••• Aleena’s POV •••
“Ouccchhhh” I yelled as Kyson left the room. To pretend that I wasn't in pain was excruciating in itself, but I wanted to show Kyson that even though I was human-like, I could be strong too.
It seemed ironic how I hated him yet somehow wanted him and Night to be proud of me. I didn't know what was wrong with me to want an enemy to like me. It seemed like there was a pull toward him. And when Kyson told me that I did well, I felt over the moon.
Maybe I was starting to like him, or at least Night, if not Kyson. Could it be because he helped me during my heat and I helped him during his rut that I felt this way?
I heaved out a sigh. There was no point thinking about it, I’d just see how he’d treat me. If he treated me well, I’d treat him well too.
“Miss Aleena, I’m here to help you clean your body.” An Omega entered my room with a basin of water and wiping clothes.
She began cleaning my face and body, except for the broken arm, and I kept grimacing. I knew the extent of my injuries.
After she had finished helping me, she stood aside and didn't leave the room.
“Aleena, I’m here with Witch Lily,” suddenly, Kyson’s voice sounded from the doorway. I turned to look at him and couldn't help but be mesmerized by the sight. He was shirtless, and his perfectly carved body never ceased to amaze me. I couldn't get tired of looking at him.
“Please lie down, Aleena,” Witch Lily said in her gentle voice, and Kyson helped me to lie down on the bed as comfortably as I could despite all my injuries.
He then stood aside, letting Witch Lily stand beside the bed. Witch Lily started chanting spells, and I saw a glow covering my whole body. My body started to feel warm, but when the spell fixed my broken arm, I cried out in pain.
God, the healing pain was even worse than when the arm was being broken.
It lasted for a few agonizing minutes, and suddenly I felt a blissful feeling. I closed my eyes, surrendering myself to the feeling until the warmth of the spells left my body.
So, that was how it felt to be healed by a Witch.
“You are healed,” Witch Lily said with a gentle smile.
I sat up and moved my body, even my face, and felt no pain at all.
“Thank you,” I thanked her with a smile.
The Omega then started to help me clean my body in the bathroom and also helped me to change my clothes. Once done, Kyson took my hand and led me to the bed again.
“Are you feeling okay now?” he asked with concern in his eyes. Is he warming up to me now?
“Yes, I don't feel any pain at all,” I nodded.
“Why did you have to be stubborn and sparred with the second fighter?” he scowled, but I could sense the worry in his voice.
“I wanted you to see that I’m not so weak, and.. be proud of me,” I admitted shyly.
He shook his head in helplessness, but I could see a ghost of a smile on his lips.
He then moved my hair to the left and touched my birthmark.
“Aleena, do you know anything about your birthmark?” he asked.
“Ummm.. No. But I know I’m the only werewolf who has it,” I told him. That part was true since Andre kept saying how special I was and how I was destined for greater things even though I was weak since I was the only one with a birthmark.
“Do you know the shapes of your birthmark?” Kyson asked as he traced it.
“A bigger circle with smaller circles around it?” I asked as I ignored the strange, pleasant, tingling feeling of his touch.
“They seemed to have transformed. The last time I saw it, it was just as you described. But now...” he let his voice trail, and Witch Lily went to stand next to him to see my birthmark.
“The bigger circular mark is still the same, but the smaller marks had changed shapes. They looked like symbols of fire, water, earth, and.. wind?“ Kyson looked at Witch Lily for confirmation, to which Witch Lily nodded in response.
“She’ll be able to be trained soon,” Witch Lily informed us.
“Train?” I asked her.
“Will she be able to conjure the elements of nature?” Kyson pondered.
“Me? Able to manipulate the elements of nature?.”How could I? I have no power whatsoever.
“Have you ever felt anything around the birthmark?” Kyson asked as he kept tracing it.
Felt anything? I kept my face down, not daring to look at him. Did he not know that he was making my body warm by caressing my birthmark?
“Umm.. I think sometimes they felt warm,” I told him.
I saw him, and Witch Lily shared a look, but before I could ask them what was wrong, Kyson asked me, “Did you notice anything different when the birthmark felt warm?”
I pondered about it. “No,” I shook my head. Nothing was out of the ordinary, and the warmth wasn't that noticeable.
“Did you know that it glowed when you were fighting just now?” he asked.
My eyes widened in shock. “It glowed?”
He hummed as he nodded. “And your opponent couldn't manage to hit you, right?”
I thought about it and realized that what he said was true. When I was fighting the second she-wolf, her attacks seemed to stop just inches away from my body when they should have hit me.
“Did it have to do with my birthmark?” I couldn't believe that a birthmark could do that.
“I’m thinking so. They glowed a little, and you seemed to be surrounded by a thin layer of protection,” Kyson let out his thought and silence descended in the room with each of us lost in our own thoughts.
“Did Witch Rose ever put protective spells on you?” Kyson asked, breaking the silence.
I thought about it. She might, seeing how my so-called Father used to dote on me so much and I was so weak. But..
“I don't think so. It had never happened before. If she put defensive spells on me, I wouldn't be here,” I said while thinking of what happened in the forest.
“Maybe there’s a trigger to activate it?” Kyson asked.
I shook my head in answer. “I’m not sure about it, but if there is a trigger to protect me, shouldn't it activate when I was beaten in the forest?”
Silence ensued in the room again. I was getting more and more confused. How in the world would I have defensive spells on me? Am I really as special as Andre said? If so, why did he banish me? Wouldn't I be an asset to them if I am that special? Especially if I can conjure the elements of nature as Kyson had mentioned?
“Nevermind about this for now. We’ll keep watch on you from now on and see when and how it is activated,” Kyson said, ending the topic.
“About your training..” Kyson began saying, but Witch Lily cut him off.
“She’ll need to train her body first,” Witch Lily said to no one in particular while looking at a distance.
Kyson nodded in agreement. “Tomorrow, you’ll start training with me.”
“With you?” I was surprised that he would train me privately. “Won't you need to train other members?”
“Liam and Hector are the ones who usually oversee the training of the pack members,” he told me.
“You will need to strengthen your body. This will include running for stamina, and weightlifting for you to gain muscles,” he said after pondering for a while.
Running and weightlifting were things I did when I was in the Black Heart Pack, so I had no objection to them, even though they didn't do anything to my body. I guess I was worse than humans who could gain muscles after they trained while my body stayed the same.
“Wake up earlier tomorrow, at 5 am, to have breakfast, then we’ll run in the forest. Don't forget to prepare my breakfast too. From now on, you’ll eat with me in my study,” Kyson said in a tone that left no room for debate.
“Rest, or you’re welcome to read in my study or familiarize yourself with the pack’s ground.” He bolted out so fast out of my room after saying that.
I sighed. It seems he still doesn't like to be near me.
I looked at Witch Lily, who seemed to be frozen in her spot, and saw her eyes had gone white.
“Your birthmark will be the salvation or damnation of the Alpha of the Lycan,” she said in that eerie, booming vision voice of hers.
I still experienced goosebumps even though I’d heard it before.
She closed her eyes, and her body relaxed. When she opened her eyes, she looked like the beautiful witch she was.
“Remember that, Aleena,” she said in a soft and gentle voice before she left my room.
Her vision made me even more confused. Is my birthmark that important? What about the salvation or damnation thing? Arggghhh.. Everything is so confusing after I became the Crimson Blood Pack member.
Remembering Kyson’s words, I let all thoughts of my birthmark go for now and focused my thoughts on the training with Kyson tomorrow. I have to be stronger and make him proud, no matter what!