Chapter 87: Chapter 87 Marked by Draven.
"See you people in the dining. I’m going to make a good supper for my patient and husband." Daniel exited the room, still carrying his noticeable bulge, which Alex kept staring at shamelessly until Xylander snapped him out of his imagination.
Alexander now looked at Draven, who didn’t seem as sick as he had thirty minutes ago when he’d been rolling on the bed like an earthworm sprinkled with salt.
"You should have said something if it was sex you needed instead of making me worry. I had to run through the dark streets finding this woman, and apparently she doesn’t stay in one place, so you know how hard that was," Alexander complained.
Xylander rolled his eyes — here came Alex with his usual dramatics.
"So, Ruth, nice to see you. Can you check on him and see if you can identify what his problem is?" Xylander cut straight to the point.
Ruth nodded. She had finally gotten the break she deserved — an hour off — and the next day was supposed to be her day off; it hadn’t even been officially declared yet, and now this nemesis, an old friend, had resurfaced declaring an emergency.
"There goes my free hour..." Ruth grumbled and moved forward with her stethoscope to examine the aroused man on the bed.
"Can you please keep any penises away from me? I can see your bulge from here," Ruth loudly reprimanded, and Draven’s face turned beet-red.
Xylander smirked at him. "I wonder how big your dick is. Why is Daniel so protective of you if not for your big dick?" he teased.
Alexander was horrified — what was happening to Xylander? Oh my goodness, Daniel had really made him mad.
"Is that insecurity? You can’t make him climax or satisfy him and only I can?" Draven shot back.
Xylander took it as a challenge and reached for his belt.
Ruth and Alexander swore they could see their lives flash before them when Xylander’s pants nearly fell, but Ruth’s voice thundered through the room.
"One more word about penises and I swear I’m leaving." Ruth glared intensely at the shameless figure.
Draven shrugged; he’d been trying to be flirty, but thanks to Ruth he stopped.
"Sorry, Xyle. You can stay here, but I’ve got to see what Daniel is making — maybe show him around the kitchen." Using the perfect excuse, Alex dashed out of the room, alarmed.
"Oh, he isn’t always this serious. I wonder how I turned from the serious one to the fun type," Xyle muttered to himself, as if he’d never been that person. Only his family could bring out the other side of him — the cold and brooding part. When he saw the door to his house locked earlier, something in him shifted. Other than the lashing he’d given his family hours ago, this was a whole new him.
"Okay — can I start the treatment now?" Ruth asked, on the verge of losing her sanity. When Xyle gave her the go-ahead she walked forward.
Xylander was still dressed in his suit; he couldn’t change until he was sure Draven was okay and wouldn’t make his little bunny mad. Besides pleasing his hubby, he found himself liking the young man more and more.
"So what happened? Can you describe how you felt before I was called?" Ruth asked as she used her stethoscope to check his heart rate, which was normal.
Draven’s eyes lit up and he started narrating like he was recounting a movie.
"My body suddenly felt hot, like—hot. Then my heart clenched and my head started pounding before my whole body went rigid, like a—like the Justice League going into battle." Draven was interrupted.
Ruth stared at him incredulously. "Did I hear you say ’Justice League’? Are you eight? Come on, don’t waste my time. I’m supposed to be on vacation now but your friend said no — please don’t make it harder." Ruth pleaded, hoping Draven would get serious, and thank goodness, he did.
"To round it up, let’s say my body’s been in pain since the operation — the one where they removed a bullet. It was the usual post-op pain until something similar to what happened weeks ago occurred," Draven explained.
"And what was the thing that happened weeks ago?" the doctor inquired, scribbling in her notebook. She’d torn pages off in frustration because Draven kept spewing nonsense, yet she was still writing it down.
"It started after Daniel left. My friend knew, but he never told me how serious it was. I felt empty, like half of me went away, and every night I’d get this attack — my body would go rigid with pain every night until it stopped for a while. Now that I’m here, it’s continued," Draven finished.
Xylander’s attention snapped to the part when Draven mentioned Daniel, and he asked a question he hadn’t asked in a long time.
"How did you two meet?" Xylander probed. Draven, who felt like the answer would anger Xylander, hesitated.
Xyle smiled slowly. "No need to be afraid. I won’t do anything. Tell me how you both met — this is getting interesting." He encouraged him, and Draven reluctantly shared.
"It was when he escaped from his captor — I think it was a mafia guy; I’ve forgotten the name. He was in heat, and I helped him quench the fire," Draven said bluntly. Ruth’s eyes snapped to Xylander, expecting him to explode, but he stood there like nothing had happened. He even smiled faintly, nodding like a lizard.
God — was he normal? Which husband keeps quiet if a stranger claims he’d fucked your partner?
"So, you’re saying the problem started when Daniel departed? Now he’s here and it returned, but that’s fine, right?" Ruth guessed. Draven nodded in agreement.
Ruth let out a long exhale. So this was the issue — the critical thing that made her run here. Well, God help Alexander if she saw him on her way home.
"Aside from the post-surgery pains, is there anything else?" Ruth asked. Both Xyle and Draven shook their heads.
Okay. She stood, brought out her first-aid kit, changed the bandages on his stomach where he’d been operated on, dressed the wound near his backside, and applied medication to his injured ankle. After finishing, she packed her bag.
"About the attack — it’s called a mating bond. You created a bond with Daniel, a connection that weakened due to the distance, but now you’re here and it’s coming back, telling you it’s time to mark him. Which I guess you might have done," Ruth declared, standing.
"Well, Xylander, good news: your partner Daniel has been marked by this man. That’s all for today. See you — never," Ruth began to exit, but Xylander quickly blocked her way.
"Are you sure about this?" he asked, emphasizing the word sure. Ruth nodded; even Draven looked shocked.
He was the first to mark Daniel all this time — that was what the mate bond had been doing to him.
"Okay, if you’re sure, stay for supper. I want you to test Daniel — something tells me my little bunny is expecting because I’ve seen the signs," Xylander announced.
Ruth’s eyes bulged. Stay with these abnormal people? Her sanity was precious. She was about to refuse when Xyle made a threat.
"But be warned: don’t you ever reveal his rank or identity as an omega. Anything I hear wrong — just know that I will hunt you down with my resources — and you know how easily I can remove you if provoked," Xylander’s eyes turned cold, and Ruth swallowed hard.