When I open my eyes again, the morning sunrays greet me like an old friend. It takes a few seconds for my eyes to adjust to the light.

My head still feels light and my entire body begins to sore all over the moment I try to sit up. It feels like millions of needles are puncturing me from all sides.

"Here. Have a glass of water." I look to my right where Lyall is standing near the bed with a glass of water in one hand. He's already fully dressed in a button-down white shirt and black pants that really accentuates his hotness.

He grins boyishly at me. "Thanks." Damn it. My mind leaked through the bond again. On top of that, his confidence with the word 'hotness' makes me aware of my condition now. I must have looked hideous. My eyes and cheeks feel puffy, my throat is dry, and my lips are a bit swollen.

"You really need to stop associating yourself with derogatory words," he chuckles as he puts the water in my hand. I take a sip, avoiding his eye contact.

Why does my mind keep leaking to him? Why doesn't his mind leak through to me too?

"Because you don't put up your mind wall strong enough." He rubs the back of his neck with a guilty look. "And the swollen lips is uh... my fault... I can't help... I mean, you were sleeping for two days. I... I uh..."

I drink the water to ease the dryness of my throat. Out of the blue, pictures appear in my mind. They are pictures of Lyall kissing me while I was sleeping. That's the reason my lips are swollen now.

"Wait...," I give him back the empty glass. "I was asleep for two days?" No wonder it's already daylight again now.

"Yes." He coughs a little to clear his throat.

Two words pop up between the pictures he sent me; lovely and desirable. It's not like I can see the words being spelled out in my mind, it's more like a feeling I can name. It's Lyall's feelings.

"I don't know what I felt when I see your sleeping face," Lyall says in a small voice, "But well... that's how I felt it."

I realize now that the reason Lyall's thoughts come as pictures and feelings without words in my mind is that he couldn't name the experience.

He looks down at the floor. Then he walks back to a desk full of papers, which is a fresh addition to his room, which I have redecorated, and he seems to not care. From the amount of piled papers and documents, it seems like he has moved his office here.

I wonder if he moved his office to watch over me.

"I did," he answers my mind again, "You were in heat and were asleep for two days after the heat went off. We were afraid the werewolves would try to get to you again. But no worries. No one will harm you with me here."

What?

"When you were in heat, your scent can be smelled from miles away. I was told that a sweet, intoxicating scent traveled from the castle to the entire kingdom and beyond the forest, too."

Again. He answers my mind without me having to actually say the words.

"Some werewolves gathered in front of our walls while we mated. A few sneaked in and two almost got to you, dressed as servants." His face darkens. "Only one is alive and in the dungeon now."

I blink.

Wait... So the servant that came to our room before... was actually a werewolf? That was why Lyall looked so angry? Did he do something to the servant? Because I couldn't remember anything. And there was another one? Probably the second one got to the room while I was already asleep.

That means... Lyall has been staying awake for two full days to guard me?

Come to think of it, Lyall never had anyone dared to enter his room for any purpose. Somehow, while I was in heat, my mind became foggy and I couldn't remember some things. All I can recall is Lyall's touch, his kindness, his care.

I felt safe with Lyall.

"H... How is that possible? I... I... experienced nothing like this while I mated with Ed, while I was in my old pack. This... sounds extraordinary... I was just an ordinary girl."

"Were you in heat too?"

I shake my head. "No. Ed was not my fated mate. So, no heat."

"That's probably why then," he says, "Your heat was probably the reason your scent could be smelled everywhere. Lots of werewolves now know that a fertile female werewolf is in the lycan kingdom. Your scent revealed your fertility. At least, that was what one of the rogues told us during the interrogation. He also told us that more werewolves will be coming for you, too."

That sounds bad, doesn't it?

But my mind is blank for now. I can't take in fully the direness of the situation yet.

Looking down, I realize I am still wearing Lyall's shirt. Underneath that, I wear nothing. I force my legs to come down from the bed. But my legs are not ready to receive my full weight after two days of sleeping. They buckle, and I will fall face-first to the floor if Lyall doesn't catch me so quickly.

He literally runs from behind his desk to me. Effortlessly, he picks me up in his arms and puts me on his lap on the sofa. My legs are between his body so we can face each other's eyes. Naturally, I put my arms on his shoulders.

I am not ready for this much intimacy after just getting up. His heat transfers to me and it makes every cell in my body aware instantly. My breath hitches a little.

"Hi," he says with a husky voice. His breath fans my face. The intensity of his eyes and the security of having his arms around me instantly melts my brain again.

"Hi...," my voice is so small.

He is so gorgeous. And masculine. And hot. And...

"Thanks for the compliments, Little Muse," he says with a wide grin. "I can say the same to you."

I arch my brow.

"Not the masculine part," he adds, "But you look radiant. Glowing."

The words he uses make me blush. It's an after-sex glow, I guess. So I owe it to Lyall.

"I'll take that as a compliment too," he says, still with a grin.

Urgh. Is this how we're going to communicate now?

"It's more effective, don't you think?"

When I don't answer, I am actually trying so hard to enforce my mental wall so none of my thoughts or feelings can leak through again. But Lyall sees that as something else that he stops smiling.

"I'm sorry," he looks guilty at me, "I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable. I realize I can sense your thoughts much more after we have sex, too. If you'd like me to step back from reading your thoughts... well, I can try to not read anything."

That gets me to look at him in the eyes. He is acting adorable right now–and yes, I know he will read this thought of mine. "No," I say, "I have nothing to hide anymore, anyway. Although I wish you would lower your mental barrier a bit so I can know what you're thinking too. It's only fair."

He gulps. His fingers play with the edges of my hair. "It's a mess in there," he says, looking at my hair instead of my eyes. "It's a jumble of... because, for a long time, I can't feel anything. So now that I do feel, my thoughts are chaotic, they're not organized–"

I cup his face, forcing him to look at me. "I can help you name all the emotions you haven't figured out. Also, I think if you let me in, I can help reduce the stiffness in your arm better."

Without waiting for his answer, my hands move to his shoulder, where the skin is dark and scaly. It's been quite some time since I visit that dry land in his mind. My hands glow white as I am transported to that same spot I visited in the cave with Lyall.

The land is still barren. But somehow, the sky seems bluer and there is a cool breeze of wind waltzing in the air. Although little, something has changed inside Lyall.

I imagine myself putting one seed in the middle of the land and burying it on the ground, hoping it will grow soon enough. And when it does, I hope it will give more life to the land. As it will bear more seeds, it will eventually grow the land to be more alive.

Once that is done, I open my eyes to a gorgeous pair of green eyes. Without breaking our eye contact, Lyall moves his cursed arm to my face. His thumb caresses my cheek as he whispers, "Thank you," then he pulls me to him for a kiss.

A sweet, gentle, but burning, passionate kiss. I close my eyes to bask myself completely in his warmth.

And then there it is. I feel something has opened in my mind. A transparent door I didn't know existed. I take steps inside the door and that's when I feel a jumble of thoughts rushing to me. There are words mixed up in between those thoughts, but they are sparse.

It's Lyall's feelings.

The words I will use to describe his feelings now are warmth, softness, sweetness, and addiction. I send those words back to him through the bond, and he deepens the kiss in affirmation.

I have to stop the kiss because I am getting dizzy. Panting before him, I say, "Let me go to the bathroom real quick."

Lyall nods. He reluctantly let go of his arms around me.

Making sure I have a perfect balance now, I quickly run small to the bathroom and lock myself there. Leaning to the door, I let out a long breath.

One moment longer with him on that couch and I think we would have done it again.

Feeling hot, I wash my face in the sink. But nothing can prepare me for the surprise I see when I open my eyes again after splashing water on my face.

Staring at me through the mirror is a pair of red, angry eyes of a boy.

I gasp in shock but manage to cover my mouth from crying out loud. I don't want Lyall to think I am in danger, because I am not. Quickly, I put up a mental barrier in my mind, hoping Lyall won't be able to pass through this time.

Turning quickly, I face the boy, who I now know is not Lyall's actual child. He is not anyone's child.

"Sky," I croak his name.

His eyebrows are furrowed together, his nostrils flare, his cheeks are red, and his lip line is down.

He is angry.

But above all, he looks disappointed.

–to be continued–