Chapter 262: World Outside
"Blaise!" I sat up a little in surprise, a small smile stretching on my lips as Blaise made his way over.
He walked to the side of my bed and leaned in, pressing a fleeting kiss on my lips before drawing back without a care that we had an onlooker. Meanwhile, Kyle merely shuffled uncomfortably on the spot, suddenly finding the plain curtains highly interesting and unwilling to look at us.
"Nicole said you should be resting," Blaise chided gently, adjusting my pillows while smiling indulgently down. I didn’t miss the way he subtly moved to one side so that his physique now blocked Kyle from view. "What are you doing up?"
"I am not even out of the bed!" I argued. "We were just chatting. Isn’t that right, Kyle?"
I wasn’t about to lie. It delighted me greatly to watch Kyle shrivel and squirm, his entire body recoiling and expanding as though unsure whether he needed to stand to attention under Blaise’s watchful eye or find a hole where he could crawl into and die. In the end, he decided on having his back rod straight, his arms plastered against his side, and his chin held high when Blaise finally turned around — albeit a little reluctantly — to look at him.
"Oh. You," Blaise said coldly. "And what business do you have here this time, other than to disrupt Harper’s peace?"
Painfully straight to the point. Even I winced a little at that jab.
Kyle was no different. His mask could only maintain for so long, and now that Blaise had so blatantly pointed out his past faults, Kyle looked like he was ready to collapse. How strange a sight it was to see a man crumble when he was previously too prideful and arrogant in his ways.
"Beta Blaise, I―" The words were clogged in Kyle’s throat. He looked like a fish out of water, struggling desperately to breathe. Even I couldn’t help but feel a streak of pity for him.
Blaise must’ve felt the emotion too, for he suddenly turned and looked at me, raising an eyebrow in questioning. I simply smiled.
"Kyle was just here to check in on me," I said breezily, maintaining my smile as I turned to face Kyle. "We’ve been through quite an ordeal, after all."
"Y-Yes? I mean, yes!" Kyle jumped, nodding his head rapidly. "I mean... Actually, I was here to thank Luna Harper for saving my life―"
"’Luna’ Harper?" Blaise echoed, emphasizing the strange title.
"Yes," Kyle said. He seemed to have lost his confidence once again, his back slightly hunched over when he was met with Blaise’s steely gaze. "I mean... she’s Alpha Damon’s mate, isn’t she? That makes her the luna?"
"Mate or not, Harper hasn’t been officially recognized as the luna of Fangborne," Blaise pointed out. A streak of jealousy ran through me, needless to say, coming from Blaise. "Even though the role will eventually be hers, she isn’t in that position yet."
"But―"
"And while her status as the Alpha’s mate is common knowledge among Fangborne, the same cannot be said outside of it," Blaise continued, cutting Kyle off. "No one outside of Fangborne can know that Harper is also Damon’s mate, understood?"
Kyle pursed his lips. "Yes, Beta Blaise."
"Good," Blaise said with a nod. "Now off with you. I imagine Elijah might have some duties for you, assigned by the Alpha himself. You severely underperformed the night of the attack, and if it weren’t for Harper, you would’ve been dead."
"I understand," Kyle grimly said. "I’ll head out right away."
Before Blaise could say anything else, Kyle dashed off, leaving the curtains flapping in his wake.
"You didn’t have to be so harsh on him," I said once Kyle was out of earshot. "He came to apologize."
"It is precisely because he came to apologize that I have to set him straight," Blaise said with a scowl.
He then quickly straightened his expression, showing me a soft smile instead as he sat at the edge of the bed. Reaching out, he combed back a strand of fallen hair, tucking it behind my ear.
"A simple apology cannot heal the wounds inflicted over the course of the last month." Blaise continued, "He needs to learn that his words and actions have consequences. He’s just lucky that you’re too kind for your own good this time, but if he goes blabbing to the enemy, Damon might not be the same, and neither will I."
"Does Damon actually have a punishment in store for him?" I asked worriedly. "Has he even fully recovered yet? Wolfsbane poisoning isn’t something to make light of."
"Nicole has ensured that all wolfsbane has been removed from his system at the time of his discharge," Blaise answered. "We were just waiting to see if he would actually hold himself accountable for his actions. With the fact that he apologized to you, I’ll make sure Elijah doesn’t go too hard on him."
Yet, despite his words, the wicked smile on Blaise’s face told me otherwise.
I sighed. "As long as he isn’t kicked out of Fangborne," I said. "That seems a little too serious, and I would rather not risk him and his cronies defecting to a rogue team just to take revenge in the future."
"Ah, yes," Blaise murmured. "Kyle’s supporters. There are a little too many of them, and I doubt they would all be happy with his sudden change of heart."
"How bad is it?" I asked.
For a while, I had been blissfully tucked away in the infirmary, Nicole’s domain. She allowed hardly any visitors other than the higher-ranking officials, and this time, she must’ve only let Kyle in either for a follow-up check-up on his condition or because he had told her of his intentions. Even the other patients had been warned to stay away from my little corner.
As such, I had forgotten that the wolves outside of Nicole’s control might not be too elated to see my return to health.
"We don’t know yet," Blaise said truthfully. "But now that Kyle has apologized, I would imagine that his friends might not all be too thrilled about it. I might have to look into this matter."
Blaise’s expression then turned grim.
"Harper," he said, "perhaps we should reconsider Darach’s proposition after all."
