Chapter Twenty-One

“Hello,” Hayden sang as he entered the private ward at the hospital.

As soon as Alexia heard his voice, she raised her head from the pillow, and immediately rested back, turning her whole body away from him.

Hayden felt the subtle reflection like a sucker punch to the gut. He entered the room and shut the door behind him. He raised the bag with him.

“I brought food and a change of clothes,” he said again.

She turned to face him, and wordlessly collected the bag from him when he sat down. She removed the food flask from the bag, examined the clothes.

“I also put your hairbrush and your body lotion there. I didn’t know whether you needed hair oil, but I can always get you those, or ask someone to bring them,” he commented.

“These are fine, thank you,” she said in a clipped tone.

She took the bag and went to the small adjoining bathroom. Shortly after, Hayden heard the sound of clothes shuffling, and his mind automatically started imagining her naked.

How her body would look under the steady stream of water. Her small, strong hands lathered with soap slid down her body—over her shoulders, over her breasts, down her flat stomach, over her hips, in between her legs—all the blood rushed south, and his member hardened in his boxers.

He was thankful that the material of his sweatpants was loose, so he quickly adjusted himself and tried to rid himself of his unwanted boner. Thinking of Ace in a wedding dress did that for him.

Just then, Alexia came out of the bathroom fully dressed, but with her hair still damp. She held the brush in her hand, and the bag and a face towel were in the other hand.

She sat down on the bed, and placed the bag on the table. She started to use the face towel to dry her hair by patting it between two folds of the towel.

“Let me help you with that,” Hayden offered. He took the towel from her hand, and stood up. He patted her hair gently with the towel, passing it from her scalp to the ends of her hair.

When the hair was almost dry, he took the brush and started brushing her hair in slow, soothing strokes. Her hair fell past her shoulder blades, and fanned out over her shoulders to fall over her breasts.

“Braid or loose?” he asked her.

“Braid, please,” she replied. He complied and braided her hair, letting the end fall over her shoulder.

“Thank you,” she said curtly and tried to lie down, but Hayden grabbed her hand.

“I want to talk to you, please.”

“If what you want to say is not what I want to hear, then I don’t want to hear it.”

“It is what you want to hear, I promise,” he said.

“Okay then. On with it,” she replied.

Hayden took a deep breath, “I am sorry.”

“I was wrong,” he continued, “I shouldn’t have treated my best friend like that. It doesn’t matter what he said or did; he was looking out for me and the pack, and I shouldn’t have reacted like that. It was uncalled for. Also, I should not have yelled at you. I am extremely sorry. Forgive me,” he said.

Alexia cracked a smile, and Hayden sighed in relief, “That’s all I wanted to hear. I’m glad you realized your mistake. Did you apologize to him too?”

“Yes. I did. Working the punching bag really helps me clear my mind,” he quipped.

“I know! Me too!” exclaimed Alexia excitedly.

Hayden stood up from the chair and sat beside her on the bed. His eyes asked her for permission before he tilted his head and kissed her softly on the lips. Arousal hit him like a freight train as he struggled not to divest her of her clothes and take her right on the bed.

Gently, he teased her bottom lip with his tongue, and she moaned pleasurably into his mouth. He swallowed the sound and slipped his tongue into her mouth. She melted in his hands as their tongues danced and stroked, exploring each other’s mouths.

They didn’t hear the pack doctor come into the office, so they sprung apart in shock when he cleared his throat.
Alexia blushed down to her roots, embarrassed, while Hayden looked at the doctor with confidence and mild irritation.

“Alpha,” the doctor said, bowing slightly. Hayden gave a small nod, and he began to talk.

“I only wanted to tell you both that Alexia is free to go home. She’s fully recovered now, but she shouldn’t try to Hunt or use her Sixth Sense for now. And also, I talked to one of the warlocks. He said that she should stay away from magic for now. That’s all. Enjoy the rest of your day, Alpha,” he said and left the ward.

The doctor had barely left the office when Alexia turned to face Hayden, “What did he mean stay away from magic? I don’t perform magic. I am not a Witch. He must be mistaken. That’s the problem,” she ranted.

Hayden was smiling at her instead of acknowledging what she said.

“Why the hell are you smiling at me and not answering my question?” she cried.

Hayden hid his smile, “Nothing, nothing. I’m sorry. Uhm…the magic…stay away from magic…Yeah. Romulus said that you are a powerful magic conduit and you were actually channeling magic to find the figurines when you did. So, yeah. No Sixth Sense Hunting for you, for the next week or so,” he said and stood up.

He put the untouched food flask back into the bag, and stretched his second hand to Alexia. She took it, and he pulled her towards himself. Before she could get in a word, he kissed her on the lips, then stepped back and started walking out of the ward.


***

“Where are we going to stay, now that your room is off limits for now?” Alexia asked as they climbed up the stairs in the packhouse.

“Any floor you like. I can have the warlocks sanctify our clothes and other stuff before they bring it for us,” he replied.

“I’d like the last floor. It has the best view for sunrise and sunset,” she said.

“The last floor it is,” Hayden affirmed, smiling.

They jogged up the stairs until they reached the last floor. When they entered its hallway, Alexia stood with her eyes closed, and let herself be bathed in the warm glow of the late afternoon sunlight.

Then she exhaled, and all tension seemed to leave her body. When she opened her eyes, she turned and opened the first door to her right, “Here. This room.”

Hayden shrugged and followed after her. While she flopped down on the huge bed, Hayden drew open the curtains and turned on the air conditioning. Warm orange light spilled in from the windows and slanted in beams across the floor and the bed.

“I’m hungry,” she said, patting her stomach.

“Your lunch is right here,” Hayden said, pointing to the bag containing the food flask. He took off his t-shirt and stretched.

“I don’t know about you, babe, but I am tired. I’ll be sleeping. Help yourself to the food,” he yawned.

“Okay,” she replied. He climbed into bed, and fell asleep as soon as his head hit the soft pillows.

Alexia opened the food flask and the aroma of spaghetti sauce rich in Italian seasoning wafted out. She ravished the food quickly, moaning as the food burst in heavenly flavours on her taste buds.

After eating, she helped herself to a cup of water placed near the bed. She burped loudly, giggled and climbed into bed, snuggling beside Hayden. Hayden stirred, and drew closer to her, his arm resting on her waist.


***

“Let me guess; more bad news. Or worse, you’ve been caught,” the person on the phone said drily.

“I haven’t been caught, but I may soon be,” she said, trembling, “I planted the figurines like you instructed, but Alexia found it. I don’t know how she did, because you said she wasn’t supposed to, that you were going to mask them with a spell that will elude her Sixth Sense, but she still did. She fell ill after she found them, but she still did. Now, Hayden is investigating. The warlocks are tracing the source of the magic that enchanted the figurines, and cleansing his room and the office. What if they trace the magic back to me?”

“Tracing a magic spell is not as easy as it sounds. It may take up to a week. Before then, I will teach you something you can do to eliminate the magic from you. Be careful. Any slip-up and you will be killed. That’s a promise,” said the person on the phone in a chilly voice.

“Yes, Leader,” she replied, “However, they are back in the packhouse now. What should I do?”

“Nothing. They shall have peace. For now. The next Half Moon will be bloody, and right after will be a total shitfest for both of them. We shall deploy our secret weapon then,” said the Leader.