The Lycan King's Fated Mate

Chapter 12 - Choices

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Christos

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I ask Valerio what he’s going to do, and he gets to his feet, saying he doesn’t know, causing me to get to my feet too.

"You are my brother, and I will stand with you no matter what decision you take, but I have to ask: if you decide to marry her, will you be able to handle what will come with it? Will she?” I ask, and again he says he doesn’t know; all he knows is he can’t reject her. I pour for us again and we down our shots. After he leaves, I pray to the gods that they help him. They made this union and I believe they chose to bring her here now. Surely, they must know what they are doing.

Amara thinks I want Valerio to reject his mate, but I don’t. I don’t think anyone besides Valerio wants this union more than I do. I resent Adonis Galatas for stabbing my father in the back, and I think he’s a greedy, traitorous f**k.

Even though I am aware that what my father did was treason, I could have dealt with it if the Lycan armies had killed him rather than one of his own people stabbing him in the back.

My father was the king who led the rebellion against the Lycans, and I was taken as a prisoner of war when my whole family was killed after my father and the kings who were by his side lost. I was the only one spared in my family. I was a baby when it happened. I grew up knowing I was Valerio’s older brother until I came of age and Valerio's father sat me down and told me everything. He didn’t want me to hear it from other people.

I was shocked when he told me. Up until that day, I thought I was his son. Even after I had noticed he had started to groom Valerio for the throne instead of me, the older son, it still never occurred to me. I was seventeen when he told me, and he chose to tell me then because I was getting my wolf the following year. If he hadn’t, I would have gotten the surprise of my life when I got a wolf instead of a Lycan.

My world collapsed when he told me. I wanted to die. Even though they’ve never made me feel unloved, finding out I was a prisoner of war broke me. It took me a few years to come to terms with it, and they were there the whole time, loving me still. The pain never completely disappeared; I don’t think it ever will, but I’ve learned to live with it—to make it part of me.

But I will never forgive Athena’s father. Helios Athan Calimeris, the second king who partnered up with him to betray my father and the other kings, was also killed after he changed his mind and tried to kill Valerio’s father. Adonis was the one who discovered him doing so, and he’s the only one left for me to hate. I will do my duty to my house and the King, but my heart bleeds every time I look into Adonis’s eyes. So, I would give anything to have the serpent booted out of this palace.

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Eli

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I cover my mouth, yawning while sitting up on the bed. And it’s morning. My eyes are still heavy, and my body is sore. I’m not used to feeling like this. Without my wolf, I feel weak, and I know Stormweaver said I couldn’t come inside with magic, but this is not going to work.

My wolf and I are one, and without him, I feel empty. How will I even concentrate on anything?

I get off the bed, parched. I need to get some water and go outside to feel my wolf. I did last night before going to sleep after I couldn’t even call Malia and I asked him what he felt when I couldn’t feel him. He said he didn’t feel anything; it was just empty like he didn’t exist. I grab the door handle, but I frown after twisting it, and it doesn’t move. I try again, but it still doesn’t budge; it’s like it’s stuck. I pull this time, realizing I’m trapped inside, but nothing seems to work. What the hell?

My heartbeat accelerates and I bang on the door, calling out to Stormweaver, even though I’m not sure he can hear me, I’m panicking. I didn’t lock the door, but now it seems to be locked. Did he lock me in? Why?

The more I bang on it, the more I start to freak out, and I leave it and run to the window, but just as I get to it, I hear a click, and I look back to see the door open. “What the hell?” I yell, walking up to him as he greets me good morning as if nothing happened. “Why did you lock me inside?” I ask, and he apologizes, saying he got delayed; he was supposed to have opened it by the time I woke up.

“That doesn’t answer my question. Why did you lock the door? Are you going to lock me in every night like some prisoner? Is that what I am?” I ask, getting in his face, his carefree expression making me angrier, and he raises his hands, saying he’s sorry. He says he couldn’t let me out before we talked.

“I had guests last night, and I couldn’t risk them seeing you or you seeing them before you’ve taken your vows and chosen a face,” he adds, confusing me.

“What do you mean by choosing a face? A face for what?” I ask, my face still inches from his and he walks over to the big painting on the wall and it’s only then that I notice there’s no mirror anymore but a painting, but I could swear it was a mirror last night. I’m about to ask what happened to the mirror when he waves his fingers in front of it and my eyes widen as it blends into the wall and turns into a mirror again.

“Come closer,” he says, turning to look at me and I take reluctant steps toward him. “Get in,” he continues, causing me to look at him, confused. How do I get inside a mirror? “Just walk into it. Don’t ask questions." He cuts me off before I can say anything, and I do, swallowing hard as my heart continues pounding in my chest.

I close my eyes, expecting to feel some kind of invisible force field, but there’s nothing like that. It feels like I’ve just walked through a regular door, producing a doubtful expression on my face as I question whether I went through it, realizing I’m still in the same room, standing where I did before I went in.

“Did I- “I start to ask, looking back in the mirror again, but my heart stops seeing a different reflection staring back at me.

“How-what? What is this?” I whisper, taking an involuntary step back, noticing the reflection’s doing the same thing I am and as I raise my hands, it does the same.

“It’s you; it’s your other face. A wizard never reveals his true identity,” Stormweaver says, causing me to look at him. He instructs me to go inside the mirror again, and I do, and I end up in the same position, like I didn’t even move, but the reflection's face has changed. It’s still not mine, but it’s not the same as the last one.

“One face is for the outside world. So you will wear it when you leave the house and the other you will wear it inside the house. Your real face you will only wear when no one is looking, which means in the privacy of your room,” he says before asking if I understand, and I nod, a bit creeped out by all this. Now I know how he looked like someone else when I arrived here.

“Wait! Is this your real face or your indoor face?” I ask, causing his face to stretch into a smirk.

“Have you forgotten your first lesson already? A wizard never reveals his true identity.”

“Even to a fellow wizard?” I ask with a smirk of my own.

“You are yet to prove yourself, Eli,” he says, waving his fingers again, and the mirror changes back to the painting.

I ask him which face is for where, and he says I can choose.

“How do I choose? Do I keep going into the mirror until I find the one?” I ask, still staring at the mirror now turned into a painting, and he says no.

“You will only go in once, thinking about the face you want, and the mirror will know. Once you’ve gone out with it, it will be your outside face. Now come and sit. It’s time for us to talk,” he replies, sitting on the rug, and I sit in front of him with my legs crossed as he has done.

“Who are you?” he asks, and I open my mouth to reply, but he speaks before I can. “Before you answer, know that it is forbidden to lie to me. If you do, I will know, and trust me, you don’t want that. We can’t work together if we can’t trust each other, Eli, and we certainly can’t stay under the same roof. Now, who are you?”

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Valerio

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I glance at the time while stopping in front of Athena’s place; it looks dark, understandably so since it’s 10:45 p.m. She is an early sleeper.

I sigh, running my fingers through my hair, not even knowing how I got here. One minute I was on my way home, and the next, I was coming here. I stare at her door, my heart breaking at the thought of breaking her heart, and I’m scared of how she will react. She can’t force me to marry her; no one can, and that’s not what I’m afraid of. I’m afraid she will resist the breakup, and I will have to force her. I don’t want to. Our marriage was arranged, but we formed a real connection, and I know it turned into love for her.

She’s in love with me and has been for years now, but because of the selfless person she is, she’s never confessed it or made it a factor because she didn’t want to put me under pressure. I love her too, but not in the way she loves me. I love and care for her deeply but as a friend. She’s been there for me through a lot of s**t in my life and has loved and supported me with all she is. But no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t see myself falling in love with her, and that’s what hurt me the most about our relationship. She’s given her all and only wants one thing from me, and I can’t give it to her.

My heart froze the night my Lycan awakened and I realized what it was that I had done. I was a boy when my father sat me down and told me about the alliance he had made with Athena’s father. He started by telling me what Athena’s father did for us and I was already willing to give anything to the man who saved my father’s life when he proposed marriage.

I was honored to do what was expected of me. Sacrificing a mate seemed easy enough. But I didn’t know what I was talking about. When my Lycan awakened, it felt like a nail had been drilled into my heart and left to rot. I didn’t know how it felt to have a mate, but the feeling I got just thinking about it made it clear I was never going to be complete without her, so my heart shut off, and that made me so guilty because Athena didn’t deserve that.

She made the same sacrifice I did, but she wasn’t whining and complaining about it. She pushed through and opened her heart to let me in. And now all her sacrifice is going to be for nothing. Now I’m about to rip her heart out and force her to watch it bleed. But what choice do I have? I have to be a monster to someone, and it has to be her. She’s not my mate and I have not marked her yet. Nonetheless, what I’m about to do will hurt her, but she stands a chance to recover one day. But Clio doesn’t. If I reject her, I’ll kill her.

I look at myself in the rearview mirror for the last time before stepping out of the car, my legs turning numb as I walk up to her doorstep. The lights come on after the third knock, and after a moment, the door opens.

“Hey, what are you doing here? Is everything okay?”

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Athena

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“I’m sorry, I-I will come back in the morning." Valerio stammers for the first time in his life, turning to walk away, but I grab his hand, causing him to stop.

“It’s okay; I wasn’t sleeping.” I gently pull him inside, and he enters, the look in his eyes scaring me. I ask him if he would like anything, closing the door behind him, and he says he’s fine. We head to the living area and sit down.

Valerio and I are not mated yet, but we’ve been friends for so long that I can almost feel his emotions. I can tell when he’s deeply troubled and right now, he is. I’m not going to let him leave here until I’m sure he’s okay.

“Talk to me.” I take his hands in mine, scooting closer to him as I do, and tears gleam in his eyes.

“I love you,” he says, placing his hand on top of mine, and the look in his eyes as he says that doesn’t give me the comfort it should. Instead, it terrifies me more. “You are my best friend and very important to me. I care for you deeply, and I always will,” he continues, and my heart starts drumming against my ears, his words sounding like he’s about to tell me he can’t do this anymore and is leaving.

I know Valerio is not in love with me yet, and I know it won’t be easy marrying someone you’re not in love with. But, as he just said, we care deeply for each other. So surely, he’s not thinking of running away from his responsibility.

“What are you saying?” I whisper, scooting even closer to him. “Valerio? I know this marriage isn’t easy for you, but I promise I’ll be a good wife to you. I won’t pressure you into anything; you know that. I- “ I start to say, but he cuts me off, saying he can’t reject her, and the world and everything in it comes to a standstill.