Tessa was served food and took a bath right after eating with the help of her handmaiden.
As the night deepened, the camp grew silent. Seizing the opportunity, Tessa decided to check on Elias, not out of concern, but because his death would determine hers too. Being wanted for theft was one thing, but being wanted for the murder of a king was entirely different.
The former would ruin her reputation, while the latter would cost her life. Those who wanted her downfall would hunt her relentlessly. She couldn't fathom such a scenario.
Sneaking out of her tent, she surveyed the guards and memorized their positions before making her move. Two guards were stationed at the front and back of Elias's tent. If she distracted the front guards, she could slip in from the side. It was such an easy task, given the guards were gullible enough to fall for it.
Fortunately, some tents had side entrances for emergencies, and Elias's tent was one of them.
But then she remembered, she was his consort, his mate, the one to bear his heir. She could simply demand entry. Right? No one would question why a wife wants to see her bedridden husband.
"No!" She muttered, feeling embarrassed for checking up on him, something she had always criticized women for doing in movies. She had never understood why women checked on their injured husbands and disliked those scenes.
Still, she was doing this to avoid dying. There was no reason to feel embarrassed. As she approached the guards, she reconsidered and decided to distract them.
Picking up a few stones, she growled softly and threw one some distance away from the guards. At first, they just exchanged glances and shrugged it off.
"You fools," she cursed under her breath, throwing heavier stones this time and growling louder. This worked, and the guards moved towards the sound, giving her the chance to sneak in.
She didn't expect what she saw next. Elias, whom she thought would be unconscious, stood with his hands folded behind his back, facing her direction as if anticipating her arrival.
"I... I just wanted to see if you have food," she blurted out, realizing too late how ridiculous she sounded. Who sneaks into a tent looking for food unless they were a thief?
"You must be very hungry to sneak in instead of asking your handmaiden," he mocked sarcastically, his intense stare making her uncomfortable.
Was he angry? She was only trying to check on him, though she hadn't told him that.
"I see you are fine now that you can speak well. I am leaving," she said, glaring at him. She scanned his body with her eyes before turning to leave.
"You sneaked in, and you want to boldly leave?" Reminding her of how she came in, he asked and walked up to her, stopping when he was just a step away from her.
Unknown to Tessa, she turned and went stumbling back only to be caught by him. Slowly, he dragged her up, their gazes, locked onto each other. Tessa was just realizing he had black beautiful eyes and they weren't just void, they were also mesmerizing.
One could get lost in them if they stared longer than necessary. She unknowingly brought her hands up and touched his eyes, opening her mouth to ask, "Why…why are you hiding from the world?" Her breaths were uneven, as she awaited his response.
"Tessa!!!" Instead of a response, Elias called her name thrice and tapped on her shoulder to bring her back to her senses.
"Oh, shit!!" Realizing what she had just done, she cursed and pushed Elias away, clearing her throat from the awkward encounter.
"Since you are fine, distract your guards, I will sneak out again." Making sure not to meet his gaze, she suggested, gesturing her hand at him for him to go.
"I need to confirm something first," he responded and started walking up to her, causing Tessa to take steps backward as he inched towards her.
"What are you doing? I am not ready yet, but we can do it tomorrow." Dropping her hands across her chest, she said, thinking he wanted to mate with her.
Ignoring her hesitance since he was too stressed to clear his intentions, he didn't stop walking up to her and dragged her closer to him when he got to her side.
"I will scream," threatening, she said, hoping it would work on him but he lazily dragged his gaze across her chest and up to her neck, before tugging at her cardigan to have a better view of her neck.
"The neck again?" Dazed, she asked, wondering why he was always so interested in her neck. Was he a neck addict? Was there even an adjective for them?
"Does it hurt? Or have you suddenly felt pain?" Rubbing his hand on the bite mark his wolf gave her, he questioned, not moving his gaze away from her neck.
"No, it doesn't. Okay, I have had enough, why are you obsessed with my neck?" Unable to hold in the curiosity bugging her, she asked.
"You might be in danger," he said, causing Tessa to widen her eyes in terror.
"What did you just say?" Pushing him away slightly to gaze at his face, she questioned.
Contemplating, he stared at her for a minute and started, "The night you got bitten by my wolf while trying to steal the crown, he could have bitten you to death if he hadn't sniffed you as our mate. Unfortunately, I was only able to suck out some poison, there are still lingering poisons in your body and the bite starts shaping once your body comes in contact with warm water. If you have not started feeling pain then I can still drain out the poison in you," rattling on and on, until Tessa got his point.
"So I could die if you are unable to save me?" Though her inner mind was in turmoil, she maintained composure and asked.
"I will not let you die,"