Chapter 67 – Familiarity
••• Aleena’s POV •••
I looked around and saw that everyone had shifted back to their human forms, and all the enemies had been rounded up. Colton was looking down at Beta Erick, and I laughed, looking at him kicking the latter senselessly.
I was about to shift back when I felt a strong arm encircling my waist, tugging me back, and a hand covering my eyes.
A moan was heard as my mate buried his nose in the crook of my neck, inhaling my scent.
“You okay, Aleena?” he asked with a muffled voice.
“Yeah… You?” I asked him back.
“It was a piece of cake,” I felt his lips curl into a smile against my skin. His lips swept across his mark on my neck, and I shivered from the pleasurable sensation.
He chuckled, feeling my reaction.
I tried to lower his hand, which was covering my eyes, but he stopped me. “Why are you covering my eyes?”
“They are all naked,” he growled.
I laughed at his silly words before I teased him, “It’s normal to be naked after shifting.”
“Don’t even think of shifting back before Liam brings you clothes,” he growled again, and I could feel his annoyance.
“Okay, okay,” I decided to just obey him.
He spun me around so I was facing him and brought his hand down. He was also still in his Lycan form, and his eyes were black.
“Why didn’t you wait until I killed Andre?” he asked.
“You took a long time toying with Andre, and I got bored,” I shrugged.
He laughed and nuzzled his nose in the crook of my neck again. “Fuck. You smell so good, Aleena Luv,” he groaned, and I could feel the change in the lower part of his body.
“Handsome Kyson,” Celia purred in my mind. The combination of their dirty thoughts was affecting me, too, and it was hard to control myself.
“Alpha, Luna, here are your clothes,” suddenly, I heard Liam’s voice, and I breathed out a sigh of relief. That was close. One more second, and everyone would be able to see two Lycanthropes fucking.
Kyson led me to a tree, and we shifted back to our human forms. “Celia complained about Rose being weak,” I told him while we wore our clothes.
“Night was the same, too,” he grinned. “You’ve become strong.”
“I know, right,” I grinned back.
“How did you…” he started asking but was cut off by a scream.
“Colton, watch out!” a female voice shouted.
We looked at each other for a second before rushing toward Colton. I saw Beta Erick slashing Witch Lily’s back, and both Kyson and I growled as we ran toward them.
Lucas had his hand around Beta Erick’s neck as he growled, “How dare you try to harm my mate!”
“Just kill him, Alpha Lucas. He knows the truth from the start. He partakes in the killing of those innocent newborn were-babies,” I told him as we reached them. The image of him killing those babies mercilessly still sent goosebumps down my body. Lucas growled and snapped his neck with little effort.
“Witch Lily, are you okay?” I asked Witch Lily, who was now in Colton’s arms. The gashes were long and deep, and they looked ugly. It must have hurt a lot, and my heart felt twisted looking at her all pale.
“I’m fine,” she replied weakly. “Are you alright, Colton?”
“I’m… I’m fine. Why did you take the attack for me?” Colton looked confused yet anxious.
“I can’t let you get hurt,” Witch Lily replied, and she became even weaker.
“Let’s bring her to the infirmary,” I suggested. She would bleed out if the wounds were not cared for.
“Those who are injured should go to the infirmary. The rest of you take everyone to the dungeon,” I heard Kyson order the pack members.
Colton picked Witch Lily up in his arms, and we went to the infirmary. Dr. Gwen was ready to check Witch Lily’s wounds. We all waited outside her room patiently, except for Colton.
“Colton, calm down. She’s in good hands now,” Alpha Lucas comforted his mate, who was pacing anxiously.
“What happened?” Kyson asked calmly. We only heard Witch Lily’s shout and saw her getting slashed, but nothing before that.
“He was talking to me, and that bastard Erick gave him a sneaky attack,” Lucas explained calmly.
“I had my back to him,” Colton added.
Ahh… That made sense. If Colton were facing him, he wouldn’t be able to hurt anyone.
“Why are you so upset, Colton?” Lucas asked his mate.
“I don’t know. When I saw Witch Lily getting hurt, I felt something…” he said, and added, “Pain… I felt pain.”
Pain? I looked at Kyson… Could it be that Witch Lily is also his mate? But I also felt the same way…
“No, no. Not like a mate,” he shook his head and explained quickly when he saw the look on our faces. “Like a… kin? I don’t know. It’s hard to describe.”
“Maybe because she had helped us a lot?” Lucas asked.
“Maybe…” Colton nodded in agreement, but we all saw the hesitation and confusion in his eyes.
“You are not jealous, are you, Lucas?” Colton suddenly asked his mate.
Alpha Lucas chuckled. “If she’s your mate, she’s my mate too. But I don’t feel anything toward her.”
Our conversation was disturbed by the sound of the door being opened.
“Dr. Gwen, how is she?” Colton rushed toward the doctor.
“She’s fine. Her wounds had closed up the moment you guys brought her here.” Dr. Gwen’s words surprised us all. We didn’t see her chanting any spells. Could her healing spell be so powerful to the point that she could heal like a werewolf?
“Can we see her?” Kyson asked Dr. Gwen.
“She’s currently sleeping. If all of you want to see her, just make sure not to disturb her,” Dr. Gwen told us.
“Colton, you go see her,” Lucas said.
“I’ll go with him,” I spoke up. That piercing pain I felt when I saw her wounds was kind of odd. It was more painful than when I saw others getting hurt.
“Alright,” Kyson and Lucas said at the same time.
Colton and I quietly entered the room and saw Witch Lily sleeping peacefully on the bed. She wasn’t looking pale anymore. If she was able to sleep on her back, then what Dr. Gwen said must be true. Her wounds must have healed.
We both sat on the chairs on each side of the bed. I kept looking at Colton to see his reaction.
“Aleena…” he hesitated.
“Yeah?” I asked.
“Have you ever felt a sense of familiarity with someone that’s not your mate?” he asked.
His question caught me by surprise. A familiarity?
I pondered for a while before answering, “I guess I felt that way when I saw Kyson and maybe with Witch Lily, too, after I went to learn my magic.”
“What do you mean?” he asked as he looked at me.
How should I answer? “Umm… With Kyson, maybe because he’s my mate, and at that time, I didn’t know it yet. With Witch Lily… It’s more… Sometimes I feel she’s… motherly?”
He looked stunned and mumbled, “So I’m not the only one who feels it.”
“You feel it, too?” I asked him in surprise.
“Yeah. I thought I was the only one feeling it. But since you feel it too, then it might just be her aura,” he said.
I didn’t say anything, and we fell silent. I didn’t think too much of it, but I could see him still thinking about it.
“Don’t tell Lucas or Kyson about this, okay?” Suddenly, Colton spoke.
“Why?” Is there anything wrong with telling our mates about it?
His cheeks pinkened as he said, “They will tease me about it.”
I had to cover my mouth with my hands to stifle my giggle. I hadn’t realized Colton could be cute.
“Why would they tease you?” I asked.
He rolled his eyes as if my question was silly. “I’m a man. They’ll think I’m a momma’s boy if they knew.”
“What’s wrong with being a momma’s boy?” I asked as I tried hard to stifle my laughter.
He rolled his eyes again. “It’s not manly.”
I couldn’t stop myself from laughing anymore, which resulted in him glaring at me.
“Sorry,” I quickly covered my mouth again and took deep breaths to calm myself down.
“You don’t want to tell your mate about this, but you told me. Are you not afraid I’ll think of you as a momma’s boy?” I teased him.
“I think of you as a sister, so it’s okay,” he shrugged.
That didn’t make sense, but I just went along with him. “I still think you should tell your mate about it. There should be no secret between mates.”
Colton was about to answer when we heard the door being opened, and Kyson’s voice reached my ears. “What are you laughing about?”
“Ask Colton,” I snickered at him.
Lucas and Kyson looked at Colton with raised eyebrows.
“I just feel her familiar,” he shrugged it off as if it wasn’t important.
“We feel Witch Lily is motherly,” I added for him.
Lucas and Kyson shared a look but didn’t say anything. I looked at Colton and gave him a look that said, ‘See, it’s nothing to worry about.’
Speaking of familiarity… Now that I think about it, Colton’s baby-blue eyes seem overly familiar. Where have I seen it…
I kept my eyes on Colton while thinking about it when suddenly, I felt two strong arms scooping me up. I nearly yelped from the sudden movement.
“Colton, Lucas, stay here tonight. I have something important to tell you guys tomorrow. Feel free to have dinner here,” Kyson said before striding out of the room hurriedly with me in his arms.
“Kyson. Where are we going?” And why does he look angry and annoyed?