The Lycan's Runaway Bride

#Chapter 5 - Go to Palace

Ruby

Everything in the image before me corresponds perfectly with my vision. Perhaps I had misinterpreted the signs…

This is the Lycan King. And to think that I just waltzed right into his car and unknowingly said awful things about him.

And yet, he didn’t harm my sister as I had thought. He saved her. He saved both of us.

I don’t know what to say. I avoid the King’s gaze, choosing instead to look at the floor.

The King’s henchman falls to one knee in front of the King now and places his fist over his heart.

“Please don’t be angry with your bride for this,” he pleads. “It’s all my fault. I let my guard down, and didn’t have the strength to fight back against her dazing ability. If you’re going to punish anyone, My Lord, punish me.”

I look up at the King and his henchmen. The King shakes his head and gestures for his henchman to rise, then hands Tamara to him. I begin to cry out in protest, but the King simply raises a finger to me and I am silent.

“Your sister will be taken care of,” he says softly, then walks toward me. I scamper back further into the corner and raise my hands in defense, prepared for the King to beat me as he steps over the bodies of the rogues.

But he doesn’t.

He crouches in front of me and gently takes my hands in his, pressing my fingers to his lips and looking into my eyes. I can feel myself tingle at his touch, but I am unsure as to whether the sensation is fear or excitement -- perhaps both.

Although I would let him kiss my hands forever, there is still a part of me that fears him, so I pull my hands away. The King drops his gaze, looking defeated.

“Your sister,” he says after a pause. “She smells like a human.”

I gulp and glance up at the henchman, who still holds the bloodied body of my sister.

“She’s a hybrid, isn’t she?” he asks. I nod nervously. His scent, so close to me now, fills my senses and stirs something in me that I have never experienced before.

“Yes,” I say. “Both of us are. But my sister…” I gulp again, and it’s now that I realize the large gash in my leg. I hadn’t noticed before thanks to the adrenaline pumping through my veins. I wince at the sudden realization of pain and lean my head back against the wall. The King looks concerned and reaches out for me. I flinch away from his touch at first, but then relent and let him touch me.

His touch gives me strength, and I regain the ability to speak. A huge part of me wants to lie, to tell him that I gave her a scent-masking serum, but I know that he will see right through my lies. There is also a small part of me that trusts him… He could have killed my sister and I, but he didn’t.

Why?

For the first time all night, the King takes off his dark glasses to reveal bright, glowing orange eyes that peer straight into my soul. I am captivated by his gaze, and then suddenly I am speaking without realizing exactly what I’m saying.

“My sister is more human than wolf,” I blurt out, surprised at my own candidness, but I am unable to stop myself from telling the truth.  “Her abilities are extremely limited, and she has no chance of having a wolf.”

The King sighs and looks over his shoulder at his henchman and Tamara. The henchman looks down at my sister briefly, then back to the King and nods silently.

I can feel my heart rise up into my throat, and I attempt to stand, but the pain in my leg is too great and I fall back down with a thud and a whimper.

“Please,” I manage to get out as the King stands in front of me. “Please, I’m begging you, I’ll do anything.” I reach forward with what little strength I have left and grab the King’s pant leg. He looks at me with an expression that I cannot place my finger on. Pity? Disgust?

No.

His expression is one of pain.

I drop my grip on his pant leg as another jolt of pain shoots up through my body. More blood gushes out of my wound, soaking my pants and leaving a puddle around me.

“It is all my fault for offending you,” I murmur as my head falls back against the wall again. “I shouldn’t have ran. I know that now, and I will never run again. But please… please, I beg you not to hurt her or banish her. She’s too young… Punish me instead, if you must.”

Hot tears roll down my cheeks as the King continues to stand and stare at me with those piercing orange eyes.

He shifts his gaze to the floor, clenching and unclenching his fists.

After several eternal moments, he bends down to me again. I have no strength left in my body to raise my hands in defense, so I accept my fate. I expose my neck for him to bite, so that he may kill me.

But he doesn’t.

He wraps his coat around me, apparently not caring that it will be covered in blood, and scoops me up into his strong arms before standing again. He holds me tightly, and as he holds me, I feel my pain subside. I look down to see the wound on my leg closing up.

And there is another sensation…

My panties are wet.

The King presses his lips to my ear and speaks. “I will always find you,” he whispers. A statement that is both comforting and terrifying.

As it turns out, the Lycan King can teleport, which explains how he found my exact location so quickly. He teleports with me in his arms, his henchman apparently having the ability to do the same, and they sprint to the car, which is hidden in the woods. As the King runs with me in his arms, I can see the smoke billowing out of the burning house as the flames envelop it. Sirens blare and lights flash as the fire department arrives to put out the fire before it spreads to the forest, but the King and his henchman are already hidden by the woods by the time the fire department pulls into the long driveway.

The henchman places Tamara lying down in the back seat and covers her in a blanket before climbing into the driver’s seat. The King slides in across from where Tamara lies, and it is now, in the red LED lights of the car, that I can see my sister’s chest gently rising and falling. I let out a huge sigh of relief.

She’s alive, but barely.

The henchman steps on the gas and peels out of the woods and back toward the castle as the King continues to hold me tightly in his arms. His hands slip into the coat and under my shirt to hold me closer, and his touch is so cold against my skin that it sends shivers down my body. I can feel my body throb with excitement at his touch.

His scent fills me with a feeling of euphoria that lulls me into a half-asleep state. My eyelids flutter and I half smile up at the King, then look toward my sister and reach my hand out to take hers.