"He's asleep right now but you saved his life by marking him. Without a doubt, Alpha King Marcellus would've died by the end of this week." The Doctor explained as she wrote down the notes about his condition.
"However, he is still in weak condition since the two of you have not mated. It is best to stay close to him at all times until you mate because his body is still frail and technically identifies as mateless." She explained, her tone was serious and professional but her eyes were soft when she finally looked up from her notepad.
"Any questions, Lunos?" She asked as she fixed her white coat.
"Um, if we don't mate in a month, will he die?" Kairo questioned, he only knew the basics around this topic since he had never dealt with it first hand or even heard of it. Most of what he knew was stories.
"Do you wish for me to explain this in detail, Your Majesty?"
"Yes please." He nodded, he tried to ignore the terms that he was being called because he didn't think he deserved them at all. However, he understood that in a wolf's eyes, he was a Lunos.
"Alpha Marcellus' body was beginning to self deteriorate due to his lack of a mate. This is common in Kings because in order to have a successful reign, one of the things you must achieve is mating and birthing an heir. Since our Alpha has not yet achieved this, Goddess Celeste had declared him inadequate." She began, "In order to reverse what is happening, he must simply mate with his true mate. Of course bearing your mark is healing him but it simply isn't enough to keep him alive for longer than a month. Mating is what will save Alpha King Marcellus and allow him to live a long and fruitful life."
Kairo stood there as he took some time to process all the information. It was a lot of pressure to bear since he had just met the man and had been planning to reject him but he didn't regret his decision.
"This whole situation will be kept under wraps. If you need anything, please make sure to come to me as I'm the only Doctor who knows about His Majesty's condition and your existence." Doctor Alvarez stated before she bowed and left the room, her reassuring scent fading seconds after.
With a deep sigh, Kairo walked towards Marcellus and watched him as he slept. It had been a couple hours since he had marked him and the Alpha still hadn't woken up. Apparently his body was far to weak to handle the mark but he was slowly beginning to heal, which was great news.
"He's stunning, isn't he?" Hayes finally spoke, he hadn't said anything in the last 12 hours which was unusual for his opinionated self.
"He really is. Please don't forget what we planned to do before this all happened." Kairo sat on the sofa, sadness clouding his face.
"I love you, Kairo and you know this but when you decided to reject Marcellus. I just let you but I never wanted to." The Lycan confessed. Kairo had sensed slight hesitation from him but he didn't think too much of it. After all, Hayes was never certain about any decision he made. Regardless of whether or not it was the right choice.
"Why didn't you want to?" Kairo asked, "I want to hear your side, Hayes."
"Because I want to feel happy." He huffed, "I'm tired of being alone in that old house and only leaving to do acts that put me one step closer to my death. I want to feel loved again."
"I want to live again."
Kairo ran his hand through his messy hair. He was feeling conflicted because Hayes wanted to be with his mate and so did he. It seemed that these past couple of weeks, he had been selfish and only thought of himself. If Hayes can get over the hurt that happened six years ago, then maybe he could too. Maybe it was time he put the past behind him and looked towards the future.
"Let's feel alive together, Hayes." Kairo whispered as a single tear rolled down his cheek. This was a huge step for him but he trusted his Lycan more than anything so he didn't feel hesitant.
[...]
Marcellus felt a rush of energy that gave him the strength to slowly open his eyes. The room was dark and warm as the moon shined through the window. He glanced around the room and spotted someone that made his heat swell up with pride.
Kairo was sitting on the couch with a cup of coffee as he read a magazine. He hadn't even noticed that Marcellus was awake. The moonlight made his pale skin glow beautifully as his brown mop of hair rested on his head. His honey, brown eyes shifted from the magazine to Marcellus and his thick, rosy-tinted lips curved to a small smile.
Marcellus truly believed that Kairo was the most handsome person he had ever met and he had met many, many people. What he loved the most about his mate was his eyes. Even though Kairo had visible eye-bags, they suited him and went well with the type of person he seemed to be. Whenever Kairo would smile, regardless of whether or not it was fake, his eyes would form half moons and they looked heavenly.
"You feeling better, Your Majesty?" Kairo asked as he stood up and stretched. He walked towards Marcellus and awkwardly stood by his side, not knowing where to place his hands or where to look.
"I'm sorry you felt pressured to mark me. If you regret it, you can reject me right now. Kairo, it's up to you." Marcellus admitted, his eyes were glossy as he gazed outside the window.
Kairo could tell that the King meant his words, they were just hard for him to say whilst looking into his eyes. He understood him perfectly but what he didn't understand was Marcellus' willingness to die.
What kind of person wouldn't choose life over death? It was just unnatural for Marcellus to easily decide to die than to force Kairo to accept him or guilt trip him. For a King, he was a lot kinder than Kairo thought.
"Why did you not tell me that you were dying?"
Groaning in discomfort, Marcellus slowly moved so that he could sit up properly before answering, "I wanted you to come to me willingly, not because you felt pressured to save my life."
Baffled, Kairo stood there and stared at the King for a couple minutes. Through all his twenty-four years of life, he had met and seen all types of people. Including the ones he had killed. And one thing that they all had in common was their natural instinct to survive.
Marcellus lacked that instinct. Why?
"Have you never cared for someone so much that you picked their well being over yours?" Marcellus asked, he was confident in his words.
"But you don't know me."
"Doesn't matter." The corners of his lips quirked up as he continued to answer, "At the end of the day, I wouldn't want you stuck in a relationship you didn't want to be in in the first place."
"Well I've thought about it and we want to give it a shot." Kairo mumbled, this whole experience of meeting his mate wasn't new but he hadn't socialised with people in years. It was difficult, to say the least.
"We want to give it a shot too." Kristian chimed in, his voice was deeper and harsher than Marcellus'. Though that didn't surprise Hayes or Marcellus but instead made them happier.
Silence filled the room but it was a comfortable silence as Marcellus ate his food and Kairo sipped his coffee. They enjoyed each other's comforting presence and that was enough for the both of them.
It was more than they could've ever imagined.
[...]
Christopher watched as his mate smiled at another man. He didn't feel jealous, unhappy or betrayed. Instead, he felt contentment and relief. Through all these years, Christopher had been unable to ascend because he simply didn't want to leave Kairo alone but he now saw that the love of his life was one step closer to happiness.
Kairo was a fighter and he would fight to keep his happiness, Chris thought to himself with a smile. This assured him that even when life would come and throw its challenges, Kairo would fight through them and stick to the happiness he felt.
The pregnant wolf could now happily ascend to the Moon, where his people were because at last, Kairo felt genuine elation as he talked to Marcellus and that brought tears of happiness to the young male.
"Good bye, Kai"