Lorelei POV

"How long was I out?" I asked, my voice coming out as a dry, weak whisper as Skye gently helped me sit up, placing a soft pillow behind my back to support my frail body.

"Five days," she replied softly.

I gasped in horror, my hand flying to my chest as the weight of her words settled over me.

"Five days?"

"Yeah," Skye said, a small, relieved smile spreading across her face as she reached down to straighten the heavy blanket over me, making sure I was properly covered even though the sun was still out. "It was really scary watching you sleep for that long. We didn’t know when you’d finally wake up."

I looked at her, and a sudden warmth bloomed in my chest despite the lingering fog clouding my mind.

But if I was being honest, if it hadn’t been for those gentle, comforting touches I felt during those endless days, the hands that squeezed mine, the fingers that brushed my hair away from my face, and the thumb that quietly wiped the corners of my eyes, I wasn’t sure I would’ve pulled through.

"And you were by my side every single night?" I asked, searching her eyes as I assumed it had been her quiet presence that had kept the nightmares from completely swallowing me.

"Just three nights ago," Skye replied, shaking her head slightly.

So it was really her.

"Is that okay, though?" I asked, suddenly worried. "Didn’t you get into trouble for spending so much time here?"

But Skye only smiled warmly and shook her head.

"The Alpha King appointed me as your personal maid," she said, her eyes shining with excitement. "From now on, my duty is to stay by your side. I don’t have to do any of the other chores around the estate anymore."

Hearing that, I gasped again, completely stunned.

"Really?"

She nodded frantically.

"I was absolutely shocked too when he came to me himself! It was so confusing because that’s completely out of character for the Alpha King. He never gets involved in staffing, and honestly... no criminal has ever been assigned a personal maid before."

She paused, and the excitement on her face suddenly faded into worry as she leaned closer to the bed, lowering her voice.

"Did you two get into another fight before you collapsed?"

Her question made my chest tighten, and I quickly looked away, unable to meet Skye’s eyes.

"It wasn’t a fight," I said softly, my fingers nervously fidgeting with the edge of the blanket. "He just... got mad and lashed out at me again."

"Ah..." Skye let out a heavy sigh, her shoulders slumping with disappointment. "Even after everything, he’s still so cruel."

Hearing her say that made my heart clench painfully.

A wave of complicated emotions washed over me because I was deliberately leaving out the part where he had broken down. The part where the terrifying Alpha King had apologized over and over like a desperate child while kissing away my tears.

But does it really matter?

I hardened my heart.

It doesn’t change anything.

One moment of regret couldn’t erase everything he had done to me.

I bet he’d go right back to his old, ruthless ways in two days at most.

Men like him never truly changed.

Trying to push his confusing behavior out of my mind, my gaze wandered around the room until my brows knitted together.

In the far corner of the room sat a large pile of neatly arranged bags.

"Skye," I called softly, pointing toward them. "What’s that?"

Everything Darius had gotten for me had already been unpacked and put away, so there was no reason for those bags to still be sitting there.

Did Darius send me even more things while I was asleep?

"Oh, those?" Skye smiled as she turned to where I was pointing. "The Alpha brought those in about two days ago."

Hearing that, my heart stopped for a fraction of a second.

"What?" I blurted, my voice rising in sheer shock as my mind scrambled to make sense of why Kaelen would personally bring anything to my room.

Realizing Skye was staring at me, I quickly composed myself and forced the surprise from my face.

"What’s in them?" I asked slowly.

"I only went through one bag," Skye said, her cheeks flushing slightly with embarrassment, as if she had just been caught doing something she wasn’t supposed to. Then she cleared her throat and tried to brush it off. "It’s mostly clothes."

That answer made me exhale heavily as I remembered the reason Kaelen had lashed out at me in the first place. It was all because I had refused to take off the dress Darius had gotten me.

Take it off. Get rid of it.

The memory of his angry voice echoed in my head.

So now he had gone out and bought piles of new clothes to replace everything.

Crazy prick.

"Ah, I should probably go inform him that you’re finally awake," Skye suddenly added, snapping me out of my thoughts.

Her words made my entire body stiffen beneath the sheets, and a sudden wave of anxiety tightened around my chest.

I didn’t know if I should tell her not to go. I wasn’t sure if I was even remotely ready to face him again after everything that had happened. But I knew I didn’t really have a choice in the matter. He was the Alpha King, and his word was law.

All I could do was let out a defeated sigh and nod weakly.

"I’ll be right back," Skye said with a reassuring smile.

With that, she turned and hurried out of the room to fetch the beast.

I tried to mentally prepare myself for his arrival as the minutes dragged by. Every second seemed to stretch longer than the last, my stomach twisting tighter with anticipation.

But when the door finally clicked open and Skye returned, it wasn’t Kaelen who walked in behind her.

Instead, a strange man stepped into the room.

"This is the pack healer," Skye announced gently, making my brows pull together in confusion.

Where was Kaelen?

The healer was a middle-aged man with far gentler eyes than I was used to seeing in this place. There was something calm about him that immediately put me a little more at ease. He stepped forward and bowed his head respectfully.

"I’ll be checking your vitals," he said softly. "The Alpha sent me personally to ensure you’re recovering properly."

I nodded, too weak and too confused to argue.

The healer worked quietly as he examined me. He checked my pulse, took my temperature, and shined a light into my eyes to examine my pupils. He listened to my breathing before gently pressing against my ribs, asking if I felt any pain.

By the time he finished, I was exhausted from doing nothing more than answering a few simple questions.

"You seem to be recovering well," he said finally, stepping back and scribbling something onto the clipboard in his hand. "Your body is healing, but you need rest, proper nutrition, and... peace of mind."

"Peace of mind?" I repeated.

The words felt foreign and hollow on my tongue.

"Yes," he replied with a small nod. "Stress can be just as damaging as a physical injury. Whatever happened before you collapsed, your body simply shut down to protect itself. You need time to heal, both physically and mentally."

I swallowed hard.

Was that even possible in a place like this?

The bitter thought lingered in my mind long after the healer left.

But surprisingly, the days that followed proved me wrong.

More than a week passed, and I never caught so much as a glimpse of the Alpha. Not once.

Of course, that was partly because I never left my room. Still, I had expected him to appear eventually, whether to check on me or simply lash out once more.

He never did.

Even more surprising was the fact that Darius was nowhere in sight either.

It was as if both men had simply vanished from my world altogether.