Chapter 98

• HAERA
• I wanted an answer from Opaline yet I dreaded it as well. If Opaline rushed in with that worried look boldly written all over her face with truth that I thought was perfectly hidden falling from her lips, then it had to be serious. I could feel it in my bones even with how weak they were. I got up to my feet even with the way they wobbled and protested the movement. I was better than I was before whatever the physician fed me with put me into a deep sleep. I could move my body and the fever seemed like it had gone down. Even if I was still so sick then, I wouldn't have acknowledged the pain. I just wanted to know how Opaline found out I was sick and how the news got to her. "How did you know?" I asked again, this time, more eloquent and with more strength to my voice. Opaline ignored my question. She didn't have to talk for me to know she doesn't care about telling me how she found out but more about me. She strutted closer and held my hands, spinning my body around to check all over me. She grabbed my face in her hands and squeezed my cheeks slightly. I held back the urge to roll my eyes and bark at her that I didn't have time for this. "Are you okay? Where did you get hurt? Have you seen the physician? Why didn't you tell me you were sick?" Opaline worrying about me was everything and I would have given anything to have let her know about it when it first happened but it wasn't what I needed. I wanted answers but it seemed like Opaline wasn't planning to give me one anytime soon. But I tried again. "Opaline, tell me how you knew I was sick. Who told you?" I couldn't imagine anyone telling her because of how serious they knew the situation to be. Alan wouldn't do such a thing and Zachary has been by my side all day. Besides, he doesn't have a good relationship with any of the maids, not even Opaline. Apart from the fact that I kept him away from them to avoid spreading more Rumours than we already have, he seemed to just have bad blood with them. It's like a cat and dog situation where the cat screeches immediately when he sees the dog. I concluded that he was just being his normal self just like when he still had all of his memories. And so I knew there was no way it could have been Zachary, he was by my side all day. He surely wouldn't leave my side and I was sure he was probably asleep somewhere around the room but it didn't matter at that moment. I would get back to him later. Which means she was only left with one option; the old physician. He was the only other person who could have made it known. It was why she was hell bent on not calling the physician for a diagnosis because she didn't trust him. There was no one else capable of telling the truth. It had to be him. Opaline still failed to answer. Checking all around me as if looking for faults. I got really annoyed and groaned. "Opaline!" I called. "Princess Haera!" She called back , unimpressed and obviously angry. Her anger scared me slightly. I silently watched her just as she watched me before she stopped fuming and sighed. "Do you think how I got to know you were sick is what's important? It's my duty to take care of your health and it hurts me to know my duty has been neglected because I had no idea my princess was and is still sick. Yet you think how I knew is what matters?" Opaline lectured me. Her worrying about me was cute, really, but it really wasn't what I needed. I closed my eyes as if it would force the rising migraine in my head away.I breathed in and decided to take another approach. "Look Opaline, I'm sorry okay. I'm sorry I didn't let you know about it.I just didn't want anyone to worry " I tendered an apology. I didn't think it worked anyway because she was still looking skeptically at me. "And so you decided to shoulder it alone?It doesn't work that way Princess Haera. I can't believe you were also adamant about getting treated by the physician." The rest of the apology that had been hanging on the tip of my lips suddenly froze there at Opaline's last words. How the hell did she know I didn't want to see the physician? "You knew that too?" She scoffed. "Of course I do!" I felt my head spin. Or maybe it was just something in my head but whatever,it made me dizzy for a second or two. Just how much did she know? I grabbed her hands and stopped her from touching my forehead to feel my temperature. She looked at me in shock. I was getting my answers from her now and she won't have it any other way. I won't let her. "Answer my question right now Opaline, how did you know I was sick?" I asked again. "What do you mean? The entire pack knows you are sick." My hands that held her own fell to my sides. I blinked. More than once. "Ex..excuse me?" I asked again, for confirmation that loss of hearing or hallucinations weren't part of the symptoms for whatever sickness bothered me. "Every single person in this palace and probably beyond knows you're sick and you've been hiding it." My legs grew weak all of a sudden and they wobbled, making me almost slump to the ground. "Princess Haera!" Opaline was faster. She grabbed me before I could fall to the ground and walked me to the bed where she made me sit. "See? You should be worried more about your health than asking questions about how I got to know about something that is already a talk of the town." I squeezed my eyes close, like the words hurt me. How the hell did it circulate that fast? I knew rumors travel faster than lightning but I didn't want to believe it all just happened this way. "Who told you? Do you know who spread the news?" I asked slowly after swallowing a dozen times. "My God, princess Haera, it isn't important!" Opaline said. I shot my head up to look at her. It was painful but the result was worth it because it made Opaline rear back slightly. "It is important! You will answer my question Opaline and not evade it! How the hell did you and everyone else find out?" Opaline sighed in defeat, seeing how I prioritized her answering my question over my health. "I heard it from some other maid and came rushing down here immediately." She finally said. "Did the maid say how she got to know?" I asked. "Actually, yes. Yes she did. She said she found Alp–" Approaching footsteps cut back Opaline's words just as Alan appeared with Zachary on a tight leash beside him because of how hard Zachary grabbed his wrist. I was surprised to find Alan with Zachary. Did Zachary really leave my side? I had thought he was in the room with me all along because the last words I remember hearing were his words as he put pressure on the physician to know what he did to me. I had imagined he would be by my side judging by his clingy nature but I guess I was wrong. Alan must have taken him out. I studied him and noticed how sullen he looked. He didn't even raise his head to look at me. I figured Alan must have scolded him for doing something wrong again. I wondered what it was this time around but I really didn't want to know. Other things mattered. Like how the entire pack knew of my ailment! "Princess Haera, you're awake!" Alan stated the obvious. The declaration made Zachary's head shoot up. His beautiful grey eyes went wide and he jerked himself away from Alan's tight grip before rushing towards me completely pushing Opaline out of the way. "Mum! You're awake!" He beamed. "Yes, yes I am," I responded halfheartedly. He pulled me into him. "Oh mum. I was so worried about you, I thought something happened to you when you didn't wake up for hours. I was so scared." He rambled with a shaky voice. I hugged him back. "I'm fine, as you can see." I said. He let me go only to look closely at me and then pull me into a hug again. I finally pushed myself away from him and looked from him to Alan. "What did he do this time?" I asked Alan even when what I wanted to ask him was if he has also heard that the secret has been let out. "I thought he was by my side and in the room with me, when did he leave?" I asked again. Alan sighed. I knew it had to be really serious this time, whatever Zachary did. There's also the fact that he was hiding his face from me. "What happened Alan? Why was he outside?" "I found him outside...crying." "Crying?" I asked in disbelief, turning to look at Zachary. Little wonder his face was stained with the aftermath of tears. "Why? Did he get hurt playing?" I asked. "You just don't get it, do you?" Alan said. It was as if he was struggling to talk. Something was wrong. Terribly wrong and I was yet to realize it. I maintained a puzzled look at his words. "I found him crying outside the Alpha's chambers and he wasn't hurt. When I asked why he was crying, he told me you were dead because of what the physician gave you." I gasped but Alan opened his mouth to continue. "I scolded him and tried to stop him from crying while also hoping that he hadn't told every Tom, dick and Harry the same thing while they passed and asked him why he was in tears. I proceeded to bring him back here but..." Alan trailed off. I stood to my feet because I already knew what was about to come next. Alan's look was everything I needed to know. "He already told someone else the same thing." I whispered, completing Alan's words. Alan nodded. "The maid that told me about it said it already circulated around the pack because someone saw the Alpha crying and when he was asked, he said you were sick. That's how I found out and came running down here." Opaline added. My head was spinning as I paced the room. I stopped in front of Zachary while he cowered under my angry gaze. "Is this true Zachary? Did you really go crying about the pack and made it known to everyone that I am sick?" I asked, trying to keep my voice steady. He stayed mute and the silence only made my blood boil hotter. "Answer the damn question Zachary!" I yelled and it startled him and everyone else in the room as a bonus. "I'm sorry mum. Please don't yell at me. You're mad and I don't like seeing you mad." He pleaded. "Then why in the world did you do that? I told you I was fine." "You didn't look fine! I was scared something happened to you when you didn't wake up for hours." He countered in his defense but I wasn't having it. "So you thought crying like a baby and giving the entire pack a show would change that?" I retorted. He winced and said nothing. I looked away from him and touched my forehead because I didn't know what else to do. I closed my eyes and tried to breathe and also make sense of the situation at hand. It was driving me crazy just thinking about it. It wasn't just about the pack getting to know. It was more than that. The pack knowing about it wasn't the terrifying part, it was the council. That committee of beaded and watchful eyes who believe they know everything. If the whole pack knew about it, the council wouldn't be left out. They were the reasons for me trying to keep my sickness a secret in the first place and just like that, Zachary ruined everything when it's all for him. I was doing everything for him! Before I could turn and lash out at him again, Alan stopped me. "Princess Haera, let him be for now. What's important for us to do now is to salvage the situation. The council already knows, no doubt about that and I'm sure a messenger is probably on his way to deliver their messages. What do you plan to do now?" Alan asked. I shut my eyes. "I don't know." I said. I really didn't know what else to do. I have tried my best and almost exhausted my strength trying to put things in place and make the pack good enough for when my mate finally comes to his senses. But with all the walls I've built up falling down hard and the ground caving under me, I was slowly getting tired of it all. My sickness was just the right excuse for the council to bring in Tybalt and they, in their defense, will probably say I am sick and weak and not in the right frame to rule a pack. I knew that so well and it was why I kept it hidden and hoped it would stay hidden for a long time. It is over now. Everything...ruined. It felt like it was all broken and it was the type that couldn't be pieced together because of a childish man who is the cause of everything from the start and still the reason why I am in this mess. I was still thinking about how to get myself out of the mess when someone knocked on the door to the room and Opaline went forward to open and see who it was. She received a scroll from whoever was at the door and walked back in, handing it over to me. Alan and I shared knowing looks and I looked back at the scroll with dread. I didn't have to open it to know what it was. And when I did, I just wanted my falling walls to crash over me and my caving ground to sink me deep into the ground. Princess Haera of the moonstone pack, you are hereby summoned to the council of the wise werewolves meeting which shall take place a day from now, on account of the Rumours that have been going about the pack and that has caused concern to the people. Your presence shall be anticipated. Signed, Jared, Spokesperson of the werewolf council. As expected, I have been summoned.