Dumped Omega? Now Their Alpha King Begs at My Feet novel Chapter 51

Valerie's POV

The next two days were strange. I stayed in the luxurious hospital suite, slowly getting my strength back.

My body was healing, but the magical exhaustion was something else entirely. It was a deep, bone-weary feeling that sleep couldn't fix.

And Kai was always there.

He never crowded me. He just existed in the room, a silent, powerful presence in the corner.

Most of the time, he sat in a large armchair, his attention focused on a datapad. I could hear the faint clicking as he responded to messages, his brow furrowed in concentration.

He was running his entire empire from that chair.

But I knew his real focus was on me. His presence was like a physical weight in the room, a constant, silent guard.

A nurse brought my lunch on the first day. It was a simple tray of soup and bread.

Kai stood up before she could even get close to the bed. He stopped her with a single, raised hand.

"I'll take that," he said, his voice low.

He took the tray from her, placed it on a side table, and lifted the silver cover. He picked up the spoon, dipped it into the soup, and brought it to his own lips.

He tasted it, his expression unreadable. Only after he was satisfied did he nod.

"Fine," he said to the terrified nurse. "You can go."

He brought the tray over to me himself, setting it on the rolling table over my lap. He didn't say a word about what he'd just done. He didn't have to.

The message was clear. Nothing and no one would get to me without going through him first.

The attention was completely suffocating. For eighteen years, no one had cared if I lived or died. Now, the most powerful Alpha in the region was tasting my soup for poison.

But it was also… comforting. In a strange, unsettling way.

He was on his feet in an instant, pouring a glass from the pitcher on the table. He brought it to me, his hand steady.

Our fingers brushed as I took the glass from him. A jolt of electricity, warm and sharp, shot up my arm.

He felt it too. I saw a muscle jump in his jaw.

He didn't pull away immediately. His fingers lingered against mine for a second too long.

"Thank you," I whispered.

He just nodded, his dark eyes intense in the dim light. He turned and walked back to his chair without a word.

I watched him settle back into the shadows, his powerful form a silhouette against the city lights outside the window.

He was a guardian. My guardian. I didn't know what to do with that.

I took a slow sip of water, my heart beating a little faster than it should have.