"There isn't enough time to loop in anybody else, so we are going to have to make do with King Richard and King Stephen's men." I whisper to Heloix, running my fingers through his knotted hair.
He blinks slowly, but otherwise doesn't respond, so I continue.
"We are going to send all of King Richard's men and most of King Stephen's to the large estates down South. They will protect the humans there. Admittedly, that won't leave a lot of protection for us here, but I'm counting on the city people being all talk and no action."
His fingers tense up against mine slightly, and I snap my attention to our connected hands. My thumb rubs his skin lightly. I wish I could understand what he was trying to convey to me.
"You didn't tell me that the real danger of our bonding was the Beasts executing the humans." I murmur, removing my hand from his and moving it to the bite mark on his neck.
Heloix mentioned before that Beasts like to symbolize their bond with a bite to the neck and that someday I would wear his, but I never expected that his body would accept the bite of a human. A smile settles over my face as I trace along the imprint of my teeth, happy that he will forever bear my mark.
His mouth falls open slightly as my actions, a quiet rumbling reverberating from his chest. It comforts me to know that his Beast still lives within him, and seems to be getting stronger with each passing hour.
A knock at the door pulls my attention away, and I turn to watch Axis walk in. He nonchantally looks around as he enters, eyes darting to me every once and a while. He shuffles slightly, looking uncomfortable as he comes to a halt in the center of the room.
I remain still, waiting for him to share with me his news.
"Adeline," He pauses for a moment, coughing into his fist. "That's a bit of an intimate action."
Confused, I glance down at Heloix. My face heats up as I yank my hand away from his neck, having forgotten that my fingers were resting on my mark.
"Sorry, I didn't realize." I explain, wishing for the world to swallow me whole.
Axis visibly relaxes the second my hand is removed, his chest deflating as he exhales. He looks over Heloix's body with a frown.
"Is there a reason you've laid him down so haphazardly?" He questions, quickly moving towards my mate's body.
"He's heavy."
I take a step back as Axis approaches, watching as he grabs onto Heloix's shoulders and flips him around, moving him onto his back. Heloix's head falls back against the cushion, and I wince as I take in the indentations from the seam of the couch on his face. He's no doubt going to give me an earful when he wakes up.
"Are there any updates?" I question, embarrassed as I watch Axis remove Heloix's shoes and lift his legs up onto the couch.
These are things I should have done myself, or at least asked Axis to help with earlier. To be honest I was a bit ashamed at not being able to, and was hoping Heloix would wake up before it was noticed.
Axis stands back up with a sigh, brushing his hands on his pants.
"King Richard's men arrived almost an hour ago. I immediately sent them off to the estates. They will demand a rollup of the humans for inspection, and will move them to a warehouse to keep them safe until Heloix wakes up." He informs me.
I'm glad to hear that he has followed through with my plan, and hope that Heloix will be proud of my ideas.
A quiet groan emerges from Heloix, and both Axis and I snap our attention down to him. His eyes blink slowly, heavy puffs falling from his lips as he struggles to breathe.
Immediately I'm on my knees in front of him, my face inches from his as I watch him wake up. His pupils dilate as they land on me, sweat pebbling up along his skin.
"They'll know-" Heloix croaks, pausing to clear his throat. "They'll know something's up when another King's men show up to take their humans."
Axis hums, glancing at me momentarily before looking back at Heloix. "Your little mate thought the same thing. His men are wearing our uniforms."
Heloix nods slightly, his eyes shutting for a long moment before opening halfway.
"And when they fight back?" He probes.
Axis opens his mouth to respond, but I interject.
"Most of King Stephen's men are tasked with controlling the rebellion back at the estates. About a third will stay here in case we face an attack from any commoners from the city." I explain, reaching forward and pushing his hair from his face. "Both should arrive there tomorrow afternoon."
Heloix nods slowly, the motion so slight that I wouldn't have noticed it if it weren't for my full attention on him.
His eyes slowly fall closed, and I sigh and stand, letting him rest. I turn to face Axis, but drop my head back down as Heloix's fingers wrap around my wrist.
His grip on my skin is light, his arm lifting to bring my hand to his face. He makes it halfway before his arm falls back down, but I pay it no mind and place my palm on his cheek. His head turns towards my hand, a low growl falling from his chest as I pull away slightly.
"He's trying to smell you." Axis chimes in.
I hold back a frown at the fact that Axis can better read Heloix than me, reminding myself and they have been close for years. Pushing down my feelings, I bring my wrist to Heloix's nose. His stomach extends as he takes a deep inhale of my scent, the rumblings in his chest quieting.
Leaning down, I place my face in his neck and give him a small kiss.
"I think you smell nice too." I whisper, pressing my lips to his clammy skin once more before pulling away.
Straightening up, I turn to Axis with a frown.
"We need to work out a plan for protecting the castle." I state, reaching up and pinching the bridge of my nose.
We should have enough guards to protect from a handful of angry commoners, but we may run into an issue if they group up and come at us in large numbers. Axis has assured me that we only need to keep them at bay until Heloix is back to normal, but I don't know how much I believe that.
I've been told that mating with a human is often dangerous, the Beast unable to handle the split between both bodies and weakening to the point that he either dies or is quickly killed. Once they see that Heloix has survived, Axis expects that they will fall back in line.
Despite my worries, I'm trying to remain positive, hopeful that what I've heard is accurate and that Heloix's Beast is strong enough to handle the adjustment.
Axis jerks his head towards the door, signaling to me that we should continue the conversation outside the room. I glance down at Heloix once more, watching him try and force himself to stay awake. I shake my head slightly, tsking quietly at his actions. He needs to be resting, not eavesdropping on our conversation.
"John will be in shortly to keep you company." I promise, smirking as he narrows his eyes in response.
He can pretend all he wants, but I know that he has a soft spot for John.
It's hard to walk away, but I force myself to turn and leave the room. Axis follows quickly behind, shutting and locking the door as we exit.
We remain quiet as we move through the hallways, and to my surprise Axis stops in front of Heloix's office door. He enters without hesitation, holding the door open just long enough for me to seep through.
"Heloix wrote up several fortification plans a couple of months ago. Should be somewhere in here." He explains, moving to the drawers under the desk and rifling through them.
I glance around his office with wide eyes, feeling a bit overwhelmed with the mess in here. Heloix's always been a bit chaotic when it comes to his organization, but he's been especially bad these past couple of weeks. Moving over to his filing cabinet, I pull open the top drawer and begin searching through it.
All that's inside this one are files on the workers within the castle, and I quickly close the drawer before moving on to the next one. Ripping open the bottom drawer, I let out a small cheer as my eyes spot the word 'Fortification.'
Axis moves to stand behind me as I pull out the file, his body so close that I can feel the heat emanating from his chest. I don't appreciate his proximity, but remain quiet about it as I straighten back up and pull out the papers.
Inside are several scribbled plans, each optimized for a different scenario with adjustments based on the number of guards available.
"Can I see?"
I nod, turning slightly so Axis has better access to Heloix's work. His arm brushes against mine as he reaches out and flips through the pages, pulling one out and setting it on top.
"This one is specifically for protecting the humans." He comments.
I quickly scan over the sheet, nodding my head in approval of his plan. It's arguably better than anything I could have come up with, and I'm grateful that Heloix was able to get this completed before marking me.
His idea is to move all the humans into an underground warehouse hidden within the woods, leaving it relatively unguarded to not draw attention to it. Several men will be in charge of protecting the basement, making it seem like the humans are being kept there and drawing attention away from their actual location.
"Won't the Beasts smell the humans?" I ask, turning to face Axis.
He shakes his head.
"No, we will strip them down, wash them, and spray them with a deodorizer." He answers, his words making me frown.
There's no way that the humans will be happy being treated like cattle, forced to get naked and march onto the forest. Likely they will all think they are being executed. My head aches at the stress, and I clench my eyes shut and take a deep breath.
Axis watches my actions wearily.
"It's getting late. You should go to bed and I'll take care of this." He murmurs, jerking his head towards the door.
I frown, not wanting to leave all this work for him.
"I'm fine," I argue. "I'll ask John to explain the situation to the humans. They trust him, and it will hopefully help to get them away without a lot of argument."
The papers are ripped from my hand, and I gasp as Axis holds them up out of my reach.
"You need rest. And Heloix will heal faster if you're near him." He urges, lowering his hand and placing it between my shoulder blades.
He pushes me forward gently, and I turn to look back at him in anger. I open my mouth to argue some more, but pause as he shoots me a sharp glare.
"I'm not going this for you, Adeline. I'm doing it for Heloix." He snaps, his eyes flashing momentarily. "I love him, and the last thing I need is him dying because some small human woman wouldn't spend time with him."
My jaw snaps shut at his words, teeth connecting with a quiet clink. I was unaware that my presence was necessary for his healing, and had I known, I wouldn't have left his side. Axis's eyes narrow as he waits for my response, but I offer him none as I spin on my heel and march out of the room.
My feet move quickly as I head back towards our wing, my heart racing at the prospect of seeing Heloix again. It was admittedly quite hard being away from him all day, especially knowing that he's laid up all sick.
My eyes land on the couch as I push open the door, but I freeze in place as I take in its empty state. I can feel my pulse racing as I hesitantly step inside and let the door slam shut behind me.
"Heloix?" I call out, craning my neck around as I search for the large man.
He's nowhere to be seen, but I spot his clothing crumpled up in a pile on the carpet. I eye it wearily, heart rate picking up as I try to figure out what's going on.
I call out his name once more, a shaky exhale leaving me when he doesn't respond. My footsteps are slow as I move to the bedroom, hoping to find him inside.
The door opens with a quiet creak, a gasp falling from my lips as I take in the state of the room. The mattress on the bed has been pushed over, the heavy material tipped off onto the floor. Looking to the left, I spot the closet doors hanging off by the hinges, all the clothing inside having been ripped out and scattered throughout.
The entire room is in disarray, and as I look to the right I spot my knocked-over clothing basket, the dirty laundry poured out into a pile on the floor.
"Heloix?" I question, my voice coming out in a nervous squeak.
Heloix's Beast raises its head, his massive body tensing up as it watches me from atop the pile of clothing.
Slowly it rises, stalking towards me with a heavy stare. He's larger than any other I've seen before, his body reaching my shoulder while on all fours. I clench my sweaty palms as he approaches, nervous about being so close to a Beast.
Admittedly I know that he would never hurt me, but it's still scary to see the thing you've been so scared of your entire life only inches from you. His head drops down as I take a tentative step back, a quiet whine falling from his lips.
My mouth goes dry as he plops down on his belly at my feet, his large head craning up to watch me. Shutting my eyes, I force myself to take a deep breath and relax.
It's just Heloix.
Opening my eyes once more, I gulp and bend down to his level, reaching my hand out to touch him. His fur is soft under my hand, and he grumbles as I run my fingers through it. Taking that as encouragement, I sit cross-legged on the floor and run my hand along his neck. I pause my movements as he lifts his head, resuming as he drops it down in my lap.
His breath warms the exposed skin of my thighs, and I twitch as his wet nose brushes up against the back of my knee.
"You're like a dog." I murmur, holding back a laugh as a loud growl emerges from him.