Chapter 173: Hates Me
Aurora POV
I flinched, my bare feet feeling like ice on the cold stairs. I had only met Oliver’s father once before, and back then, he had simply ignored me. But now, it was like he saw me as a disease.
Knox didn’t stop walking. He kept his head high, his face hard and set. "Father, with all due respect, this isn’t the time for this. Oliver is dying. Aurora is his personal assistant. She needs to be here."
"She is nothing!" Oliver’s father snapped, his face turning red with rage. He stepped down one stair, looking like he wanted to grab me and throw me back to the reporters. "She is a distraction. A wolfless girl who has no business in a house of warriors, especially not today. My son is in this state because he was weak, and girls like her are the reason for that weakness."
I felt a sting in my eyes. He was blaming me? Oliver had been shot in a meeting miles away, and somehow, his father was making it my fault.
"He is the King, Father," Knox said, his voice dropping into a low, angry growl. "And while he still draws breath, his word is law. He never told me to keep her away. In fact, if he wakes up and she isn’t here, it’s my head he’ll want, and yours too."
"He won’t wake up if his mind is cluttered with her!" Oliver’s father shouted. He looked at the guards standing nearby. "Remove her. Now!"
Two guards moved forward, their faces tight. They looked as if they didn’t want to do it, but they couldn’t disobey him.
Knox stepped right in front of me, his body blocking them. A powerful wave of Alpha energy rolled off him, making the guards pause. "Touch her, and you’ll answer to me. I am the Alpha of the North, and I am the guest of your King. Aurora stays."
The silence that followed was terrifying. Oliver’s father and Knox stared at each other, neither one wanting to back down. The elders behind Oliver’s father whispered among themselves, looking worriedly at the massive wolves pacing the lawn.
"Fine," he finally spat, his eyes landing on me with a look of pure disgust. "She can enter. But she stays in the hallway. She is not to step foot into the medical wing. If I see her near my son’s room, I will have her thrown into the dungeons."
He turned around and marched back into the house, the heavy doors swinging open for him.
Knox sighed, the tension leaving his shoulders just a little bit. He turned to me and put a firm hand on my shoulder. "Don’t listen to him, Aurora. He’s scared and looking for someone to hate. Let’s go."
I followed him inside, but my legs felt like jelly. The packhouse, which usually felt like a place of business and life, now felt like a funeral home. The hallways were dim, and every few feet, there were more guards.
As we walked, my phone buzzed again in my pocket. I knew it was Raymond. I didn’t want to look at it, but I couldn’t help myself. I pulled it out and saw a new message.
"I miss you. Come to Daddy."
I ignored the message and turned off my phone.
"Aurora? Come on," Knox called out.
I hid the phone and ran to catch up. We reached the level where the medical wing started. I could smell the scent of medicine and—worse—the sour, burning smell of silver.
Just as we reached the double doors, I saw Genevieve come out. She looked worried and scared.
"You are here?" she asked, shocked to see me inside.
"She’s with me, Genevieve," Knox said tiredly.
"He’s dying, Knox!" she sighed, looking more scared.
I looked past her, trying to see into the room, but the doors were closed tight. All I could think about was Oliver lying there, his blood poisoned with silver, while everyone around him fought over who had the right to be there.
I looked at Genevieve, my heart feeling like it was being squeezed. Even though I was supposed to be the "other woman" in the eyes of the pack, Genevieve didn’t look at me with the same anger and hate that Oliver’s father did. She just looked tired. Her eyes were red, and her skin was pale. She looked like a woman who was watching her whole world fall apart.
"So... what is the way forward?" I asked, my voice barely a whisper. "What are the doctors saying?"
Genevieve let out a long, shaky sigh. She leaned her back against the cold stone wall, looking at the ceiling. "We have no idea, Aurora. None. The healers are working as fast as they can, but the silver... it’s not like anything they’ve seen. It’s moving through his veins like it has a mind of its own."
I hugged myself, trying to stop the shaking. "But he’s an Alpha. He’s the King. He’s supposed to heal."
"Not from this," she whispered, her voice cracking. "They are doing everything they can, but right now, all we can do is wait."
Knox put a hand on my shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze. "I’m going in there," he said, his voice firm. "I need to see the wounds for myself. Stay here, Aurora. Don’t move."
I nodded, unable to find my words. Knox walked toward the heavy double doors. The guards, seeing it was only him, stepped aside and opened the doors just enough for him to slip inside.
In that split second, I craned my neck, peeping through the gap. My heart stopped. I saw a glimpse of Oliver lying on the bed. He looked so small, so still. There were a huge number of healers surrounding him, their hands glowing with golden light as they tried to pull the poison out. I saw the machines, heard the steady beep-beep-beep of his heart, and then—the door shut.
The silence that followed was deafening. I swallowed hard, trying to push down the bile in my throat, but the tears won. They fell down my cheeks, hot and thick. I slid down the wall until I was sitting on the floor, burying my face in my hands.
Genevieve didn’t tell me to leave. She didn’t yell. She just stood there, lost in deep thought. After a minute, I wiped my eyes and looked up at her.
"Do you know who must have done it?" I asked.
She shook her head slowly, her brow furrowed. "Oliver has numerous enemies, Aurora. Being the King means having a target on your back every single day. From other Alphas, the rogue packs... the list is endless."
She paused, her eyes darkening. "And then, there are the enemies from within. Even family."
I froze. "Family? You mean... you mean his brothers? Alpha Oscar and Alpha Ozzy?"
Genevieve scoffed, a small, bitter sound. "Nah. Not them. They love him... he is just too blind to acknowledge it."
"Then who?" I pushed, my mind racing. If not his brothers, who else could be close enough to hurt him?
Genevieve opened her mouth to speak, her eyes darting around the hallway to make sure no one was listening. She looked like she was about to tell me a secret that could change everything.
But before she could say a single word, the heavy sound of boots echoed down the hall. I looked up and saw Oliver’s father marching toward us. His face was full of pure rage, and his eyes were fixed right on me.
"You. I wish to have a word with you," he demanded, his voice leaving no room for argument.
I scrambled to my feet and stood as tall as I could, but my knees were shaking. Genevieve looked at me with a worried expression, but she couldn’t help me now.
Oliver’s father didn’t wait for me to agree. He simply turned on his heel and expected me to follow.
I followed him down the long, cold hallway. Every step felt like I was walking toward my own execution. We reached the heavy oak doors of the royal study. He pushed them open and stepped inside, the smell of old books and Oliver’s lingering scent hitting me like a physical blow.
He didn’t sit down. He stood behind the large desk, his hands planted firmly on the wood. He waited until I was inside, then he kicked the door shut with his boot. The loud thud made me jump.
"It’s just the two of us now," he said. His voice was low, but it held a sharp edge that cut through the air. "No one is here, so there is no need for lies.."
He leaned forward, his eyes burning into mine. The gray hair on his head and the lines on his face made him look like a tired lion, but he was still scary.
"Tell me, girl," he demanded, his voice dropping to an angry whisper. "What is your mission here? Or should I just ask... who sent you?"