CHAPTER TWO HUNDRED & NINETY NINE
Nolan’s POV
“Of course I do,” Talia responded.
“Then, let him rest,” Leslie pleaded. Her eyes met mine over Talia’s head, and she gave me the smallest nod. I understood. I put my arm around Talia’s shoulders and turned her gently away from the door.
“Talia. Come on. Let’s go.”
“Nolan, I want to see him.”
“You will see him tomorrow anyways.”
Talia hesitated. Solon said, “Don’t stress, Talia. Leslie and I will watch over him. If he wakes, we’ll tell you.”
“You promise?”
“I promise,” Solon said, and Leslie nodded.
Talia let me turn her, but she did not move her feet at first. I waited. After a moment, she took the first step on her own, and I walked her back down the corridor with her weight half against my side.
We ate in our room. Talia said little but ate everything. I felt her anxiety through the mate bond. I turned on the shower for her.
“Nolan, I’m not in the mood,” she said as I helped her out of her clothes.
“Just shower. Take all the time you need,” I said, guiding her in.
While she was showering, there was a knock at the door. An omega brought in a cup of tea. “This is from Healer Leslie for Princess Talia.” The omega quickly left.
After her shower, Talia looked better but tired. She drank her tea and lay down facing away. Ten minutes later, she was asleep. I sniffed the cup; something smelled off.
‘A mild sedative,‘ my wolf said. ‘It is to help her sleep.‘
I lay beside her and watched the ceiling for a while. I didn’t know how tomorrow would turn out, but I had to be optimistic. Sleep finally took me, but it didn’t last.
Solon’s voice sliced through the mind–link, sharp and urgent.
‘Nolan. He is awake. Come alone. Do not bring Talia.‘
‘On my way,‘ I replied, my pulse jumping.
Confused, I slipped out of bed, careful not to disturb her. Luckily, Talia was in a sound sleep and didn’t even stir. I dressed in the dim light and left quietly.
Solon waited in the hospital lounge, looking somber. I started to speak, but he walked to Rudolf’s room, opened the door, and closed it behind me.
Rudolf was awake, propped on pillows, tubes in his arm, monitor beeping, but his eyes were clear.
“Nolan. Come here.”
I moved to the bed. He raised his hand slightly; I took it. His grip was weak.
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“Thank you. For taking care of her. For keeping the promise you made me on the day you married her. I have watched you keep it every day since.”
“You do not have to thank me.”
“I do. I want more time with the three of you. I would have liked another five years. Another two. Even another one. But I can feel it. It is closer than any of you know.”
“The potion will put you to sleep tomorrow. Once Jason is gone, we will find a cure. We are not going to stop looking.
He shook his head. “Nolan. Stop. I appreciate the effort. I want you to know that. But I have accepted it.”
“Accepted what?”
“My organs are failing. The poisoning started months ago before we even knew the damage. I knew the herb would speed things up, but I had to protect my children and pack,” Rudolf said.
“No, the antidote could reverse this,” I argued.
“Even with a cure, the damage can’t be reversed in my time left. My wolf’s asleep; he hasn’t spoken since you came back. He won’t again.”
I did not have anything to say to that. I held on to his hand and waited.
“That is not why I called you here, Nolan. I called you because I have a bad feeling about Jason’s proposal.”
“Talia should be here for this.”
“No. I need to talk to you about it before tomorrow. Talia is already on the brink of a meltdown. She does not need to hear this.”
I nodded and waited for him to continue.
“The night of your father’s death should have been the day that I did. Your father was never the intended casualty. That night, your father thought something was wrong. He swapped glasses with me. When I realized what he had done, it was too late. I had blocked all of this out of my mind until now, as it was a painful memory that I did not want to remember. I wasn’t even able to be the one to put him out of his misery.”
I felt the breath go out of me.
“He died for me, Nolan. Your father died for me, and I have lived with that every day since. I have lived with the regret of knowing his son grew up without him because of me.”
“That was not your fault. Michael did that, not you. And I am sorry for the way I treated you when I was younger. I am sorry I blamed you for it,” I responded.
Rudolf closed his eyes for a moment, and I saw a tear move along the corner of one of them.
“Thank you, Nolan. I am sorry too. I should have done more for you when you were a boy. I should have been there in ways I was not. I did not know how to be, and I am sorry for that.”
He opened his eyes again, and the clarity in them was sharper now, like a man bringing himself back to the thing
he had called me for.
“Jason is his father’s son, Nolan. I do not believe for a moment that the potion is a clean offer. Michael used mad rogues‘ blood for years to set people up, to send them into frenzies they could not come out of, to make good men hurt people they loved. If Jason has done the same to what is in that vial, then what is going to come out of me
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NINETY NINE
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tomorrow is not going to be me. It is going to be something else. You know what I speak of. If the worst happens, I could become a danger to everyone here. I could turn on Talia, on Solon, on you. I might try to kill or maim anyone I see. That’s the true risk, Nolan. It won’t be me inside my body. You need to be ready to face that.”
“Leslie, already checked it. It…”
“If that happens,” Rudolf continued, cutting me off. “If I lose control, if I move toward Talia, or Solon, or Leslie, or anyone, I need you to promise me something, and I need you to promise me now, before anything else.”
I went still.
“Promise me you will kill me. Immediately. Before I can hurt any of them.”
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