Blood Ties

1

"No!" Lycus boomed, he didn't need to hear this right now, the state of her future being in his hands. He could heal her, mend her, not turn her. "It's just a scratch mark, we do not turn her."

"Will—will she be okay?" Tala stammered.

"She's human, but mated to Lycus. If she was marked by him ... she'd have some of his abilities which would speed up the healing process. This is why we need some of his blood that would provide healing properties. We have to do it to get the best outcome."

Accalia's wound had been cleaned. The blood that smeared her back was cleansed to show her brown skin with claw marks.

She didn't move once throughout the process, not when the healers removed the splints of Cole's claws from her body, the cloth to clean the blood away and the droplets of healing herbs that mixed with Lycus's blood that dropped into her cuts. They didn't know if it was the medicine or his blood, but the healing surpassed their expectations.

The two healers didn't stop tending to Accalia, they were all over the cabin, gathering every herb to heal and tool to use. The scratches were finally closed through stitching.

It zig-zagged a shiver along Lycus's back and he couldn't move from the door frame. He was in a haze those hours ago, watching everything play out from the outside, looking in. And now, guilt plagued his insides like death and he would gladly rot because of it.

Morning ushered in, dawn falling upon Lycus like a revelation. He was positive he would never feel the same relief ever again when the healers confirmed Accalia would be fine.

For the past few hours, he asked everyone to leave him with Accalia, wanting no one else to look at her like a broken toy. Her essence was all that shrouded him.

I'll tear Lycus's pretty mate to shreds.

Steps daintily came toward him, shaking him out of his thoughts and a flowery scent crushed into him. Of course, she would know what took place here, either by Tala's mouth or her foresight.

Lycus looked to the oracle standing before him. He has known this woman for many years now and recruited her once he locked sight on those familiar eyes, the moon's eyes. Her black skin beamed beneath the dawn's light and her locs swept around her.

Vaela was a traveller before she met Lycus, wanting to know why her silver eyes foretold the secrets of the unknown. Why she was sent as a guide for lycans and werewolves and when Lycus crossed her path, he unveiled the world she was a part of and she found a place in his pack ever since. 

Lycus also appreciated her brass honesty.

Vaela stood before him, wilful but cautious. "Alpha Lycus, the healers contracted these from her back. I requested they give them to me." She laid her hand palm and shards of huge claws sat clear and crystalline in her palms.

Lycus tensed up, folding his arms and fighting the anger. "They're his claws."

Vaela nodded. "Indeed. Alpha, you know my abilities extend beyond prophecy telling, I'll be able to examine these for you and gather insight, into his memories in his lycan form. But it will take time."

Lycus looked back into the medical room, swindling his face to his mate that still laid on her stomach with only a sheet to cover her back.

"I have every intention of going to war, Vaela." Lycus confessed to the oracle.

Vaela closed her palm around the claws and watched Lycus pensively. "I know. Accalia may be more reserved than before Lycus, but know this, she'll be a Luna that no one has ever known."