Chapter 7: The Lycan King

ADRIANA

It's been eight hours since the Lycan King's ceremony.

I haven't had a wink of sleep. 

Part of that's because the windy weather in Blood Moon territory hasn't let up since last night.

But to a larger extent, it's the storm brewing within me that won't let me close my eyes. 

The moment I catch his scent, treading carefully as he returns to the packhouse empty handed, the promise of deeper discontent floods the petrichor-drenched surrounding.

“Miss Adriana—”

“Where is she?” I ask before he can even settle, and the couple seconds of silence that linger between us is enough to answer my question. 

“We found her off the outskirts of the Capital. She was in a cabin, unarmed and unconscious. It was the best time to strike.”

“Then where is she, Trevor?”

He doesn't answer. 

“You had one job.”

I walk down the steps, fury rising with every stride I take towards him. 

“How hard is it… to capture one girl.”

“Miss—”

“That better not be an excuse.”

“Someone was with her” he says.

Like it's a big deal.

Like I give a shit about a nuisance or casualty.”

“And?”

“He wasn't… normal” he adds, suddenly a bit more shaky.

“What?”

“He was… something out of a book, Adriana. All the men I took with me, he rendered unconscious in a flash. At a point, it felt like he was toying with us. Barely breaking a swear while—”

The slap echoes through the setting, cutting him off in instant.

His head snaps to the side.

My palm stings from the force of impact.

“That's… enough” I say. Low, but firm

“You should've let him complete that” a different voice strides in. “I kinda believed him.”

I don't even need to glance back.

It's Micah 

“Really? Have you become a seer overnight?”

“What exactly did you notice about this ‘man’?” He ignores my remarks and focuses on Trevor in front him.

“He was different” Trevor barely even hesitates. “Strength. Speed. Agility. I've never seen anything like it.”

“What did he look like” Malcolm answers, unimpressed.

Returning his gaze, now, the hesitation is clear. 

“I can't remember. I didn't see his face. It was dark, and it all happened in a flash.”

“Yeah, well that's really helpful Trev—”

“But…” he cuts me off, his eyes resembling pupils soaked in fear, “...his tattoos. They were familiar. I've seen them before, I'm just not sure where.”

“Describe them.”

“Are you really encouraging him—”

“Describe them, Trevor” Malcolm barely pays me any attention, suddenly overtly focused. 

“They were hiding scars. Wrapped around his body like a snake over wood.”

“What else?” Micah steps down.

Is he actually buying this?

“The most peculiar of all, was his scent. I… can't even describe it. All I know is… it kinda felt like—”

The entire setting shifts before the words fall down his mouth. 

It's like the weight of air suddenly triples.

Pressing down on us, I struggle to breathe.

Choking.

Yet oddly alluring. 

My heart tightens.

Micah balls up his fists.

“It kinda felt like… that!” Trevor completes.

Concertedly, all three of us turn to horizon ahead, and trailing out of dark clouds… is Alex.

She's the one with the peculiar scent?

How?!

I recognize one of the gammas right behind her, bloodied and walking like his spirit’s been pulled right out of his body. 

He crumbles to the ground soon after, but Alex keeps her pace, walking like not a single thing rests on her shoulders.

“She came here on her own?” Micah mutters. 

Only moments later, she stands right in front of us.

Silence.

But wrapped in it, a million words. 

“Who were you with?” The sentence carelessly slips out Micah's throat.

I glance at him, and for a moment, recognise the look of fury in his dark red eyes… a stark contrast to the Alex's detached gaze. 

“I asked you a question.”

“I don't owe you an answer” she bites back. 

His fists clench even tighter. 

“I told you I'd make you pay, didn't I?” I speak.

Her eyes drift to me.

“Acting like you weren't sniffing around for my whereabouts after the party is a pathetic look. Get over yourself.”

I almost chuckle.

The new found confidence is a bit surprising.

Taking a step towards her, I cut the distance between us to a couple millimetres. 

“I plan on fulfilling my promise. Last night was just the beginning.”

“You're blinded by your own obsession” she responds, still unperturbed. “Get over yourself.”

With every emotionless comment, the aggression within me toggles a notch higher. 

“Save the fake confidence for someone that can't see through it” Micah's enraged voice returns. “You're not fooling anyone. You're still—”

“It doesn't matter what you think anymore” she cuts in, this time before he can even complete his sentence. “If you spent your entire life circling me because of some promise of being Alpha, you're even lower than I expected.”

That's it. 

His hands fly towards her face without thinking.

For a moment, it feels like the entire space holds it breath.

Until I notice… she's unfazed.

Watching.

Almost… waiting.

Right before the storm hits its final torrential…

…Someone grabs his hand from behind. 

“Touch her, and I'll tear you apart.”

His voice, deep. 

Hollow. Hard. 

His scent peaks.

The source of this tightened restraint that settled the moment Alex walked in… doubles.

Who is that?

How did he get behind us without anyone noticing??

My head snaps back, and before my mind can piece it together, Micah’s tone cracks.

“Uh– You?!”

“You must me be Micah” the stranger's eyes sharpen. “Kneel.”

“What?!”

It happens in a flash.

Before any of us can protest.

As if by instinct, I fall to my knees. 

Micah follows instantly.

His scent's grown even stronger. 

I try to raise my head. To manage a glance. 

I can't. 

I can't move a mus—

“You!” Trevor murmurs. Knees planted to the ground as well. “Who the. Hell are y—”

“Quiet!”

His voice breaks even lower. 

This scent.

This Alpha Aura.

The fact that none of us can do a thing but lay subject to it.

That can only mean—

Her footsteps cut through my soliloquy.

My eyes drift to my side and notice her feet shuffle. 

More in confusion than in struggle.

Alex… can move??!!!

How? 

How is Micah even kneeling??

From the furious look on his face, against his will!

That's not possible!

He's an Alpha!

Unles…

“You're…” Alex mutters. “You're the—”

No way.

“Lycan King!” Micah hurls.