Chapter 23: Chapter 23

Third POV.

"You don't need to be precautious around me. I can't cause you any harm," Josiah said. A faint smile evident on his lips.

This made Leila to be speechless and look at Josiah in disbelief.

'How the hell did he know what I was thinking?' Leila wondered inwardly.

Knowing that she couldn't bring herself to lower her guard in the old man's presence, Leila looked at her sister who was watching her movements closely.

Leila blinked at Elana and Elana understood what she wanted since they had been communicating like that since they were kids.

"He can be trusted," Elana said, "I think."

The sigh of relief which Leila was about to bring out came out as a sigh full of frustrations. After that, she knew that she might as well ask Aiden hence she turned her gaze to Aiden.

Aiden had heard both Josiah's and Elana's words hence he knew what his mate wanted but still he felt bitter. He wished that Leila had first asked him that question instead of asking Elana after all, he was his mate.

'Stop being stupid and so petty. That's her sister for goodness sake. Leila has always been depended on her sister for many years unlike you who she had just met yesterday,' his wolf said to him as it rolled its eyes wondering how its human could be so foolish.

Hearing the reprimand, Aiden let out a sigh after thinking about it for a while but still he wished that he had always been close to Leila since she was a kid.

"Yes, he can be trusted," Aiden said, making Leila feel relieved.

Leila closed her eyes for a few minutes making everyone anxious as they wondered what the hell had happened. They wanted to call out her name but Josiah prevented them from doing so.

"What do you think you are doing Josiah? What if she is in danger?" Aiden asked angrily as his hand ran on his hair.

"Watch your tone and words young man. Just because you are now a king doesn't mean that you shouldn't respect your elders," his father reprimanded him in a serious tone and a cold face.

"I am sorry dad. It's...it's just that I am worried about her," Aiden said after calming down.

"I don't blame him though. I completely understand him,"Josiah said while shaking his head.

"What's wrong with her?" Aurora asked while she was holding her father's arm tightly but her eyes looking at Leila.

Noticing that her question wasn't directed to anyone specifically, they all assumed that they didn't hear it, making the old king sigh as he patted his daughter's head.

As time passed by without Leila opening her eyes the more anxious they became.

"Wasn't she just fine before?" Lisa asked as she was confused about what was really going on. She started looking around the room as if she was looking for something. After some time, she groaned as she stormed her feet with a helpless look on her face.

"Yes she was. But the darkness became angry when it heard Aurora's words. After all, no one likes to be gotten rid of," Josiah said calmly.

Hearing this, Aurora started panicking because she didn't expect that her words could lead to the current situation. She vowed that if they lost Leila, she would never forgive herself. She also knew that if that were to her, she would not only lose her new best friend but also her dearest brother. The chances that the kingdom might be destroyed after the darkness took over was high. Thinking of all this, she found herself trembling and anxiety attacking her.

"You need to calm down, Aurora, nothing bad is going to happen. You have to believe that and become firm. You are the princess of this kingdom thus you should behave like one," her father told her but it rather seemed like she was being reprimanded and not being calmed.

"You aren't helping her at all with your words, your majesty," Amanda, who sat next to the old man said while shaking her head after she heard his words.

"It wants to get control and I don't think that this situation is like the previous one. The current one is more chaotic. All we have to do is hope for the best. Leila is stronger than we all think. That's what I can give her," Josiah said as a smile emitted on his face.

"I can't believe that you have the guts to smile when there is trouble," Marcus said furiously.

His eyes had already turned red as his eyeballs flashed some flame making it evident that he could have killed Josiah if he was close to him. As the other elders panicked when they saw his eyes, Josiah looked at Marcus calmly deep in his eyes as if he was provoking Marcus as there was nothing he could do.

The more Elana looked at Josiah, the more she frowned. She wondered what his reasons for being present were. How did he know about their identities? More to that, how did he know what was happening to Leila while she, Elana, didn't know what was even going on. It made her wonder whether she was really Leila's sister and a god. Feeling the chilly atmosphere that would make one nearly froze to death while the room temperature had been previously warm, Elana wondered what was happening making her come back to her senses.

Elana felt Marcus trembling with fury beside her and his arm was in a fist as if he was ready to fight with someone. Elana frowned a bit as she turned her gaze to Marcus. When she saw his eyes, she became more anxious than before but she wondered what he was looking at cause as far as she knew, the time he would always be like that, his eyes would be looking at the danger he was ready to face.

Elana followed his gaze and saw how Josiah was looking at Marcus. Josiah's lips had curled upwards in a mocking smile, his eyes were smiling warmly while the face had a cold expression. Elana continued to stare at Josiah's face and eyes as she tried to figure out what was going on. To her, even though she felt safe around him, there was something wrong with him.

"Josiah, drop it," Lisa shouted when she noticed that things were getting out of hand. Even though Josiah was older than her, they had been brought up together.

Hearing what Lisa said, Josiah's face turned to a frown as he looked at her. He glared at her for a second before diverting his glare. When he noticed that something was staring at him deeply at the front, he turned and looked at Elana giving her a warm smile but to Elana, that smile was trying to hide his real intentions.

"I don't trust this old man," Marcus whispered when he noticed what his mate was doing.

"Why are you giving me that look, Elana?" Josiah asked without a smile on his face since he had noticed that there was something wrong.

Elana raised her eyebrows as she gave the man questioning eyes.

"You have been staring at me for some minutes now and I found it creepy," Josiah said.

"What are you?" Elana asked immediately with her eyes turning cold.

Hearing that question, Josiah panicked for a second before getting his emotions under control and stayed calm.

"A werewolf," he answered with a smile.

By now, everyone was giving Elana with questioning looks since she wondered what's wrong with her.

"No, you are neither a lycan or a werewolf, what are you?" Elana asked coldly as she stepped forward.

Josiah was shocked beyond imagination. He tried to stay calm but he knew that there was no way he was going to be saved today.

"Elana, what's wrong," a soft voice came from the bed, making Elana halt.