Chapter 351: Chapter 351 His Past Actions Came Back To Bite Him
He had simply rinsed enough to lessen the scent of blood on himself. Seeing him so tense and worried, Addison felt a pang of guilt for running off without telling anyone else, even though she had informed the severely injured Mary.
"Alpha Zion... Princess... Addison is back," Mary whispered weakly, her words barely carrying as she tried to catch Zion’s attention. Her brows drooped, and her eyes felt unbearably heavy.
She struggled to stay conscious because if she fell asleep now, with arrows still embedded in her body and her injuries slowly healing, she risked having infections. Her wolf was currently exhausted from overexertion and could no longer aid her recovery.
Mary had to remain vigilant; succumbing to sleep would trigger her body’s healing process, rendering her unconscious for days until she fully recovered both physically and mentally.
When Zion strode back looking for Addison, only not to see her there, Mary could only quickly explain in a few words that Addison had gone off on her own and made her wait for her return before acting.
Zion, still sensitive from just coming out of fight mode and with Shura, his wolf, buzzing from just wreaking havoc and was still very excited, knew he could easily overreact or make Addison feel suffocated. So all he could do was wait.
The moment he laid eyes on her, he felt like an abandoned wife who had been left behind while Addison ran around caring for other people. He wanted to scold Addison for leaving, yet he didn’t want to trouble her.
Instead, he bit his lip and stared, holding his gaze as if blinking might give her another chance to slip away without him noticing.
Seeing him like this, Addison could only rub the tip of her nose and pretend not to notice. She could sense Zion’s clinginess, and though she had decided to give their relationship a chance for the sake of their children, it wasn’t easy to set aside everything they had been through.
Now that he was openly showing concern for her, she felt a little awkward. So, she turned back to Mary and focused on helping her.
Addison gathered some clean flat stones and sharp stones to crush the clove plants. Watching her busy herself like this, Zion knew better than to say anything. With a heavy sigh, he shook his head and silently took over the task of crushing the plants, allowing Addison to concentrate fully on Mary.
Even with Zion’s quiet understanding, Addison still couldn’t completely get used to it. Nevertheless, she helped Mary settle into a more comfortable position, careful not to aggravate her wounds further.
After Zion finished crushing some of the clove plants, he handed them to Addison. "Here, I’m done with these. I’ll keep crushing more," he said, fully focused on his task.
Watching him work like this made Addison feel a twinge of guilt, but she could only shake her head. She knew her conscience was clear, she hadn’t forced him to help, so there was no reason to feel this way.
After gathering the crushed clove plant, Addison gently applied it around the arrows. Although the wounds had stopped bleeding and the surrounding flesh had mostly healed, she knew that just putting the anesthetic on the skin might have little effect.
To ensure better results, she also had Mary chew on the clove plant, allowing the anesthesia to be ingested and provide more effective relief.
Actually, right now, Mary had already shifted back to her human form, her naked body smeared with her own blood and that of the goblins. Even so, Zion didn’t spare her a glance, treating her just like anyone else.
Still, Addison’s territorial instincts flared when her eyes accidentally caught Zion. She couldn’t help but wonder if Zion ever looked at other women.
Maybe it was the trauma of Claire being brought into her home years ago that triggered her trust issues and instinctive territorial flare. But really, Addison couldn’t be blamed; Zion had brought this upon himself.
When Zion looked at her as if she had wronged him for taking care of Mary first and leaving without informing him, Addison hardly noticed it.
But Zion, experiencing this for the first time, began to understand what Addison must have felt before, when he ignored her and didn’t tell her what he was doing while accompanying Claire on her walks or when he only kept on taking care of Claire and her needs without minding what Addison thought or thinks.
He realized that back then, Addison had probably been overthinking and worrying about him while trying to handle everything.
Now, seeing Addison seemingly giving him the cold shoulder, Zion felt the push-and-pull of her hot-and-cold emotions firsthand. In truth, Addison wasn’t even aware of what she was doing because she was too caught up in her own feelings.
Experiencing it himself, Zion finally understood how wrong he had been before. That was why he quietly focused on helping her with what she needed, saying little, letting his actions speak for him.
’Sigh... I really am reaping what I sow, huh?’ Zion thought as he stole yet another glance at the busy Addison. He felt a pang of jealousy toward Mary since Addison was tending to her so carefully, so worried about her, and even though Mary was a woman, seeing her treated with such gentleness stirred his possessiveness over Addison.
It wasn’t until he heard Mary’s muffled groans of pain that he felt some relief. Maybe it was wrong to feel satisfaction in her discomfort, since it meant Addison couldn’t help Mary with it, but deep down, he knew it was just his jealousy flaring up.
"Buddy, you’re so pathetic..." Shura suddenly interjected into Zion’s thoughts.
"Shut up, if you’ve got nothing better to say," Zion growled, irritation simmering in his mind.
"Why so grumpy, huh? Are you on your... menopause or something?" Shura’s voice dripped with mockery, clearly enjoying Zion’s rare moment of vulnerability.
"Shut up... you know exactly why I’m annoyed, and you just want to make fun of me, don’t you?" Zion grumbled inwardly.
He couldn’t really blame Shura for this, after all, it had warned him before that one way or another, the way he treated Addison would come back to bite him. And now that it had happened, of course, Shura felt smug, silently saying, ’I told you so.’
Zion knew he’d been an ass, and he had no choice but to accept it. Even now, he felt frustrated at his past self. He could have just talked to Addison openly, like a mature adult, but no, he had to go around provoking her, hurting her like a child. And now that their position had reversed, his position felt more fragile than ever.
Experiencing Addison’s hot-and-cold approach made his heart feel like it was leaping wildly in his chest. One moment, he felt elated, as he felt he was connecting with her, and the next, he felt a sudden chill as she distanced herself from.
Then, when he caught her eyes on him, watching his reaction to Mary being naked nearby—he felt a surge of excitement. But that feeling vanished just as quickly when she brushed off her own territorial instincts. His chest tightened, his breath seemed to leave him, and he felt utterly deflated.