Chapter 40

Prince Conrad's POV

"No freaking way." She said as I looked at her in confusion. "Are you a werewolf?" She asked. Her eyes are open wide with disbelief. I nodded seriously, but after few seconds, she started cracking up. That is my cue to look at her with wide eyes because of shock. This is the first time I saw her laughing while tearing up. She must think I lost my mind. "You're such a bad joker, hubby." She said in between her laughter, she's even called me another endearment which made my heart flutter.

"You don't believe me, do you?" I asked with a serious expression. She was just playing all along.

"Why would I? You're the one who told me that werewolf was not real. Are you kidding me?" She said while wiping her tears and chuckling in between. "You must show me a human shifting into a wolf for me to believe you. Or it's better if you will show me your wolf form." She stated.

I shook my head. I think she's not ready yet. "I will show you one of these days. Brace yourself, my Princess." I said as I perked up and gave her a peck on her cheeks.

"Are you serious?" She asked as her cheeks tainted pink. She's so adorable. I hope the mate pull is getting stronger even she's human.

"I am. I will gather several werewolves for you to believe me and we will shift in front of you." I said, smirking.

She shook her head. "I will wait, then. By the way, can I sleep here tonight?" She asked as she avoided my gaze. I looked at her with confusion. The last time she spent her night here, I found her unconscious the next day. Base on her reaction that time, she exactly knew what happened to her, but she kept quiet and did not tell us any details.

"Go ahead. Make sure you'll sleep on the couch and not on the cold floor." I reminded her, her face lit up, and nodded at me. "I'll see you at dinner." I said and left her.

When I exited the damn library, the place where my wife wants to spend her time than spending it with me, I went straight to where Connor is. I need his help for tonight's mission. I won't let this night pass without knowing my wife's secret.

~*~

When I found him inside his office, he instantly frowned at me. "Have you ever heard of manners and knocking, brother?" He asked seriously.

"I'm your Alpha, bitch." I said as I sat on the couch in front of his table. "I need your help." I said without wasting any time.

He dropped the pen and paper he was holding and looked at me seriously. "Are we gonna hunt?" He asked.

"No. We're working on something inside the castle." I answered him. "We will spy on my wife."

His expression changed. He's now looking at me in disgust. "What the fck are you thinking, horny wolf!" He shouted at me as he threw his wooden pen holder at me. I caught the pen holder in my luck.

"Let me explain first, dick head!" I yelled at him and threw it back to him. Luckily, he caught it as well. "She will spend the night at the library again, and you knew what happened to her the last time she did that, right?" I explained.

He breathed out as if he was relieved that we're not doing any dirty things on my wife. What an idiot brother I've got. Whose husband's gonna do that to their wife? "What's your plan?" He asked.

"We are going to hide in the library before she came. We will stay there until morning, and we will wait if something off is going on with her." I stated.

He nodded as he picked up his pen and papers. He started scribbling again. "I'm on it. It's for my sister's sake." He said as I shook my head. He keeps on acknowledging her as his sister than as my wife. Jerk.

~*~

"What are you doing here, Colten?!" I asked hysterically at our youngest brother, who brought a camping tent inside the library. We decided to hide at the back of the biggest shelf in the library. This area is not too far from the couch where my wife is sitting right now while reading.

"Connor told me that we will play camping while spying on my sister. I brought snacks too. Do you wanna have some, brother?" He said innocently as he fixes the tent. I mentally facepalm myself. Then, I threw daggers at Connor, who's comfortably lying on the wooden floor.

"Explain yourself, Connor. My wife might catch us." I said, gritting my teeth in frustration.

"She will if you don't stop whining." He told me while playing cool. "I asked Colten to tag along since you're so boring to be with. Colten might kill my boredom." He said as he smirked.

"You're testing my patience, Connor." I said in an Alpha tone. My wolf is not happy and keeps on growling inside my head.

"Chill, Alpha. Take this as our bonding time. My wolf missed you too." He said as he laughed in a low voice. I walked over to him and kicked his leg twice in annoyance. He just laughed at me.

"You two better help me fix the tent before I decide to let you sleep on the cold floor." We both looked at Colten, who's whining like an old maiden. We got no choice but to help him. They both settled on the tent afterward while eating in silence.

After several hours, I found Colten sleeping soundly. He's still holding a pack of chips in his hand while sucking his thumb finger. It's funny to look at this little guy who scolded us for not helping him. I cannot wait for what kind of a guy and a werewolf he could be.

While looking at Colten, I suddenly heard my wife's voice. She was shouting in pain. Connor and I locked eyes, I talked to him through the mind link that we should sneak and take a peek at my wife. We walked silently until we found her in the most corner and dark area of the library. We hide on the shelf not too far from her. She was holding her nape while she's crying in pain. "What's going on?" Connor asked. We decided to move closer to where she is until we saw a very dim light coming from her nape.

My wolf became restless when we got closer; he was worried about our mate. He wanted to take over and run to comfort her, but I tried my best to stop him. I explained that we need to know what's happening to her before showing ourselves to her. He complained that we should put her first before anything else, but I shut him down. My wife got back my attention when she yelled in pain again. "Her pain must have something to do with her nape." Connor said.

I restrained myself and my wolf not to run to her after few more minutes. I covered my ears so I can hear her less. She was crying in pain, and we cannot take it. It breaks the hell out of us. When my wolf decided to disobey me and took control of my human body, I ran quickly to her side.

I caressed her back and held her firmly on her arm. She looked at me with disbelief. "What are you—" I wiped the tears on her cheek, and before she could continue, she shouted as another pain hit her nape. Connor and I looked at it, and we both gasped at what we witnessed.

"What the fck." I heard Connor cursed as he moved to support my wife's body. It looks like this thing is consuming her energy.

"Lili?" We heard Colten speak at our back. "What is happening, Lili?" He asked as he sits in front of my wife. He removed the strands of her hair scattered on her face. "We're here for you. Please stay with us." He added.

Lili tried to smile but failed as another pain hit her, then she suddenly collapsed on our arms. I scooped her and lay her down on the couch. I cursed under my breath as I walked back and forth. Connor covered her with a blanket, and he ordered the servers to bring a towel and basin through the mind link.

"Was that crescent moon?" Connor asked after a while.

I nodded as I run my fingers on my hair. "It's a crescent moon birthmark but looked like a tattoo on her nape. It illuminates every time she feels pain." I said.

"Does it have something to do with the shape of the moon tonight?" Colten asked while looking outside of the window. Connor and I hurriedly walked near the window and looked at the crescent moon in the sky.

"I think it does but, why and how she got that crescent moon mark?" Connor asked.

I sat beside my wife and caressed her face. "We will ask her that question tomorrow, but tonight let my wife rest and regain her energy. It must be tough for her, and she's keeping this thing from all of us all along. I cannot imagine how she suffered alone because of that mark." I said, and my wolf keeps on howling inside my head.