His reproachful words stopped halfway.
His weary wife's exhausted face had caught his eye.
Wrapping one arm around the neck of the wolf occupying most of the wide bed, she muttered in a tightly strained voice,
"It couldn't be helped. Khan was acting... a little strange today..."
Frowning, he walked over to the bedside.
Unlike yesterday, the wolf was no longer fully asleep.
The medicine had clearly taken effect; its body lay limp while it breathed somewhat heavily, yet its eyes remained stubbornly fixed on its mistress.
Reading an unsettling possessiveness in that gaze, Varkas's expression hardened.
Watching his reaction, Talia hurriedly explained,
"I think he's upset because I left him alone last night. And then suddenly he wasn't allowed to go outside either... I suppose all of that frustration built up."
"Did this beast cause some sort of trouble today?"
His cold question immediately put her on the defensive.
"Khan didn't do anything wrong. He just... seemed a little anxious."
If they had resorted to burning such potent medicinal herbs to calm him, then his condition must have been far worse than she was admitting.
Varkas looked coldly down at the beast, which struggled desperately to stay awake despite its labored breathing.
Only this morning it had seemed perfectly calm.
What had caused it to become so agitated?
Releasing a weary sigh, Varkas sat down on the edge of the bed.
The wolf, whose muzzle had begun wrinkling as though preparing to bare its fangs, immediately buried its head against its mistress instead.
The unspoken warning to keep his distance made Varkas narrow his eyes.
After a hesitant pause, Talia spoke.
"I think... I should stay with Khan tonight."
Varkas silently studied her face.
She looked almost as exhausted as the wolf.
Slowly, he nodded.
"Don't worry about me. You should get some sleep."
"...Can't you stay here too?"
Just as he was about to stand again, she reached out and caught hold of the hem of his coat.
After a brief hesitation, he removed his boots and climbed onto the bed.
Leaning against the headboard beside her, he immediately felt the wolf's gaze settle on him.
It was obvious the beast was not pleased with the arrangement.
Ignoring it, Varkas gently brushed the damp hair away from Talia's forehead.
She seemed to be running a slight fever.
"I'll watch over Khan. Rest without worrying."
Reassured by those words, her eyelids slowly drifted shut.
Before long, her breathing became slow and even.
He quietly watched her sleeping face.
After the deep, lingering kisses they had shared, he had hoped to fall asleep holding her soft, warm body in his arms.
The current situation was somewhat disappointing.
Yet, in another sense, it also brought him relief.
He had firmly resolved never to make her pregnant again.
Because of that promise, her seduction had secretly become almost more than he could bear.
Gently stroking her silky hair, he leaned back against the headboard.
The fresh air flowing in through the open window gradually drove away the bitter herbal smoke, allowing her natural scent to fill the room.
Breathing in that rich fragrance, he quietly gazed at her peaceful face bathed in the glow of the setting sun.
Without warning, his brother's words echoed in his ears.
"But you married the woman you wanted."
He knew those words were true.
But so what?
In this empty life of his, surely he was allowed to possess at least one thing he truly wanted.
Varkas lowered his gaze to her legs, folded gently together.
Her slender calves peeked out from beneath the hem of her skirt, where it had become tangled above the thin summer blanket.
Reaching out, he traced the reddish marks faintly visible beneath the fabric.
The thought crossed his mind that she might fly into a panic if she woke to find him doing this.
Even so, he could not bring himself to remove his hand from the long scar stretching from her knee to her thigh.
Almost every night he wandered through memories of the past, yet he had never once dreamed of the moment she received that wound.
The same was true of the sight of her bleeding upon the bed.
In reality, those memories were as vivid as burn scars.
Yet each night they dissolved like mist.
Because this woman could never become his nightmare.
Unable to suppress the desire to hold her any longer, he lowered his head onto the pillow and slipped one arm beneath her neck.
Carefully turning her away from the wolf and toward himself, he noticed the wolf lift its head from where it had been resting on the sheets.
For a brief moment, something strange flickered within the beast's otherwise expressionless eyes.
After silently studying Varkas's face as though observing him, the enormous animal awkwardly rose to its feet and pressed itself firmly against Talia's back.
Then it rested its face, covered in dense gray fur, beside her head.
Varkas stared at the absurd sight before finally letting out a quiet sigh and wrapping his arm around her back.
Her warm breath gently brushed against his chest.
Perhaps tonight, too, he would sink once more into a river of blood.
As though the dreams had somehow sensed that he was breaking the vow he had made in his heart, they grew colder and darker with each passing night.
It didn't matter.
Even as he felt his body gradually warming, he never loosened the arm wrapped protectively around her.