Chapter 22: Chapter 22

Third POV.

Leila opened her eyes and was covered with a bright light which made her close her eyes immediately. The smell of medicines and the contaminated air made her choke and also knew that she might be in a hospital. Leila calmed her nerves and opened her eyes and stared at the ceiling as she concentrated on what the people in the room were saying.

"Josiah, when will she wake up?" Aiden asked worriedly as he grabbed the old man's hand.

"If you stayed by her side maybe you would have known whether she is awake or not," Josiah answered while his eyes never left Leila's motionless body laying on the bed. He let out a heavy sigh as he shook his head since he had never seen Aiden that worried.

Hearing the man's words, all their eyes on Leila without she did feel their gazes, she did not interrupt any of them.

Leila wasn't so worried about her big sister's health or whether she had woken up or not because she already knew she was fine. Even though what happened a few minutes or hours ago seemed like a dream, she knew that it wasn't as she remembered her father's words before he left them.

"Leila," Elana exclaimed as she ran to her sister's side as soon as she saw her eyes wide open.

Although she was still worried whether it was Leila or her darkness, she opted to stay hopeful and also give the others some hopes.

Immediately Leila heard her sister calling out to her, she averted her gaze from the ceiling and looked at Elana who was at her left said.

"Elana," Leila said weakly but enough for everyone in the room to hear it.

When Aiden saw that it was Leila and not her darkness, he walked hurriedly to her right side, pecked her forehead and held her right hand.

"She is finally awake. This girl had given us some fright in the past few hours," the old king said as he let out a sigh and sat at the couch at the farthest end.

The old men and women present nodded their heads in agreement but they were still looking at the fragile girl laying down.

"Even though she is now back, I think she should be left alone so that she can have enough sleep," Amanda said as she turned around ready to leave the room.

"No, she can't fall asleep now again," Aiden shouted as he continued to hold her hand.

Everyone stood still and looked at him confusingly while Leila looked at him with her eyes full of affection.

Elana nodded her head hurriedly before saying, "I think what King Aiden is saying is true..."

"Please call me Aiden. We are family after all since you are Leila's sister that makes you my sister-in-law. I have got another sister," Aiden interrupted her and said in a displeasing tone making everyone chuckle while Elana breathed out the air she had been holding back. After all, he was the king. No matter how powerful he was, she still needed to pay her respects to him and she was afraid that she might say something, make him angry and in the process ruin her sister's relationship and that's not what she wanted.

'You made him angry still though,' Elana's wolf said to her before laughing at her.

"Sorry for interrupting you, sister Elana, you can continue saying what you were saying," Aiden said cheekily as he played with Leila's soft hair.

"Ooh, okay King...No, I mean Aiden. Yes, Okay Aiden," Elana said with a trembling voice making people present laugh while looking at her in amusement.

"Who knew that she could be afraid of something while she isn't even afraid of the devil or even in the battle field?" Matthew said as he looked at the young girls in front of him.

Lisa who was beside him shook her head and slapped Matthew slightly bringing back his attention to what was happening.

"As I was saying. I agree with Aiden. What if she goes back to sleep then her darkness takes advantage of the situation and takes her place completely this time round? Wouldn't we be in danger and also lose Leila in the process?" Elana said in a worried tone as her gaze moved from one person to the other who were present.

Sensing her emotions getting out of hand, Marcus patters her back while drawing circles on it soothing her. In no time, Elana's breathings got back to normal but that didn't mean that she wasn't still afraid.

"I guess not. She will get some peaceful sleep," Josiah said, averting his gaze from Leila and looking at Elana who was currently looking at him upon hearing his words.

At this moment, it was evident to Elana that the old man already knew their hidden identity and also had clues or understood everything that happened therefore she knew that there had to be a reason for his statement.

"Maybe we should let Aiden mark Leila to get rid of the darkness completely," Aurora spoke for the first time since Leila had woken up.

Even though she pretended that she was calm, she knew very well that she was frightened by what she had seen previously. She was afraid that she might say something to anger Leila and in the process, she would be hurt by her demon.

"No," both Leila and Josiah shouted immediately they had Aurora's words.

Hearing the shout, everyone looked at them as if they had horns on their heads since they couldn't understand why they were so against it. Some wondered whether Leila had already been affected by her demon and that's the reason she was rejecting the proposal in such a manner. Even though in their heads they thought they knew why Leila refused Aurora's words, they couldn't find the reason behind what Josiah was doing.

All this time, Aiden was looking at Leila with a sad and hurt look. To him, she had rejected him by disagreeing with the proposal. He wondered whether there was something he had done that had displeased his mate. He wondered whether she was blaming him for letting her darkness take over, or whether it was the fact her sister had been hurt in his place or what happened the previous night or whether she blamed him for the situation she was in. His mind was chaotic as he continued to stare at Leila without even blinking.

At the same time, Leila was panicking after hearing the words. To her, those words were enough to ruin her. To take her away from her family and loved ones but still she couldn't bring herself to blame Aurora cause she understood her clearly. Inwardly, she had felt a strong attack from her demon immediately the words were said.

"It is angry after hearing those words and it wants to come out, right?''Josiah asked Leila calmly as the others looked at him then at Leila.

Leila nodded her head as she lowered her head to avoid meeting the old man's eyes. Under his eyes, she felt that she was stripped naked. She felt the man knew what was going on but she still couldn't understand how.

"What's going on, Josiah?" The old king asked because he knew that there must be a reason as to why Josiah refused agreeing with Aurora's words.

Pretending that he didn't hear the question, Josiah looked at Elana whose eyes were still on him and then at Aiden whose eyes were still Leila.

"Is it still fighting for dominance?" Josiah asked Leila while looking at her deeply.

Leila was confused and asked herself why the old man seemed to know more about her and what was even currently going inside her when no one even Elana knew. She wondered whether he was a friend or a foe.

When the others heard Josiah's question they looked at Leila and that is when they noticed her eyes kept on changing. From her usual eyes color to being total black then to her wolf's eyes color then back to her usual and the process kept on repeating itself. They all held their breaths afraid that something might happen if they were heard breathing.