Chapter 48

Chapter 48: Chapter 48

Lysander stopped breathing for a moment. His gaze moved over her face again, taking in her eyes, her cheeks, and the familiar shape of her mouth. He looked at her hair, then at the hand that had been holding his, and finally back at her face.

"Ingrid?"

Ingrid rolled her eyes and nodded, "Who else did you think I was? I mean, I know how pretty I am now but you don’t have to gawk at me like that. You’re making me shy." Ingrid fanned herself with her hands, shaking her head dramatically.

Lysander stared at her as though the world had suddenly stopped making sense. "Ingrid, it’s really you?" Lysander looked her up and down again, "What happened to you? How did you... How did you become like this?"

She blinked before bursting into laughter. "Oh, you should see your face right now!" Ingrid said, wiping the remaining tears from her cheeks. "You look exactly like a child who has just been told that he will never be allowed to eat his favorite cookies again."

Lysander continued staring at her, completely dumbfounded which made Ingrid laugh even harder.

"Why are you looking at me like that? What? Do you want me to strip right in front of you so that you can check the goods really closely? It’s not as if you haven’t seen everything. If you want, I can take off all my clothes right now."

"N... No!" Lysander raised his hands, the tip of his ears turning red, "There’s no need for that. You..." Lysander finally managed to speak. "You look different."

"That is a very polite way of saying that you did not recognize me."

"I didn’t say that."

"You were practically shouting for another woman while holding my hand! But seeing how worried you were for me, I’ll reluctantly let it go." Ingrid scoffed and leaned in closer to take a look at him, her eyes shining brightly from amusement.

Lysander glanced down at their hands and immediately released hers, although he found himself missing the warmth almost as soon as he did so.

"I was worried about you," he explained. "The last thing I remember is carrying you away from those people, and you were barely conscious. When I woke up, I thought someone might have taken you away."

Ingrid’s smile softened. "Well, I’m right here. No one took me away."

He looked at her for a moment longer before his gaze suddenly dropped to the bandages wrapped around her neck. His expression changed so quickly that Ingrid noticed it immediately.

"What happened to your neck?"

She instinctively touched the bandages. "It is nothing serious."

"Nothing serious?" Lysander repeated, his voice becoming colder. "Why are you wearing bandages around your neck if it is nothing serious?"

He turned toward the foxes, and his eyes narrowed. "How bad is her injury? Is it going to heal nicely? Do you want me to help you look for whatever herbs you might need?"

One of the foxes stepped forward cautiously. The tip of his tail was silver and he was taller than the two foxes that Lysander had seen at the gate. This one looked like an adult fox but still shorter than the normal foxes.

"There’s no need for any of that. The injuries were caused by strangling," he explained. "There were also puncture wounds around her neck, most likely from talons. Whoever attacked her applied enough pressure to cause serious damage, and she lost quite a lot of blood."

Lysander’s face darkened. The room suddenly felt colder as his fingers curled into the bedsheets. He didn’t know what happened when Hawk and Falcon bypassed him and went into the house and when he picked her, he only knew that she was bleeding so badly.

’Falcon and Hawk. You’ll pay for what you did to Ingrid.’

The fox looked uncomfortable. "We don’t know all the details of what happened before you arrived, but we found both of you badly injured at the gates. Fortunately, our medicine has helped her recover, and the wounds should heal nicely without leaving scars."

Lysander slowly turned back toward Ingrid. She was watching him with a complicated expression, and for the first time since he had awakened, he noticed how tired she looked beneath her attempts to smile. Even though her face had regained some of its color, she was still weaker than usual, and the bandages around her neck were a painful reminder of how close he had come to losing her.

"It’s fine, Lysander. I was injured but I didn’t take a loss either. Before I came out, I was able to kill Hawk. That was what made Falcon lose control. So I didn’t lose out."

A surprised look crossed Lysander’s face, "You killed Hawk?"

Ingrid nodded, "I’m amazing, aren’t I? You should respect me more. Who knows, I might become the Queen of Beasts one day!" Ingrid puffed her chest up, feeling really proud of herself.

Lysander couldn’t help but smile. Ingrid looked different but she didn’t act any different, if anything, she was more proud than usual.

"Lady Ingrid. Since your mate is awake, we’ll leave you both to continue packing. We have to leave soon."

Ingrid turned towards them, "Okay. We’ll be out in a bit."

The silver tailed fox nodded and walked out, the other little foxes following him. After Lysander was sure that they left, he turned to Ingrid and looked at her clearly. Her eyes were really red.

"Were you crying for a long time?" Lysander questioned, raising his hands to caress her cheek.

Ingrid shivered slightly. Lysander’s body was always cool as he was a reptile, but it wasn’t uncomfortable. In fact, she found it quite comfortable so she leaned into his hands more.

"Mhm. I was worried. You were asleep for a long time, I thought you wouldn’t wake up! You scared me so much!" The tears that Ingrid was fighting hard to keep back started flowing again, trailing down her face like pearls.

Lysander couldn’t help himself. His gaze lingered on the tear slipping down Ingrid’s cheek before he leaned closer and pressed a featherlight kiss to the damp trail. His lips lingered against her soft skin for a moment, and just as he was about to pull away, he caught the last drop of her tear with the tip of his tongue, leaving a warm, ticklish sensation that made her whole body stiffen.

Ingrid froze, her eyes widening as she stared at him in disbelief. ’Holy shit! Lysander just kissed me! He actually kissed me!’

Her mind was in complete chaos, and she could barely remember how to breathe. His lips had been so soft against her skin, and the unexpected brush of his tongue had sent a strange little shiver down her spine.

Fuck, why did something as simple as a kiss on her cheek feel so ridiculously good? She wanted to grab him by the collar and ask him to do it again, but all she could manage was to stare at him with burning cheeks.