Louisa's POV
"Doctor Sadiq?! I've heard of you! You're the best doctor of our time! I thought you were an..."
"Old man?" Doctor Sadiq looked at me and smiled. He looked to be in his early thirties. I had never expected him to be the most reputable doctor in the entire Kingdom.
"No... I mean..." I whispered.
"You're very talented, Miss...?"
"Louisa. My name is Louisa Reeds." I replied.
Doctor Sadiq continued, "Miss Reeds. I understand that sometimes it must be difficult to get stuck in a place and not be able to go anywhere. That's why I'm offering you another possibility in life. I sincerely hope that I can see you in our academy."
"Thank you, Doctor Sadiq..." I felt overwhelmed.
"You can call me Jafar. Doctor Sadiq is my father," he smiled.
"Thank you, Jafar. Thank you for everything. You've saved Darren's life. I couldn't be more appreciated," I said.
Jafar frowned and said, "He's still in critical condition. But he's a tough young man, and he has you on his side, so I'm very positive that he'll be fine. Another thing, I noticed something about him, which is quite unusual..."
He didn't continue his words, because Alpha Zackery was walking towards us with Lucian.
"How was the warlock's condition?" Lucian asked.
"He's fine now. He needs more rest and I'll come by again later today to check on him," Jafar replied.
Alpha Zackery patted Jafar's shoulders and smiled, "It's good to have a good doctor around."
"I'm just doing my job, Your Excellency." Jafar bowed modestly and said.
"Do you want to go inside and take a look at your friend?" Alpha Zackery looked at me and said, "Lucian and I are heading to the ranch. I wish I could spare Jafar, but I'm afraid he has some other duties to perform."
I frowned and lowered my head. I wasn't ready to face Darren.
I was the reason that he had suffered all this pain and humiliation.
Alpha Zackery smiled at me and said, "Go ahead. Don't be afraid. He's just been through a very difficult situation and I don't think he wants to see Lucas' face floating around in front of him."
I took his advice and walked into the tent.
I saw Lucas sitting on the side of the bed, stroking Darren's hair.
The look in his eyes was full of tenderness and sorrow.
Every time I detected his vulnerability, my heart couldn't stop feeling the throbbing pain.
"Why are you standing there like a little marmot?" He said without lifting his eyes. "Come here. Sit next to me."
"I don't want to get any closer to you," I said.
Lucas didn't say anything.
"You've beaten me so badly that I lost almost half of my face. The wound is gone, but it doesn't mean the harm hasn't been done." I added.
"Don't make me go there and get you," Lucas said. "Come here right now and hold his hands. He was asking for you a moment ago."
I walked quickly toward the bed.
Darren was unconscious. I took his hands in mine.
His hands felt so cold. I took them up while stroking them and exhaling some warm air into them.
"You've grown stronger and more beautiful overnight. It's amazing." Lucas stared at me and said.
"I'm not talking to you," I said and kept stroking Darren's hands.
"You know, he was just pretending to stab me," Lucas said.
I looked at the blood stain on his chest, where Darren had stabbed him.
The wound must have already healed, but the blood stain was still there.
I didn't say anything.
An asshole got stabbed.
He deserved it.
"Before he stabbed me, he told me that he wanted to show me what love is," Lucas continued.
"If I were him, I wouldn't even bother," I said. "You need to have a heart to be able to love. Apparently, you don't have a heart."
"Really? So what's this?" He took up my hands and placed them in front of his chest.
I could feel the powerful beating of his heart.
"That's not your heart. That's just some empty void that keeps pumping blood in your body." I tried to withdraw my hands, but I couldn't.
He pulled me into his arms and put me on his lap. I tried to struggle and get away, but I couldn't.
I got stronger, but still not strong enough to fight him.
"Stop moving like a little octopus. You'll wake up Darren. He's still in pain and it took me a lot of effort to put him to sleep," he said.
"Why do you have to do things like this?" I asked. "Why do you have to be this cruel, to hurt everyone around you? Why can't you be more like Finn? He's such a warm, nice, powerful, and kind creature."
"I'm going to be very honest with you," he said. "I can't change who I am and I'm certainly not apologetic for being an asshole. I need people to stay around me, but not too close. I need them to love me, but not expect me to love them back. I need unconditional submission and love. That's what it takes to stay around me."
"But it's not fair..." I frowned and said.
"Life isn't a fair game, Louisa. The sooner you face reality, the sooner you understand me. He understands me," Lucas pointed to Darren, "That's fucking why he didn't leave. Lucian fucking understands me, that's why he doesn't leave. Yesterday in the stable, you refused to take my rejection. At that moment, I thought you understood me. But it turned out that you aren't even fucking close. That's why I got really frustrated in the auction house because if there was one person in the world that understood me, I would expect it to be my mate."
He took a pause to stroke the hair behind my ear, so he could see me clearer.
"People like me don't need love to sustain our lives, Louisa," he said. "We don't make love, we only fuck. We enjoy war, money, women, but at the same time, we live for a fucking higher purpose. We were born alone, die alone and we enjoy during every single second in between in our own way. If you can't deal with this and try to change me into a fucking better version, I'm afraid it's not going to happen."