Alpha King’s Lost Luna by Aubrey Pepper

Chapter 4 He said stay

CA SSANDRA

The next few hours passed by laboriously. As we waited for the guards to return with some sort of news about the viper, Marley and I did all we could to keep the boy comfortable. We took his temperature, monitored his heart rate, and continued to apply cold compresses to keep his fever from rising any higher.

Meanwhile, it took all of my concentration to remain perfectly focused on the boy. My mind was trying to wander to different places, and Asher Cellins wasn’t helping. The Alpha King remained close to us as we attended to his son, and it was unclear if he was monitoring our treatment or just studying me.

The hairs on the back of my neck stood straight up as chills continuously ran down my spine. I wasn’t the kind of woman who got nervous easily, but the Alpha King’s very presence set every inch of my body on edge.

Of all of the people to be here, he was the last one I’d ever have expected, and my emotions were running wild. I wasn’t sure whether to cry or be relieved to see him after so long. All I knew was that this was unbelievably complicated.

After long, a pair of guards returned. They’d finally tracked down the viper. Luckily, it was one that I’d seen in a medical book. I relayed all of the information I knew to Marley and Asher, and the pair of them seemed relieved to know there was

a potential cure.

The Alpha King had assigned guards to accompany Marley back to the clinic to procure the herbs needed to heal the boy. My assistant seemed nervous to be surrounded by such heavily-weaponed men, but she accepted the help.

Haff an hour later, she returned with the herbs, and we got to work. We prepared a salve to apply directly to the wound, and then used others to brew a tea that would treat the boy internally. The prince was weak, but we managed to help him get enough of the tea into his system to treat him properly.

Hours passed by, and by dusk, the boy finally became stable. After much fitful moaning and crying, he’d finally fallen into a quiet sleep. The blueness of his lips had disappeared, and color had returned to his cheeks. Beneath the salve, the

swollenness of the bite had eased.

on staying with me, but I pushed back and told her she needed

in the forest,” I’d reminded her. “They need you more than I do right

and once she packed up and left the Pack House, I’d turned to the rest of the people standing around in the chamber and asked for some time alone with my patient. The

everyone to leave us was more of an excuse than anything. My patient was stable, but I needed time to think and process the emotions that swirled around in my mind

I was surprised to see just how much he’d changed over the years. He was the Alpha King now, and as such,

that, but he

at the boy. Was he

He had to be. Asher had abandoned me all those years ago and left me to

I

I thought I was about to cry, but I forced those feelings

business anymore, and I couldn’t let him affect me

here in the Wild Crawler Pack, not to mention my dear friend Marley and her family. I was loved and respected here, and

me a little of Finnick, though they didn’t look alike. The prince had a sweet round face and soft

was cute, but there was something

looked over, I watched the prince roll on

hopped to my feet. The poor child was at risk of

over to the door, and peeked my head out. A pair of guards stood at attention, and they stared at me with expressions of concern.

need a se rvant,” I said. “The prince needs a fresh

doors flew open to reveal a pair of se rvants with piles of fresh linens. But

when he caught