"Then what? Why is he unconscious from a mere belly wound? It should be nothing for him, considering how strong he is," Faris’s frustration was so evident in his words as he clutched his honey-brown hair and raked them back.
Fownso fidgeted nervously and gestured with his eyes to the warriors. Ranon understood and was quick to disperse them. Giving them duties elsewhere so they could have a word with Fownso in private.
"Spill!" Faris demanded, tapping his foot anxiously on the ground.
Fownso unsurely stood up and faced the best friend duo. Cassandra opened her eyes as well and glanced in his direction. Her face still lying on the dragon’s unmoving maw.
"The Alpha made me promise to not tell anyone this. But seeing his condition and him to be fighting for his life, I can’t keep this a secret. He can’t connect with his wolf after that potion was given to him. His wolf went feral and then silent. That’s why he can’t heal. Mindlink is working through his dragon since he is the strongest, but now that he is down too, we can’t connect with him."
Cassandra jerked up upon hearing this piece of information.
His wolf had suffered so much because they had drugged him and forced him to mate with Kela.
The strain on him must have been too much, for wolves mated for life and this bond between them was sacred. Siroos had been suffering in silence, away from her as she refused to speak to him or be near him.
To safeguard her own heart she had forgotten how much he had suffered. Lana and Faris had tried to tell her that he was given a potion, so he wasn’t in his senses, but she refused to listen.
Siroos never clarified to her, he was vague about it, maybe sparing her the horrendous details of what he went through.
Faris and Ranon blew their breaths out in shock. Ranon had his head in his hands. Siroos always acted so tough, but the strain had made him crumble. There was one tragic incident after the other.
"How will he heal?" She asked, tightening her arms around his unconscious head, pressing it into her soft bosom.
"Sadly, I don’t know, Luna. We tried a couple of healing potions, but I am afraid my expertise ends there. We are unable to reprise his wolf but I have a theory."
"Speak," Faris demanded, frustrated at the situation.
"Luna might be able to heal him if she stays with him and connects. You know how mates can emotionally mend each other. They have been staying apart; her proximity can bring him back and our Alpha, too."
Their eyes expectantly wavered to Cassandra who was already caressing his scaly head with her right hand and staring so intently at her mate in her arms.
"I am not going to leave him even for a second, not until he heals and wakes up," she answered in determination. If she had known his wolf had taken such a toll, she would have reconciled with him earlier.
But her own hurt had clouded all her other emotions, and she failed to see how hurt he was too. Plus the strain of being an Alpha and the duties that came with it took a deep toll on Siroos.
"We will tend to all your needs here. We can’t shift him; no one is strong enough to carry him inside, and he won’t even fit in the dwelling," Faris answered, stepping closer to his sister-in-law and placing an assuring hand on her shoulder.
"It’s fine, we will stay here until he wakes," Cassandra slowly answered, trying to keep her voice from trembling so much.
The storm had cleared now that the Sikalas were dead but the horrid stench of its charred body still lingered in the air.
"Let’s clear up the mess and arrange for a mattress and pillows plus some food. I will send some warriors over," Ranon announced, mind linking them.
"Faris, this shouldn’t spread. Just make an excuse with the pack as to why he is not waking up, but we can’t let his vulnerability spread. He hates being weak, which is exactly why he didn’t share it with anyone. Besides, we never know where the enemies linger."
Cassandra requested, her eyes not wavering from her mate, her hands still coated in his blood.
"We won’t, don’t worry. And I think we need to put off Luna Trials, we can use these attacks as an excuse. I will speak to my mother and the new reasonable Elder Council. We need to send out word."
Faris got up and mindlinked his mother. He didn’t wish to leave Cassandra alone, not with monsters on the loose. For all they knew there could be more.
Haylia, Lana and Ara soon joined Cassandra. Haylia rushed to her unconscious son in his dragon form and hugged him.
"Oh! Siroos, my child." Tears gathered in her eyes as she stroked his upper body.
Lana and Ara gathered around Cassandra, offering her water. They helped her wash her hands and offered her some food.
"You are so brave, you rescued Wila." The girls were all praises for their Luna.
"Yes, but now I want my mate to wake up. He came at the right time or it could have ended in a disaster." Cassandra was still reeling from the aftershocks of the attack and Siroos’s unconscious state.
"Alpha will pull through. He has been through so much in the last few days, but you are with him now; you are his pillar." Lana strengthened her Luna’s heart.
A mattress, pillows, and a makeshift tent were arranged for Cassandra and the dragon. She refused to leave his side even at night and insisted on staying with it.
The carcass of the dead Sikala was cleared, and the area was cleaned up. Warriors began to dig a trench all around the Saffron fields, the idea was to fill it with boulders so if any other Sikalas were around, they wouldn’t be able to burrow through.
Ara and Lana returned but Haylia lingered and sat by Cassandra’s side with teary eyes. Her heart pained for her son.
"Thank you for looking past your differences with him. He loves you to a madness Luna. Forgive him and forgive me for our wrongs but I wasn’t involved in the scheme of the Elders. I no longer hold the opinion of him producing an heir with another woman. Forgive me for causing you so much heartache in the past." Haylia sincerely apologised. Cassandra leaned in and hugged her mother-in-law.
"I forgive you, Vera Haylia. Let’s leave all that in the past and build our pack’s future together. Be my strength."
"I will be your strength, child." Haylia placed a loving hand on Cassandra’s head. She stayed for a while before Faris came to fetch her.
Opening the flap of the large tent they had erected over Cassandra and Siroos, he said.
"We are nearby, Ranon and I. If you need anything, just let us know. We will give you some privacy now. Rest."
Cassandra nodded at her brother-in-law as he closed the flap and walked away.