him the chance to reprimand me. Accusingly, I snapped my head up and narrowed my eyes at him. “So what, are you going to take me to jail now? Give me another punishment? If so, do as you please.”

The l**t that was interlaced with the liquid emeralds in his eyes melted into pity. I sneered in disgust; I did not want his sympathy or condolences.

“I’d rather you just punish me than pity me,” I warned, curling my l*p.

“Then I will punish you,” he said, and I couldn’t tell what he was feeling through his blank tone.

“Go ahead and try,” I stood from the bed and positioned myself defensively, glaring at him from underneath my wet eyelashes.

He contemplated it for a while with a thoughtful countenance and crossed arms. Finally, he said, “I’ll punish you by giving me another son.”

I froze, blinking at him in bewilderment.

A few moments flicked by in silence, my heart thundering in my chest. He then chuckled to himself as if he told the funniest joke ever.

“What did you say?” I pressed, stepping away from him. His shamelessness never failed to shock me.

“You heard me, my Cathy,” he prompted, closing the space I just made between us. I side- stepped him toward the door as if he was poisonous.

“Theo is not your son. I would not be giving you another, I would be giving you your first,” I corrected him falsely, preparing my departure from the room. “And I am not your Cathy.”

He watched me with a sudden somber look on his face. “Why do you still refuse me?”

I shook my head, tightening my jaw. “Please just… get lost.”

Aldrich stepped away from me and sighed, lowering himself down onto the bed. I frowned, not at all surprised that he did not obey me.

He then grabbed the hem of his shirt and lifted it off, shaking his hair out.

“What are you–” I asked, my gaze automatically landing on the darkened wound upon his abdomen. A gasp escaped me.

He followed my horrified gaze and ran his fingers over the revealed wound, wincing to himself. “I know,” he agreed, “it has not healed.”

“But I thought I–I thought I helped you,” I stumbled through my words, my tongue tripping over the disbelief.

His hair fell into his face, and he looked a lot more serious than usual. A shadow crossed his features. “And I appreciated that. But I feel my immunity dwindling more and more every day.”

I hesitantly sat down on the bed next to him, surveying the wound. There had to be some solution to heal it—something I didn’t originally do correctly. I did not sift through the entire book, and there were many more to read through from my library. I was already raking through the options in my mind, interchanging several variables I already knew. The wound was darker and more prominent than before, oozing.

“Before I die, I always wanted to leave behind several sons to inherit the throne. For the pack,” he murmured, “but with only Theo left behind, he would have all the pressure on him.”

“He’s not–”

“Just please don’t fight me on this for a moment, Cathy,” he urged in a soft tone, “All I ask of you is to consider it.”

I looked at him, avoiding revealing anything. In his favor, I did not protest, but instead sat quietly.

***

I did not even place the steamed corn on the table before Theo was presenting his new bow.

He brought it from his room, showcasing it along with the pack of arrows proudly at dinner. I had never seen him so dignified and passionate about something other than his toy soldiers. It both excited me and disappointed me; I could not take the hobby away from my son. Or frown at the fact Aldrich gifted the bow.

I veiled my irritation with a fake smile. “Very cool.” Damn Aldrich for digging his claws into my son so deep. As if it was some form of vengeance for me withholding him; he seemed to be deciding to take him back himself, using his genes against mine. Could this solely be the result of scarily similar hereditary hobbies? Rage flowed and ebbed in my veins. Why could he not just take mostly after me?

“Your face is red, mommy,” Theo observed, sitting down and placing the bow onto the chair next to him. Guess the bow deserves a spot at the dinner table now.

I turned away, forcing my lips to reluctantly hold up the smile. “From the steam, honey.”

After dinner, Theo wandered back out to the backyard to practice more. Since it was evening, I accompanied him. Moonlight drenching his blonde hair silver, he shot through the night, the stars watching him make target after target with increasing distances.

“Look, mommy!” he exclaimed at one, looking over to me with a proud grin. “My shots are getting better. If any bad guys come, I’ll shoot them to death! I won’t allow anyone to bully you ever again.”

He held his head high under the moon’s silver spotlight against the darkness, for the first time appearing to be the small prince he did not know he was.