Mated To My Mate's Worst Enemy (ARIA) novel Chapter 279

Chapter 279

Chapter 279

ARIA

The water in the bath was cold by the time I finished scrubbing Ivory’s blood from my skin. I’d drawn it hot but had sat there staring at nothing for so long that it had cooled to lukewarm and then cold, and I still couldn’t bring myself to get out and face what came next.

But eventually, I had to. Had to dress in clean clothes. Had to braid my wet hair. Had to emerge from the chambers and face whatever consequences were still waiting

The guard was there when I opened the door, his expression unchanged. “Where to now?” he asked.

“I don’t know,” I admitted. “Kael didn’t exactly give me instructions about what I’m supposed to do with myself while confined and supervised. So I guess… wherever you think I should be?”

“Medical tent,” the guard said after a moment’s consideration. “They’re treating the Hunt survivors for injuries and trauma. You should be checked over. Make sure the trials didn’t cause lasting damage.”

It was practical advice. Made sense. Gave me somewhere to go that had purpose beyond just existing in shame.

We walked to the medical tents in silence. I could still feel eyes on me, could still hear whispers as we passed. Could still see the judgment on people’s faces as they processed what they’d heard me confess.

The medical tent was organized chaos. Hunt survivors being treated for various injuries- some serious, most minor. Healers moving between patients with professional efficiency. And in a curtained-off section at the back: the critical cases.

I could hear voices from behind one curtain. Raised voices. Kael’s voice, actually, speaking to someone with concern I could hear even through the barrier.

“-stable now,” a healer was saying. “The memory integration was traumatic but her body handled it better than we feared. She’ll recover fully with rest and time.”

“When will she wake up?” Kael asked.

“Hours. Maybe less. The bleeding from her eyes has stopped and her vital signs are strong. She just needs time to process everything that was returned to her.”

1/3

Ivory. They were talking about Ivory. And Kael was there, had been there, was staying there to make sure she was okay.

While I stood outside the curtain listening like a coward who couldn’t face the woman I’d wronged or the mate I’d betrayed.

“You should go in,” the guard said quietly. “Should face this now rather than letting it fester.”

“She tried to kill me,” I pointed out. “Pretty sure she doesn’t want me anywhere near her right

now.”

“Probably not,” the guard agreed. “But avoiding her won’t make it better. And Alpha Kael is in there. Might as well get all the uncomfortable confrontations done at once instead of dragging them out.”

He wasn’t wrong. But gods, I didn’t want to walk into that space. Didn’t want to face Kael’s disappointment and Ivory’s justified rage and my own crushing inadequacy all at once.

But Nina’s words echoed: *You start being honest. About everything. You stop trying to handle everything alone and start actually trusting the people around you to help.*

I pulled back the curtain and stepped into the cordoned area.

Kael was sitting beside Ivory’s bed, his hand on hers, his expression showing concern and something else I couldn’t quite identify. He looked up when I entered, his face hardening immediately.

“What are you doing here?” he asked, his voice cold.

“Getting checked by medical staff,” I said, keeping my voice steady despite how much his tone hurt. “Like I’m supposed to. Like a responsible Hunt survivor who wants to make sure she’s not dying from something the trials did.”

“There are other healers,” Kael said. “Other sections of the tent. You don’t need to be here specifically.”

“No,” I agreed. “But I wanted to see her. Wanted to know if she was okay after-after what happened during the trial. After I forced her to attack me. After my confession triggered whatever magic brought back her memories.”

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABELVerify