Alpha Axton pursed his lips as he watched Beta Scott. He had resumed pacing around his room again, his body language screamed nervous.
 
"What are you so nervous about?" Axton asked, touching his forehead with his hand.
 
"Should we call the healer?" Beta Scott suddenly asked. "We can even get the healers from other packs to take a look at you."
 
Axton sighed. "Just get me Natalia."
 
"Alpha. This is not you. Before, you dragged your body to her place just to get the cure. Now you do not even care if you stay like this forever?"
 
Axton shook his head. "I do not really."
 
Beta Scott sighed. "At least, pity me. I am dying to call you by your name, so please get better."
 
"You did call me by my name earlier, though. You thought I would not notice?"
 
Beta Scott leaned away, his eyes scanning alpha Axton like he was some alien.
 
"Is that message just that? Like, there is no secret or... any code we should crack? How can it just be empty? Why did Natalia even cure you in the first place?"
 
Anyone could tell Beta Scott was stressed out, with the way he kept puffing air out of his mouth, his hands occasionally darting in and out of his hair.
 
"Beta?" Axton said. "Can you leave me alone for some time?"
 
"Do you not feel well?"
 
Axton shook his head. "I just feel suddenly weak."
 
Beta Scott immediately stood up, then helped Axton to one of his most comfortable positions. "Get some rest," he said and left the room.
 
"What did he say?" Natalia asked immediately he stepped out.
 
"It does not bother him. He just wants you. He does not even care for anything. It is like...he wants to become the nonchalant nine years old who inherited the pack. Back then he was fierce and grew up faster than he should have. Now...it seems like all he wants to do is rest."
 
Natalia let out a small sigh. "Should I talk to him?"
 
"There is nothing to talk about. Excuse me." He said, then left the house.
 
Natalia walked back to Axton's room where he was lying, deep in thought. He had a faraway looked on his face as he stared at nothing in particular. She wanted to know what was on his mind, what he thought of the entire situation.
 
But she did not want to ask. He looked like he would tell her he was not bothered, but to her, it seemed like he was.
 
"Axton?" She said and walked in, her steps small.
 
"You are here."
 
"Yes, I am."
 
"Come here." He told her and she came, sitting  in front of him.
 
She helped him lift his head and then balance it on her lap again. The sun was already setting in the distance, and it bathed the room in golden light.
 
"How do you feel?" she asked.
 
"I do not want to talk about how I feel. I feel the same." He laughed at his own answer.
 
"I wonder what my mother was thinking however." She started to say, and he looked up at her.
 
"When she was placing the curse on me?"
 
She shook her head. "That was premeditated. I wonder what she was thinking when she asked me to make sure you see me. It was almost like she wanted me dead."
 
"Then I would never have found my mate," he said. "And I would still be cooped up like I was back then."
 
Natalia nodded. "You would not have healed from the very beginning. I guess that was the punishment she wanted for you."
 
He shook his jead. "I am starting to think your mother was wiser than that. And she knew exactly what she wanted to make me feel. I feel like she had two plans in store for me." He looked up at her. "I am sorry."
 
"For what?"
 
"For talking about your mother that way. I do not really want to say all those things."
 
She smiled. "You did not exactly lie. On the night, she made a sacrifice before you arrived. I think that was the curse. Most spells like that normally are hidden somewhere. So they do not break that easily."
 
He nodded. "Maybe we should not talk about it anymore."
 
"Maybe we should. Maybe we will be able to get to the root of it all."
 
He shook his head. "You like flowers, am I right?"
 
She nodded. "That is right.."
 
"And I did not bother getting you one. You know what? I will make a garden for you. I will give you everything you used to want. Freedom, music... Everything..."
 
She thinned her eyes. "This is suspicious. What do I give you in return?"
 
He laughed. "Am I that easy to read?"
 
"No, you are not. I just learned to master you."
 
He smiled. "Fine. You just have to do one thing."
 
"What is it?"
 
"Marry me." He looked away from her. "You just have to marry me."
 
She laughed, and laced her hands into his hair. "You are so petty."
 
"Am I? Well, fine. Do not marry me. I will get some fair maiden who will..."
 
She shushed him with a hand on his lips. "You better not talk that way or else."
 
"Or else?" He asked, his smile deeply rooted in his eyes.
 
"Or else I will not..." She trailed off and he watched her. "Just heal for me instead."
 
He smiled and lowered his eyes. "Your husband really should not be ugly. It would be too obvious."
 
"Yes. And you are not." She kissed his forehead, then his cheek too. "You are more adorable than I can handle."
 
"Even now?" He asked, gesturing to his body.
 
"For sure. Even now."