Cursed Lycan: A Stand-in for My Sister's Mate

Chapter 7: Illegitimate Daughter

“It’s you,” she said carefully said.

“Yeah? Me.” Rion scanned her figure from head to toe. She still reeked of some fishy smell of blood from earlier fights.

“May I know why you are here?” There was a slight defensive tone in her voice.

Rion took a step forward, and she subconsciously took a step back. Her pupils constricted at the realization of what she had done. She looked up, wanting to read what he was thinking.

He appeared expressionless, and Iris was in turmoil about what she should do next to fix the situation. It was her reflex not to let any people she wasn’t familiar with from being too close to her.

However, she heard that mates weren’t like this. They were the person you were supposed to be most comfortable with; her gesture showed that she didn’t trust him.

“I heard that you are an excellent warrior.” He tilted his head, then shrugged. “Coincidentally, I saw my little mate sneaking in the middle of the night.”

Her mouth couldn’t help but twitch at that.

“I wonder what she’s up to. I was worried if she would run into any demonic monsters, but I didn’t expect her to kill so many of them.” He continued, and her heart couldn’t help but palpitate at that. She wondered whether he had seen her visiting that lone cabin in the woods?

As if he could read her mind, he added, “I stayed here to wait for you. The other side should be safer since I didn’t sense a lot of presence there.”

Iris couldn’t help but inwardly let out a sigh of relief. However, she was also appalled by the power of this man. His sense could actually cover a large area.

“Thanks.” She couldn’t help saying that, and then she took a peek at his wounded shoulder. “Sorry about that.”

Rion raises his eyebrow and she could see amusement swirling within those magnetic eyes. He glanced at her shoulder, and she instantly realized that he had deliberately let her take revenge.

“Let’s go back.” He turned his body and waited for her. She shrugged to herself and jogged to him. They shifted to their wolf forms and dashed together in the woods, creating a strangely pleasant rhythm. They didn’t try to outrun each other, and instead tried to match each other’s steps into harmony.

Suddenly, Iris’ curiosity peaked, as the desire to grow stronger sparked inside her heart. “After you watch me fight earlier, what do you think of it?”

“You hid yourself quite well.” He finally said after a moment through their mind-link. “You have explosive power, but you don’t use them quite effectively.”

He went on talking about how she could enhance her battle power, and she focused. Looking at her being so serious, he couldn’t help but nudge her small head with his big one.

She looked at him in slight confusion. However, she didn’t think much of it.

After imparting some of his knowledge to her, they parted ways, and she went back inside to her bedroom. Only then she realized how bad she smelled. Thus, she went to take a bath before she passed out in the bed out of exhaustion.

There was one thought in her mind. She clearly enjoyed their interaction tonight.

It was still early in the morning, and when she succumbed to the darkness, she had a dream.

There was an unknown figure in front of her. Her body was in so much pain that she struggled to keep herself awake. The rogue attack had caused so many wounds, and she had lacerations everywhere. Some small chunks of her flesh were gone, and blood painted her body red.

It was a miracle that she survived. She even almost gave up the thought of living. How could she not? None would care whether she lived or died, anyway.

Everyone was too busy protecting Selia to care about her fate.

She had accepted this fact a long time ago that she would remain to be her sister’s shadow. The fact that their faces were too similar also didn’t help much. Even so, they didn’t come from the same mother.

Iris’ mother was someone who had no background, and her status was only an omega in the pack. By the time her mother and father found each other, her father, who was the Alpha of the pack, was engaged to the neighboring Alpha’s daughter.

They accidentally spent the night together. She ended up pregnant because of that, and thus she disappeared.

Her mother came back, heavily pregnant, a week before she gave birth to her. It had caused such a turmoil in the pack because at that time, the neighboring Alpha’s daughter and her father had done the mating ceremony.

The neighboring Alpha’s daughter, who had become the Luna of the pack, was also pregnant at that time. The Alpha was forced to keep Iris’ mother albeit all the persecution.

Iris understood why her mother had chosen to disappear like that. Alpha Arthur wanted to expand the pack and the only way he could do it was through mating with the Alpha’s daughter of the neighboring pack, Luna Lucy. Thus, in fear that she might be forced to abort Iris, her mother disappeared.

However, after she gave birth, her mother was also nowhere to be found. She disappeared again, but someone managed to find the clothes she had worn last time in the woods. They still reeked of her smell, torn to pieces and coated in blood.

She was declared dead, eaten by some demonic creatures or rogue werewolves. The daughter she left behind also became the thorn in everyone’s eye afterward, especially the family of three.

Those thoughts flashed through her mind. Then she remembered that she might be in the same situation as her mother was. Soon to be dead somewhere in the woods.

It was just a pity that despite her mother’s struggle to keep her alive, she would still die young. Or was it better that she should have never been born at all?

“Kill… me.” Iris spat out as she struggled to make out the hazy figure that stood above her.

The pain made her wish she would die sooner. She knew that she soon would, because it was nearly impossible to survive this, right? So, she begged that person, whoever it was, to end her pain quickly.

“Please…kill me.” She said again, but blood gurgled out of her mouth and she coughed a few times. Even breathing was difficult, and some blood entered her eyes, making it harder for her to see.

She couldn’t get a good look at who it was. Luckily, her hearing could still function a bit better, albeit with the ringing in her ears.

“I can’t do that…” The voice was as soft as a whisper, and her body jolted a bit. For a moment, all her senses cleared, and she was like she was being injected with a drug or some sort of medicine.

He had a soothing voice. All her pain momentarily paused like magic, and when she had a few seconds of relief. Until all of that pain crashed down on her again like high waves.

“W-why?” she asked confusedly, still insisting on wanting that relief. “Please…”

He didn’t respond anymore and the ringing in her ears was getting louder. She almost thought that he had left, if not for the blurry shadow in front of her.

She laughed inwardly. Even if he didn’t end her, she guessed that she would also die soon. It didn’t feel great to be watched like that, though. Was he a p*****t that he liked watching people suffer or what? Iris’ thoughts were a bit chaotic as her mind filled with nonsensical ideas.

Her consciousness was fading away, and she almost sunk completely into darkness when she heard him say something. She had difficulty making out what he was saying, but she managed to extract one word, ‘reject’.

That was when Iris jolted awake. This dream had haunted for so many years since Selia’s coming of age ceremony.

It gave her a bitter feeling, though. She had dreamed that she would meet her mate someday. He was the savior that would bring her out of this pack, but he rejected her instead. That dream and hope shattered just like that.

Even her own mate didn’t want her.

She despised him a bit of acting like her father, someone who betrayed his own mate for the sake of power. But in the end, she didn’t blame him. She was an incapable mate; she was too weak.

This was also the cause why she strived so crazily for power. When she had power, she didn’t need to put her hopes on other people anymore. She didn’t need to be saved. Even when she was bathed in sweat and blood, she would still do it.

Iris looked, and she cursed. It was nearly noon, and she had to go for lunch with the Alpha and, of course, her fake mate.

She jumped into the bathroom and cleaned herself, ignoring the knocking outside her house. After she was done, only then did she open the door.

“Lord…” She stopped herself. What should she call him?

“Call me Rion.” He smiled at his mate’s little face, that had a troubled expression.

She nodded slowly, and then spelled out his name, “Rion.”

Iris was thrown in confusion when she didn’t get an answer. She looked up, finding Rion was closing his eyes.

As if he could feel her looking at him, he opened those pairs of sharp eyes again. There was an unknown glint there.

He moved, and an alarm rang in Iris’ head. She couldn’t let him touch her! Because she hadn’t drunk the potion again yet, and the last potion’s effect must have worn off already.

She sidestepped and threw an awkward look at him. When she racked her brain, she could only find a lame excuse. “I am going to take a bath first.”

Rion was expressionless. When she was about to go back inside, he suddenly wrapped his hands around her waist.

She panicked.