The Lycan King's Healer
The Lycan King’s Healer – Chapter 18

Eyes warm with tears, I approached my son, his strong and prideful silhouette plucking at each heart string. I kneeled down and hugged him, kissing his cheeks in the soft moonlight.

He giggled at the sudden act of affection and hugged me back. I rested my chest on his little shoulder.

“Theo,” I said, rubbing soothing circles on his back. “Do you like Aldrich?” I couldn’t help but ask.

As the question hung in the air, I felt stupid. How selfish it was of me to want to keep him from his own father. If he liked Aldrich, it was his own choice to accompany him.

Plus, Aldrich had a lot more to offer him than I did.

Theo sunk back slightly, a bashful look on his face. He seemed as if I just told him something important, and I worried that I revealed too much of my insecurities to him.

“Do you like him?” he finally answered, reflecting my question with urgence.“If you do, I like him. If you don’t like him, I don’t.” He looked worried, looking like an angel under the moon. He sat saturated in light, cherubic and innocent and caring.

I straightened up and stepped back into the darkness away from the light to hide my tears.

Aldrich

A vampire invaded the border.

It wasn’t the first time; it happened through the short stretch of former spring months, raising alarm as the incidents increased from once to thrice.

The King held a conference that my brothers and I attended. We had to discuss who would lead the army in this affair. Reluctantly, we stood in the throne room that evening before our father along with our mother, who had worry evident in wrinkles above her eyebrows.

“I do not wish to lead the army; I already have former political affairs of my own to tend to,” my half-brother, Benjamin, announced.

Elias paused after this, seemingly scrambling for an excuse not to do it. “I have a sick wife. I should not abandon her in her time of need. Plus, Aldrich is the skilled general amongst us.”

I smirked at him, crossing my arms. “Of course, brother. I would be a monster to make you leave your third mistress of the month.”

He glared at me, and opened his mouth to argue when the Queen jutted in.

“Stop it now,” she commanded coldly, her eyes warming as they landed on me. “Aldrich, I worry for your health. You just returned from war, and I do not want you entering another.”

“Mother, it’s my duty,” I assured her. My brothers nodded along with me, vehemently agreeing with satisfaction on their faces. They shared a glance; an unspoken word being shared between the two.

***

A protest interrupted the chorus of summer birds and the whistle of wind through the trees as I approached the cottage next to the willow.

“I thought I told you to get lost!”

Cathy smacked her book down to her lap as she sat in the garden swing, shooting a glare at me. She looked as if I was interrupting her in finding something within the book.

She had no idea I was saying goodbye.

“You did,” I considered, puckering my lips. “But you also allow me to come back every time.”

She sighed, looking defeated. There was a tiredness to her that was rare; she had light purple under her eyes and her beautiful blonde hair glided in grotesque directions.

“What do you want?” she demanded, ignoring me.

“I want to taste your cooking,” I answered, offering an innocent smile. “I’ve wanted to since the day I came crashing through your roof.”

Pursing her lips, she contemplated for a moment. “Well, I’m about to cook dinner for Theo. If you promise not to bother me—” she glared, urgently adding a layer of warning to her voice, “or touch me, then I suppose you could have some.”

My smile morphed into a grin. “Deal,” I agreed, “I brought wine as a truce.”

Theo was excited to see me when we entered the house. His bow swinging from his h*p, he jumped into my arms as a greeting, giggling. Over his shoulder, I saw Cathy smiling at her son’s joy. A surge of triumph went through me.

“Is it time to practice some more?” he prompted eagerly.

“No, little man, it’s dinner time!” I laughed, pushing away his bow. A notion I’m sure Cathy appreciated.

After I poured the wine and set the table, Cathy presented the dishes; delicious smelling stew with a golden apple pie as dessert. My mouth watered.

As we ate and Theo told us about his afternoon outside, I was hit by the sudden discovery that we looked like a family. Cathy was relaxed and content due to her son’s happiness, and I smiled and laughed along with his stories. It was a bittersweet realization.

Theo tried a sip of my wine, and after two bites of his pie, retreated to his bedroom to sleep. Cathy and I shared a laugh as he dragged his feet, and when she noticed we were laughing together, she cut herself short and cleared her throat.

A pause of silence hung between us, then I asked: “Cathy, would you like to walk me back to the palace?”

She hesitated, but that was no surprise. The surprise was a nod and her “Yes, let me just k**s Theo goodnight.”

Cathy

When Theo was tucked in and the table and wine was cleaned off, we left the house and walked into the crispness of the late summer night.

The garden was glowing. We noticed it in awe, the glow attracting fireflies to flicker over the daisies and roses. The stars looked like spilled jewels onto a black landscape, gleaming along with the flowers. It looked beautiful as a dream. Every petal, every steam emanated a dancing pool of color hued light.

I stopped in my tracks, my words catching in my throat.

The last time I saw such a thing was when I was a child. The night I received my feature distorting scars.

My sisters and I had been kidnapped on our way home through the forest. The men voiced their desires to carve us into pieces, for they did not hesitate to cut into my face. One of the men’s cold blade was kissing my neck, and I was whispering my last words, as a young wolf rescued us.

The young wolf had to kill the men, but to distract us from the brutality and make us forget the b***d spilling from their necks, the wolf made the plants around us glow. We were screaming cries out of fear, but soon those cries dwindled into light giggles at the dreamy sight. I had never imagined anything like it before, and I never forgot the sight. It was the same sight that intrigued me regarding witchcraft, long before I was deemed a healer.

I tilted my head up at him, choking the words out. “Aldrich, how…how did you know?”

He only answered with a k**s upon my lips. For a moment, as he drew our lips together, I felt a moment of shock that was instantly replaced with contentedness. I liked the k**s. His lips were soft and gentle, and they tasted like the wine. But I didn’t like how he stole the k**s from me.

I bit down on his l*p.

Aldrich pulled back with a g***n. He raised his slightly calloused fingers to his l*p, wiping the thin film of b***d from it. “Cathy, that hurt.”

I glared at him with a shy annoyance, mostly annoyed that my cheeks were warming at his magnetic and elegant voice. “Aldrich, have you seen me before?”

“What do you think?” he simply answered, looking down at me amusedly.

“Was it you?’ I asked breathlessly, glancing out at the glow of the garden, “who saved those two little girls in the forest at the border? And made them smile with witchcraft?”