The Silver Lycan Queen

Chapter 6 - Keeping promises

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Novah

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“Sweetheart! Are you alright?” My mother asks, alarmed, as I stagger just before climbing down the staircase. The wolfsbane is kicking in, but I’m trying to keep strong. I don’t want them to see that I’m sick yet. My mother knows I didn’t want to go. I don’t want her to be suspicious. She must at least see me try to go.

Kellan’s men bow and one comes up to meet me halfway, taking my hand and helping me down. “I’m fine, mother... Thank you for knocking some sense into me,” I tell her with a soft smile, and she returns it with an even bigger one. The pride shining in her eyes almost makes me feel bad for what I’ve done.

“You’re very welcome. You look absolutely beautiful,” she compliments. “Thank you,” I reply with a curtsy before bidding her goodbye and walking to the exit. I get inside the SUV and the guys start the drive. A few minutes into the drive, I groan as the pain from the poison intensifies. “Milady? Are you alright?” the guy next to me asks, alarmed, looking at the beads of sweat that have formed on my forehead. “Yes, I-” I start to say, but stop mid-sentence as I retch, causing him to ask the driver to stop. He gets out and walks around to my side to open my door, concern written all over his face. “Call the Prince!” He instructs the one who’s driving to call Kellan.

“I… I need to throw up,” I say between the moans of pain, and he helps me out of the car. I empty the contents of my stomach and feel instant relief after that, but I don’t show it. I still clutch my stomach, groaning, causing them to run around like headless chickens, freaking out. The amount of wolfsbane I took is only enough to make me sick for a little while before Carla expels it.

“It hurts so bad. Please take me home,” I tell him, and he looks at the other one, who’s still talking on the phone, conflicted. The other one’s still waiting for Kellan. Apparently, he’s indisposed. He ends the call, saying Kellan will be notified of his call and will call back. "Please take me home. I can’t go on like this." I speak again to the other one, now grabbing his jacket sleeves.

“I’m sorry, Milady; I want to. I really do, but I cannot just make this decision.”

“So you’d rather I get there dead? Which one do you think will piss him off more? Leaving me behind because I was sick or arriving there with my corpse because you didn’t want to get into trouble?”

“I’m sorry, Milady. Please get in the car,” he says, offering his hand, and I take it and hop back in again, a part of me panicking. I had calculated my plan until this point. I knew they would call Kellan, but I didn’t know he wouldn’t be available. What do I do now?

I slump back on the seat, letting out a low groan, still clutching my stomach. “Try him again,” the one next to me says again to the one in front, but he says he was told he'd call back. What does Kellan do to them exactly? Why are they all so afraid of him? The airport comes into our view, and I ask the driver to stop the car again.

If I board that plane, there’ll be no turning back. I think about pretending to pass out, but I’m scared that might not work, as they might carry me to the plane still. So, I decide to stall instead. He opens the door for me, and I kneel on the ground, retching.

I watch the other guy out of the corner of my eye as he paces up and down, anxious. He tries to talk me into holding on until we get to the plane since we’re almost there, but I refuse to budge. The sky’s darkening and you can tell the storm’s almost here, causing them to panic even more.

After I don’t know how long, I hear the phone ring, and the driver answers on the first ring, desperation clear in his voice. He walks over to me and asks if I can speak, but I shake my head no. I hear him relay it to the person on the other side, and I can tell it’s Kellan. “Yes, my prince,” I hear him say before ending the call. “We must take the lady back,” he says to the other one and I almost jump for joy, exposing myself. He carries me back to the car, and they turn it around, heading back home, and I mentally let out a sigh of relief. That was close.

•

•

A few minutes later, we arrive home, and my mother comes rushing up to us as soon as we enter, panicked. The guys explain what happened, and she immediately instructs one servant to call the doctor. My dad also comes out and scoops me into his arms, taking me to my room. I ask my mother to call Ana and she does. I need her here to complete the rest of our plan.

My parents stay with me until the doctor arrives, and he does so in a couple of minutes. He checks me and runs some tests, but the most important one is the blood test. Even if he can pick up wolfsbane signs on my body, the conclusion will depend on the blood results, and Ana and I are one step ahead on that. I knew the doctor would be called once I came back sick, so I asked Ana to draw some of my blood before taking the wolfsbane and keep it in a vial, ready to swap it with the one the doctor would draw later.

Even though the wolfsbane isn’t a lot, it will take time before it clears, therefore showing on the bloodwork. Ana volunteers to assist the doctor, giving her the chance she needs to do the exchange.

After the doctor is done, he informs my parents that he will come back with the results and give me some sedatives in the meantime. The medication makes me drowsy and I give in to sleep after glancing at the clock to see that it’s 2:05 p.m. I’ll be awake by nightfall.

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Nolan, the vampire

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I glance at the entrance of the cave and lighting flashes, accompanied by rumbling thunder as the rain drenches the forest. I get up and walk to the entrance, looking up at the pitch-black sky that seems to resemble my soul. Novah had promised to come see me tonight, but she hasn’t shown up. I don’t blame her if she doesn’t come, seeing how it is outside, but a part of me can’t help but be sad. I was kind of looking forward to seeing her again. I still don’t know how to feel about everything she told me, but I know how I feel about her.

Ever since I saw her that night, I couldn’t stay away from her. She makes my non-existent heart skip a beat every time I think about her. Her eyes make me feel a strange warmth that covers my whole body in goosebumps. Her voice is like a melody especially created for my soul and I just know I want to listen to it for the rest of my life. My lips stretch into a smile at that thought, but it quickly falters as I think of what a mess I am.

I always sneak into her room and watch her sleep, but tonight I’m scared. She’s a princess and I’m just a nobody, living in a cave in the middle of the forest. I don’t even know who I am.

A tear trails down my cheek as this overwhelming sense of fear washes over me. What if she bailed? What if she came to her senses and decided she wants nothing to do with this? I certainly wouldn’t blame her.

The thoughts cause me to stagger, and I sit back down, taking my head in my hands.

The first few nights after escaping the hospital, I spent crying myself to sleep, trying to figure out what I was. I wracked my brain, trying to remember something—anything other than my name, anything about my family, my parents. I have to have had someone in my life—someone who cared, someone who noticed I was gone.

Why didn’t they ever look for me? What did I do? My thoughts are cut short as the familiar lightning bolt strikes inside my head, causing me to fall to my knees, clutching my head.

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Novah

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My eyes snap open and I abruptly sit up on the bed, disoriented for a moment, hearing Carla’s desperate voice ring in my head. “No, no, no, please no." I scramble for my bedside clock as everything comes back to me, knocking it off in the process. I jump to my feet and pick it up before looking at it, and I let out a sigh of relief. It’s 11:05 pm so I’m only a few hours out, but it’s not morning yet, which means I can still keep my promise to Nolan.

I take out a black outfit and mind-link Ana in the process. She has a role to play in my plan. Nolan deems himself a danger to people and believes he should stay away from them, so I’m concerned he might not want to move into the apartment.

So, I will talk to him first before asking Ana to pick us up at the edge of the forest. I asked her to take the keys and go wait in the apartment for my instructions and I hope she did. She answers the link immediately and tells me she’s at the apartment, causing more relief to wash over me.

After getting dressed, I check if the coast is clear and dash into the gardens, heading for the wall. As usual, I make it to the other side with no difficulty. Tonight is not the night for anyone to be out; it’s pouring, and I keep flinching as the lightning bolts strike.

The moment I get to the forest, I shift to my wolf form, and Carla takes off immediately once the shift is complete. I would have preferred to leave my room in my wolf form already, as it would have saved us a lot of time, but it wouldn’t be sneaking out if I did that. We would definitely get caught.

After what feels like forever, we reach the cave, but my eyes widen, finding Nolan passed out on the ground. He must have had one of those headaches again. I quickly change back to my human form and rush over to him. I look around for something to cover myself with, but I don’t see it, so I kneel next to him naked and pull his head onto my lap, a few tears escaping my eyes.

Why is this happening to him? He’s already living out here with no one. Does he have to have this happen to him on top of everything else? I massage his scalp, harming to stop myself from crying. I need to be strong for him. After I don’t know how long he moves and stirs, but I block his view with my hand as he turns to look at me.

“I’m… I’m not wearing anything,” I whisper, blushing for some reason, and he sits up with his eyes closed before taking his shirt off and handing it over to me. I take it and put it on. “You had one of those headaches again?” I ask, sounding more like a statement than a question, and he nods, still looking away. “You can look now,” I tell him, and he does.

“You came?” he says, looking surprised.

“I did... I promised I would, didn’t I?”

“You did,” he replies, nodding, his voice soft, and we stare at each other silently for a moment as we get lost in each other’s eyes, my heartbeat increasing with every second. His eyes turn black as we involuntarily lean into each other, but a lightning bolt snaps us out of the trance and they quickly turn back to their natural color.

I clear my throat before speaking again, deciding to get to the hard part. “Nolan,” I softly say, taking his hand in mine, causing his eyes to turn black again. “I need you to come with me. I have arranged a place for you to stay.”

“I can’t,” he quickly replies, his eyes immediately clearing as he retrieves his hands before getting to his feet.

“This is no way for anyone to live,” I say, getting to my feet as well and walking up to him before placing my hand on his back. “I know you’re afraid of hurting people, but you won’t.”

“How do you know? How can you guarantee that?”

“-Nolan, I-”

“-No, I’m not going anywhere. I can’t be around people. I can’t,” he says, freaking out, and I pull him into a hug, tears pooling in my eyes. “You’re not a monster,” I whisper, tightening my hold on him.