Married into Alpha Lord

Chapter 64

Again I open my eyes, greeted by this familiar ceiling.

Why do I always fall asleep and wake up in a completely different place? These days, It seems like I'm just getting moved from one place to another. Am I that pathetic? No, it's all Kean's fault.

"Caden!" A familiar voice called me. "You're awake? Wait here, I'll call Yuan." I blinked at the source of the voice and saw a  glimpse of Harry running out of the room.

This familiar room is no other than my room, in Sealgair's mansion. So, I'm back? This is probably the first time I feel sincerely grateful for opening my eyes to this place. This very familiar layout. This familiar scent. Still laying down, I try to move my finger and toes to wake my body.

A much more rushed footstep from the hallway. The door flung open and Darren stormed in. I could see his frightened face turn into relief when our eyes met. "Hi... Dar- en," my throat was so dry, I can barely speak.

Darren steps slowly, then he kneels at the side of the bed. Slowly, he picked my left hand, holding it tightly. "Thank God," his hand felt cold, trembling.

I tried to sit up, so we could converse properly.

"Stop!" a voice from the door prevented my movement. Footsteps approached us as two more people arrived. Harry came back along with Yuan, they fastened their walk towards us. "Don't move too much, you still very much injured," Yuan said.

Hearing that, Darren forced me to lay back on the bed, fixing the blanket. Giving the room for Yuan to examine, Darren moves and sits on the other side of the bed. He picked my right hand and held it instead. Clearly doesn't want to let me go.

"How do you feel?" Yuan asked, taking my hand to check on my pulse. "Thi..sty," my failed voice.

Harry, being a person who I can rely on, immediately gets a glass and pour water on it. Unfortunately, he forgot that I couldn't even sit now.

Instead, Darren picked the glass from Harry's hand, sipping some, lifted my head, then kissed me. Transferring the water from his mouth to mine. He did it several times until the glass was empty. I feel grateful, but he really is shamelessly doing that in front of people. Should I 'invent' straw in this world?

"More?" Darren asked when the glass was empty. "Thanks," I answered while shaking my head. He positioned me back to bed and gave the empty glass to Harry.

"Ehm... Excuse me, I'll begin the check-up," Yuan said while clearing his throat. Darren nodded and moved back to give the room back to Yuan. I close my eyes, exhale in silent embarrassment.

After checking my pulse, Yuan moved the blanket from my upper body and opened my clothes. I can feel the cuts, bruises, patches, and bandage all over my body. What a disappointment? I feel shameful about my body's condition. I let Yuan take a close examination, not like I can do anything. Stay silent as he checks every injury. I try to be still, but my body reflexively flinches from the pain when he touches my stomach.

Yuan then pushed the blanket to the side and rolled up my pant's sleeve to check on my right leg. It was wrapped in bandages but no gypsy. It doesn't feel that much pain when he tried moving it. I thought it was in worse condition than my ribs, though.

"Okay," Yuan rolled back my pant's sleeve, buttoned up my shirt, and put the blanket back to its original position. "It would take some time to heal the broken bones. Don't move from bed for a few days, I'll give you medicine to fasten your recovery," Yuan smiled at me and I just gave him a slight nod.

He then left with Harry after injecting some liquids through the IV, leaving me alone with Darren again.

"Rest now, Caden. I'll be here," Darren said. Again, I replied with just a slight nod, still feeling tired. I close my eyes, feeling safe in this familiar environment. I fall asleep.

"Hey," I greeted Darren again the moment I woke up. He was still on the other side of the bed, but now papers are lying around. "How long...?"

"It's almost dinner time, are you hungry?" Darren asked.

I shook my head. "You have to eat, though," he insisted. "Something light then," I gave in.

He nodded. He gave me a light kiss on my hand before getting up and leave.

"What happened to me?" I asked while spooning the soup that was brought to me. Darren brought me a dinner in the tray and helped position myself to sit as I insisted on eating by myself.

"We'll talk after you finish your dinner," he replied. Sitting on the edge of the bed.

"It's okay to tell me now," I said. Eyes focus on my bowl.

Darren didn't reply immediately. There was a long silence of Darren sitting there just letting me eat. "What do you remember, Caden?"

Hmm. I put down my spoon, drinking some water, then looked at him. "I remember getting kidnapped when I was in town. I didn't know who they were or what they wanted. They just hold me at their place for few days before leaving me on that road," I explain very shallowly. Not giving any detail as I want to cross-check first with his side of the story. "That's what I know," I assure him.

Darren just looked at me, with a sad unreadable look. "So?"

He kept only staring at me, before giving out a long sigh and starting to talk. "It's all my fault." Huh? I look at him, confused.

"They are mercenaries, hired by the West."...What?

"They are after you... because of me" Wait, hold on... What?!

"They want to get on me by kidnapping you. When we stormed to their base, you were already gone. We found bodies but no one was alive to be questioned. We fought them, but not to the point of killing them all. We keep some alive but they suddenly cough blood and died. After that, we stayed in the nearby Southern-West town. We look around and manage to find you after overhearing some suspicious local bandits who talked about finding a man at the abandoned closed route between our country and the West."

What the heck did I just hear?

"How... did you find... their location?" I asked

Darren gave me a warm smile. "We got helped by your family."

Seriously, what the hell is going on here?

"Can you... explain more?"

"A letter of threat was sent to the Reed house. I found it a bit weird because they sent the letter to your family house instead of here, but they probably just want more ransom money from your family. Still, I would wire any amount of money to save you," Darren explained in more detail. He gave another exhale before he continued.

"That's why your family got involved. Well, I need to thank your brother for his connections. He's the one who got information about the possibilities of your whereabouts."

"My.. brother?"

"Yeah, Albert Reed. One of his merchants' friends told him about an unusual behavior between that mercenaries' guild and the West."

I was baffled. You damn! What is this screen-play have you written, Kean?

Blaming the West for kidnapping me and annihilating the whole organization would surely cover his track. And coughing blood? He used the same trick as the previous assassins. I bet he himself acts like he's coming from the West.

"Speaking of which, he'll come tomorrow," Darren added.

I gave him another confused look.

"Your brother, Albert along with your sister, Bianca. They've been staying in the North, helping us. I already told them you've awake, they say they'll come to visit tomorrow."

Darren then leaned forwards and hugged me. "It's okay. You are safe now, don't look so afraid."

I feel like dying inside. I don't think I was safe anymore.