Chapter 105

Dylan POV.

"Hmm." I hummed slightly as I continued to lie  stomach first, on the green grass below me. The fresh cut caused the scent to completely envelope me and the sun that blurred down on my skin, made a pleasant heat travel through me. It was such a beautiful day, the breeze was warm and inviting, and the air seemed to send a buzz through my body.

I could say with complete certainty that I had never felt so peaceful, not in the entire 5 years of the new world. I couldn't help but let another hum leave my lips at how calm I felt, this time however a small quiet chuckle sounded out. It was quiet but I looked around and yet there was absolutely no one around.

My eyes closed slightly but when they opened I was met white wall, the scent of freshly cut grass was still so strong but a groan did escape me as I realized it was just a dream. I shut my eyes tight and then willed myself to go back to sleep, I was comfier than I had ever been, I was warm, and most importantly I was refreshed after what was for the first time a really good sleep. My head moved ever so slightly as I tried to nuzzle my way back into the pillow, when another soft chuckle met my ears.

My head and body jolted and instantly shot up faster than ever, two large arms gently wrapped around my now terrified body, causing a warmth I didn't know I could feel, my heartbeat had quickened drastically, until a small whisper sounded out.

"Shh, it's me... it's only me." Learning it was Lewis who held me brought a sigh of relief out of me and I quickly relaxed under his embrace. My arms wrapped around him too as i reciprocated his hug, resting my cheek on his chest the same way it previously was. "You're safe Dyl. You're safe."

The question was, how on earth did I actually manage to fall into such a genuinely nice sleep? I must have gotten a decent couple of hours though, because I was wide awake and felt more energized than I had in a long time.

"What time is it?" My groggy sleepy voice filled the quiet room but I didn't really care all that much, I never wanted to get up. Lewis's steady heartrate was like music to my ears, and his scent always made me think of spring and goodness. God I had it bad!

"It's a little past 11 o'clock." What? Now I really did shoot up in bed, my palm resting on Lewis's muscular chest as a prop, while I leaned over him to pull the small curtain on the window aside to look out at the day.

The sun was blurring, there was barely any clouds in the sky, birds chirped musically and my eyebrows scrunched together in confusion.

"11 o'clock? That means I've..." I had actually slept. I don't think I'd ever had such a good sleep. Lewis just chuckled slightly and finished my sentence for me.

"You've been asleep for 8 hours give or take. You really needed it." 8 hours? It was an absolute miracle for me. How did I not have any nightmares?

"Have you been here all night?" I looked at him shocked at how nonchalant he was being. Did he really not care that I'd incapacitated him most of the night? Did he manage to get any sleep at all?

"Well... I was going to leave, but you woke up and sort of wouldn't let go of me, and I knew you needed sleep." I felt my face heat up at the thought of tipping onto him. Especially when I thought about the position I woke up in, so if I really did cling onto him I must have been cuddling him.

With that revelation I removed my hand finally from his chest and threw the covers off of me, my legs swung over the side of the bed and I stood up, leaving him lying in the bed, while stretching his arms up over his head. My sight wandered over to his short sleeved cladded bicep and I couldn't help but raise my brow slightly at how tense it had gotten while he did so. Once again I found myself shamefully lusting after him.

I coughed slightly and turned my head away from him, letting out a small stretch myself while a quiet groan left my lips at how stiff I was. I must have been extremely comfy for me to have stayed asleep on top of him for so long.

"You must be exhausted then." I awkwardly let out a chuckle as I thought about how I was just checking him out. My cheeks heated up slightly as he shook his head smiling softly. After everything that had happened I didn't expect him to agree with me, but looking at his features he really did seem well rested.

"Actually, I slept really well. Better than I have in a while." I couldn't help but smile at his words, I was unbelievably glad he had said that because I secretly never wanted him to leave again.

"Maybe you are like my own personal dream catcher then. I'll remember that for the next time exhaustion gets to me." I was completely joking, I really was, but Lewis simply smiled and stood up himself.

"I told you last night, I'm here for you, Dyl.” Just when I was about to turn him down the door knocked and John barged though and into the RV. His cheeks however quickly took on a red hue at seeing me stood so close to Lewis.

"Ahh, Dylan... I'm sorry to just come in, I should have waited outside, but V told me to get you..." The man suddenly looked at Lewis and nodded his head. "She's asked for you as well. I just wasn't expecting you to be here." I looked at Lewis in confusion before turning back to John who had nothing but panic on his face.

"Why does she need both of us?" I genuinely understood why she'd ask for Lewis, he actually helped to contribute to the place properly. Meanwhile I just stood with a clipboard telling people where to go and what to get. It was hardly meaningful.

"It’s just… Someone has been bought in…” Was he afraid to tell me something? He very much seemed to be, while also conveying that it was extremely important information, just through his facial expressions alone. If that was in fact the case then it must have been about the king. It was fairly obvious that although it was important, it would ultimately cause me a great deal of stress and anxiety.

“Ok… do I know them or something?” God, he was putting me more on edge with his body language and the lack of information I was getting. Had he never heard of the expression ‘just rip the band aid’?

“You don’t know him, but…” ok I was over the tiptoeing now. He really did just need to spit it out.

“Get to the point John!” My expression was bored. I saw him visibly swallow thickly before meeting my eyes, his face paled quickly as he waited for my reaction.

“A man has just been bought into the medical tent… he was forcibly marked!” Well, that officially peeked my interest. I wasn’t entirely sure why he was so nervous to tell me, maybe because king Josh used to threaten me with the same thing constantly, not that it made any difference.

“What?! Are you sure?” Lewis looked more startled than I was, but I suppose in the end he knew a lot more about it than I did. “We’ll head over there now.”

“Why would we go? It’s not like we can actually help with anything.” I shrugged my shoulders and sighed slightly when I saw Lewis’s tense body. He had spent all night with me on top of him, the least I could was to be there for him as well. “Ok…” Lewis didn’t have to say anything for me to know it was important. “We’ll go and check on the progress.”

He nodded his head before the three of us left and hurried over to the medical tent. Even I could here screams and shouts of agony before we had entered so only god knows how loud it must have been for Lewis. A small wince appeared on his face, but no noise was made as we entered the area.

The bed I had been placed on was occupied by a man, who was doing nothing but screaming and writhing in torment. The room divider hadn’t even been placed over the section and four people scurried from one side of the tent to the next, gathering gauze and antiseptic stuff. The thing that had me shocked the most was the sheer amount of blood coming from his neck, had his artery been burst or something?

Instantly flashes of my moms mangled body came into view as I looked at the seeping lesion on his neck. How could someone who claims you as their soulmate, even think about doing something that would cause nothing but pain? I didn’t understand it at all.

“How can we help?” Lewis quickly made our presence known as he rushed to the doctors side while V simply stared at him. She was holding the patient’s legs down trying to stop the poor man from flailing about.

“Take over from me, you’re much stronger.” He nodded quickly and got to work straight away placing his hands on the man’s ankles and steadily holding them in place.

“He’s bleeding out!” The doctor spoke while quickly placing a handful of gauzes in Vs hands before running off to the other side of the room where John was gathering items on a tray.

“What do I do with this?!” V looked out of her depth. She was strong, and seemed naturally gifted in many things, but she lacked common sense.

I didn’t waste any time in snatching the gauzes out of her palms and taking them in my own, I firmly pressed down an the man’s neck and moved around slightly in order to find where the severe bleed was originating from. When I realized the puncture wound was simply too small for the size of the pads, I took them and wiped the area roughly.

Yes the man was already in pain, and yes I could have been much more gentle, but if it helped spare his life by stopping the bleed then so be it. I wiped again looking closely at the row of teeth marks in his flesh and studying where the main bleed was located. It naturally sat where the fangs would have been.

“What are you doing?” Lewis asked while still holding the screaming man. I barley heard him, I was too focussed on what was in front of me, I had managed to switch off to the man’s cries too.

“We need to plug the holes.” My hands hadn’t been washed properly, and I wasn’t wearing gloves so infection was a high concern, but I couldn’t think about it as the blood loss was excessive and needed to be quelled.

Without another thought, I placed my finger in the man’s neck, and stopped the blood flow instantly.

“Why would someone mark their mate without permission?!” Lewis asked, while still holding onto the man’s limbs.

V was very quick to answer his rhetorical question though as she met my eyes with a hard expression.

“Because the king announced live on television that it was his intention… as soon as he finds his queen he would mark her and wait.

He’s never spoke it live on air before, and so a small tremble began in my hands.

This man here, could have easily been me!

Well shit!