"How are you feeling?" Grace greeted her when she heard Iris whimper and her eyes finally opened groggily to take her surroundings in.
"H- Hanna...?"
"She went to bring warm water to wipe your body," Grace replied. She then placed her hand over her head and smiled with relief. "Your fever has gone down."
"How long... have I been sleeping for?" Iris looked at the bright sky out there, it was so rare to see clear sky, since recently it had been raining so badly.
"It is noon. The alpha told me about you last night." Grace held her hand and took her pulse. "You were in heat last night. Do you feel pain anywhere?"
With the healer mentioning the heat, Iris remembered what had happened. "My neck."
Grace’s expression turned ashen. "I have applied medicine to your neck, you will probably have a sore throat, but the bruises will disappear in a week."
It would be great if she could heal her by using her power, or she had an exceptional healing ability like any normal shifter, unfortunately, she couldn’t count on both.
Iris didn’t give any response to that and the healer didn’t want to talk much about it. She knew what she had gone through.
The pain of being in heat and having your mind muddled was something that was not enjoyable, even though your mate was there to help you assuage the pain. However with Cane in the picture, it was a completely different story for Iris.
Seeing the bruises on her neck, she could figure out what she had gone through during her first heat.
"Here... drink this first, I will ask for a bowl of warm porridge for you," Grace said softly. She helped her to drink, so she wouldn’t choke, but Iris was very quiet.
She was not able to guess whether she was angry, sad, in agony or hated Cane for what he had done, she was very clueless.
"You need to rest well, I heard you will go to the Moon Dew pack two days from now. It is a long journey."
Iris only nodded and closed her eyes. She told her to rest, so she put aside her muddle headed thoughts and slept. She needed this the most.
Seeing how Iris had decided to sleep, Grace tucked her in and prepared to leave, so she wouldn’t disturb her. She would let Hanna bring a bowl of porridge for her later.
But then, before she could leave, Iris grabbed her hand, she opened her eyes and looked at her directly, as she spoke. "Is it alright if I don’t take the dragon heart?"
Aria had been sullen because Cane would leave for weeks all of a sudden, but her anger immediately flared up when she heard Iris would go with him as well. Why would he bring that slut with him!? To take pleasure from her during the journey!? Why couldn’t she do that for him? She had done it for three years!
"I can’t accept this! I can’t accept this! you can’t go with her!" Aria dared to growl at Cane, which made the alpha, who was very calm a moment ago, turn dangerous.
He approached Aria and grabbed her wrist, as he shot her a cold look. "Don’t overstep the boundaries."
Cane didn’t raise his voice, nor did he snarl at her like she had been doing, but the pressure in his voice and his intimidation was enough to send shivers down her spine.
No matter what, he was the alpha. In no way could Aria disrespect him or question his decisions.
"I don’t want you to go with her! Take me, please, take me." Aria made an attempt to touch him, but Cane grabbed her other hand. "I can make you feel better, I will not bore you."
And that was all in Aria’s mind, she could care less about anything else, because all she learned how to keep a man by your side was to make them happy and if they were satisfied, it was enough.
"Enough, Aria. We will talk about this once I return." Cane was trying to hold back his anger. He didn’t want to lash out at her, but she only made things difficult.
"What?" Aria stumbled back when Cane freed her hands. "Do you like her now? Do you like the daughter of the alpha that had enslaved us because she was a virgin? Because you are the one, who had deflowered her? While me, just a slave, I am only a lowborn. Many men, countless men have taken pleasure in my body! That’s why I disgust you, right?! Even now you still see me as a slave!" Tears streamed down her cheeks.
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