Chapter 68 - The Recovery

CELESTINA VILLARAMA'S POV

The utter disappointment that I quickly felt as soon as Siege tried to defend Stella from me while she wasn't around made me realize how lowly the alpha thought of me. There wasn't anything else running through his mind other than letting my sister have a peaceful life, as she was expected to give birth to his pups. And when she's done giving birth, it will be up to the alpha to decide if he will discard Stella or let her stay as long as she desires.

Who knows? The alpha might learn how to completely fall in love with the sister of his real and fated mate.

I faked a smile as I made my way to the exit of the pack house. I had no other business with them. My motive was to disrupt the Luna ceremony and let Stella feel humiliated in front of a huge crowd, and all of that got blown together with the wind after Siege's last message.

"I wonder where the beta is," I whispered to myself as I roamed my eyes around. I still haven't given him my thanks for helping me all the way here or my apology for failing to achieve my objective successfully in a single try. "I'm sure that he would immediately understand why I vanished without saying a word to him anyway," I mumbled before I proceeded with my journey out of the pack house.

"You're leaving early. Did you already talk with Siege?" Kris asked out of nowhere. "I'm behind you," he uttered, causing me to turn around and look at him, who was sweaty.

"Why are you soaking in sweat, Master Kristoffer?" I asked, hurrying over to his side to try and assist him in drying his sweat with a towel. "Did you have a fight with Stella?" I added, completely ignoring that he was the first one to ask a question.

Kris held my wrist to prevent me from further touching his bare face. He claimed the towel from my hand and chose to dry himself on his own. "I didn't meet your sister. I wasn't around the lobby; I had a small errand to do outside," he answered.

I tilted my head sideways out of curiosity. "Errand? In an important mission like this?"

The beta nodded his head once. Kris inserted his right hand in his pocket, pulling it out to show me a small glass tube. "I think this might help you," he said, pushing the tube to me. "Rather, this will surely help with the recovery of Lucas. I know that he's cursed and all, but giving him a handmade antidote wouldn't hurt to give it a try."

My eyes widened, along with a short gasp. "Antidote? You made an antidote for Lucas' curse? Are you sure that this is going to be effective for him?" I repeatedly asked him, anxious that this liquid might worsen Lucas' current condition.

As much as I wanted to ask if it would kill Lucas, I shut my mouth instead. There's no reason for Kris to take Lucas' life if he was that agitated at the cafeteria earlier after hearing about what I did to Lucas.

"Wait, how..."

"I knew it," Kris sighed, looking annoyed. "Why the heck did you lie about Lucas' death? If I didn't bring this with me tonight, then you would've made a complete fool out of me for the rest of my life, thinking that you're a murderer who decapitated the alpha of the Silver Moon Pack," he complained.

I almost covered his mouth with my hands, afraid that someone else might hear it from the beta. "D-don't go blabbering about that, please," I stuttered.

Kris gently held my wrist as he brought it down to my side. "Don't worry, no one is here. You have to sneak this antidote without letting Leo detect it. Or else, your whole journey here would be meaningless," he advised. "Even if you failed convincing Siege, at least you earned an antidote that will help Lucas. You still did great, Celestina. Don't look back and go straight ahead to your pack house and wherever Lucas is hiding."

"What about you? Aren't you going to be scolded by Siege?" I questioned him, knowing that the alpha might initially think that it was his brother who aided me in my infiltration.

"I can handle myself. I have been trained with Siege's tortures for years; there's no reason for you to worry about me," Kris jokingly replied, giving me a dismissive wave. "I'll be waiting for you to return with a better plan, since I prefer to have you as the pack's Luna rather than your sister. I believe in you, Celestina." His voice sounded so genuine.

***

About a few minutes after I had a short discussion with Kris, I finally caught a glimpse of the Silver Moon Pack's mansion. However, it wasn't my main destination, as I took a detour to a place that was rarely visited by anyone from the pack. It was quite dim along the passageway, so I had to enhance my vision just to see whether I was stepping on the right path or not.

"Lucas? Where are you? It's me, Celestina," I softly mumbled, making sure that no one would hear me, aside from the alpha, from this distance. "I came back from the Crimson Moon Pack, and I brought medicine for you," I added.

I heard a faint voice from the left side, so I hurriedly ran there without halting, not until I finally saw the alpha, who was leaning his back against the huge trunk of the tree. He looked weaker compared to the last time I saw him, and it might be the effect of creating a replica of his decapitated head and body.

"Lucas, hang in there. You'll feel better soon," I tried to assure him.

My knees gave up as I knelt on the stony path beside the alpha. I raised my hand to touch his forehead and check his temperature.

"You're burning despite this cold weather?" I hissed, preventing myself from panicking. "Digest this liquid, Lucas," I ordered as I gave him the glass tube.

But since the alpha was fragile, I was the one who made him drink it. I gently forced his lips to part ways as I held his chin. The antidote immediately made its way down to his throat.

The alpha continuously coughed as he gulped it down. "It tastes bitter," he commented.

Letting go of the glass, I fixed my position to sit near him instead. "How do you feel now? Better or worse?" I asked, placing my hand on his leg, without having any malicious thoughts in my mind.

It only took him a few seconds to react to the antidote. He tried to raise his arm, and at first, he looked quite doubtful that it would be back to normal, but when he got to move even his legs, he finally planted a wide smile on his lips.

"Where the hell did you get such an effective antidote?" Lucas exclaimed, genuinely happy that he was no longer numb.

"That was actually from Kris," I admitted, even though I was a little bit hesitant to tell him the truth.

The smile on Lucas' face immediately faded, as expected. "Kris? Kristoffer Wong?" he asked, shaking his head in disbelief. "He has no reason to help me cure my curse unless he uses this to say that I owe him something in the near future," he said.

I don't want Lucas to continue thinking badly about Kris, so I told him everything that happened while he was concealing his presence in this deep forest.

"I still have to return to the Crimson Moon Pack, but I still haven't made up another plan. The Luna ceremony will already happen in a few hours, so I can't stay here for so long," I uttered, heaving out a loud sigh that caused my shoulders to move.

"Do you want me to come with you? Or should we deal with Leo first?" Lucas suggested, making me choose between the two.

I held my chin, having a hard time contemplating which one to choose.

"I think it would be better for us not to show up in front of Leo for a while until we have finished dealing with the matters in the Crimson Moon Pack," I said, standing up at the same time that I lent him my hand to help him rise. "Leo might kill us both before we can head there if I choose the latter part," I added.