Chapter 6 - The King And His Shadow
1641 Words
THE KING WASN’T in the palace all day, but that didn’t mean I wouldn’t have to face him at all.
I thought that I had succeeded in avoiding him for today, but upon returning to my cage, I got a special surprise from the King himself. The thing was, King Larkin owned this palace. He was the ruler of this place. The one who called this huge castle his home. Being the owner, granted him no rules in this big prison. He didn’t need to knock on doors or ask for permission.
He was the King of Wolves, for crying out loud.
He didn’t need anyone to tell him what to do.
So, when Rosalie was in the middle of undoing the buttons of my dress, King Larkin burst in without even a single warning. He was like a storm in the middle of the day. Dark. Brooding. Massive and powerful. He looked every bit of a part of a King. Regal, in his own way. He didn’t look much like a warrior like his son, but he definitely could kill a number of warriors in his spare time without blinking an eye.
I was surprised, and so did my lady-in-waiting.
Mindlessly, he strode inside as if he had been there before. Like he belongs here. With one glance, he made Rosalie scurry out of the room like a rat caught in a mouse trap. She left me hanging there, bearing half of my body as I scraped whatever I could gather from the loose dress to cover my chest.
Hugging myself, I stayed rooted on the spot, watching the King walk toward the bed slowly, but predatorily, eyeing me, watching me back, and then he sat on the edge.
King Larkin brushed his shoulder-length hair back, revealing his tattoo of a small Moon over his cheekbone. The massiveness of his shoulders made me feel so small and puny. He watched me with those lidded blue eyes. Anguished face, torn apart, was looking at the small intake of my breaths.
Up. Down.
He was a Wolf watching his prey.
“Your Majesty.” It was hard to find my voice but once I did, it didn’t sound shaky. I was proud of that small victory over my fear. “To what do I owe this honor?”
King Larkin tilted his head to the side. His eyes leered at my half-worn dress. The blue eyes darkened. So did my heart.
“Your Majesty?”
“I haven’t seen you all day.” A dark, alluring voice shook my steady heart. I would never get used to the way he sounded. Bitter. As if the world owe him his happiness, but they never paid.
“You weren’t in the palace the whole day.”
“That is true.”
Silence. Both of us were calculating each other’s thoughts.
“I have been searching for your family line over the past week.”
Of all the things he could have said, I would have never expected that. Hearing it coming from his mouth made my spine straighten.
My family.
I didn’t know much about them. My earliest memory started when I had to beg for food in the streets. I didn’t remember much of life before that. I just knew I had to hide who I was otherwise people would hurt me for it. They never dwelled well with the blue of my blood. I never knew it held so much power.
“It just didn’t make sense to me how you still exist. I thought all of the Petrovski family had died. The last of them were seen decades ago. When I was still around your age. I never thought—“ He hummed to himself. Wonder crossed his face but it was quickly rebuilt with the same coldness his son had. “It is a miracle to still have you here. Perhaps you were lost. Got mixed up among the evacuators during the civil war decades ago.”
“And did you find it? My family line?”
“No one could find Margot Petrovski,” he said. “Not one single script about your birth and your existence.”
My life was nothing. Not even a dot in a paper somewhere.
“It means someone tried to hide you. To hide your blood and your existence in the world. You weren’t supposed to be here.”
The thought made me feel somewhat sad. I never really stopped and thought about my family. My parents. Who they were and where did they came from. It was hard to think about the past when you could barely live in the present. But now, hearing all this coming from the King, it made me wonder for the first time in my life, what could have happened?
“How did I end up alone?” I asked out loud.
“That is the answer I’m trying to find.”
“Do you know anything about the last line of the Petrovski family?”
“He was a warrior. A well-renowned warrior who fought alongside my father before he died. He was legendary. Or at least, that was how everyone viewed him. I trained with him a few times.”
“What happened to him?”
“Once upon a time, he just disappeared. He was never seen again.” The King frowned. “Come to think of it, it is weird. Why did he disappear? Why did he suddenly go into thin air? None saw his death. And he certainly never ceased in battle. He had the Anvil blood. He was a bred warrior. He couldn’t have died in battle.”
I had never heard the King talk this much.
It was both intriguing and wearisome.
I was afraid of what he could say next but I was also curious to hear what he would have to say.
My dress was getting heavier to hold though.
“What was his name?” I asked.
King Larkin raised his eyebrows. “Why? Think he might be your father?”
“Was there any other Anvil blood during your time?”
“No.”
“I must come from somewhere,” I said.
“That is true.” King Larkin leaned back, hands supporting him behind. “Jonah. Jonah Petrovski. The distinguished warrior who led the civil war.”
To be honest, I didn’t know much about the first civil war. I just knew it was the first time the Night Pelt pack tried rebelling against the crown. At the time, the King was a different person and the rebel pack had a different leader. It felt like a long time ago when it was only two decades over. The situation had gotten worse ever since and now the throne was actually threatened by the rebel pack.
The Alpha King beckoned me over.
I stayed.
“Come here, little one.”
My heart was starting to beat out of its tempo. I couldn’t move my feet so I had to forcefully drag them across the floor, dreading the steps I took to get to the King. He was menacing in his own way. So unbelievably frightening. I knew the things he was capable of. The words on the street told me enough that he could take my life in the palm of his hand.
Once I was close enough, I stopped.
But King Larkin didn’t think it was enough. He pulled me with one arm around my waist until I was flushed against his chest. I was in between his legs, small and powerless, and both of my hands were squeezed together in front of him. The only thing that was holding my dress up was the press of our bodies together.
The skin-to-skin was intimidating to me.
“Wherever you come from, little one, I’m just glad you are here.”
For a split second of that moment, I thought I saw something else in between his eyes. The blue of his eyes was showing me relief as if he had been searching for this one thing his whole life and he finally found it.
Though a tool, I was still a weapon.
I froze when his hand rubbed my back. He had his other hand circling my neck until he stopped at the base of my throat. He guided my lips closer and he parted his. I wasn’t going to move. I wasn’t going to say anything.
Was this it?
I was going to be taken here, right now?
Staring into his beautiful eyes made me feel like I was a little rabbit trapped inside the Wolf’s clutch. I must admit though, that King Larkin was gorgeous. He was violent and rough, but his face was striking. Not as breathtaking as his son’s face, but beautiful nonetheless. The King pressed my bottom lip with his thumb like he was sort of deciding on something.
And then he stood up abruptly.
I gasped, clutching my dress desperately as I backed away.
The King stood there with a foreboding feeling and then he just walked away. He didn’t look back until he opened the door and then he said, “Rest, little one. You have a whole life ahead of you.” And then he left without bothering to close the door again.
When I was going to close it, I saw a shadow rounding the corner and I saw him.
Prince Kaden.
My mate.
The breathtaking man took over my appearance and I realized that I was in a really compromising look.
I swallowed, thought, and hoped, that he would do something.
But the Prince of the Wolves only continued down the hall, not sparing me another glance.
I felt my heart bruised and it was worse than starving for three days in the streets.
- Writer
