Chapter 318: Jealous???

Rebecca’s POV

Shit, shit, shit.

​What the hell was I doing here?

​One second, I had been sitting downstairs, pretending not to care about the beautiful red-haired healer who had walked into Kaden’s bedroom. The next, I was standing right in the middle of that bedroom like some jealous mate who had come to check what her man was doing.

​If embarrassment could kill, I would have dropped dead right there.

​Kaden was lying shirtless on the bed, one hand resting beside him while the healer stood close to his injured side. Both of them were staring at me with raised eyebrows.

​I swallowed hard. Say something, Rebecca. Anything.

​"Um..." I cleared my throat. "I came to check if you’re okay."

​Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant.

​Kaden stared at me for another second before something almost like amusement appeared in his eyes. "I’m okay."

​"Good."

​I should have left. Except there was one small problem: I had no idea if I could.

​So instead, I stood there awkwardly while Kaden looked back at the healer. "Continue."

​The woman gave me one last curious look before turning her attention back to him. A soft golden glow appeared around her hands as she placed them over Kaden’s injured side. The light slowly sank into his body, and Kaden’s face tightened for a second.

​"As I was saying before," she continued, her tone professional, "you have several broken ribs. I’ve healed the open wound and stopped the internal bleeding, but the ribs will need time. A day or two should be enough with your Alpha healing."

​"That’s fine," Kaden nodded.

​"You need to rest," she warned.

​"I have a council meeting."

​The healer gave him a flat look. "You have broken ribs."

​"And I have a council meeting," he argued.

​"You suspended it for an hour. Suspend it longer."

​Kaden sighed, and I raised an eyebrow. Who exactly was this woman? She spoke to him like he wasn’t the Alpha King. No bowing. No title. Not even the slightest fear. Just Kaden.

​She moved her glowing hands over his ribs one last time before pulling away. "I’ll come back later to check on you."

​"Thank you, Bell."

​Bell? My eyebrows pulled together. Did he just call her Bell? Not Healer. Not Doctor. Bell. A nickname.

​Laura made a strange sound inside my head that suspiciously sounded like a scoff.

​My eyes narrowed as I watched the woman close her medical bag. Bell. Was that short for Bella? Belle? Isabella? And why did I care?

​I didn’t. Obviously.

​The woman stood and looked down at Kaden. "Tomorrow is Mother’s birthday. You’re still coming, right?"

​Mother?

​Kaden nodded. "Of course."

​"Good. She’ll be angry if you don’t."

​"I know."

​Bell smiled. Actually smiled. At my mate.

​I immediately wanted to slap myself. What was wrong with me? I was the one who told Kaden I didn’t want to be with him. I was the one asking for a rejection. Yet here I stood watching every little interaction between him and another woman as if I had any right to be jealous.

​Bell picked up her bag and finally looked at me. There was no anger or friendliness in her expression, just a blank, unreadable look. I returned it. For a few seconds, we stared at each other before she gave Kaden another nod.

​"Take care of yourself."

​"I will."

​She walked past me and left the bedroom. I listened to the door close, then looked at Kaden. He looked right back at me.

​I tried to keep quiet. I really did. It lasted about five seconds.

​"Mother?"

​Kaden frowned. "What?"

​"She said tomorrow is Mother’s birthday."

​"Yes."

​"Whose mother?"

​His eyebrows lifted, and I immediately realized how that sounded. "I mean... I was just curious."

​A tiny smile appeared on his face. I crossed my arms. "Are you going to answer me?"

​"Yes." His smile grew slightly. "Bell is my godsister."

​I blinked. "Your what?"

​"My godsister. Her mother was my mother’s best friend," Kaden explained. "She’s also my godmother. Bell and I grew up around each other."

​"Oh." There was that word again. Apparently, it was the only word my brain knew how to produce whenever Kaden surprised me. "So that’s why she talks to you like that. Like you’re just Kaden."

​He shrugged. "To her, I am."

​I nodded slowly. That explained the familiarity. It explained the nickname. It explained why she wasn’t bowing every five seconds. And, most importantly, it explained why I had just spent several minutes being jealous over absolutely nothing.

​Not that I had been jealous. I was simply... curious. Very aggressively curious.

​"I never saw her when I lived here," I said.

​"She doesn’t live here. She works in another territory and came back two days ago for some medical training."

​"Oh."

​Kaden studied my face. "What?"

​"Nothing."

​"Rebecca."

​"Nothing."

​His lips twitched, and I narrowed my eyes. "If you laugh, I’ll throw you through another wall."

​Kaden immediately stopped smiling. Considering what had happened earlier, that threat had suddenly become very believable. Laura snickered inside me, but I ignored her.

​A distant look suddenly crossed Kaden’s face. I recognized it immediately, someone was mind-linking him. After a few seconds, his attention returned to me.

​"I just received word that the jet is ready. A guard will drive you to the airfield, and you’ll be back at Stone Pack in about two hours."

​My stomach sank slightly. "Oh. Okay."

​But I didn’t move, and neither did he. I looked toward the door. This was what I wanted: go home, get away from Kaden, get back to Mother. Simple.

​So why were my feet refusing to move?

​Stupid feet. Stupid mate bond. Stupid everything.

​I looked back at him. "You’re still coming this weekend, right?"

​Kaden’s expression softened. "Yes."

​"It will be my first checkup," I announced.

​A faint smile touched his lips. "I’ll come see you, Rebecca."

​My chest warmed, and I hated that too. "Okay." I glanced at his injured side. "And... I’m sorry again."

​"Stop apologizing."

​"I broke your ribs."

​"You didn’t know you could do that."

​"I still did it."

​"And I’m still alive." He smiled. "I forgive you."

​Those three words hit me harder than they should have. I looked away. "Thank you."

​I took a few steps toward the door before stopping. Maybe I should try again. I turned back. "Wait."

​Kaden raised an eyebrow.

​"I want to try teleporting one more time."

​His expression immediately became cautious. "Are you sure?"

​"No," I admitted, which made him laugh quietly. "But I need to learn." ℯℯ𝑙.

​He nodded. "Okay."

​I closed my eyes. My bedroom. Stone Pack. My bed. I pictured everything, but nothing happened. I frowned. Come on.

​Then I remembered what Mother had said. Maybe it wasn’t just about seeing a place. Maybe I needed something stronger: a memory.

​I thought about my bedroom again, but this time, I didn’t picture an empty room. I remembered Kaden standing there yesterday. The couch across from my bed. His eyes filling with tears when I told him I couldn’t be with him. His voice telling me that after the baby was born, he would give me the rejection if I still wanted it. Then his lips against my forehead, and the feeling of watching him walk out.

​Something inside me pulled. There was that strange feeling again.

​My stomach dropped, and the bedroom disappeared.

​When I opened my eyes, Kaden was gone. I was standing in my bedroom at Stone Pack.

​I gasped. "I did it."

​We did it! Laura stirred excitedly.

​"I actually did it!" I turned around, half expecting Kaden to somehow still be there, but there was nothing. Just my room. I laughed and dropped backward onto the bed. "Thank God."

​Then I immediately remembered Mother and reached through the mind-link. Mother?

​Rebecca! Where are you? Her response came almost instantly.

​I’m back. I’m in my room.

​There was a pause. Stay there. I’m coming.

​"Okay," I whispered.

​While I waited, my eyes drifted toward my hands, and the smile slowly disappeared. Teleportation wasn’t the only thing I needed answers about.

​I opened and closed my fingers. Nothing happened, no strange energy, no burst of power. Just hands. Yet those same hands had thrown Kaden across a hallway and broken several of his ribs.

​What else could I do? And what would happen if I lost control around someone weaker than Kaden? The thought frightened me.

​A few minutes later, my bedroom door opened and Mother hurried inside. "Rebecca."

​"I’m fine."

​She came straight toward me anyway. "I felt the connection disappear completely. I couldn’t sense where you went."

​"I went to Kaden."

​Mother stopped. "Again?"

​I gave her a look. "Don’t say it like that."

​She tried not to smile. "This time you told me to think of someone I wanted to see."

​"And apparently you wanted to see Kaden."

​"Can we focus?"

​"Of course."

​I sat up. "I learned something else while I was there. There’s another power."

​Mother became completely serious as I looked down at my hands.

​"I panicked because I couldn’t teleport back," I explained. "Kaden tried to calm me down, and he reached for me. I only wanted him to move away, so I pushed him."

​"And?"

​"I barely touched him, Mother." My voice dropped. "But something came out of me. I don’t know what it was. It felt like this huge force rushed through my hands. It threw Kaden across the hallway. He hit a stone wall hard enough to crack it."

​Still, she didn’t look nearly as shocked as I expected.

​"He broke several ribs," I added.

​Mother’s expression became thoughtful. "Is he all right?"

​"Yes. His healer treated him."

​She nodded slowly, and I stared at her. "Why aren’t you surprised?"

​"Because I already told you that I sealed more than one ability inside you when you were born."

​"But you don’t know what they are?"

​"Not all of them."

​My stomach tightened. Mother came closer and sat beside me, touching my hand gently.

​"Rebecca, some of what you’re carrying comes from me. I can teach you those abilities. But the rest comes from your father."

​Lord Drake. Again.

​I looked away.

​"You need to meet him," Mother said softly. "You’ve been avoiding it, and after what happened today, I don’t think you should avoid it much longer."

​I sighed. "What am I supposed to do? Walk into his territory and say, ’Hello, apparently you’re my father, and by the way, I just threw the Alpha King through a wall?’"

​Mother laughed. "Perhaps don’t introduce yourself exactly like that."

​Despite how nervous I was, I smiled, but she quickly became serious again.

​"Actually, there may be an easier way. Lord Callum is leaving tomorrow for your father’s kingdom. There’s a festival being held there, and several supernatural rulers and important families were invited. Callum is attending as a guest. You could accompany him."

​"To Lord Drake’s kingdom?" I immediately shook my head. "I don’t know, Mother. I’ve barely accepted that he’s my biological father. Now you want me to walk into his kingdom?"

​"You don’t have to accept him as your father tomorrow," she said, her fingers tightening gently around mine. "You don’t have to hug him. You don’t have to call him Father. You don’t have to forgive anyone or decide what kind of relationship you want with him. But you need answers about yourself. And right now, Drake may be the only person who can give you those answers."

​I looked down at my hands again. The image of Kaden flying across the hallway returned to my mind.

​I sighed tiredly. One day I’m trying to figure out my messy love life, and the next, I’m packing my bags to go meet a legendary powerhouse who happens to be my long-lost father. But honestly, what choice did I have? Next time I panicked, it might not be Kaden on the receiving end. It might be someone who couldn’t survive being launched into a stone wall.

​Plus, with a baby growing inside me, I couldn’t afford to be a walking hazard to everyone around me.

​"When is Callum leaving?" I asked.

​"Tomorrow morning."

​I remained quiet for several seconds while Mother waited patiently. Finally, I sighed. "Fine. I’ll go with him."

​Her eyebrows lifted. "You’re sure?"

​No. Not even slightly. But I nodded anyway. "Tell Lord Drake I’m coming."