Chapter 171

Nolan

We see Jack a week later.

He looks like he’s lost some weight. His clothes hang looser on his frame, and there are shadows under his eyes that even sleep hasn’t erased.

Once he got home, he immediately fell asleep—exhausted, sprawled across the bed, still in his clothes from the mine. Ciel had to cut his shirt off because his hands were too raw to lift over his head.

I took a day off today. To remain next to him.

The palace doctor stands at the foot of the bed, reviewing a chart. His expression is neutral, professional, but I catch the way his eyes flick to Jack’s hands—the bandages, the healing skin beneath.

"He’s lucky," the doctor says. "No permanent damage. But he needs rest. Proper meals. And he shouldn’t be using his hands for heavy labor until the wounds are fully closed."

"He won’t be," Ciel says.

His voice is clipped. Sharp.

I glance at him.

He’s glaring at someone.

At the nurse changing the bandages on Jack’s palms.

Charlie.

He works quietly, efficiently, his touch gentle, his focus on the task. He doesn’t look at Ciel. He doesn’t look at me. Just Jack’s hands, wrapped in gauze, the blood seeping through.

Charlie being in the palace was certainly a surprise.

I can tell Ciel is holding it in because Charlie is, after all, doing his job.

I don’t like it either, if I’m being honest.

The way he touches Jack with such familiarity is also getting on my nerves.

Like now—his fingers linger on Jack’s wrist a second too long when checking his pulse. He adjusts the IV drip with the kind of care that feels personal, not clinical.

For a nurse, he sure is looking too longingly at his patient.

Ciel takes a step forward. His hands are clenched at his sides.

I shake my head at him.

Not now.

Not here.

Jack needs this.

Ciel’s jaw tightens, but he stops.

"We’ll be back tomorrow," the doctor says. He bows and leaves with Charlie in tow.

The door clicks shut.

Ciel exhales. A long, shaky breath.

"I hate him," he says.

"Ciel—"

"You saw him too. Instead of doing his job, he was shooting a one-man melodrama." Ciel snaps.

"Melodrama?" I ask, amused.

"Yes. Looking at Jack as if they’re some star-crossed lovers or something. You saw it." Ciel huffs.

"I did." I walk to him and pull him into a hug, placing a kiss on his forehead. He’s tense against me, wound tight, but he doesn’t pull away.

"Maybe we should request a different nurse?" I suggest.

"No." He shakes his head against my chest.

"People will be curious as to why, and that would make him think we’re threatened by him." He pauses.

"No way."

*

My alarm rings. I wake up from the couch—which is really as comfortable as a bed—stretch, and find Ciel at the bedside, wiping Jack with a warm cloth.

I get up and walk to him.

"It’s my turn. Go to bed now."

He looks up at me. "Really?"

"Yeah."

"Okay." He stands reluctantly. I take his seat, and Ciel heads to the fancy couch, covering himself in the blanket.

I turn to look at Jack’s sleeping face.

Then I turn back. Ciel already has his eyes closed.

Reminds me of when Lanny was a newborn and Jack and I would take turns throughout the night because we wanted Ciel to heal in peace and not disturb him.

Yeah. I remember those times.

I remember being suspicious of him.

Thinking he was weird.

Very weird.

Like, what alpha cares for another alpha’s son like that? It doesn’t happen like that.

I thought he was pretending. To get into Ciel’s pants, of course.

But now? Lanny is his baby.

That’s Jack’s son.

I swear sometimes they look alike.

I lean on my elbow and look at Jack.

He’s so... weird.

All my life, I never thought I would ever have space in my heart for anyone apart from Ciel. I don’t know when it happened.

Thinking back, I’m really not a good person. Because why else was I actively flirting with my best friend’s boyfriend? The one I was in unrequited love with?

I liked the way he looked at me. It was the first time I ever felt desired. That kind of lust was usually just sent Ciel’s way, so I kind of liked it.

But this could have ended really, really badly.

I could have lost my best friend.

Because best friends don’t flirt with each other’s boyfriends.

I feel guilty. I once tried to apologize to Ciel for what I did. He merely rolled his eyes.

"I would be surprised if you didn’t fall for Jack, Nollie. I mean—look at him."

He said that. Like it was obvious. Like he’d been expecting it.

Well—physically, yeah. Jack’s attractive, immensely so. But what makes him so devastating isn’t his face or his body. It’s his soul. His kind heart.

The way he talks to strangers like they matter.

The way he respects people of all genders.

The way he cares.

The way he puts others first.

The way he’s so attentive.

The way he looks at Lanny.

The way he looks at Ciel.

The way he looks... at me.

Seriously, he’s so weird.

He actively broke apart every image of what an alpha is supposed to be.

Alphas are supposed to be commanding. Distant. Unapproachable. Narcissistic.They’re supposed to expect submission, demand obedience, take what they want without asking. Genuine full blown assholes.

Jack?

Jack kneels to talk to children. He asks permission before he touches. He says please and thank you to servants and guards and nurses who are just doing their jobs.

He cried when Lanny was born.

He works in a mine for three days straight because he couldn’t sleep knowing other people were suffering.

I lean closer, his breathing slow, his face soft in the dim light. I resist the urge to poke his cheek.

Weird.