Betrayed By My Mate, Claimed By His Lycan King Uncle
Chapter 92: Lost Senses.

Chapter 92: Lost Senses.

The next day arrived swiftly, the golden sun shining brightly across the vast expanse of the earth. A gentle breeze danced through the trees, carrying the soothing sounds of birdsong and the rustling of leaves. Nature felt at peace...calm and alive.

Anaya sat silently on a moss-covered rock deep within the forest, her expression unreadable. Not far from her, Rhys lay sprawled on the grassy ground, his body still stained with dried blood and bruises from the brutal events of the previous day.

They were no longer at the ruined pack grounds. They had escaped. The dense forest surrounding them now wasn’t far from Anaya’s parents’ territory.

Suddenly, Rhys’s body stirred. His wounds began to close rapidly, the supernatural healing taking effect as the magic surged through his veins. His fingers twitched. Then his chest heaved with a gasp and his eyes flickered open.

With a jolt, Rhys sat up, adrenaline and confusion crashing into him all at once.

"I’m alive!" he exclaimed, his voice filled with disbelief. He frantically examined his arms and torso, patting his chest and stomach. "I’m really alive!" he said again, a breathless laugh escaping him as relief spread across his face.

His gaze landed on Anaya, sitting still on the rock. Tears streamed silently down her cheeks. The moment she heard movement, she tried to stand but her legs gave way, and she crumpled to the forest floor.

"Anaya!" Rhys shouted in alarm as he rushed toward her.

He knelt beside her, reaching out to steady her. But instead of the tearful embrace or soft smile he expected, Anaya flinched. She began to struggle violently, her hands pushing at his chest, her head turning away.

"What’s wrong?" he asked in confusion, his voice urgent. "It’s me...Rhys. Look at me, it’s really me."

Gently, he cradled her face in his hands. "Open your eyes, Anaya. I’m here... I’m okay."

At the warmth of his touch, her body finally stilled. Slowly, she reached out, her trembling fingers brushing over his face...his jaw, his cheekbones, his brow. Her tears flowed freely now, and she began to sob quietly, still holding his face as if trying to memorize it.

"Anaya," Rhys whispered, his brow furrowed. "Why are you crying like this?"

He gently wiped the tears from her cheeks with his thumbs, a growing panic rising in his chest. "We’re not in the ruined pack anymore. We’re safe. The jade pendant... it saved us. It really worked."

But Anaya gave no reply. Her lips trembled, but no words came. Her eyes stared blankly past him, unfocused. She made no indication that she had heard a single word.

Rhys’s heart began to pound.

"Anaya?" he asked, more softly this time, a tremor in his voice. "Why aren’t you responding? What’s wrong with your eyes? Why do you keep them shut still. You don’t want to see me?"

Still, she wept in silence. The only sounds were the birds chirping high in the trees, the wind whispering through the leaves, and Rhys’s own heavy breathing.

"Tell me what happened to you!" he suddenly shouted, shaking her shoulders in desperation.

As he did, a small slip of paper fluttered from the folds of her dress and fell to the ground between them. Rhys blinked, quickly snatching it up. His eyes scanned the uneven handwriting.

Lost the senses of seeing, hearing, and speaking.

Rhys read the words aloud in disbelief. They hit him like a blow to the chest. His hands trembled, and the note slipped from his fingers as his vision blurred.

"Lost... all senses?" he repeated hoarsely, barely able to form the words. "Who lost that? What is this supposed to mean...?"

He turned to Anaya, who was still sobbing, her face buried in her hands.

"No," he whispered. "No... Anaya, you didn’t... you couldn’t have..."

His voice cracked, and tears began to spill freely from his eyes, dripping onto the note now lying forgotten in the grass.

"You really can’t see me?" he whispered brokenly. "You can’t speak... can’t even hear me anymore?"

Rhys stared at her, devastation filling every corner of his soul. "What did you do, Anaya?" he asked, his voice barely audible. "What did that jade pendant take from you?"

He stood, then fell to his knees beside her once more, wrapping his arms around her trembling frame as she continued to cry.

"We were supposed to leave that place together," he said, voice rising with grief. "We were supposed to survive. Together. Whole. You...damn it. There was a price to pay!"

He tightened his arms around her. "If this was a sacrifice... then it should’ve been me, not you. Never you, Anaya."

Rhys buried his face in her shoulder, his cries mingling with hers....wordless, aching, and full of a pain that only loss could bring

"Did you know there would be such a terrible sacrifice involved, and yet you still made us use the jade pendant?" Rhys cried out, his voice thick with anguish. "Even if we hadn’t used it... there must’ve been another way to save ourselves! But instead...you chose to sacrifice yourself!"

His voice broke as he knelt beside Anaya, his fists trembling by his sides. His heart bled with every word. "The reason I’m still alive, the reason my body bears no injuries despite knowing I should have died... is it because you sacrificed your senses to bring me back?" His voice cracked, his chest rising and falling rapidly.

"Why, Anaya? Why would you do something so reckless?" His fingers raked through his hair in desperation. "I’m selfish. I never even considered your feelings. I’ve been blind to your pain. And yet... you still went ahead and did this. You gave up everything for me! Why, Anaya? Just why?!"

There was no response...only the soft, broken sobs that trembled from Anaya’s lips as she knelt silently on the forest floor, her shoulders shaking under the weight of emotion. Rhys continued shaking her gently, unable to restrain the pain building in his chest.

She knew he had already pieced it together...he knew now that she could no longer hear him, see him, or speak. And the fact that he knew... that he was hurting... that was progress. It meant her sacrifice had not been in vain.

She loved him. She had always loved him. And for him, she would give up everything...even if it meant living in silence and darkness. Even if it meant never hearing his voice again or seeing him again.

Would he finally love her now? But not out of pity. No, never out of pity...that would be worse than anything else. That would shatter her heart more than her silence ever could.

"I should have just died ," Rhys whispered, his voice thick and broken. "If I had died... you would have gone back to your pack peacefully. You’d marry the man your father chose. You’d live a normal life. You would have had your happy ending."

He reached forward and cupped her tear-streaked face in his palms. His thumbs brushed away her tears with a tenderness that belied his inner torment. "But instead... you destroyed yourself to save a fool like me."

Rhys’s voice cracked again, his expression wild and stricken. "But since it’s come to this, then I swear...I’ll be your eyes. I’ll be your ears. I’ll be your voice. I’ll even be your legs, Anaya."

His lips trembled, his breath hitching in his throat. "I know you can’t hear me. I know you can’t see me or speak to me. But I will be there for you. I promise I’ll take care of you. I promise I won’t let you down ever again."

And with that, he pulled her into a gentle embrace, letting her cry against his shoulder, as the forest whispered around them with the wind, the leaves, and the distant song of birds...sounds Anaya would never hear again.

____

Meanwhile, back at Dimitri’s mansion...

The golden sunlight spilled through the arched window, dancing across the cold floor and nudging Sorayah from her slumber. Her lashes fluttered, and she sat up slowly, blinking against the brightness of the morning.

Across the room, the little girl, Linda as sfe finally introduced herself assigned to her as a personal attendant lay sleeping soundly on her small bed.

As Sorayah’s senses returned, the events of the previous day came flooding back to her in a bitter rush. Dimitri the Beta Lord had proposed to make her his concubine. Her stomach twisted at the memory.

She had protested, of course. She had thrown every refusal she could muster. But it had fallen on deaf ears. Dimitri had been resolute. He said he had made up his mind and she should be grateful that a Beta Lord like him would even consider someone like her.

"Grateful, my foot," Sorayah muttered beneath her breath, her heart pounding with indignation.

Was this his way of binding her to him? Of trapping her so she couldn’t escape? After all, she’d told him she was the personal servant of the human kingdom’s crown prince. He was clearly trying to imprison her, hide her in plain sight under the guise of affection.

But what worried her even more was the looming encounter she would soon have at the royal palace with Lupien.