Chapter 5 FIVE

I sat up immediately and focused entirely on him. "What?! Are you actually saying you found the cure to wolf's bane disease?"

His smile widened as he nodded slowly.

"But how? Wolf's bane is incurable. I had tried effortlessly to find a cure but I always came back with the same answer."

He reached for my hair and pushed it away from my face. "That's because there isn't actually a tangible cure, it's a ritual I had found in an ancient scroll."

I furrowed my brows. "Ancient scrolls and rituals, I'm getting kind of lost now."

He chuckled lightly. "Ever since I found out about your mother's disease, I had searched thoroughly to find a cure for wolf's bane and so I stumbled upon and ancient scrolls I had to bargain off this cranky witch, in it was a one time spell to get rid of any disease of this earth."

I could feel the tears welling up on my eyes. "Wait, so you are telling me that ever since that day you found out about my mother's illness you've been looking for a cure?"

"Yes."

"But you didn't even know me then."

He placed his hands on my face gently. "Does that matter? Don't forget that it was that night I asked you to be my Luna and I had made up my mind after that to do whatever I could to make you happy. Besides, your mother was once my Luna and I served her and your father selflessly, it wouldn't hurt to keep doing that."

Without saying another word, I jumped on him and hugged him, taking in scent.

"Thank you so much Drako, I don't know how I can ever repay you."

"I am your mate, you owe me nothing." He said as dropped a kiss on my head. "I want to make you happy Hayley."

I smiled brightly at those words. "Thank you Drako."

We were in that position for a couple more minutes before he finally pulled away and stared at me.

"Now that all of that is out of the way, how about something to eat?"

"Food sounds really nice right now." I said.

"The problem now is," He said and pursed his lips together. "There are no maids here."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I wanted it to just be me and you." He leaned in and kissed my lips lightly.

"It's okay, I can cook. Perks of loosing everything and being an outcast who had to take care of a sick mother and herself."

A smile returned on his face, "Why that's perfect, is it not?"

I let out a chuckle. "Very convenient."

As I stood up, Drako wrapped his hands around my waist and pulled my back down.

"How about we have a light breakfast before we start cooking." He murmured in my ear, his hot breath sending shivers down my spine.

I bit my lips and smiled. "Sounds perfect."

* * *

"So," I said over breakfast. "What are the plans of my Alpha today?"

He placed his hands on his chin. "Let's see, after the fight against the rogues, we suffered a few casualties, so I'm planning on visiting the pack's infirmary."

"You guys fought against more rogues?"

"No it's from the last fight." He could see the confusion on my face. "The one with the betas who wanted to overthrow me, I did tell you about that right?"

I placed my spoon down. "I thought that was between you and a couple of betas, I didn't know it was a huge fight."

"I didn't want to tell you because I didn't want you to worry. Besides, it wasn't a huge fight. The betas had joined hands with a couple of rogues and they had laced daggers with vervain. The poison had weakened my men and they took that opportunity to try to overthrow us. It was why my wounds took time to heal."

Of course, that night at his house I had found it weird to why his healing was slow, especially for an Alpha. Vervain was technically wolf's poison, and enough of it could kill.

"Can I come with you to see your injured men?" I asked.

He smiled and reached for my hand across the table to give it a gentle squeeze. "Of course you can come. You are my Luna now, and my affairs are now your affairs, my pack is yours. I just hope it won't bore you because most of today is going to be talking."

I chuckled lightly before I resumed my meal. "Don't you worry about a thing, I'll just go along with the flow."

We chatted and laughed throughout the rest of our breakfast and when it was finally time to go, Drako had called Daniel to come pick us up.

When Drako had mentioned an infirmary, I didn't actually think he meant an equipped one. It was located in his manor, a measurable distance from his main house.

My mother had told me, Drako's father had left him a lot of wealth before he died. But how much exactly that he could afford all of this?

"Good afternoon Alpha Drako and Luna Hayley." a man said with a slight bow.

"Afternoon Doctor Hayes." He placed a hand on my back. "Hayley, this is doctor Hayes. The only man I can trust with my life."

I stretched out a hand to him. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

He took my hand and smiled. "The pleasure is all mine. I take it that you both are here to see the injured."

"Yes, how is everyone doing?" Drako asked.

"As you can see, the infirmary is almost empty. Most people have healed and left , it's just a couple of people that are struggling to heal but it's nothing life threatening." He said as he pointed to the men in the beds behind him.

"What about that man?" I asked. "The one plugged up to the machines."

The doctor looked at Drako,his expression down. "Conner suffered a lot of wounds from those poisoned daggers. We couldn't get all the vervain out of his system out, so it's practically eating him from the inside, until it gets to his heart and finishes him off."

I placed my hands over my mouth. "Oh my God. That must be so painful."

"It is." Drako said, his voice low.

"Can I go speak to him?" I asked.

"He has been in and out of consciousness these days, I doubt you'd get a word out." Dr Hayes said.

"I don't mind just sitting with him." I looked over at Drako who nodded his head in approval

I walked over to Conner and sat down on a chair beside his bed. His eyes were closed but I could see it in his face that he was in so much pain. I could see the vervain clear in his veins, slowly making it's way to his heart.

"I'm sorry." I whispered as I held his hands gently. "You're going to be okay."

"That's one filthy lie, do you know that?" He said, his voice weak and raspy.

I bit my lips and stared at his hands. "I'm sorry, I didn't know you were awake."

His eyes slid open and he stared at me. "If you knew I was, would you have said something more truthful."

Unlike normal betas who had blue eyes, Conner's eyes were the most remarkable shade of green. I didn't know whether it was the vervain but his eyes were beautiful.

"I could leave you alone if you want." I said and moved to stand up but he gripped my hand tighter.

"No, don't leave." He pleaded and I could see the fear in his eyes. "It's going to happen any minute now and I.. I don't want to be alone."

I could see that he was struggling to keep his eyes open and his hands were trembling beneath mine.

I sat down back on my seat and tightened my grip on his hand. "It's okay, I'm here." I said soothingly as I made gentle strokes with my thumb.

His eyes slowly shut close and his breathing became no louder than a whisper.

"You never told me your name." He said quietly

I moved closer, "Hayley, my name is Hayley."

A little smile forned on his face. "That's a beautiful name."

I cleared my throat before I said, "Thank you."

"Thank you Hayley, for staying with me till the end." He whispered.

A tear slid down from my eyes. "You're welcome."

And that was it, he let out one last breath before it all became quiet. A ray slipped from the little window and sprawled across his face. Even though in so much pain, Conner had died with a little smile on his face.

I felt a hand on my back. "It's okay to let go of his hand Hayley." Drako said from behind me.