Lycan Castiel’s Vengeful Mistress

Chapter 5

Castiel

“Do you all wish to kill me?” With shaking hands, I threw my plate at the maids. “You’re all trying to poison me!” Someone had been trying to weaken me for a while now.

I was sure of it.

Too bad for them. They would just have to wait until the curse reached its final stage.

The group of dozen maids stood frozen in their spot. “No, Your Majesty—we aren’t!”

“No, your majesty—no, Your Majesty.” I mimicked the ridiculous tone of their voices.

One of the maids met my eyes, and I lost it.

Through gritted teeth, I grabbed the spoon from my plate and grabbed her by the neck. “Taste!” Aggravated, I pushed the metal object down her throat before pushing her onto the floor.

“Useless!” I growled, my body aching all over.

It hurt, everything hurt—and I couldn’t take it anymore.

For how much longer would I have to live like this?

Bowing deeply, the maid trembled. “I-I’m s-s-sorry, Y-Your M-Majesty.”

Sorry?

“Why do you all hate your king?” It was a question that had been on my mind for too long. “Is it because I do not treat you well?”

“No, Your Majesty!”

“Or is it because of this!” I pulled the mask, which covered my scar, down my face. “Look at me!” The room was filled with gasps and cries as everyone turned their heads.

The scar the witch gave me was horrendous. I couldn’t even look at myself. How would anyone else be able to look at me?

“My king, no one was trying to poison you.” My Valet, Georgie, tried calming the situation by readjusting the mask on my face. “The spoon is merely black due to the herbs.” He wiped his finger along the edges, resting my nerves.

Georgie had been by my side for years.

After I had stolen a rose from the Moon Goddess, he had been granted a petal in return for his loyalty.

He had become immortal, and even though one could see that was clearly not his wish—he had still stuck by my side.

Not that it mattered.

The Moon Goddess had granted me 124 years to find my true love mate, and only one year was left. Our end was nearing, and while everyone who was granted with a petal’s powers would eventually vanish—my punishment of eternal pain, in my shifted form, was slowly awaiting me.

The Lycan.

Once in a while, the beast would take over, and when it did—I would either go deep inside the woods or lock myself in the basement. As I was supposedly not a chosen one, and had betrayed the Moon Goddess, the beast refused to let me control him, nor would he connect with me.

All the others who had benefited from the petal did not have a problem with their Lycan. It was just me.

Not wanting to ruin their happiness, I kept the curse of the Moon Goddess a secret. Only my valet, my closest friend, the evil witch who had scarred my face, and of course the Prophet also known as the Soothsayer, hidden in the caves, knew about it.

The petal receivers thought they would live their immortal lives without anyone or anything being able to touch them.

They thanked me, and they worshipped me.

In return, I had given them false hope.

“Everyone out!” I took Georgie for his word, allowing the maids their freedom.

Yes, I was crazy—and no, I was not ashamed. After ages of searching for my true love, I was slowly prepared to accept the unfortunate outcome and ready to endure my days in pain. Being a kindhearted king was the least of my concerns.

“Georgie?” I turned to him. “Georgie, where is sir Landon?”

“He has been traveling the woods to bring you more herbs, Your Majesty.”

“These herbs.” My throat felt dry. “They’re not doing anything.” Frustrated, I pulled my hair and laid down in a fetal position.

Landon was also someone who I had blessed with a petal. He had been my best man from a young age, and not involving him was not even an option.

He had worked his way up to commander, and led a special force of supernatural knights, called the Electi.

Originally, I had began this elite group to collect maidens and had been doing so for centuries hoping to find my true love. Ten years turned into 100, then 123, and now we were here.

There were many mistresses in the palace. My trusted court had even put a queen on the throne. A Lycan princess from a neighboring kingdom. The queen who was a bit too fond of me, but even that didn’t help as she was not my true love.

I had done everything I could to protect the kingdom, but in the end, I remained a failure.

“Your Majesty, I know you’re stressed, but we must not lose hope.” Georgie attempted to encourage me. “A lot can happen in a year.”

My lips curled. “No, it can’t.” I chuckled at whatever rubbish this man was feeding me. “I have done everything, Georgie!” I yelled. “Everything!”

“Your Majesty, Queen Meria is here to greet you.”

Instantly, I released a growl upon hearing the announcement of the queen’s arrival. The only thing worse than the Moon Goddess’ curse would be her presence.

There was no time to prepare myself as the door got opened by the queen herself. Holding the sides of her dress, she entered my chambers with her head held high.

My jaw tensed. “What are you doing here?”

“Georgie, leave us.” Meria glared at my valet, showing him the door.

“Georgie, stay.” I stopped him before he could take another step.

Meria huffed through her nose, shooting the man a second glance. “Georgie, leave us.”

The man grinned uncomfortably, giving me a final bow. “Y-Your Highness.” He followed the queen’s orders rather than his king's and found his way out.

Besides being a powerful Lycan from the kingdom of Laure, Meria’s manners scared others the most. Personally I thought she more so resembled a witch. Her hair was as fiery red and unbearable as her personality.

Three years had passed since I had made her my queen. After hearing the news of a young Lycan princess, strong and powerful enough to meet my standards—I had stopped my search, convinced she might’ve been the one.

It didn’t take long for me to find out I was wrong.

Meria sat on my bed and reached for a cloth to press it against my face. Full of hatred, I looked into her deep blue eyes.

“It has been months since you’ve last visited my chambers.”

I didn’t give her an answer.

I would not give her what she desired.

“Last week, Landon brought two more concubines inside the palace.” She smacked her lips. “You visited them every single day.”

“Are you taking note of everything?”

“Yes.” Meria narrowed her eyes. “When you’re giving these fustilugs all the time of the day and do not find the time to visit your daughters…I’ll have to do something about it.”

I had instructed Landon to forbid any maiden from marrying. They were not allowed to wed until I had seen every single one of them, and had found my true mate, hoping a genuine connection would reveal itself when I would bed them.

Each year I would choose three suitable concubines, in the hopes of falling in love with one of them.

Years passed, and at one point, I had lost count. After taking their innocence, I was gentlemanly enough to give them a title and let them reside in the castle.

When they’d reach a certain age, I would allow them to leave the castle and live their mortal lives, while the very few female Lycans from other kingdoms received higher ranks and had vouched to stay by my side for centuries.

Over the century, a few of them had birthed daughters—but I was too selfish for my own good.

All I cared about was breaking the curse.

May it be a human, Lycan, or a werewolf, the queen was not that fond of anyone and despised all the chosen concubines.

“You can return when you can do your rightful duty as my queen and grant me sons,” I told Meria.

We had three daughters. They were active little pups—but they were of no relevance to me.

There was no point in getting close to them when there were bigger things to worry about.

Even if the curse were not in the way, they wouldn’t be relevant until they hit adulthood and became immortal.

“You’re evil.” Meria gasped, standing straight.

“I’ve been taking your disrespectful behavior for too long, and I’ve had it.”

“I told Landon to stop bringing in more maidens.” If I had to listen to her voice any longer, I was afraid the beast might come out. “That’s what you want to hear, right?”

“Very well, then.” Meria twisted her neck. “I hope he keeps his word because the next lady to enter the palace as your mistress—I swear I’ll sink my teeth into her neck and kill her myself.”