Bullied Mate Of The Lycan Kings
Chapter 126

Lily's

pov

I should use this opportunity to run away was my first thought immediately Maya left and I realized that she had not chained me back to the bed or locked the door.

But all I could think about after she left me in the room was how I wanted to replace out if Aiden was okay.

Taking tentative steps out of the bedroom and seeing no one in the long hallway, I wondered if it was foolish of me to not be using this opportunity to escape but I decided not to think about that and keep heading straight.

Maybe it was because he was my mate but his scent was easy to pick apart as I walked down the halls and stopped in front of a gigantic door that was slightly ajar, telling me that I had found his room.

Hesitantly I knocked on it and waited for a response.

"Go away," He growled and I would have turned back but I didn't come all this way to be chased away by his grumpiness especially when I remembered that he had definitely not allowed anyone to help him out.

Steeling my spine and entering the room, I closed the door gently and when I turned around, I froze in front of the door, stopping dead in my tracks, my mouth falling open because the room was filled with shadow creatures, wisps of darkness in the shapes of dogs lying down on different surfaces of the room, from his bed to the floor, his desk, armchairs and some were even sitting at the bottom of his bookshelf.

I felt like dissolving into the door when all at once, they turned to look at me, their gaze curious while I was mesmerized by the sight of them.

Beautiful.

These were the famous shadow hounds that Aiden could summon at will and yet right now they just looked like regular dogs even though some were larger than others.

Aiden was sitting sideways in front of a full length mirror, reaching for glass pieces stuck in his back and I winced as I watched him pull out a shard slowly and dump it into the bowl on the ground in front of him. He was still wearing the suit pants he had been wearing at dinner but his feet was bare and his chest was naked and I saw that he had healthy golden skin, lean and muscular. His hair, dark as the shadow hounds that filled the room was no longer brushed back with impeccable perfection but scattered all over his face.

"Maya," he groaned, "if you are here to tell me to see the medic, then I will tell you the same thing I said the last five times that you came here. I'm fine. Don't be a nag and leave me alone."

His voice was tight and I realized that he was grinding his teeth in pain as he removed yet another shard. It clattered into the bowl before him.

"It's just me..." I whispered and I swallowed nervously as he turned around immediately, his glassy grey eyes widening in shock to see me instead of Maya.

He went as still as a statue, eyes wide and alert, mouth open. "Lily?"

"I came to see if you were okay." I said, trying to fill the silence that had enveloped the room and he quickly snapped out of his shock, calling his creatures to himself.

I could only watch in awe as the dogs dissolved into shadows and moved into his body until we were the only ones in the room. The assimilation had happened so fast, I wondered just how powerful he was to control the creatures at will.

Rising to his feet, he didn't take a step forward but immediately, I felt intimidated by the sheer strength of him, keeping my eyes on his face instead of feeding my curiosity to check him out.

"What are you doing here? Why are you not asleep? And who let you out?"

I would have taken offense if he hadn't looked genuinely curious as to why I was here and not trying to escape because he looked confused.

I don't know, I wanted to answer but I settled for a shrug and stepped further into the room. "I was worried about you."

For each step I took, he took two steps back.

"Y-you were?" He asked, unbelievably.

I must be going mad or Aiden just stuttered.

"Yes. Maya told me that you weren't getting treated even though you were the one that took the brunt of the glass shards when the explosion happened."

When he kept staring at me in that intense way of his, I realized that he wanted to hear everything I wanted to say so I cleared my throat and continued. "Maya told me that nobody tends to you when you are injured because you don't like people seeing you vulnerable and that the only person you used to allow that privilege was Ren."

I didn't bother to add why they weren't on speaking terms because we both knew why Ren was not here right now. Infact, we both knew what had caused Aiden to react violently and shatter all of the glass windows and ceiling in an unintentional outburst of what I now realized was jealousy.

When he still didn't answer, I started taking slow steps forward and as I moved forward, he moved back, keeping his back to me. It almost felt like he was determined to not turn his back to me.

"Thank you..." he lost his breath. Cleared his throat. "Thank you for coming to see me. You can see that I am fine and once I can get the shards out, it'll heal. It's nothing serious. Go back to your room."

I took another step forward. He stumbled back. "You should get some rest. You were injured too."

I rolled my eyes and folded my arms, pausing in the center of his room that was at least ten times the size of my room at home.

"There are shards of glass in your back and I got just one scratch that has been treated already. Stop being so stubborn and let me help you remove what's left or your wound will get infected and you won't be able to heal."

"I can handle myself, Lily"

"You won't let anyone else help you and I'm here offering so why won't you just let go of whatever is making you so stubborn and let me help you? I'll leave once I'm done if that is what the problem is. The quicker I help, the quicker I can get out of your hair." When he opened his mouth to speak again, I knew he was about to refuse and I glared at him hard, stopping him from speaking.

"Fine." He grumbled, his shoulders slumping in defeat and I fought the urge to smile triumphantly, walking over to his bed that was so big it felt like I was an ant sitting on the edge and patted the space beside me.

"Come."

Raising an eyebrow at me at the command in my tone, I was surprised that he didn't complain, only dragging the bowl to where I was sitting and putting the first aid box on the bed.

I was expecting him to sit and turn his back to me but instead he climbed the bed, flopped down on his stomach and rested his head on my thighs.

I sucked in a breath at our contact, hating the sparks that flew between us.

It was just the mating attraction thing, I tried to reassure myself mentally and finally paid attention to his back.

I struggled hard to contain my scream at the sight, realizing why he had been hesitant about turning his back to me.

His back was shredded so with cuts so deep, I could dip my fingers in them. His entire back was a canvas of pain, deep, thick gashes that tore through skin and muscle.

Something thick and heavy choked the back of my throat because this was similar but far worse than the scars on the maid's back. I was slowly realizing that I might have been wrong in my assumption that Aiden was the one who had given her those scars. I felt sick, the sight nauseating and threatening to upturn my barely digested dinner. I couldn't imagine what he must have gone through, who could have been cruel enough to scar him so terribly.

"How did you get these scars?" I whispered before I could stop myself. There was a feeling in my chest, a dark murderous feeling. Like I can kill someone for this. Like I should kill someone for this.

He went completely rigid. And I realized too late that I shouldn't... i shouldn't have brought it up.

It must be a difficult topic for him.

I swallowed down bile and got to work immediately, gently removing the shards left. He had gotten most of the larger ones out and it was truly a testament to his strength that he remains still when I removed what was left because it had to be very painful to have that amount of glass embedded in your skin and still be able to speak.

He didn't speak for a few minutes. He was so silent, I thought he would not reply me but just as I was about to tell him not to bother, his body slumped.

"Whips." "What?"

"Whip marks. They're punishments from my uncle." He answered in a dead tone and I wished he was facing me so I could see his eyes as he answered. "Why?"

"I'm not very good at obeying orders, so I get punished a lot when he's around." He added with a light chuckle that I guess was meant to soften the atmosphere but I was horrified.

How could someone do this to another person? Wolves healed when they were injured so for a werewolf to have scars from anything, it had to have been very severe and probably unable to heal immediately it happened. How could his uncle hurt him like this? I traced the healed scar, he groaned at my touch.

I retracted. "I'm sorry. Does it hurt?"

"No. Your touch." He gritted out. "It feels so good." He admitted.

Oh...

I almost went back to tracing the road map of pain but I stopped myself. "Where is he now? Your uncle."

"No idea," he let out a deep breath. "He's probably working on another business deal on the other side of the world. I hope he never comes back."

I didn't even know what to say to that and the room was enveloped in tense silence again as I continued to clean his wounds.

Thankfully, I saw that the healing process had already begun and I was about to tell him that I was done and ready to leave when his body stiffened again and this time he turned his face to look at me, his head still on my lap.

"I'm sorry..." he said quietly, reaching up to press featherlight fingers to the bandage on my forehead. He withdrew his hand at the last moment, as if suddenly remembering that he mustn't touch me without my permission. "I really didn't mean to hurt you." I held my breath, my heart stuttering. "It's fine. I'm fine now."

"No it's not. You must know how sorry I am. I'm so stupid. Bringing you here was so stupid. You want nothing to do with me and it's all my fault. I was wrong. I caused you so much pain and I just keep messing up and making things worse. Everything I did... even if I knew the right words to say, there are no words that can absolve what I have done to you and I don't know how to make it right."

I- I can't believe it.

My heart clenched and my eyes watered because this was all I had ever wanted. For him to apologize like he meant it. Feeling overwhelmed, it was on the tip of my tongue to ask him to let me go so I could flee but as I was about to say it, I realized that he might misread my fleeing as anger and that was the last thing I wanted.

"I'm done." I chose to say instead, taking the conversation back to his wounds.

I moved to rise but his arm came around my hips. "Don't. Please, don't go. Stay for a bit." He whispered and I found myself nodding.

This wasn't so bad. Spending time with him didn't feel so bad. Infact, I wanted it. I wanted to stay.

He relaxed when I settled back in, making himself more comfortable and I finally gave in to my intrusive thoughts, urging me to stroke his hair.

My eyes widened at how soft it was and as I kept running my hands through the locks leisurely, I realized that he had fallen asleep, his arms wrapped around my waist.

He was like a giant cat, purring softly in my lap as I stroked him gently and I caught myself immediately I noticed that I was staring at him for too long, looking up to indulge myself in his room.

In the gigantic space, an entire wall was made of nothing but bookshelves bustling with books, both new and old with most of them have their spines falling out.

There were more books here than I could have ever imagined and if there was one thing I had never pegged Aiden as, it was a reader. I realized that just as I had accused Aiden of having no idea who I was, I didn't know a lot about him either.

Reaching again to stroke his hair, I felt movement around my hands and gasped when a little smokey creature peeked out from beneath his raven locks, gliding over to sit beside me on the bed and wagged its tail. It looked like a little hound puppy. It was so adorable, with large eyes that resembled a teddy bear's.

"Hi sweetie." I gushed and my voice woke Aiden, who groggily opened his eyes and stretched out a hand to the tiny puppy.

The creature glided back over to him, tucking itself behind his ear until it was obstructed by his hair and I couldn't help the smile that lit up my face as I watched the little dog that was the size of my pinky, replaceing a space in Aiden's hair to hide.

The creature peeked out occasionally to stare at me curiously and with eyes that were large pools of darkness.

The creature peeked out occasionally to stare at me curiously and with eyes that were large pools of darkness.

"What are you?" I whispered to the creature when it peeked out again to stare at me and it was Aiden that answered, his eyes still closed.

"A friend. He and the others keep me company when I don't want to feel so alone."

Alone... I once told Ren that his powers was a manifestation of how empathetic he was. His urge to heal, to save, to fix broken things and see the better in everyone. Perhaps in the same way, Aiden's powers signify his darkness, his ruthless nature but also his deep need for company, love and acceptance.

Just then the creature, who I started to realize had a mind of it's own, peeked out of Aiden's hair again, and moved to settle itself in my lap, right before it grew to a full sized puppy. Giving in to the curiosity, I patted it's head and gasped in surprise that my hand didn't go through it like smoke.

Aiden sat up, watching the entire interaction with a sleepy smile on his face and I fought the urge to reach forward and push his messy dark hair out of his face.

"Nobody, not even Ren and Zac have tried to touch my creatures. Everyone is terrified of them."

The dog licked my palm and I giggled, wondering why anyone would be terrified of such an adorable creature.

"Does it have a name?"

"He. And yes, his name is Cerberus and he's the most vicious of the bunch."

"Yeah, he is the epitome of viciousness." I laughed, not taking him seriously as I tickled the dog's belly. It wagged it's tail and licked me again and I laughed as it licked its snout.

Aiden was suddenly silent and when I looked up, his expression was solemn.

"What?"

"If I had known that the way to your heart was a furry creature, I would have gotten you a whole truckload of them."

His words sobered me up immediately and I shook my head.

"It's not as simple as that, Aiden." I sighed, patient, now that I understood he knew nothing of the matter. "Love isn't bought, isn't forced. It's earned. It's not about buying me things. Anyone can do that. It's about moments like this without a price tag attached to it. This is the first time I've felt safe enough to be myself around you."

Aiden stared at me, digesting my words.

"It's not been easy always being on guard. I worried that you would use my vulnerability against me if I let you in. Like this was a ploy, a trick to further hurt me. But this, this moment where you are baring your truth to me without any ulterior motive or imposing your will on me. This means a lot to me. It helps me to see that you are more than what I thought you were and that I can one day hope to trust you. We can one day, be friends."

"Friend?" He perked up at the word, like the thought delighted him. "We can be friends?"

"Of course."

"I thought you hate me."

"I used to... I still want to... but I just don't know how to hate you anymore. Maybe it's Stockholm syndrome talking but I want to understand you now. I really do. It's like I made so many assumptions about you; who you are, why you do the things you do and I was so wrong. So horribly wrong about each and every one. You're not what I thought. You're so terribly human, it's unnerving."

"And you still want to be my friend?" He asked, his voice hopeful. Like nothing else mattered except I confirmed what he just asked.

I nodded, taking the giant leap.

His grin could light up the entire mansion. "I'd like that, Lily. I'd like that very much."

And something in my brain must be fundamentally damaged, because I dared to believe that I can fix him. Because I saw myself in him. He was a spoiled prince with a temper problem, but he was neglected and mistreated for something out of his control, just like me. He was treated harshly for things he had had no power over. He was never given a chance to love and be loved, never given the benefit of doubt.

He experiences negative human emotions just like the rest of us, rage, jealousy, pettiness, vengeance, hunger for acceptance, except he doesn't know how to express them in a way that is universally accepted as normal.

Or maybe I can't fix him. Maybe I don't need to. I just have to not make things too hard for him anymore, to not make a bad situation any worse and give him a chance to figure it out at his own pace. I could do that. I sighed, deciding that my time here was up.

Rising to my feet, I laid Cerberus on the bed gently and patted his head before I stretched.

"Goodnight, Aiden."

"Goodnight." He answered and my heart dropped. Why did it feel like I was expecting him to say something else?

I turned around to leave and was almost at the door when he scrambled after me, his large hand clasping around my wrist.

"Stay the night."

I froze.

"I mean, you don't have to but... I'd like that. I'd like that a lot." Turning me around to face him, he implored. "I won't do anything you're uncomfortable with, I promise. I just don't want to be alone tonight."

And then he walked towards the bed and lined up pillows in the middle.

"You can choose whatever side you want and I'll take the other side. I'll keep to my side of the bed."

He was so patronizing, I considered it.

Cerberus gave me doe eyes from where he was sitting on the bed, wagging his little tail and against my better judgement to run away, especially because it was becoming hard to remember why I even hated Aiden, I walked over to one side of the bed, sliding under the blanket that Aiden offered me and Cerberus morphed back into his pea sized shape and rushed to hide in my heap of hair. He felt so weightless, I worried that I would crush him midsleep.

Aiden laid on the other side and turned to face me, resting his cheek in his folded arm, stormy grey eyes replaceing mine.

"This means nothing," I made it clear so that he doesn't misunderstand. "This doesn't mean I'm choosing you."

"Of course not. We're just sharing a bed. As friends."

"Yeah."

Hopefully, he couldn't hear my racing heart beating out of my chest.

The last thing I remembered as I fell asleep was looking into those thunderstorm eyes of his.