Alpha King's Lost Luna novel Chapter 4

CASSANDRA

The next few hours passed by laboriously. As we waited for the guards to return with some sort of news about the viper, Marley and I did all we could to keep the boy comfortable. We took his temperature, monitored his heart rate, and continued to apply cold compresses to keep his fever from rising any higher.

Meanwhile, it took all of my concentration to remain perfectly focused on the boy. My mind was trying to wander to different places, and Asher Collins wasn’t helping. The Alpha King remained close to us as we attended to his son, and it was unclear if he was monitoring our treatment or just studying me.

The hairs on the back of my neck stood straight up as chills continuously ran down my spine. I wasn’t the kind of woman who got nervous easily, but the Alpha King’s very presence set every inch of my body on edge.

Of all of the people to be here, he was the last one I’d ever have expected, and my emotions were running wild. I wasn’t sure whether to cry or be relieved to see him after so long. All I knew was that this was unbelievably complicated.

After long, a pair of guards returned. They’d finally tracked down the viper. Luckily, it was one that I’d seen in a medical book. I relayed all of the information I knew to Marley and Asher, and the pair of them seemed relieved to know there was a potential cure.

The Alpha King had assigned guards to accompany Marley back to the clinic to procure the herbs needed to heal the boy. My assistant seemed nervous to be surrounded by such heavily-weaponed men, but she accepted the help.

Half an hour later, she returned with the herbs, and we got to work. We prepared a salve to apply directly to the wound, and then used others to brew a tea that would treat the boy internally. The prince was weak, but we managed to help him get enough of the tea into his system to treat him properly.

Hours passed by, and by dusk, the boy finally became stable. After much fitful moaning and crying, he’d finally fallen into a quiet sleep. The blueness of his lips had disappeared, and color had returned to his cheeks. Beneath the salve, the swollenness of the bite had eased.

Once he was sustained, I sent Marley back home. She put up a bit of a fight and insisted on staying with me, but I pushed back and told her she needed to go back to her boys.

“They’re going to be excited to show you what they hunted in the forest,” I’d reminded her. “They need you more than I do right now.”

After a little more convincing, Marley agreed to go, and once she packed up and left the Pack House, I’d turned to the rest of the people standing around in the chamber and asked for some time alone with my patient. The guards seemed hesitant to leave me alone with the prince, but the Alpha King heeded my request and ordered the others to do the same. They filtered out of the chamber, and once they were gone, I released a sigh.

As much as the quiet was nice, asking everyone to leave us was more of an excuse than anything. My patient was stable, but I needed time to think and process the emotions that swirled around in my mind like a storm.

I hadn’t been prepared to see Asher again, and I was surprised to see just how much he’d changed over the years. He was the Alpha King now, and as such, he was the ruthless leader of the Wegalla Empire. In the past, he’d seemed hesitant to take on the position, but it seemed like he’d embraced his destiny.

Not only that, but he had a son.

I glanced over at the boy. Was he also the son of Adalyn Moses?

A pang of sadness struck me. He had to be. Asher had abandoned me all those years ago and left me to suffer for the sake of marrying Adalyn. It would make sense that he’d have a son with her.

My chest suddenly felt tight, and for a moment, I thought I was about to cry, but I forced those feelings down. Asher Collins was the Alpha King now. What he did was none of my business anymore, and I couldn’t let him affect me like this.