Alex’s pov:
Soon, I was holding Jade in my arms, bridal style, while following a servant to the hallway where her room was located. Paulina had said she would probably come to on her own, and there was therefore no need to panic. Lucille, Jade’s mother, was led to the clinic, almost against her will, but I naturally sent Cole with her. I couldn’t bring myself to relax around them now that I knew they tried to hurt my mate.
Paulina’s little replica, whose name I believed to be Anna, was adamant about staying with Jade, and Paulina had trouble convincing her to go to their room.
“It’s okay,” I soon told Paulina. “She’s just a kid.”
“Are you sure?” She asked, tilting her head to the side.
“Positive.” I assured her with a small smile.
“I will be in the room across from this one then,” she declared with a nod.
I placed Jade on the bed softly, and seeing the sereine look on her face, I reasoned that she wasn’t in any pain.
Anna stayed by the end of the bed, her eyes locked onto Jade’s face, her expression that of sheer concern. And I wondered the kind of bond she had with my mate. Jade had told me that Paulina’s little one hadn’t warmed up to her, despite training with her mom for nearly two weeks… And yet, today, it seemed like she wouldn’t leave her side.
I was sitting on a chair nearby when I sensed someone by the door. Anna straightened up and jumped out of the bed even as I stood up to open the door.
“I am a healer, and I was sent to check up on Luna Jade,” the woman who didn’t look a year older than 35, and whose hair was dyed blue, didn’t look me in the eyes as she said so… And I wondered whether she was worried I would hurt her, because I was an Alpha whose mate had almost been hurt.
Anna stood in front of Jade, her stance protective in nature, as she held both arms in the air, thus making a T.
Soon, she began to make a fuss, “I won’t let you touch the Luna. You… You go away!”
The woman only rolled her eyes, and began to approach the bed with steady steps.
“Go away!” She kept repeating.
Just as I was ready to ask the woman who sent her, Paulina came running. She must have heard Anna’s shouts.
“What’s wrong, sweetheart?” Paulina asked her daughter in a soft tone of voice, as she crouched down next to her.
“She wants to hurt her,” the little girl was nothing if not persistent.
“Hurt her how?” Her mom asked, seemingly desperate to appease her daughter.
“The needle… the needle has poison.”
“What needle?” I asked, and the healer made a motion to put back something in her robe, and made a run for it, before I could make my mind on this.
That being said, as I saw the healer run as if her life depended on it, I could only tell Paulina gravely, “Protect Jade.”
I heard a faint “of course,” as I followed after the woman who had been sent to finish the job it would seem.
I followed the scent of jasmin which I had smelled on her, but it was faint, and there were so many hallways that I lost her. The woman was undoubtedly familiar with the palace. And I had an inkling that she had been sent by the malicious queen.
As I cursed my inability to catch her, Beta Marc soon appeared from a room, and looked positively furious with me, seeing me outside the room I had been told to stay in.
“What are you doing here?” He hissed through gritted teeth, his eyes glaring daggers at me.
I soon explained the issue succinctly, because I had a feeling that the man didn’t like me much. “Some woman came to the room, claiming to be a healer, sent to check up on my Luna. Thankfully, Anna, who had stayed behind with us, could sense that there was something wrong and made a fuss. She ran away and I gave chase, but I couldn’t find her.”
Beta Marc paled at once, mumbling under his breath, “But the healers are all busy with the guards at the moment.”
That made me frown as it assured me that Anna had just saved Jade from imminent death.
“I’ll be going back to my mate now,” I said simply.
Before I even had the chance to turn around, the man bellowed a “Find her!” to no one in particular, and soon two werewolves emerged from the shadows.
I knew all along that the palace wasn’t quite a normal one. It was enchanted to only show what the Alpha King wanted people to see. The palace must be filled with guards who, just like these two, were hiding in the shadows, by some kind of witchcraft.
I wasn’t scared though. How could I be? I knew I had done nothing wrong. Besides, my priorities laid with Jade, my mate, my woman, my home. I soon returned to the room, mostly because I was worried about her, but also because Beta Marc was a man of action, and I knew this matter would be handled.
As I neared the room, I heard Paulina praise her daughter softly, “You did a great job. I am proud of you for speaking up. So, why are you crying?”
“She’s not…” the little one sniffled. “She’s not waking up.”
“She will. All in due time, sweetie. Don’t cry,” she reassured her.
“Shouldn’t I have said something about the Alpha of Alphas?” She sniffled some more.
“It’s not your fault you saw something and felt compelled to speak up.”
I soon entered the room, a confused frown on my face.
“What do you mean she saw something?” I asked without delay.
“Anna can see the future sometimes, which can make her an awkward child,” she said softly while patting her daughter’s head affectionately.
That explained a lot, and I began to feel more at ease with the mother-daughter duo… Despite my experience with Camelia which wasn’t too long ago, I could see that these two genuinely cared about Jade. And in my book, that was without a doubt a +1.