RUNNING FROM THE LYCAN KING WITH HIS TRIPLETS

CHAPTER 1

Chapter 1

"Look at her, she looks human today," said a well-dressed gentleman to his wife. "But inside, she's still the same swine person she's always been," he added with a sneer.

Everything on his person was borrowed except his undergarments but all that would change today if he successfully made the life-changing trade. A trade that involves selling his seventh daughter, Aurora.

The one he was talking about had her head low, staring at the dress she was made to wear. She, just like her father and mother had never worn anything as expensive as this before. They were common peasant farmers, and even a month's grain sales can't buy such clothes for them.

She should be happy that she was the one chosen among all her siblings to represent their family but she was not. Unlike her parents who borrowed their clothes from a clothes merchant, hers was paid for in full.

Despite the effort required to pay for the dress, Aurora remained unaware of the sacrifice her parents had made, a secret kept only between her siblings and parents.

Her mother glared at her like she was the ugliest sight to behold. "Why are you just standing there? You don't bloody own a carriage!" She yelled at her. "Now, move it!" She exclaimed as if the urgency of the situation had just dawned upon her.

Her powdered face remained disgusted until Aurora walked out the door with a leap in her steps. She watched as Aurora quickly obeyed, and her frustration shifted to disgust

The two shared a glance before following their daughter. They met her because of her distress. Aurora's mother, Janet was not patient. Janet's impatience was evident in the way she forcefully pulled her daughter along. This was a stark contrast to the gentle glance shared between the two parents just moments earlier.

They were not a rich family so they couldn't afford to hire a carriage even if it was for a few hours. They had to wait along the streets of their village for a public carriage that cost three shillings per person. However, since today was special for the couple, they had to pay for extra bench space for Aurora.

Climbing up the carriage footboard proved to be challenging for Aurora who was used to wearing sack garments. She almost falls but the father's hard hands caught her in time, stopping her from staining the expensive red gown in the mud.

He thumped aggressively against her when she entered the carriage. Aurora was made to sit between her father and mother so others wouldn't stain her gown. She shuddered at his unexpected force, feeling her stomach clench with dread.

Her heart raced in her chest. With every stop that carriage made, she knew she was getting closer to her doom. Her palms grew sweaty and her breathing shallow as the carriage rumbled on, each turn of the wheel taking her closer to her fate.

Her family members were never kind to her but compared to where her parents took her, their treatment was heavenly. No maiden taken there returned alive.

Hernandez, her father knocked on the carriage roof noisily until he got the attention of the coachman who pulled the reins of the horse. He heard Hernandez yell, "Dropping!" The noise, which alerted the coachman, grew louder and more persistent until it could not be ignored.

Aurora became fidgety. They had traveled for almost four hours. She hoped their time would be longer but she was wrong. Her parents stood up first but she hesitated which prompted her mother to drag her up by her ear.

It wasn't uncommon for the rest of the passengers in the carriage to see a teenager being abused by her relative. However, what was rare for them was the place the couple and their daughter decided to stop. "Get off quickly before you cause us to lose our heads," one bemoaned.

He spoke for all who couldn't wait to leave this path. Many carriages get lost in this area. Unfortunately, it was the only known route to the town so it couldn't be avoided. Despite the danger, the driver took the risk and pressed forward, hoping to reach the city safely.

The creatures that inhabited the dense forest along the road were vicious and merciless. Their kingdom was not too far away, once in a while they crave human flesh or simply covert female humans.

People fear speaking about them, afraid of being taken if they do. Only the bravest humans travel here, and almost always a teenage daughter.

The carriage rolled away hurriedly after the small family got off. Hernandez took his wife's hand in his because he could see she was becoming increasingly frightened by the environment.

Since they were told they had to arrive by the evening, they made it just in time, as the sun was just setting. Hernandez kept looking around as all the hairs on the back of his neck stood, he couldn't brush off the feeling of being watched, he hugged his wife closer to himself, whispering sweet, assuring words in her ears. His heart raced as he wondered who was watching them, and why.

Aurora hugged herself as she looked around. Her eyes briefly met two sliver colored orbs behind the trees. Her instincts knew they weren't humans. Aurora's scream echoed in the air as she ran toward her Mother, her heart pounding in fear.

"How dare you, you filthy wretch?" Hernandez thundered, raising his hands to hit Aurora's face. Before he could reach her cheeks, he felt something sharp and dangerous pushing against his neck. He immediately held his breath as every nerve in his body froze.

"You will not touch what is mine," Hernandez heard a low, deep voice behind him. It was an unexplainable power that made me want to kneel in the presence of the voice. He felt a chill course through his veins. He knew he had to obey the voice, no matter what.

Suddenly, half-clothed men crept out of the forest around them, each twice Hernandez's height and four times his body build. The men had different kinds of battle scars on their bodies that were not half as terrifying as their half-distorted faces. Fear enveloped Hernandez as he realized the men were not of this world.

They surround the family, growling low as they prowl. The two women scream and hold themselves as the men went on all fours and howl like wolves. He was petrified, as their malicious intent became obvious.

The howling stopped when a louder, more terrifying one was heard from behind Hernandez. "Where are your manners? Act humanly when you are in the presence of my potential in-laws," the man said with a smirk. The men with distorted faces immediately followed the order by making their wolf-like faces human but they didn't stand upright.

The sharp, black claws on Hernandez's neck retracted slowly back into the fingers of the leader of the men. The transformation was eerily quick and complete, and the men were now standing upright, the sight of which was a stark contrast to the beasts they had become.

Their leader stepped forward, letting all the humans see him. His presence was strong and commanding, putting the humans in awe.