As they had this conversation, the Alpha's physician towered over Mikael Armand's bare body as he laid in a room in the Luna's quarters.
After a while, his brows knitted into a tight frown as he diagnosed, "Your skin remains as healthy as ever. Not even a blemish to suggest otherwise."
Unhurriedly sitting up, Mikael winced in pain as he put on his tunic.
"So? Are you saying I'm lying about the pain?"
The physician grimaced, eyes lowered to the floor.
"No, my lord. But this is my first time hearing of an illness without any physical symptoms. You say you feel terribly ill and can't sleep at night, but you're as healthy as ever."
"Perhaps, could it be this isn't a physical illness like you think, but a state of the mind?"
Turning to look at his face, Mikael snorted, "Physician, are you calling me insane?"
The physician gulped nervously, quickly bowing his head as he apologized, "Not at all, my lord! I merely said that seeing how you seem to have a lot on your mind lately. Forgive me if I offended you."
A knock sounded on the door at this moment, a maid's voice calling out almost immediately, "Luna Carmen is here."
Shortly after, the door was pushed open.
With a wave of his hand, Mikael dismissed the physician and got on his feet while Carmen prevented her maids from coming in with her.
The moment they were alone, she strutted to her father and anxiously bit down on her lower lip.
"What do I do, father? Back then, you told me to be patient and wait for him to come around, but it's been seven years and Axton has never once laid with me."
His eyes snapped towards her almost immediately, prompting her to quickly add, "Except on the night of the young Alpha's conception."
Only then did he turn his eyes to his front again.
"Is that why you have your maids running those bizarre errands for you?"
Carmen didn't deny it. "I'm just worried. He asked her to run his bath. He never does that unless he's interested in that person."
Her father walked to light the candles on the table, snorting a little as he did, "You were able to give the Alpha an heir seven years ago when his heart was the hardest and he frequented the battle field the most, how much more now that he hasn't been there in years?"
She clenched her jaw tightly, saying through gritted teeth, "I'm trying my best. But he never comes to my quarters nor does his guards let me in when I go to him at night."
"I find it very unlikely that a fiery man like that hasn't given it to his desires all these years. I'm afraid he's seeing another woman I don't know if."
Mikael didn't say a word until he was done lighting all five candles.
Then he blew them out and began lighting them again.
"Alpha Axton is a man who craves control. If he gave in to you seven years ago and made love to you the entire night until the early hours of morning, then he must be passionate about you."
"If he's passionate about you, he isn't in control." He paused to briefly glance at her before continuing, "Over the last few years, he has had the best-looking women before him, but he has never been erect for any of them."
Instantly, Carmen's eyes lit up, barely able to suppress her excitement as she laughed heartily.
"Really? Are you certain of this, father?"
Mikael hummed, "He knows he has no control over how he feels for you, so he tries to get the same feeling from other women."
"He knows if he makes it obvious you're the only one he can be with, you'll feel too entitled, as you should. So he's staying away to make sure that doesn't happen."
Carmen's mood significantly improved.
"Father, that is good news! I've been a worrywart all these years thinking he doesn't want me, not knowing it's because he can't seem to control himself around me."
"Like you said, a fiery man like him can't suppress his desires for too long. I believe it's only a matter of time before he crawls into your bed." He subtly added, making her even more relaxed.
So that's what it was.
She was the kind of woman men couldn't help but want, and the flicker of hunger in their eyes gave them away every time.
But to keep their heads, they only spoke about it when no one was around, and far from the Alpha's ears.
She spoke more with her father for over an hour he left.
At midnight, when everyone had retired to their chambers, someone snuck out from the maids' quarters.
Axton, who had just come out for a walk, saw this suspicious person and followed suit, until she stopped at the small lake a little farther from the maids' quarters.
He naturally stopped when he saw it was one of the maids. But he had just turned around to leave when she began stripping, taking off all, but her inner clothes before jumping into the water.
"My lord, you suddenly disappeared, is anything the…" Ronan Dreadmoor appeared behind him, his brows furrowed in slight confusion when Axton's cold voice reached his ears.
"Turn around."
The words had just fallen when Ronan rapidly spurned around.
Axton then tilted his head a little, eyes intently following the woman's every move as she swam gleefully.
A moment later, she paused and came up from the water, her opal eyes flashing everywhere for this presence she felt.
But he was watching from a distance and as a man adept in blending with the dark, it was no surprise she couldn't see him no matter how hard she looked.
As she searched for him, his eyes drank her in — the way her wet clothes molded to every curve, her hair plastered to her skin, her pale face glowing ethereally under the moonlight.
Unaware she was really being watched, she dove into the water again when she saw no one.
Only then did Axton's gaze drop to his lower body. To the bulge visibly straining against his pants.