The Lycan King's Runaway Human Bride

Chapter 6

(Alexia POV)

(1 year later)

Today was our 1 year anniversary. That's right. A whole year has passed since I met him.

Many things have changed, even though some things are still the same. My miserable life ended when I met him incidentally. He treated me like a treasure and made me look forward to living my life through the difficulties.

He would always bring me presents during every meeting, even if I told him not to.

Each gift was beautiful and I wanted nothing more than to flaunt them, but I couldn’t. Not when I am living as the illegitimate daughter of the high lord. Every one of those beautiful things was hidden underneath my bed and the only time I could actually wear them was midnight, when I could meet him.

Being in a secret relationship has its flaws.

There was the fact that we met only at midnight. We never actually went on a real date. Most dates would revolve around lakes and cliffs where we have midnight snacks and chat. Some nights we would fall asleep, just being in each other's arms.

We met as frequently as we could. There were times we would not be able to see each other. Sometimes it would last for more than a week. And today I am going to see him after a long 19 days gap.

He had been beyond busy during those past days. A week ago, the whole of the kingdom and the packs under them celebrated the coronation of the great prince Zeus as the king. The celebration lasted for a whole 3 days and the new king had gone to the packs to meet the alphas. Today he came to my household, but I was forbidden to come, saying that I was not worthy enough.

But everyone in the pack knew the real reason. Ever since the prince selected me to show him the room, I have been the talk of the pack. There was even a rumor where I was accused of seducing the prince when I didn't even have a clue why he acted like that towards me.

And today, when he came to visit, he especially asked where I was. My father had created a whole story of how I was really sick and couldn’t even get out of bed, which made the new king make a worried face.

This made my life even worse. They decided to starve me as a punishment for 'seducing the king'. So, in the end, my anniversary was followed by me, starving from only having a small breakfast, waiting for my mate, alone in the cold alley where we usually meet.

I rubbed my arms trying to heat up the cold feeling. 2 hours had passed since the designated time we met. He was never late, but this had to happen during the anniversary.

Unlike other times, the streets are a little livelier. A banquet is currently ongoing in the pack house, hosted by my father to toast the rise of the new king and I had noticed it would last throughout the night.

It was not like I wanted to go to their little party. It's always filled with embarrassing moments arranged for me by my dear family. But sometimes, I wish I wasn't alone.

"Alexia!!" a shout came as my head snapped to the left.

"Lu-Luka!" I smiled, but that changed into a shock as I was buried in a deep hug. His hold tightened around me as he buried his face into my neck, taking huge breaths.

"Oh, thank god." he said, making me frown in confusion.

"Luka?"

He moved back with worried eyes and put his hand on my forehead.

"Luka, what happened?"

"I heard you were sick, so I was really worried. Are you really OK?"

I could only chuckle at what he said, but then I paused as it hit me.

"Wait. How did you know I was sick?" My eyes widened even more when another thought hit me. "WAIT! Were you also there at the ball?"

The man looked stunned by my assumptions but slowly nodded his head.

"Y-ea. I was there. I was the knight protecting the King. That was also the reason why I was busy these few days. I wanted to surprise you when we visited the pack but they told us you were sick."

I let out a short laugh. Everything makes sense now.

"You told the King about me! No wonder he asked for me at the ball. I was wondering about the reason."

Luka looked at me with an expression I couldn’t understand, but he nodded his head, "Yea."

"The king made quite a problem for me." I laughed, making him frown.

"What happened?"

With that, I told him everything. Something we had promised was to keep no secrets between us. We will never lie and always talk about anything that happens to us. Good or bad.

When he heard the story, he looked ready to kill. But it wasn't the first time he looked like that. Whenever I talked to him about my misery he looked beyond angry. But I knew how you calmed him down.

I moved in front of him and hugged him tight around his waist. I went on tiptoe and kissed his chin. It's embarrassing to say this, but that was the highest I could go.

"Kiss me." I whispered to him as he looked at me. He sighed and let out a smile before bending down with a chuckle.

"How can I resist your adorableness?" He kissed me back with the same love and passion he always had.

"Happy anniversary." He smiled, pulling back.

"You remember." I was shocked he remembered. I had wanted him to remember and even remind him if he forgot, but I didn't have the guts to say anything. I had always been cautious, just not wanting to be a burden and be thrown away.

"Of course I do. Each day I spend with you is counted." He kissed the top of my head before giving a large grin, "Now let's go celebrate our anniversary."

I couldn't help but let out a huge smile.

"Yes!" I shouted excitedly as I grabbed his hand.

Because today is a 24- hour festival, the streets were still crowded. There were many other couples and families and all the stores and dating sites were open. And because of this, for the first time in the entire year, it felt like an actual date.

Luka was especially careful and alert about people around her. The whole time, he had his hands around my waist and glared at anyone who looked at me. Every couple would stop and look at us.

I mean, I was not surprised, since Luka was beyond handsome.

He would go for challenge games and win stuffed toys for me. He took me to a romance play and he brought me different foods to eat. He was even more excited about looking around than I was.

At the end of the date, we decided to go to our usual date spot, which was the cave where we killed the monsters.

"Careful." he smiled as he helped me up a boulder which had always been my difficult spot.

"It's been long since we came here." I said as he smiled and nodded his head.

"Wait here, OK?" he said as I nodded my head. I knew what he was going to do, since it was not the first time he had done it. He took out his sword and went in to check on the cave. Once everything was alright, he came back and guided me inside.

Once we were in, he took out a magic spear before throwing it in the air.

"Protect." he said as the spear exploded and formed a dome around us. The magic dome had the ability to put heat inside the dome and I sighed in relief, feeling the coldness around me slowly go away.

"Feeling better?" he smiled as he spread a blanket we had brought on the ground in front of the waterbody.

"Yea."

We both sat on the blanket as I took out the muffins we had brought from the stores. As we ate our dessert, we talked casually. Well, the topic only revolved around me and whenever I tried to ask him something, he would simply dodge it.

It has been like that since day one. At first, I didn't notice it, but one day it just struck me. I didn't know anything about my mate. I tried to get to know him more after that, but he seemed hesitant to answer and I, being someone who has a lot of insecurities, didn't want to seem like a burden and left it buried inside me.

"Alexia?" my mate called as I looked at him. "This anniversary I want to tell you something." he looked serious as he sat in front of me with a nervous look. "I know I am not being the best of mates right now. I haven’t told anyone about us and I won't be doing it at least for a few more months. Alexia, I love you. Never doubt it, but there are some things I need to take care of before I declare our relationship."

Like what? I wanted to ask him, but I held my tongue.

"At present, it's not safe, but I promise I will tell you everything about myself once everything is settled. So," he grabbed hold of my hand with a worried smile. "So, when the time is right, I hope you will forgive me and be my mate no matter what."

He took out something from his pocket and extended it to me. I couldn’t help but gasp as he opened it.

"It-s It's a". I couldn’t even say it out loud. What was he implying? Does he?

"Yes, it's a ring. I know it's too much right now. But..." he paused and looked at me before letting out a sigh. "That is stupid, I guess."

"No, no. Tell me." I couldn’t help but let out a smile of excitement.

"I..." he cleared his throat and looked at me with a determined look."This is an engagement ring and I know both of us are not ready to marry. But honestly, I want to put some kind of mark on you. What I really wanted was something else." He paused and stared into my eyes. "I want to mark you and claim you as mine."

"Do it." the words flew out of my mouth without a second thought. My mate froze on his spot, the engagement ring almost falling out of his hands.

"Sorry. I misheard. What?"

"I said, do it."

"I don't think you understand, my love. Putting a mark on you means imprinting you."

"I know, Luka." I looked at him with a determined look.

"We have to... you know... um... do the" he leaned in closer to me and whispered in my ear. "S-e-x." he spelled.

I could only blush and push him away. "Of-of course I know!" I looked away acting like it didn't bother me. But my heart was beating fast and I felt butterflies in my stomach.

"Then," a hand went under my chin before it guided me to look at him, "Are you saying, today, right now, if I want to claim you to be mine, you will be willing?"

"Yes." I don't know why, but my voice was just above a whisper.

" Will you be willing to bear my mark, be forever mine?"

"Yes."

His hands slowly wrapped around my waist before I was flipped to the blanket. He was now on top of me, his eyes suddenly turning gold. For a moment, I was shocked, as it looked beyond familiar, but then again, he was a werewolf.

"Make me yours, my mate."

That night I was marked and made his. He held me tight against him as he showered me with kisses. He would make sure I was more than alright before taking a step further.

When he bit me, I felt the pain mixed with excitement. It made me want more as I felt an unfamiliar feeling mix with mine.

I have read how a human marked by a werewolf will be able to feel the mate bond just as strongly as his mate.

It was true.

The moment he released his teeth from my neck, I felt a strong smell engulf me. It smelled like the soil after it rained. It made me feel even more excited.

And the sparks. Wherever he touched, I felt as if electricity had passed through my body. All of this made me feel uncontrollable.

"Yo-you feel this every day?" I breathed out as he grunted and moved back to look at me. Both of us were messy in our sweat.

His golden eyes looked at me with love, "Yes. And now you feel it too."

"I do."

"I love you."

"I love you too."