Chapter Twenty Five
Everything was soft. Warm. It wasn't hot. Not like how the collar burned. It was comfortable. Safe.
I felt safe. I was floating in the in-between. Not quite awake. Not quite dreaming.
It didn't smell like home. It was better. Delicious. I nuzzled into the fluffy pillow, breathing in the pine, the earth, the musky amber. I wanted it to consume me. I snuggled further beneath the thick blankets even as my muscles stretched and groaned.
The world drifted back to black.
I could hear my name but it was so far away. Soft and gentle. Tingled brushed against my cheek. I leaned into the warmth with a smile. I didn't want it to leave. It always left.
When it left, the darkness came back and the burning seared my neck. It was a different burning, not like the itchiness of the collar. It ringed my neck like a ghost, squeezing till I couldn't breathe anymore.
I thrashed. Or I tried to. Everything felt heavy and drained. It was like something had sapped the strength from my limbs.
I could taste the sharpness, the bitterness coated my tongue. The acrid taste always brought the pain but when the pain got too much, the electric buzz came back.
It was delicate and hushed. Words I couldn't make out murmured with reverence, saying my name like a prayer. Tracing over my forehead, my cheeks, the bridge of my nose, my jaw. Once they brushed across my bottom lip and there was a sound, something between a sigh and a mewl.
The darkness mixed with the pain, the warmth burning into a fire and then simmering back down again.
Until finally, the moments of lucidity stretched into wakefulness.
I groaned as I sat up, my body screaming in protest as I pushed my hands against the soft bed and leaned against the headboard. I was in my room, the one in Dax's house, but I didn't recognise the blankets or the pillows bundled behind my back. Everything smelled so strongly of him.
My hand ran across the line of my neck, the move instinctual and practiced, but there was nothing there.
Flashes crossed behind my eyes. A burning in my neck, a pressure and a screech and then freedom. It was gone, broken, torn from my neck.
The door creaked open and my eyes flicked towards it. Talia walked in, her face blank until she saw me sitting up.
"Kiera!" She screamed, nearly dropping the bowl in her hands. Her tawny eyes were wide and wet but she blinked away the moisture. "Oh goddess, you're awake. You're really awake."
She set the steaming bowl on the locker next to my bed and perched on the edge beside me.
"How long was I asleep?" I croaked, my voice hoarse, dry and cracked.
"Three days," Talia answered with furrowed brows. "Well, four if you count the time it took you to get back. No one knew how long you would sleep for. They said the silver stopped you from healing. You nearly died."
Four days. I was gone for four days.
"You're lucky you're awake. I was starting to go crazy here all by myself." Talia scrunched her nose in disgust. "It's not like I could even hole up in here. It was always occupied."
I blinked at her. "Huh?"
"That stupid Alpha barely left your side. The little demon spawn was nearly ready to smother you with a pillow just to get his attention back." The sneer said all I needed to know about what the last few days with Lyra must have been like.
"So, did something happen between you two while I wasn't around to supervise?" Talia asked, raising an expectant eyebrow.
"No," I answered too quickly and Talia's other eyebrow shot up. "Not really? Nothing physical."
I wasn't even sure if it counted as anything happening or whether the tension and the protectiveness was something my mind had made up. But I didn't think the hum in my skin was just in my head.
The door burst open, making both of us rear back in shock as Dax cleared his throat and wiped the frantic look from his face.
"I heard you were awake," he said, his voice calm and composed. "I'm glad you're doing better."
Talia looked between the two of us and scoffed softly. "Not sad you can't creep on her anymore?"
I shot Talia a look, reaching my hand out to give her a small smack but the pain reverberated up my arm before I could move it. I hissed and in a blink, Dax was at my side, eyes running over me with pinched brows and a clenched jaw.
Talia hummed and stood up, backing away with nothing other than a pointed look at me.
Silence filled the room, humming in the space between us as Dax took Talia's spot on the edge of the bed like he was used to it.
"You broke the collar," I whispered, struggling to get my voice any louder. "Thank you."
Dax shook his head, his dark eyes pouring over me like pools of melted chocolate. "Don't thank me. I thought I lost you and it would've been my fault. Just...Just don't scare me like that again."
Something flared in my chest, a tingling, comfortable warmth that I wanted to bury myself in. The same feeling that enveloped me when I heard those reverent, hushed words.
Him.
The buzz, the voice. It was all him. Staying by my side, comforting the pain and soothing the nightmares.
"Have you eaten yet? Do you need water?" He asked, his hand reaching like he was going to cradle my cheek, the movement natural and instinctual.
But he hesitated, pulled his hand back and dropped it back on his lap.
I didn't answer, swallowing past the swelling in my throat.
"Are they putting it back on?" I hated how small my voice sounded. I hated feeling helpless, weak.
"Fuck no." His voice was a restrained growl and a shadow passed over his face. "They're not coming near you with one of those. Let 'em try."
The rage rolled off him as my eyelids began to feel heavy again. My head drooped and I blinked myself back awake.
"Rest," Dax said, the word a gentle command as the world turned blurry. He stood up but I caught his hand. Tingles.
"Stay."
Things went dark and the pattern repeated over and over again.
I pushed myself to stay awake longer each time, feeding myself and moving more as two more days passed. Someone was almost always there when I was awake. If it wasn't Talia, it was Dax.
Once, even Lucien showed up. It was brief and he spent more time talking to Dax outside my room. Talia said it was for the best. I couldn't think any harder about it.
"Careful." Dax almost sounded worried as he reached out, his hand hovering above my arm. I rolled my eyes as I walked towards the door. Each step was an effort, like swimming through honey. I pushed through anyway.
He stayed by my side as we strolled down the hallway, keeping up with my snail pace from a half step away. His muscles were coiled, ready to strike if I even wobbled but he didn't touch me.
This wasn't the suave, composed Alpha who had thrown me away.
The nerves would have been sweet if they weren't so frustrating. I could see him trying not to treat me like I was fine china. I appreciated how he didn't argue when I pushed myself further than he was comfortable.
But I was so sick of being sick. I was tired of being tired.
I had only made it down the hall when the exhaustion was overwhelming, my legs lead underneath me. I forced myself to keep going but I could have cried when I saw my bed again and collapsed with a groan.
I wasn't sure whether I'd ended up napping again but Dax was sitting on the end of my bed, marking things down in a folder as he read when sickly scent wafted in.
Lyra, always so doe-eyed and sweet, wasn't keeping up the facade as she scowled from the doorway. Her warm brown eyes were sharpened like daggers as she glared at the two of us sitting so close, Dax relaxed like he was meant to be there.
He was. We all knew it. But Lyra couldn't stand not being chosen.
"You're either playing nurse with her, or you're being my mate. You don't get both." It was strange hearing his airy voice so dark and grounded.
"Lyra," Dax said cautiously, placing the folder in his lap. "Now's not the time."
She laughed, the sound cold and hollow. "Oh yeah? When is the time? When she's better? When she finds some other excuse to throw a pity party so you come running back to her?"
Lyra turned her glare to me, almost bearing her teeth. "Did you do it? Did you poison yourself so he'd get close enough that you could dig your bitchy little claws in?"
I wanted to snap, to argue back, but the words were floating above my head, flying away from me just out of reach.
"If I wanted him, I wouldn't need your cheap tricks." There was no bite in my words, just watered down defiance.
"How quick did you give it up for your little vampire boy toy?" she hissed with narrowed eyes.
"Lyra, that's enough." Dax was firm, stern and final but Lyra wasn't backing down.
She jabbed her finger at him, fury contorting her pretty face. "You promised," she accused, throwing words like daggers. "You made a pact. An alliance. Our packs tied together for peace. If you back out now, that's provocation. If you end this, you're starting a war."
The words hung in the air, unspoken but clear.
Is she worth it?
Dax didn't speak. His jaw clenched, eyes unreadable.
Slowly, he looked at me. Not with love. Not with guilt.
Somehow, his silence said everything.
I already knew his answer.
I had so much fun writing this. Loopy Kiera is one of my favourites. Sweet and caring Dax is definitely up there too.
How do we feel about Dax? Is it guilt or is he really trying to be better for Kiera?
But with Lyra's ultimatum, will everything crumble all over again?
Thank you so so much for reading! It really makes it so much more fun to write knowing that you're enjoying the story too so thank you so much for your votes and your comments. Each one just makes my day.