Chapter 184: Episode 183: I will be a good boy

“Okay, then I will let you stay, but you have to behave.”

The words hung in the quiet, bright air of the medical room. Rue kept her hand resting gently on the wolf’s sweaty forehead. She looked down at his pale, battered face. He looked so vulnerable lying on the hard wooden table.

Onyx pressed his pale lips into a thin line. He absorbed her soft command. A small ounce of heavy tension finally left his stiff shoulders. He nodded his head against the wood.

“Okay, I will be a good boy,” Onyx mumbled.

His voice was just a raspy, broken whisper. The blood loss and the burning pain finally pulled him under. His icy silver eyes slipped shut. His chest rose and fell in a slow, shallow rhythm.

He went limp on the table, surrendering to the sleep he desperately needed.

Rue let out a long, shaky sigh. Caius stood nearby, wiping his bloody hands on a wet cloth. The Serpent Alpha offered her a small, knowing nod. They managed to save him. The terrible night was finally over.

The morning sun shines the next day.

Bright, golden light poured through the broken windows of the stone fortress. The fierce war left a heavy mark on the home. Thick wooden planks covered the shattered glass in the kitchen. The heavy front doors sat crooked on their iron hinges. The beautiful flower garden was just a patch of trampled mud.

But the house was safe. The feral monsters were gone.

Rue walks down the hallway. She wears a clean, soft yellow dress. Her silver curls fall loosely down her back. She holds little Seika secure against her chest. The baby panther is wide awake, her golden eyes blinking at the bright dust motes dancing in the sunbeams.

Rue comes and meets him on the couch.

Onyx did not stay in the cold medical ward. He hated the sharp smell of harsh medicine. Caius wrapped his side and his arm in thick white bandages, and Drax carried the sleeping wolf out to the living room.

Onyx stabilises and sleeps on the couch. He is officially accepted into their messy family.

He looked much better in the daylight. The sickly pale color was gone from his cheeks. His breathing sounded steady and deep. He wore loose gray cotton pants and no shirt. The thick white bandages wrapped tightly around his broad chest and his injured arm, stark against his skin. He took up the entire length of the large furniture, his long legs hanging off the edge.

Axel sits by his twin.

The white wolf dragged a heavy wooden chair out of the kitchen. He sat backward on the chair, resting his muscular arms over the wooden back. He wore a fresh dark shirt, though a white bandage peeked out from his own collar where Onyx scratched him yesterday.

Axel plays with a small hunting knife. He tossed the shiny blade up in the air and caught it by the heavy handle.

“You look awful,” Axel teased. His bright blue eyes danced with warm amusement.

Onyx let out a low, grumpy rumble. He kept his eyes closed. “Shut up, dog.”

“I am just telling the truth,” Axel laughed. The sound was bright and happy. He leaned forward, pointing the handle of his knife at his brother. “You know, you could avoid getting chewed on by feral monsters if you just stopped acting so tough.”

Onyx shifted on the soft cushions. He winced as a sharp pain spiked in his ribs. He opened one silver eye and glared at his twin.

Axel did not flinch. He just kept teasing him about not accepting his fate sooner rather than later.

“You fought the magic for weeks,” Axel hummed. He tossed the knife up again. “You sat on a freezing mountain peak feeling sorry for yourself. You made a huge, messy scene in the yard. You could have just walked inside and said hello. You could have been sleeping in a warm bed this whole time. But no, you had to be dramatic.”

“I am going to punch you,” Onyx rasped.

“You can barely lift your arm,” Axel mocked gently. “Just admit it. You were scared. You acted like a foolish pup, and now you are stuck on a couch drinking bitter tea.”

Onyx rolled his eyes. He did not have the energy to fight his brother today. The boiling hatred between them was gone. The brutal brawl in the dirt and the bloody war against the hyenas washed all the bad blood away. They were just twin brothers again, bickering in the morning light.

Rue walks into the center of the living room.

The two wolves stopped talking the second they smelled her sweet, milky scent. Axel offered her a bright, handsome smile. Onyx went perfectly still on the couch.

Rue sits in the centre of the room.

She picked a soft, padded chair facing the warm stone hearth. She made herself comfortable, shifting the yellow fabric of her dress. She brought Seika up and began feeding her. The baby panther latched on instantly, drinking her warm milk with soft, happy gulps.

The living room felt incredibly peaceful. Theron and Mochi were outside in the dirt yard, playing a quiet game of hide and seek with Knox. Drax was out on the border, doing a final sweep of the dark woods to ensure every single rogue beast was gone. The house belonged to the twins and the mother of the pack.

Rue kept her focus on the tiny baby in her arms. She gently stroked Seika’s fuzzy dark hair.

But she could feel a heavy, burning stare resting right on her skin.

Her eyes land on Onyx once in a while.

The first time she looked over, she just wanted to check his bandages. She wanted to make sure he wasn’t bleeding through the clean white cloth.

She finds him looking at her.

His icy silver eyes were wide open. He didn’t look at the ceiling. He didn’t look at Axel. He watched her. He tracked the gentle movement of her hand stroking the baby’s head. The raw, hungry intensity in his gaze was overwhelming.

She quickly looks away.

A hot flush crept up her neck. She stared down at the stone floor. She tried to focus on the soft sounds Seika made. She told herself he was just tired. He was just looking around the room because he couldn’t move his neck very well.

A few minutes passed. The quiet crackle of a small fire in the hearth filled the silence.

Rue sneaked a second glance.

He was still staring. This time, his silver eyes tracked the line of her throat. He watched the way she breathed. He looked at her like she was the only thing keeping him grounded to the earth.

She blushed harder. She ducked her head, letting her silver curls fall forward to hide her warm cheeks. She felt a nervous, fluttery feeling deep in her stomach. Drax always looked at her with heavy possession. Axel always looked at her with playful fire. Onyx just looked at her like he was starving. It was a quiet, desperate kind of attention.

Axel noticed the silent game. The white wolf smirked. He didn’t say anything, but he leaned his chin on his arms, highly amused by his grumpy twin acting like a lovesick fool.

Rue lifted her head for a third time.

She thought maybe he fell asleep.

He did not fall asleep. His eyes were locked right onto hers the second she looked up. He didn’t try to hide it. He didn’t pretend to look at a wooden shelf when she caught him. He held her gaze with steady, burning focus.

She bit her bottom lip and looked away again. Her rabbit heart hammered a fast rhythm against her ribs. She shifted in her padded chair. She felt very shy. The mate bond hummed in the air between them, thick and magnetic. The system magic pushed them together, demanding they accept the wild connection.

She waited five more minutes. Seika finished drinking her milk.

Rue gently lifted the baby panther up to her shoulder. She patted Seika’s back with slow, steady thumps.

She peeked over for a fourth time.

Onyx was watching her lips. His bruised jaw clenched tight. A single muscle twitched in his cheek. He wanted to cross the room. He wanted to sit on the floor right at her feet and bury his face in her lap. The desperate need was written all over his battered face.

Rue let out a small, frustrated breath.

She wasn’t a fragile little mouse hiding in the corner. She was the woman who tamed the Dragon King. She was the mother who built this family from nothing. She refused to let a grumpy wolf make her feel small and nervous in her own living room.

She waited for Seika to let out a tiny burp. She smoothed the baby’s dark curls down.

Then, Rue looks up.

Rue then catches him for the fifth time.

She didn’t look away. She didn’t blush and hide behind her hair. She held his icy silver gaze. She lifted her chin, staring right back at the fierce Northern warlord lying on her couch.

Onyx stopped breathing. He froze under her direct stare. He expected her to scold him for staring. He expected her to tell him to go to sleep.

Rue offered him a small, challenging smile.

“If you don’t want to be my mate,” Rue said softly, her voice ringing clear in the quiet room, “then you can just stick around.”