Defying the Lycan King (Kira and Derek) novel Chapter 217

Chapter 217: Unperceived

Derek set the flowers down in front of his parents’ niche in the columbarium and stepped back.

He stood there a long moment, saying nothing, simply looking at the two names carved into the cool stone. There was so much he might have said, so much he could not. In the end, he said none of it. He turned and walked out.

Declan was waiting for him just outside.

Without a word, Derek held out his hand. Declan placed the scent suppressant pills into his open palm. Derek popped them into his mouth, swallowed, and let out a measured breath, his eyes settling on his Beta.

"How do I look?" he asked.

"Like shit," Declan said. "But presentable." He shrugged. "The scent suppressants should successfully mask your grief, so that our enemies won’t be able to smell the state you’re in."

Derek gave a humourless chuckle and walked past him. "You’re still being your paranoid self, Declan."

Declan fell into step beside him. "I prefer to call it cautious."

They reached the car, and when Derek pulled open the door, his eyes landed on the jar of herbal mixture sitting on the passenger seat, the one he had made himself, for Nana. He picked it up carefully and moved it to the back seat.

"Has Kai replied to any of my messages yet?" he asked over his shoulder.

Declan sighed, rubbing his neck. "No."

"And his soulbond? Has he managed to find her?"

Declan shook his head solemnly. "Not a trace. She and her family have gone completely to ground."

Derek exhaled and climbed into the car without another word.

***

A few minutes later, he stood outside Nana’s door, the jar of herbal drink cradled in his hands.

Since his terrible fallout with Kira, Nana had refused to see him, refused to speak to him and refused even to take his calls down the mind-link.

And he could not bear it a moment longer. The disappointment of the one person who had never given up on him, even when he was a feral thing chained in a cellar, was a weight he could not carry. Slowly, he pushed the door open.

Nana sat propped up against her pillows, Dr Adah beside the bed, taking her blood pressure. Dot, her personal maid, stood quietly in the corner while the doctor murmured instructions about what Nana should and shouldn’t be doing.

Nana’s eyes flicked to the door as Derek appeared.

Dr Adah unwrapped the cuff, straightening and began to pack away her things. "She’s getting better," the doctor said. "But she needs plenty of rest. No excitement." She turned, saw Derek standing there, and bowed her head slowly before gathering her bag and leaving.

Nana said nothing as Derek stepped further into the room.

"I’ll go and see whether the cook has finished with the meal," Dot murmured, slipping past him. The door clicked shut behind her, and then it was only the two of them.

Nana did not say a word. She did not even look at him. Her gaze had drifted back to the window, as if he were not there at all.

Derek cleared his throat, feeling out of place. He crossed to the bed and set the herbal drink down gently on the bedside table. "How are you feeling?" he asked quietly.

"I’m fine," Nana said, her voice flat. "But I don’t want to see you."

"I know," he said. "I expected as much."

He sat down slowly on the edge of the chair by her bed. For a moment, he just looked at his hands.

"Nana," he began, and his voice was low and rough. "I feel so stupid about everything. For how I made you feel."

"You sure are," Nana mumbled, still not looking at him.

He swallowed hard. "I acted rashly. I let my anger take the wheel, and I drove us all off a cliff with it. I wasn’t thinking. I was just... hurting, and I wanted everyone around me to hurt the same. That’s no excuse. I know it isn’t. But it’s the truth."

Nana said nothing.

"You’ve never given up on me," he went on. "Not once. Not when they wanted to lock me away forever or when they wanted to take my birthright away. You fought for me when no one else would. And I repaid you by deceiving you. I can’t undo that. But I am begging you, please. Don’t hate me too. I don’t think I could survive losing you on top of everything else."

Nana finally turned her head and looked at him, and her eyes were wet.

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