Chapter 188: You’re My Most Effective Medicine…

So this is it. This is why he’s been distant. Why he’s been avoiding my eyes. Why he’s been treating me like something that might break if he holds too tightly.

I let out a slow breath.

“Deniz…”

His name comes out softer than I intended. He looks at me, and his voice is weak, frayed at the edges, like something worn thin by too much holding on.

“I heard the doctor. Your condition…” He swallows, his throat working against words that don’t want to come.

“It’s so complicated. Fragile. Because of your rut failing, because you’re losing your Alpha trait…”

I stay silent.

So he heard. Everything. Every clinical word the doctor spoke, every assessment of my body’s slow undoing, every careful explanation of what might come next.

He’s been carrying this alone, all day, pretending not to know, pretending everything was fine, while I sat beside him in the car and ate dinner across from him and let him read medicine instructions aloud like nothing had changed.

A tear slips from his eye, catching the light as it slides down his reddened cheek. I catch it with my thumb before it can fall, the salt of him warm against my skin.

“I’m sorry.” My voice is soft, gentler than I feel. “I didn’t mean to hide it from you. I was going to tell you, but…” I pause, and his dark eyes are fixed on me, waiting, patient even in his hurt.

“That day, you were already so worried. Already on edge. I didn’t want to make it worse. You were already struggling to carry so much. So I kept it secret.”

He blinks, and more tears spill over, following the same path as the first. I catch them too, my thumb moving across his skin in slow, steady strokes, wiping away the evidence of his fear before it can settle.

“I was waiting for the right time,” I continue. “The right moment. I didn’t mean to hide it. I didn’t want you to hear it from someone else’s mouth.”

I look down, pressing my fingers to my temple, where a dull ache has settled behind my eyes.

“I didn’t think it would make things like this between us.”

His voice is barely a whisper when he speaks again. “I’m sorry.”

I frown, confused. “Why are you apologizing?”

He looks down, at his hands resting against my sides, like he can’t quite bring himself to hold on.

“I didn’t want to act like this. I wanted to be strong for you. I wanted to—” He stops, his breath catching in his throat.

“I’m afraid.”

I lean forward, brushing my lips against his cheek, tasting the salt of his tears. He flinches, just slightly, surprised by the sudden tenderness.

“Why are you afraid?” I whisper against his skin.

His hands find my waist, settling there gently, like he’s steadying himself against a tide. His fingers press into the fabric of my shirt, not gripping, just… holding.

“I just don’t want to lose you.”

I smile—soft, warm, real. I kiss his lips, quick and tender, and speak against his mouth.

“I’m not going anywhere. I’m here. I’ll always be here.” I pull back just enough to see his eyes.

“And I promise—from now on, I won’t hide anything from you.”

His voice is small, uncertain. “Promise?”

I smile again, feeling it reach my eyes. “Promise.”

A small, tentative smile touches his lips, and the sight of it loosens something in my chest I didn’t know was clenched. I lean in again, licking the salt from his cheek, slow and deliberate, tasting his fear and his relief all at once.

“Now you know my condition.”

My lips brush against his skin as I speak, my voice dropping to something lower, something meant only for him.

“So cure me, Mr. Deniz.”

He blinks, his face warming, his ears quickly turning pink. I watch the color spread, watch him try to hide it, watch him fail.

I reach up and touch his ear gently, just the tip of my finger tracing the delicate shell of it, and a shiver runs through his whole body—I feel it beneath me, in the way his breath catches, in the way his fingers tighten on my waist like an anchor.

“Zyren…” His voice is strained, a warning and a plea wrapped together.

I lean in, my lips finding the curve of his ear, and bite gently—just enough to make him gasp. He closes his eyes, his grip on my waist tightening like a lifeline.

“Don’t…” he breathes.

I lick the spot where I bit, soothing it, my tongue tracing the shape of his ear. “Deniz.” I pause, letting the word settle against his skin.

“Do you know something?”

His fingers are squeezing my waist now, the pressure building, like he’s holding himself back by the thinnest thread.

“What?”

I kiss his ear, soft and slow, letting my lips linger.

“You’re my most effective medicine.”

My hand slides down his chest, fingers pressing against the fabric of his shirt, feeling the heat of him beneath, the rapid beat of his heart. I lean back just enough to see his face, to watch him unravel.

“Now cure me,” I whisper.

He says my name, a warning and a surrender tangled together.

“Don’t test my patience.”

I kiss him again, soft, then deeper, my tongue sliding against his lips, asking for entry he’s already given.

“Who told you to hold back?”

He doesn’t let me finish.

His mouth is on mine, urgent, hungry, answering a question I didn’t know I was asking. My arms slide around his neck, pulling him closer, and the kiss deepens, stealing my breath, my thoughts, everything I thought I knew about how much I could want someone.

His hands slide down, cupping my thighs, fingers digging into the muscle there, and he lifts me from his lap as he stands.

The kiss doesn’t break. It deepens, becomes something more, something neither of us is willing to stop.

My legs wrap around his waist, and I feel his heartbeat against my chest, his breath against my lips, his hands holding me like I’m the only thing keeping him from falling.

He carries me across the room, his mouth never leaving mine, his steps sure even when his breath falters. The doorway passes, then the bedroom, then the edge of the bed.

He doesn’t stop until we’re there, until there’s nowhere else to go.

He doesn’t need to.

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