Free Web NovelChapter 53: Chapter FIFTY THREE — FUCK OFF.
Reign
"The next few hours are the most dangerous," the pack doctor said. "Her body may begin rejecting the medicine I’ve managed to prepare. At a time like this she really shouldn’t be left alone."
"I’ll stay."
The words left my mouth before I could think. Ragnor’s gray eyes met mine and I saw it there immediately, the understanding. The vow we’d made to stay away from Candace couldn’t survive a day like this.
Ryker had gone to prepare for his journey to the Hollow Forest and I still had pack duties waiting but hell would freeze over before anything dragged me away from her bedside.
Ragnor gave a single nod and turned to see the physician out while Candace’s maid hurried after them. The door clicked shut behind them all.
Finally, the room was silent and I could let my guard down. I stood there listening to her breathe. It was too shallow and too weak and each rise and fall of her chest looked like a flame struggling against the wind.
I reached for my wolf and got nothing. He’d been strangely quiet ever since we walked into the room and found her pale.
When I first heard the screaming that Candace had killed herself I’d thought it was some sick joke, a misunderstanding, a prank.
Now all the noise inside me was gone, the constant arguing and the howling and the pressure of Sage clawing against my ribs. All of it just gone.
I dragged both hands through my hair and paced away from the bed and then back toward it and then away again. I was lost and terrified and asking myself the same question over and over.
Why would she do this?
She hadn’t looked broken last night. She hadn’t looked hopeless. Was this what she’d meant when she said I wouldn’t feel her emotions anymore? Had she already made up her mind by then?
I crossed the room and dropped to my knees beside the bed and took her swollen hand in mine. To hell with the vow. Vows didn’t matter and nothing mattered when the woman who owned my heart was slipping away right in front of me.
Her hand was cold. Far too cold. A sharp burn stung the corners of my eyes and a tear escaped before I could stop it.
"Candace." My voice came out rough and broken. "Candace Elara Sinclair, you cannot possibly die on me right now."
She didn’t move and didn’t react and somehow that hurt more than anything else could have. If she were awake she’d have torn me apart for using her middle name.
I loved that about her, the sharpness of her tongue and the spark in those golden eyes whenever she fired back at me.
"Come on." I clasped her hand between both of mine. "You’re too stubborn for this." My throat tightened around the words.
"Remember when you fractured your wrist, Candy? The doctor said you’d be in agony and you told him it barely hurt." I laughed weakly at the memory. "You are the most stubborn woman I have ever met in my life and you don’t get to give up now."
She gave me nothing. Not even a twitch.
"Remember when you beat me at chess four games in a row?" My thumb moved slowly across her knuckles.
"And then had the nerve to look bored afterward?" Another shaky laugh crawled up my throat. "I let you win the first game, just so you know." I paused. "Okay. That’s a lie. I let you win the first one and the other three were all you."
My chest tightened until I could barely breathe around it. "Wake up and I’ll admit it to your face. It’ll be the first and only time I will ever concede defeat."
Still nothing. The tears came harder and I lifted her hand and pressed my lips against her palm.
"Little dove, please." My voice broke clean in half. "I’m a fucking idiot and I’ll admit that too. Every single day if you want me to." I squeezed her hand.
"I was wrong. So fucking wrong." Another tear fell onto the blanket. "I just need you alive long enough for me to tell you properly. Please don’t die on me."
The door opened and the scent of vanilla drifted into the room and my spine went rigid. Sage stirred immediately and I tightened my grip on Candace’s hand.
Deidre stood in the doorway. Her eyes went wide with dramatic shock as they found the bed.
"I heard what happened," she said softly, one hand flying to her chest. "I came as fast as I could. Oh my goddess." Her gaze swept over Candace. "She looks horrible."
I ignored her and turned back to Candace and kept speaking quietly to her while my thumb traced slow circles across her hand.
Deidre moved further into the room. "It’s just..." She pressed a hand over her mouth.
"Of all the days. We were supposed to spend the morning together, all of us. It would’ve been lovely." She looked at Candace and sighed.
"And then Candy had to..." Another sigh drifted out of her. "My cousin always did have a flair for dramatics."
I froze. Irritation flared through me, sharp and immediate. Surely she wasn’t serious.
"What did you just say?" The words came out low and lethal.
Deidre’s lips formed a wounded pout and without answering she bent and picked up a piece of paper from the carpet.
My stomach dropped. I knew that spot because I’d been staring at it for nearly an hour and there hadn’t been a single thing there.
"See for yourself, my love." She held it out and I took it with my free hand.
My jaw clenched hard. It was a photograph, a man draped over Candace, and Sage exploded forward with a snarl that I barely held back.
"She’s been cheating," Deidre scoffed.
"Maybe she was afraid the truth would come out. Maybe she thought that if she did this you’d all be too worried about her to ask questions." She folded her arms.
"You know how manipulative she can be, Reign. You know how she-"
I released the photograph and let it flutter from my fingers to the carpet and didn’t spare it another glance.
Deidre kept talking and her voice drilled straight into my skull. "There’s no need to fall for her tricks, Reign baby. I’m sure she’ll wake up soon anywa—"
Get rid of her, Sage growled through my head. Before I rip her apart myself. freёwebnoѵel.com
"My loves don’t deserve to cry over a slutty-"
"Deidre."
She brightened instantly. "Yes, my Alpha?"
I turned toward her slowly and every last ounce of patience I had left evaporated on the spot.
"With all the respect I can spare right now," I said quietly and my voice was pure ice, "which is approximately zero." Her smile fell off immediately.
"Fuck off."
She stared at me and the color drained from her face. "W-What?" Her voice cracked.
"Reign, why would you say that?"
"Leave." I pointed toward the door and my gaze never wavered. "Now."
"Reign—"
"Leave this room," I said and the warning in my voice was unmistakable, "or I will have you placed under house arrest."
