Chapter 177: On His Birthday
Oliver’s POV
I could see the pain in my mother’s eyes—the way her features splintered as my words hit home—but I refused to let it get to me. I had spent years being the son who didn’t matter; I wasn’t going to let her tears rewrite history now that I was the son with the title.
I turned my gaze toward Knox, my voice a jagged rasp. "Knox... please. Make her leave."
My mother stood there, speechless, her mouth opening and closing like a landed fish. Oscar’s face turned an angry shade of red. "Oliver, mind your words. You’re talking to your mother."
"I said get out!" I snarled, the effort sending a white-hot spike of agony through my chest. "Both of you. Now."
The healers, sensing my vitals spiking on the monitors, stepped in with worried expressions. "Please, for his health, you have to leave," the head healer urged, guiding Oscar and my mother toward the door. "He cannot afford any pressure right now. The silver is still active in his system."
They finally retreated, my mother’s sobbing echoing down the hall until the heavy doors thudded shut. I let out a long, shaky breath, the silence of the room finally settling over me. But even with them gone, the air felt crowded. My head was swimming with the scent of antiseptic and the lingering, flowery perfume my mother wore.
"The room is crowded," I muttered to the remaining staff. "Everyone leave. Apart from Aurora."
They didn’t argue. They bowed their heads, stating they would be right outside the door if the monitors signaled a change, and filed out quietly.
Once the door clicked shut, I looked at Aurora. Really looked at her. My heart twisted with a guilt more poisonous than the silver in my veins. That bastard had waited until I was down, until I was hovering between life and death, just to crawl into her space and put his hands on her. He had used my absence to strike at the only thing that actually made my life worth living.
I reached out, my fingers trembling as I traced the faint mark on her skin. I was going to kill him. Slowly.
"Aurora," I whispered, my voice thick. "Do you know him? Have you ever seen him before?"
She looked down, her eyes darting away from mine. "No," she said, her voice small and fragile. "He... he just barged into my room. He wanted to force himself on me. If Knox hadn’t arrived..."
She trailed off, her shoulders shaking. I watched her, a heavy suspicion settling in my gut. She was hiding something. I could feel it in the way her heartbeat skipped, the way she wouldn’t meet my gaze. Even now, she didn’t want to talk about Raymond.
She didn’t realize how close the truth was. Because of my double life—because I had tried to be both the King and the assassin—my cousin Alex had almost destroyed her. Alex knew about my mask. He knew about the scorpion tattoo we both shared as a mark of our lineage, and he had used it to try and take what was mine.
If she knew Raymond was me, she would hate me for the lies. But if I didn’t tell her, Alex would keep using my shadow to haunt her.
"He won’t hurt you again," I promised, my grip on her hand tightening as much as my weakened state allowed. "I will deal with Alex. He thinks he can touch you? He’ll learn what happens to those who touch what belongs to me."
Aurora looked up at me, her eyes wide with a mix of relief and a terror I couldn’t quite place. "Alex? You know his name?"
"I know everything, Aurora," I said, though it was a half-lie. I knew the man, but I still didn’t know the full depth of the secrets she was keeping behind those beautiful, tear-filled eyes.
"You know him? Who is he, Oliver?"
I looked away for a second, my jaw tightening. I didn’t want to call him my cousin. To share blood with a man who would strike a woman—who would strike my woman—was a stain I couldn’t wash off. I didn’t see him as family anymore; I saw him as a cancer that needed to be cut out.
"He is one of my enemies," I said, my voice low and final. "A man who thinks he can take what he didn’t earn. That’s all you need to know for now."
She nodded slowly, but I could see the questions swirling in the depths of her eyes. She was smart. She was likely wondering how two different men—the "Raymond" she thought she knew and this "Alex" who had just attacked her—could share the exact same distinctive scorpion tattoo. The coincidence was too loud to ignore, and I could feel her mind working, trying to connect the dots that led back to me.
Just tell her the truth, my wolf urged in the back of my mind. He was restless, pacing behind my ribs, hating the scent of another man’s aggression on her. She deserves to know who we are before someone else tells her a version that destroys us.
"Aurora," I said, my voice softer now. "I have something to tell you. Something important."
Her breath hitched, and she looked at me with an intensity that made my heart stutter. "What is it, Oliver?"
I opened my mouth, the confession sitting right on the tip of my tongue. I am Raymond. The man you’ve been meeting in the dark, the man you signed that contract with... it’s been me all along. But as I looked at the machines around me and felt the heavy pull of the silver still draining my strength, I realized I couldn’t do it. Not like this. Not while I was too weak to even hold her if she tried to run away from me in anger.
"Not today," I whispered, reaching up to brush a tear from her cheek. "Next week Friday... it’s my birthday. I’m going to tell you everything then. I promise."
She looked confused, her brow furrowed. "What is it? Why wait?"
"Just be patient, love," I murmured. I told myself that on my birthday, I would give her the truth as a gift, or perhaps as a sacrifice. I would ask for her forgiveness and hope that the love she felt for Oliver was enough to cover the lies of Raymond.
I shifted slightly on the bed, ignoring the sharp protest from my chest. "Come here," I said, patting the small space beside me. "Come lie with me."
Her eyes widened with worry. "Oliver, no. You’re hurt. The healers said you shouldn’t move; you need to—"
"I’m fine," I interrupted, my voice firm despite the rasp. "I need you close. Come."
She hesitated for only a second before she carefully climbed onto the bed, moving as if she were afraid I might break. She lay beside me, resting her head gently on my shoulder, careful to avoid the bandages on my chest. I wrapped my arm around her, my fingers slowly stroking her back, tracing the line of her spine through Knox’s oversized jacket.
The silence of the room was peaceful for the first time. I could hear her steady breathing, and it was the best medicine the healers could have offered.
"I was so scared," she whispered into the fabric of my gown. "I thought... I thought I had lost you forever. When they dragged me out of here, I felt like my life was ending."
I sighed, closing my eyes and pulling her a little closer. "I promised to protect you, Aurora. I told you that nothing in this world or the next can take me away from you. My heart won’t let me leave you behind."
She nodded against me, then she lifted her head, her eyes searching mine with a raw, heartbreaking honesty. "Oliver... I love you," she said, her voice cracking. "I love you so, so much."
My heart bloomed at the words. It felt like the silver was being pushed back by the sheer force of her confession.
"Please," she continued, her hands clutching at my gown. "Please don’t marry her... please, Oliver. I know I’m just a human, I know I’m wolfless, but I promise I’ll change. I’ll be better. I’ll learn everything I need to know to stay by your side. Just don’t marry Genevieve."
I felt a pang of guilt so sharp it rivaled the bullet wound. I had put that look of desperation on her face. I had let her believe that her place beside me was a prize she had to earn or a position that could be bought by another.
"Aurora," I said, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear and looking deep into her eyes. "Listen to me. There was never going to be a wedding with Genevieve. All of it—the act, the public appearances—it was a ruse. I only did it to make you jealous. I wanted to see if you cared as much as I did."