A bite from an Alpha King

Book 4 Chapter 5: Healing

-Rider-

It had been over a week since I found him, and James still showed no signs of waking up anytime soon. I feared I might have arrived too late. His body was slowly healing—his wounds were less red and inflamed—but he remained unconscious.

I leaned my shoulder against the doorframe, holding a cup of coffee as I watched him. Since his arrival, James had been plagued by nightmares. Often, he would wake me in the middle of the night with his screams and cries, calling out for his deceased mate.

Each episode was a stab to my own heart, watching him suffer. I had never met my mate and didn’t believe I ever would. My life revolved around my practice. Outside of that, I avoided people. After everything that had happened to my family and me, solitude had become a refuge. I wasn’t the same person I once was, and I understood the fears and losses James was experiencing. Waking up to find everything gone was an indescribable agony.

I groan, lifting myself slightly from the cold ground, feeling pain shoot through me. Where am I? I wonder, but there is no one to tell me anything. I look around, noticing the dark walls surrounding me. Am I in a cell? How? What happened? That’s when it hits me.

“Ryker…” I whisper, realizing my twin brother is gone. “Mom… Dad… Tara… Valerio?”

I’m not shouting—the pain holds my voice back—but it all hits me. I know what happened. They’re dead…

“No, no, no…” I whisper, clutching my chest as it begins to ache terribly. Just as I do, the door opens in front of me, and in steps the very person I know is responsible for this.

“What did you do?” I snap, a smile on his lips.

“What had to be done,” he replies.

“You monster!” I want to charge at him, but I am bound to the wall, forced to stare up at him, meeting his yellow eyes… Yellow!

“There will be only one rightful king now,” he states.

“And me?”

“You will rot down here,” he laughs, beginning to walk away.

“No!”

I was shocked when I learned my brother had become mates with Octavia, Xavier’s daughter. Xavier had taken everything from us. I hadn’t even known he had a daughter until my brother got mated to her. How had he ever fallen for her?

“My lord?” A faint, hoarse voice drew me from my thoughts. James’s eyes were fixed on me, their green-blue hue searching through the feverish fog that still enveloped him.

I stepped closer, positioning myself directly in front of him. He looked at me as though seeing a ghost. I understood his shock. In many ways, I was a ghost—someone who wasn’t supposed to exist, yet here I was, alive and… if not well, at least alive.

“It’s not Valerio,” I said.

James’s eyes narrowed. I knew my dark hair and eyes made me resemble Valerio closely.

“I’m Rider, his brother. I found you in the woods,” I explained, but it was clear that my words were not registering with him.

“Jane,” he whispered, his gaze darting around the room. “Where is Jane? I’m looking for… I’m supposed to find… Who am I?”

James’s eyes roamed his surroundings before settling on his hands, which he studied with a confused intensity, as if he couldn’t comprehend what he was seeing. His reaction wasn’t surprising. After living in his wolf form for so long, it was expected that he would struggle to recognize himself or even his hands.

“Who am I?” he whispered again, his eyes now fixed on me. “Why are you here? Who are you?”

“I told you. I’m Valerio’s brother. Rider.”

“No,” he replied, shaking his head as he tried to sit up.

I moved quickly to his side, placing a hand on his shoulder to prevent him from injuring himself. He wasn’t yet strong enough to move around.

“Lay down,” I said gently. “You’re not well enough.”

“Don’t touch me!” he said, pushing my hand away.

I stepped back as James struggled to get up, his movements awkward and unsteady, like a child learning to walk. He soon collapsed back onto the couch, coughing violently from the exertion.

I hurried to grab the water from the coffee table and helped him sit up slightly so he could drink. He took only a few sips before succumbing to exhaustion and slipping back into a deep sleep.

I settled onto the small table next to him, placing the glass beside me. I sighed wearily and rubbed my eyes. It hadn’t been the best start, but at least it was a start.