Arranged Marriage to the Lycan King

2 - An Unlikely Agreement

ELARA’S POV

I was going to marry a monster.

After arguing with my father for a little longer, he finally left me, slamming my door behind him. He never did that. We never fought. He was a much softer version of parenting since my mother had passed away. If anything, losing her had brought us closer together.

Now, I was left to lay on my bed, pondering the direction my life had taken from farmer to the bridge of a monster. I had only my father to blame. He should have known his status as mayor would come back to bite our family in the ass. It had never done us any favors.

It didn’t help us get better medical care when Mom was sick. It didn’t help when something went wrong with the crops or taxes were raised; citizens chose to blame him instead of the true villains. Lycans.

They’d been the bane of my existence since I could remember, having grown up in this world as it was. My mother often talked about how Lycans hadn’t even existed when she was a child. They were in hiding and in the shadows, where they belonged.

Instead, when my parents were mere teens, the Lycans came forward and asserted their dominance quickly over humans. Humans tried to fight back at first and declared war. When the dust settled, the human population withered, and they’d been deemed unfit to fit in what Lycans called their society. They were shuttled off to small towns where they’d be expected to fend for themselves with the bare minimum.

We had electricity, phone lines, access to clean water and sewage, but that’s where the niceties stopped. We had to grow and process our food, mend our clothing, and entertain ourselves with what little resources we had. My hobby was reading, including what the Lycans had banned. These things might have given the human population ideas of rebellion.

I looked up at the small clock above my bed, showing that the work day was ending for most. My father called me home early so we could discuss things in detail. I didn’t know the considerable debate would be the end of my life. Why he thought marrying a Lycan would bring peace between humans and them and that it’d be a safe union was beyond me. Theron was a monster. King to a race of monsters.

Grabbing the phone next to my bed, I held it up to my ear, ensuring my father wasn’t on the other line making plans for my funeral—or celebration, as he called it. When the dial tone greeted me, I quickly dialed the number I knew by heart.

James answered after several rings, out of breath. He must have run to catch the phone. “Hello?”

I smiled at the receiver. “Hey.”

“Elara! Where were you today? I waited for you after work, but Betty told me your father had called you home early. Are you okay? Is everything alright?”

I sighed. “As okay as they could be. I don’t know how to break this to you, but…I’m set to be married.”

The silence at the end of the phone was deafening. James might not have been my friend, and he wasn’t my boyfriend. But he was the closest I had to any of that—stolen kisses when he walked me home after work. But James was a notorious playboy. He only interested me because of my inexperience; that much was obvious. He wanted to corrupt the mayor’s virginal daughter. And as hot and heavy things had gotten with him before, I never let it go further than kissing.

I wonder if my virginity had been a topic of discussion with Theron. Had he demanded a virgin sacrifice? I shuddered at the thought of my father discussing my love life. James was talking. I focused back in on the conversation.

“…what right does he have to do that? And to who?”

I hesitated. “Theron Blackwood.”

“The King?”

I felt myself nodding despite James not being able to see me. “Yes. That one.”

“He must be mad. Why would he do that?”

I blew out a disgruntled breath. “Because he says it will bring unity among humans and Lycans. Theron insisted on a human bride and one of status. And apparently, I’m the chosen sacrifice to those monsters.”

“I’m going to come over there and talk to him. He can’t do this. Surely he wouldn’t do this to his only daughter, his only child.”

“I already played that card, and it didn’t work. Talking to him won’t change his mind, James. My fate is decided.”

A pause. “Is there anything I could do?”

I laid back on the bed, closing my eyes and internally cringing at what I was about to say. “I want you to take my virginity.”

The loud gasp on the other end of the line told me James was as shocked at my words as I was. “Why?”

“I refuse to have my first time be with a monster. And I’m hoping he’s expecting a virgin bride, and I want to be tainted. Maybe then he’ll throw me back and demand someone else. I can hope.”

“And if that’s not the case?”

“At least I have the satisfaction of knowing he wasn’t my first.”

Another pause. “I’ll do it. When?”

I chewed my lip. “My father is having a party tomorrow evening for the big sendoff. He calls it a celebration. It’s where I’ll be introduced officially to Theron.”

“We can sneak off during the party. I know it’s not as romantic as you deserve, but if this is what you want…” he trailed off, a hint of excitement in his voice.

“I do. I want this.”

“Then consider it done. Tomorrow night. You and me.”

“All the way,” I agreed.

*****

THERON’S POV

“Is the girl a virgin?” Rowan asked.

I shrugged my shoulders. “Doesn’t matter much to me if she is.”

“You’re joking. A non-virgin bride breaks tradition. You need a pure queen,” Rowan argued.

“And who is going to tell them? Like I would declare after her wedding. Her love life before our wedding is no concern to me. She’s only part of a bigger plan to bring peace and unity among our people.”

Rowan laughed. “You keep saying peace and unity while almost rolling your eyes. Are you sure you’re as committed to this as you say?”

I pinched the bridge of my nose. “Yes.”

“And if you were to find your mate after marriage?”

I shook my head. “I’d reject her, as is my duty.”

“You can’t claim a human.”

I leaned back in my seat, my hands resting on my thighs. “It’s never been tried before. Perhaps I could.”

Rowan scoffed. “And you’d want to do that? Claim a human?”

“If it helps my case with the council.”

He sighed, standing to leave. “I hope you know what you’re doing.”

“I do.”

He cast me one more glance of uneasiness before turning to leave. I watched him leave my quarters, finally leaving me alone to my thoughts. Would I even need to share my bed with the little human? I know we would be expected to share a room, but what we did in that bed was no one else’s business but ours. It’s believed humans and Lycans can’t produce children so that no one would know the wiser.

Unless humans could mate with Lycans, when Lycans and humans started to live in harmony, however long that took down the road, it was true. There would be those who question our marriage if we didn’t produce an heir.

My mother always said I thought too much, and perhaps she was right. I was always thinking five steps ahead. It’s how I often outwitted any adversaries to Silverclaw. I was always ahead of them. But thinking about mating with my human bride shouldn’t be my concern right now. I still had council members to speak with about my upcoming nuptials.

I reached across my desk and grabbed the phone. All council members had agreed to the union, but some had doubts, and I needed to assuage those doubts before tomorrow, the night before my wedding.

There was a party in Bridgerow to welcome Lycans and send off their little human to a town humans rarely dared to enter. Other than workers, traders, and the one human council member we had. And those of the black market, trading goods between Lycan and humans.

I never quite understood the black market until I discovered what my father banned. Humans weren’t allowed much in the way of luxury. They were provided with the necessities and shoved off, hoping to be forgotten until they died out. My father detested humans, making his rule one of bloodshed and hardships for them.

Not that I didn’t feel for them. My mother taught me that. I didn’t look down on them as others. I didn’t want anything to do with them. They were weak. I had no use for weakness. But now, at the behest of my dead mother, I was forced to marry one.