His Lost Lycan Princess

Holy Smokes!

Danisha

Eyebrows raised, he gave me a quizzing stare. Good lord, why couldn't I have better control on my tongue? I shouldn't have said that.

My lips stretched in an anxious smile. I couldn't look away. He definitely heard me. I kept wondering if there was a way that I could alter the topic?

"You lived with the dragons?" he asked.

Ooof. He heard me alright. How can a simple human like me fool a lycan prince who had supernatural powers?

"Y…yes," I reluctantly admitted.

"How did you end up there?"

My heart plummeted to my stomach. Was I seriously supposed to tell him that I foolishly fell in love with the dragon king after meeting him in the human world? And that I lost my memories when we crossed the magical border? I didn't even remember what really happened. All I knew was what I was told and to be honest, I no longer wanted to acknowledge that tale.

Troubled by those horrible memories, I looked away. I didn't want to relive those days. I wanted to forget. Yet it was hard, especially with the constant nightmares I suffered from time to time.

I knew my heart was racing. I wished I could remain calm and collected but it was quite the opposite. My breathing hitched and soon, I was taking deep gasps of breath. I wanted to smile and tell him that I was fine regardless of the chaos in my heart.

"s**t," he cussed as he hastily offered me a glass of water. With trembling hands, I accepted it and gulped it down. It helped me a bit. My heart no longer felt like it might leap out of my chest and my breathing had relaxed a bit.

"I'm sorry. Maybe we shouldn't talk about that yet," he mumbled, worriedly staring at me.

The corners of my lips barely twitched, yet I nodded my head. I would rather never speak about that horrid place.

"Are you okay?" he whispered, so lovingly that I could have sworn that I almost felt that it was… real. Like he was truly in love with me. Yet, deep down, I knew that it couldn't be true.

"Yeah… I am fine," I breathed out. "I guess im not ready to speak about that."

Nodding his head, he proceeded to finish his dinner.

"I hope you will open up one day," he added while continuing to eat the food we ordered.

My appetite gone, I stared at the half eaten food package and sighed.

One day.

I gulped. I doubted that day would ever arrive. I wasn't ready to even utter Cadmus' name. How could I relive those memories and narrate them to anyone? I once tried to describe it in detail to my fairy friends but failed. I ended up hyperventilating and they never asked me ever since. They once suggested that I get help from a therapist, but I chose not to for a couple of reasons.

For one thing, I couldn't afford therapy and the second thing was, I dreaded having to recall those horrendous days. I didn't want to. I chose to bury the darkest hours of my life in my heart. I had my colleagues and fairy friends if I needed to rant about anything. During the past year, I had been coping somehow and I didn't know if I would ever be ready to let them out.

The silence in the air felt heavy. I kept contemplating while stirring the food with my fork. Though I couldn't be sure, I thought Xander was stealing glances in my direction. Perhaps it was all in my head. But he did say that he liked me…

Pursing my lips, I cast a look at him. I was such a bad host. The entire mood was ruined due to my mental weakness. While forcing some of the food down my throat, I started to think of a good way to break the awkward silence between us. Nevertheless, he was the one who spoke first.

Heaving a sigh, "so. Our deal stands, right? We start next Monday," he said and flashed the lopsided grin I was growing fond of. "See you then."

He stood up and walked towards the exit to leave. I hastily placed the food package on the table and followed him, hoping to at least walk him to the door and bid him a good night. I was rushing to meet his pace when he abruptly turned around.

"Zar…."

I crashed into him and lost balance. Squeezing my eyes shut,I squealed, bracing myself to land on the tiled floor. Yet, it never came.

A pair of strong arms grabbed my body and held me firmly until I steadied. My eyes flew open.

My hands rested on his firm shoulders and his hands were wrapped around my torso. Stupefied, I gazed into his clear grey eyes, which seemed to be peering right into my soul. There was something in those mysterious grey orbs that I couldn't lay my finger on. Something deep and magical. Something that almost felt like love…

His breath fanned my face and I slowly reckoned the lack of space between us. My heart picked its speed. I hadn't been this close to anyone for a long time.

At first, after settling in the human city, I tried dating a couple of guys, but it all ended in disaster. I thought being with someone else would help me forget Cadmus. However, I soon realised that I couldn't enjoy being with a man. In one way or the other, men seemed to irritate me. Either they were too overprotective, or too childish. And don't even get me started on the s*x. Whenever they tried to get intimate, I got reminded of Cadmus and I loathed it. It was then I decided that I wasn't prepared to be in a relationship. I kept telling myself that I didn't need a man to be happy and for the past six months, I had found satisfaction in s*x toys. Yes, I took pleasure in eye candy. I loved to drool over hot guys. I just wasn't prepared to have one in my life. Then came Liam, another catastrophe I had to face. He just didn't understand the meaning of no.

Yet, meeting Xander felt different. Even with the first glance, I felt an instant connection. It was as though he was special. Yet, I knew it was nothing but a misconception. How could he be special? We were nothing but strangers. Or maybe, he seemed to be special because he wasn't a human.

Gazing into Xander's alluring eyes, I remained in his arms for a while, wondering if I should pull away.

Stay.

My inner voice told me. Yes. I liked being held by him. Unlike the other men, Xander wasn't trying to rush. Despite having expressed his interest in me, he didn't dip his head to kiss me. He didn't even pull me closer. Instead, he just let me stand straight and let go.

His throat bobbed. Our eyes never lost contact and my heart continued to race. I forced myself to step away yet my body yearned for more. He opened and closed his mouth a couple of times.

Fiddling with the hem of my shirt, "sorry. I didn't realise…" I sputtered.

"No… No. It's okay. It's just… I… didn't realise… I mean…"

I raised a brow. Was the mighty lycan prince stuttering?

"I wanted to thank you for the food," he finally said.

Smiling, "don't mention it," I responded.

We were at the door when I realised that I didn't know where I was supposed to go for training. I thought of asking, but hesitated. However, when I remembered that a hazard named Liam was still out there, I cleared my throat to catch his attention.

"So where do I meet you to go to learn self defense?" I asked.

He turned around. "I'll check a place and let you know."

Satisfied, I nodded my head. I didn't realise that I was smiling to myself as I watched him walk away. Xander sure was a gentleman. He wasn't like those other men I met. He was different and in a good way. Despite being the future king, he wasn't arrogant, unlike some people I knew.

I sighed.

Once again, I started to think about Cadmus. He acted like a nice guy at first, though his s****l desires were unquenchable. He didn't even attempt to hide it. At least he didn't hurt me when he slept with me. He did sleep with numerous women at once, but he never forced me into it. I assumed that was because I was special.

I wasn't special. He proved it.

My smile faded as I watched Xander enter the elevator. Even after the automatic doors closed, I kept staring for a while.

"I sure hope you are nothing like him, Xander," I whispered once I was sure that he was gone.

After locking the door to my apartment, I went in, cleaned up and went to my room. As usual, I needed to freshen up and check my social media before going to sleep. I washed my body using my favourite apricot body scrub, wore a fresh set of pyjamas and slumped on the bed.

"I missed you today," I snickered as I picked my phone. I rarely went an entire day without it.

I was about to open my Fàcebook account, but when I saw the notifications for unread texts, I instantly pressed the message icon.

Xander's sweet messages made me chuckle. I had indeed sent that cringy message to him. I most probably was too sleepy to remember or I hit send in my sleep.

I winced, wondering what Xander might have thought when he received that message.

He liked it.

Something told me that he liked it. Well, from his reaction tonight, he sure seemed to appreciate my message. Perhaps it all happened for the better.

Placing the phone on my chest, I closed my eyes and heaved a sigh. It was astounding that a charming Prince like him could be interested in someone like me: a royal mess of a human who had no clue of her past. All I recalled was what I saw in the dragon kingdom and what I was told. Unfortunately, I had parroted what they told me and believed it from the bottom of my heart. However, I no longer wanted to believe it. They weren't worthy of trust.

My phone vibrated, notifying me of a new text. It was Xander.

I loved having dinner with you. Hopefully, we can have more of those.

There was a heart emoji at the end. I couldn't help but smile. He was just too sweet. I didn't remember anyone sending me cute texts like those. Not even Cadmus.

I enjoyed it too. We will see each other on Monday, anyway.

I texted back.

Monday is too far away. Can I see you tomorrow too?

My place again?

I wasn't expecting another text from him, but when the text came, I promptly typed a response. Before I could stop my fingers from hitting send, I did, but my cheeks flushed as soon as I did.

Why in the world did I say that? Xander could definitely afford way better places than this and inviting a royal to a dump like this wasn't ideal.

That would be great. This time, I'll bring dinner for us both.

Oh, well. There was no going back now. Besides, I didn't want to sound rude.

Okay, cool. Good night, Xander.

Silence followed and I thought that he went to sleep, but I was wrong. The phone dinged again. This time, it was a Viber message.

My eyes bulged out of my sockets at what I saw.

"Holy smokes!" I screamed almost too loudly. It was a good night message alright, but attached to it was a picture of himself. And not just any picture. He was shirtless, flashing his cheeky grin that rendered the palpitations of my heart to increase.

I couldn't take my eyes away from the screen. It wasn't a full body picture. It showed just enough of his chest and damn!

He was f*****g hot!

My eyes were glued to the screen, memorising every inch of his creamy skin. Yet to my disappointment, suddenly the picture disappeared.

I blinked. It took a short moment for me to realise that he had deleted the picture. He sent another picture. His signature mischievous smirk was still there, but this time, he was clothed and frankly I didn't like it.

"What! Send that picture again!" I exclaimed loudly, knowing that it was safe and no one would hear me.