Alpha Luciano’s POV
Arabella was still unconscious and I was losing my mind. Once Mikah was done with his report, I would talk to Uncle Tommaso and go to the hospital.
Once I reached there, the doctor would update me on her condition and I would–
“Alpha?” Mikah inquired.
I startled out of my musing to see Uncle Tommaso and Mikah regarding as though they had been speaking to me for some time.
I nearly sighed. I had been spacing out a lot recently. Every time I spent away from Arabella was telling on me. Now I wondered how I had managed to stay disconnected from her for so long.
“Yes, Mikah?”
“What reply do we render?”
I nearly growled in frustration. “Be bloody clear, Mikah. Did I tell you I now have the ability to read minds?”
“I apologise, Alpha.” Mikah bowed. “I was speaking of the apology the Creoles have sent to us. They have also withdrawn from our borders. Word has it that they have also been reprimanded by the Espositos for their actions which might have played a role in their early decision to back down.”
I nodded. “Let them squirm. We will not give them a reply. Let them wonder whether or not we shall have mercy on them.”
“Yes, Alpha.”
I wanted to ask Mikah about the search for the mole but I didn’t want Uncle Tommaso to be a party to the conversation.
It might have been wrong of me to distrust my uncle like this but considering the fact that he had brought Ana into my life and the fact that he had been big on the both of us reconciling and had strongly advocated for the death of Arabella, I wasn’t completely wrong to suspect him.
“You may leave us, Mikah.”
He bowed and left.
“Luciano, what is going on with you?” Uncle Tommaso asked the moment the door was shut.
“What do you mean, Uncle?”
Uncle Tommaso’s eyebrows rose. “You have been forgetful, absent-minded and your mind seems clouded. This wouldn’t have anything to do with Arabella who is on death’s corridor?”
I would have frozen if I had been someone who had a poor hold on their emotions. For the first time, Uncle Tommaso was spot on.
Hearing him speak reminded me of my vow as a child to make sure all the Lupo-Mortale pack died and to kill Vitalio Bianchi. I still wanted to kill Vitalio – he was a piece of shit – but his people, not all of them were guilty. Arabella wasn’t. She was beautiful and good. and bright.
I couldn’t imagine how many other good people were in that pack led by such a disgusting individual. My viewpoint had changed and I didn’t know how I could tell my uncle that without seeming like I was ‘under Arabella’s spell’.
“I have no idea what you are talking about, Uncle. I have a lot of affairs to manage so it is only normal if my attention strays sometimes.” I said smoothly meeting his gaze over the table.
“And as for Arabella, she is my property, her health is my priority. I want a swift recovery for her but that has nothing to do with my mind. Uncle Tommaso, I would prefer if you actually positively contributed to conversations instead of always bringing Arabella up.”
Uncle Tommaso looked as red as a tomato and looked twice as mad. I ignored it. He didn’t leave however much to my disappointment as I wanted to go and check in on Arabella again. Instead, he guided us to a safer conversational topic.
******”
Arabella looked peaceful and serene as she breathed. There were no devices attached to her.
I held her hand watching the movement of her chest and the slight twitch of her fingers.
I heard the slamming of the door open as the doctor finally made his way to me.
“Why isn’t she awake?” I demanded.
I had bloody waited for their tests, their prolonged surgeries, everything and anything they needed to keep Arabella alive. Now they were done with everything, why wasn’t she awake?
“Alpha, sometimes after a trauma like this the psyche of the person becomes damaged and the person doesn’t want to wake up or is unable to wake up because of this scarring. This cannot be fixed by the doctors. Arabella is likely going through this. After her brief stint of depression after losing the baby, she wasn’t in the right mental frame of mind for this to happen to her.”
My head swam.
“So you are trying to tell me that there is nothing wrong with her but she might not wake up.”
The doctor nodded.
“Well, how long will she stay unconscious?”
The doctor was sheepish. “We cannot estimate that Alpha. Arabella will wake up when she is ready to and not a moment sooner. It could take twenty-four hours, one week, or months.”
Months? If I was standing, I would have needed to brace myself before I fell over.
It had barely been a week and I had lost my mind. How could I endure without her for months?
“Surely you must be able to do something. You are a doctor. How can you tell me to just wait and see? I can’t wait that long.”
I would beg if I needed to. I couldn’t remember the last time I had solicited for everything but for her, I would do it. I would go above and beyond.
I needed another chance. Why was it so difficult for me to get that chance now that I had changed? When I was stubborn as hell, she recovered quickly but now that I was concerned about her, she wasn’t making a recovery.
“We can try. You can leave her here and we can try injecting her with stimulants over a period of time so that we can trigger her to wake up more quickly than she is supposed to. The only problem is that if we do that the impairment of her psyche will remain and she will have to actively work through it once she is awake.”
I was torn between two options again. How could I put her health at risk just because I couldn’t bear to stay without her? I refused to endanger her health just to keep myself pleased.
“Don’t worry about that. I’ll take her now.”
She was a stubborn woman. She would wake up, of that I was sure.
*******
As I left the hospital with Arabella, I wondered where I would take her to. I couldn’t keep her in the harem again even if it was what she chose.
I couldn’t keep her in her suite because when she had been conscious she hadn’t chosen to stay there. I couldn’t imagine it would help in repairing her psyche if I put her in a place she didn’t want to stay in.
I couldn’t keep her in my room no matter how much I wanted it. Uncle Tommaso would find out and while I had been talking down to him lately because of our differing opinions, I couldn’t forget the fact that he had a vindictive streak. He was my uncle after all. I knew exactly how vindictive he could be.
And most of all, we still hadn’t found the turncoat. I wished violently that I hadn’t just killed Anastasia like that. I should have tortured the name out of her, tortured her so thoroughly until she sang but that day I had been weak. So weak after what happened to Arabella that I just wanted to end it all quickly.
So the pack house was unsafe for Arabella until the person was caught. I already had Mikah on the issue. It was only a matter of time. I placed Arabella into my car and entered it.
There was only one place that stood out to me. The former pack house where my parents lived in. The place I had left because of how many memories were attached to the place. Now I had no qualms about taking Arabella there.
I was taking the daughter of my parents’ murderer to my parents’ refuge. And nothing had ever felt more right.