The Alpha's Omega Mate-Chapter 142: Leila’s aversion to nuts?

~Zarek’s POV~

I thought I had died, I thought that finally I was done having to struggle with navigating through life until I felt something warm gently caressing my cheek.

I slowly peeled my eyes open, completely stunned when I noticed that I was in a dark room, on a plush bed with an incense burning so close to my head, it was a wonder how I was still alive and not dead from a bad lung.

"Alpha Zarek," an overly familiar voice called out to me and I winched in irritation before turning to the source of the sound— and the reason I was here in the first place.

"Nyx." I bit out, my voice cold. "Why are you here?"

"You’re awake!" She squealed, blissfully ignoring the sharp edge to my tone, "you’re fine! It worked!" She cried out, sounding so excited, it hurt my ears.

At first, I was confused as to what she meant by that until I forced myself to sit, groaning when a sharp pain lanced through my chest, spreading even to my shoulder blades. My eyes squeezed tight in pain, but just as I did, images from earlier fleeted past my mind, reminding me of how the woman in front of me had nearly killed me moments ago.

How she’d shot at me... and how she’d relentlessly continued until one arrow hit me.

"The silver..." I groaned, pointing at the now tied up sore spot on my chest, "what time is it? Where’s the healer?"

"Alpha Zarek—"

"WHERE AM I?!" I snarled in rage, pushing off the hand that she had draped around me away. "Why am I here and not at the healer’s?!" I snapped, noticing the way she’d in fear. But because I was too enraged by her, and still so pissed due to the nightmare I’d had moments before all of this even happened, I didn’t care.

I simply continued; "Why aren’t you saying anything, Nyxenora? Cat got your tongue?"

Nyx flinched at my harsh tone, and I watched silently as she idly fiddled with her fingers. She cried; "it’s still very late. It’s not even 4:00am yet and I do not know how to reach the healer without waking everyone up; so I brought you here..." her voice trailed off as she gestured around us, "...to my chamber. I wanted you to rest a little bit, at least until the sun rises."

At her words, some of my initial anger slowly dissipated, and in its place, suspicion flared. I looked down again at my injured chest, and to my utter astonishment, even though it still hurt like a bitch in heat, the pain was nothing compared to the one I’d felt earlier. It was nothing compared to the burning sensation in my chest when the arrow had first struck me.

I asked; "What did you do to the injury?" And as soon as I did, she smiled, waving her hands dismissively;

"Nothing really. I was desperate so I sucked out the silver from your blood. I may not have gotten every drop of it out of you, but now, your body is strong enough to fight what’s left..." her voice trailed off and my face paled when the gravity of what she’d just said hit me.

I slowly looked up at her then— like really looked at her— and it wasn’t until this moment that I realized how pale she looked. Her usual bright eyes were dark and sunken and her lips seemed even under the fiery light of the candles.

"Thank you." I mused, suddenly feeling weary.

I know I shouldn’t feel like this, especially towards someone like her; But I couldn’t help it. For some reason, I was no longer mad, I was no longer irritated by her presence but simply felt sorry for her. And now, I only wanted to leave because I wanted to.

I thanked her once more before quickly adjusting my clothes and sitting up. "I would like to leave now." I muttered, but as soon as those words slipped past my lips, Nyx’s face fell. She shuffled closer, her movements frantic, and when she arrived just by the bed, she plopped into it but made no move to come any closer than she already was; and instinctively, I shuffled away.

"What are you doing?" I snapped and at first, she didn’t respond. I had almost begun to fear that she was unconscious when suddenly, her trembling lips began to move.

"Stay," she whispered, her voice tight. "I don’t feel too good. I feel hot."

At her words, I clamped my hand over her forehead and gasped when I was hit with an overwhelming heat. She was burning up and her skin, unusually warm, was slick with sweat.

"Nyx—"

"Zarek, I’m fine. It’s just the silver. Please just stay, I’ll be fine before morning."

I frowned, obviously not buying her words. "Did you spit it out after sucking it out of me?" I asked in fear, noticing the way she nodded ever so slightly before turning her head away. "Y-yes."

Silence.

"Please stay."

As much as I wanted to be as far away from her as possible, I couldn’t bring myself to move, especially since she was in such a state.

I wanted to berate her for putting herself in harm’s way all for me. I wanted to yell at her for being so callous, but for some reason, I couldn’t bring myself to. So I stayed, watching her thrash violently on the bed while a strange fever wracked her entire body.

It took me about forty-five minutes for her health to be finally stabilized and when that happened, she slipped into a peaceful rest, leaving me and a suddenly awoken Leila in the room.

"Good morning, daddy!" Leila greeted with flourish, grinning as she went about her day as if not noticing the bad state her mother was in.

I watched her quietly, leaning into her when she hugged me, but it didn’t end there. She bounced away from me to a small cupboard where a few fruits sat at the top.

My eyes widened when she picked up some nuts, and upon the realization that I had an aversion to those—which she must have too— I shot up, slapping it out of her hands. "Don’t eat that!" I snarled.

She cried; "Daddy!"

"You don’t eat those!" I snapped back, ignoring the sharp edge my voice had suddenly taken. "It’s bad for you!"

"It’s not!" Leila screamed at me just as tears streamed down her face. "I love nuts." She sobbed, and with that, shoved a handful into her mouth, chewing wildly like she was crazed.

My heart thundered in my chest as I watched her continue to chew, fearing that something bad was about to happen. But a minute passed, then two. Nothing happened. She was fine.

That was unusual.

Even my father and half-brother had aversion to nuts too. It was like a family curse!

However, I was soon snapped out of my thoughts when Leila shoved another mouthful into her mouth, and then she groaned;

"My other daddy never complains when I eat nuts. Why do you?"

Her words, so innocently spoken, seemed to make my world tilt on its axis. I froze, my eyes thinning as I regarded her suspiciously. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

"What did you just say?"

She giggled, obviously unaware of the weight her words held, and then she smiled. "I said that my other da—"

"Zarek..." a muffled groaned suddenly tore through the tense atmosphere and I shot up immediately when Nyx’s eyes fluttered open.

She took one slow glance at me, then at her daughter still grinning with a mouth full of nuts, and she whispered;

"I don’t think I spat out all the silver. I really don’t feel good. I may need a healer."

And with that, I quickly dashed for the door, completely forgetting about my conversation with Leila.

When I returned with the healer moments later, the first thing I noticed was that all the nuts in the room were gone.

Nyx was fast asleep and Leila, the only one awake sat on the floor, playing with a wooden toy with all traces of her earlier demeanour now gone and a bright red print lining the left side of her cheek.

She’d been struck.

And that was alarming.