Chapter 408: Concerned

REBECCA’S POV

I woke up the following morning feeling as though someone had thrown me down a flight of stairs, picked me up, and thrown me down again. Every muscle in my body seemed to be protesting against my existence. My thighs were weak, my hips ached, and the soreness between my legs was so uncomfortable that I winced whenever I tried to shift beneath the blanket.

Oh, Moon Goddess. What the hell happened to me?

Then the memories of the previous night came rushing back, and I immediately squeezed my eyes shut.

Fuck!

Kaden. The bathroom. Everything that had happened between us.

I wanted to disappear beneath the mattress.

"Rebecca?"

My eyes flew open at the sound of his voice. I turned my head and nearly jumped when I discovered Kaden sitting in an armchair beside the bed. He was wearing a black T-shirt and gray sweatpants, and his hair looked slightly disheveled. But what caught my attention was the worry written all over his face.

"Kaden?" I called, my voice coming out embarrassingly weak.

He immediately leaned forward. "How are you feeling?"

I stared at him in disbelief. What kind of question was that? I felt as though my entire body had been involved in a terrible accident, and the person responsible for that accident was sitting right in front of me, asking whether I was alright.

"Like I’ve been beaten by an entire army," I muttered.

Kaden frowned. "Rebecca, I’m serious."

"So am I!" I protested, attempting to sit up.

Big mistake.

A sharp ache shot through my lower body, and I immediately stopped moving.

"Ah! Moon Goddess!"

Kaden was on his feet before I could even finish speaking. "What’s wrong? Where does it hurt?"

I stared at him incredulously. "Where does it hurt? Kaden, are you seriously asking me that question? Everywhere! My back hurts, my thighs hurt, my waist hurts, and don’t even get me started on what’s happening between my legs! That entire area feels as though someone set it on fire!"

For a moment, Kaden simply stared at me. Then he pressed his lips together, looking as though he was struggling not to smile.

I narrowed my eyes. "Don’t you dare laugh."

"I’m not laughing."

"Your face is laughing!"

He immediately looked away, clearing his throat, but I wasn’t fooled. This arrogant bastard was actually finding my suffering amusing.

"You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?" I demanded.

"No, Rebecca. I’m worried about you."

"Well, you should be! Because I feel like I need a new body!"

A quiet chuckle escaped him, and I glared at him so fiercely that he immediately raised his hands in surrender.

"I’m sorry, sweetheart. I wasn’t laughing at you."

"Then what were you laughing at? The curtains?"

He shook his head, still smiling, but the amusement disappeared when I shifted beneath the blanket and groaned again.

"Moon Goddess, I think you’ve broken me," I muttered.

"Rebecca, please don’t say that."

Something about his tone made me look at him more closely. He was no longer smiling. In fact, he looked genuinely troubled, and I suddenly remembered the last thing that had happened before everything went dark.

I had fainted.

"Kaden, did I really pass out last night?"

He nodded slowly. "Yes, you did."

"For how long?"

"Long enough to scare the hell out of me."

I stared at him, surprised by the seriousness of his answer. Kaden ran a hand through his hair before pulling the chair closer to the bed and sitting down again.

"Rebecca, do you have any idea how frightened I was? One moment, you were talking to me, and the next, you couldn’t even open your eyes. I kept calling your name, but you wouldn’t answer."

I lowered my gaze, suddenly feeling guilty. "I’m sorry."

"What are you apologizing for?"

"For frightening you."

Kaden sighed. "You don’t have to apologize for that. I just need to know that you’re alright."

"I’m alright," I assured him. "Apart from the fact that my entire body feels broken, I’m perfectly fine."

He gave me a doubtful look, but I quickly changed the subject before he could start questioning me again.

"Did you sleep at all?"

"A little."

I raised an eyebrow. "A little?"

"I was worried about you, Rebecca. I wanted to make sure you were alright when you woke up."

I didn’t know what to say to that. There was something about the way he spoke that made my chest feel strangely warm, and I quickly looked away before he noticed.

It was only then that I realized I was wearing clothes.

I glanced down at myself and discovered that a large black shirt covered my body, reaching almost to my thighs. It was obviously Kaden’s, and judging by how comfortably it hung around me, he must have dressed me while I was unconscious.

"Wait a minute. Who put this shirt on me?"

Kaden followed my gaze. "I did."

"You dressed me?"

"Yes, Rebecca. Would you have preferred that I left you without clothes?"

"That’s not what I’m saying!"

"Then what are you saying?"

I opened my mouth, then closed it again because, frankly, I didn’t even know what I was trying to argue about.

Kaden sighed. "Rebecca, you were unconscious. I dried you off, put my shirt on you, and brought you to bed. That’s all."

"Oh," I muttered, looking down at the shirt again.

Even through the haze of exhaustion, I could vaguely remember him holding me and repeatedly calling my name. Now, here he was, sitting beside my bed, looking as though he had spent the entire night worrying about me.

I didn’t know what to make of it.

"Kaden?"

"Yes?"

"About last night..."

He immediately became serious. "What about it?"

I hesitated, unsure how to put my thoughts into words. Kaden and I had been intimate countless times before, even when things between us weren’t going well. There had been nights when we argued bitterly, only to end up in each other’s arms hours later. Sometimes, it had been our way of dealing with the anger, frustration, and emotions we couldn’t seem to express properly.

But last night had been different. There had been no argument to settle, no anger or frustration pushing us toward each other. The way Kaden had held me, the tenderness he’d shown, and the emotions I’d experienced in his arms had felt different from anything we’d shared before. Even his wolf had behaved differently. In all the times we’d been intimate, I’d never seen his wolf react so wildly or take over his senses the way it had last night. I could still remember the way his eyes had turned gold, glowing with an intensity that had both frightened and excited me. It was almost as though his wolf had been desperate for something neither of us understood.

For a moment, it had almost felt as though we were two people who had spent years fighting their feelings for each other, only to finally lose control of everything we’d been trying so desperately to suppress.

And that was what frightened me. Because if last night had meant more than either of us was willing to admit, I wasn’t sure what it would mean for our relationships with Melvin and Rola.

"Rebecca?" Kaden called, interrupting my thoughts. "You were saying something about last night."

I swallowed. "Nothing. I was just thinking."

He studied my face for a moment before asking quietly, "Are you regretting it?"

The question caught me off guard.

"Last night," he clarified. "Do you regret what happened?"

I stared at him, suddenly unsure how to answer. Did I regret it? I knew I probably should. We had already agreed that the previous time had been a mistake, yet here we were again, facing the consequences of another night together.

I loved Melvin, and Kaden was in a relationship with Rola. Nothing about our situation had changed. Yet when I thought about what had happened between us, regret wasn’t the first emotion that came to mind.

That was what frightened me.

"I don’t know," I admitted eventually.

Kaden nodded slowly. "Alright."

I frowned. "Alright? That’s all you’re going to say?"

"What would you like me to say?"

"I don’t know."

He gave me a small smile. "Then perhaps we should leave the conversation for another time. You don’t have to figure everything out right now."

I lowered my gaze, feeling strangely relieved. For once, Kaden wasn’t trying to argue with me or force me to explain something I barely understood myself. He was simply allowing me to think, and somehow, that made everything even more confusing.

"Are you hungry?" he asked after a moment.

I shook my head. "No."

"Do you need anything? Water? Breakfast? Something for the soreness?"

"Kaden, I’m fine."

He sighed. "Rebecca, you fainted in my arms last night. If you’re still feeling unwell, I can ask the healer to come and examine you."

My eyes widened. "Absolutely not!"

"Rebecca—"

"No! I am not having a healer come here and ask me why I can barely walk!"

Kaden stared at me for a moment before bursting into laughter.

I grabbed one of the pillows and threw it at him. "You horrible man!"

He caught it easily, still laughing. "Rebecca, I wasn’t going to tell the healer anything embarrassing."

"Oh, really? And what exactly were you planning to say? That your wife suddenly developed a mysterious condition that makes her thighs hurt?"

He laughed harder, and despite my annoyance, I felt a smile tugging at my lips.

"Moon Goddess, I hate you."

"I know, sweetheart."

"Stop calling me that!"

"Alright, wifey."

I rolled my eyes.

He placed the pillow beside me, and his laughter gradually faded. For a few seconds, we simply looked at each other, and I suddenly became aware of how close he was sitting.

"Seriously, though," he said, his expression softening, "if the pain gets worse or you start feeling faint again, promise me you’ll let the healer examine you."

I sighed. "Fine. I promise."

"Good."

I adjusted the blanket around my waist and settled more comfortably against the pillows. The soreness was still there, but at least I no longer felt as though I was about to collapse from exhaustion.

Kaden remained seated beside the bed, and for a while, neither of us spoke. I glanced at him occasionally, wondering whether he was thinking about the same things I was. His gaze was fixed on the floor, and although he looked calmer now, there was still something troubled about his expression.

I wanted to ask him what was going through his mind. I wanted to know whether last night had meant anything to him, but I was afraid of the answer. Perhaps I was even more afraid of what I might feel if he admitted that it had.

So I remained silent.

Kaden didn’t attempt to start another conversation either. He simply stayed beside me, occasionally looking up to make sure I was comfortable.

It felt strange to be around him without arguing. We had spent so many years hurting each other and misunderstanding one another that I had almost forgotten what it felt like to share a peaceful moment with him.

And although I still had no idea what last night meant for either of us, I was grateful that, for once, Kaden wasn’t demanding an answer I wasn’t ready to give.