Chapter 4

LAYLA'S POV

Elena and I were the first to leave the hall.

I was glad to have left that hall. The atmosphere was smothering. It felt like a fashion competition and whose clique is prettier than a mating ceremony. And I was glad to have slipped away on time.

As we arrived at the hut, the sweet smell of cinnamon hit my nostrils and I smiled. Home sweet home.

I had changed into my dress and into my night wear, ready for bed. But before my head would hit the pillows, Elena called for me.

“Yes?” I dragged my face from the pillow.

“It's your father.” she said. “He wants to see you.”

“Can't it wait?” I asked.

“No.” Elena shook her head and went to put more wood in the fireplace. The woods cracked against the biting flames and released their embers on the grate.

Fire. The semblance flashed through my mind and I started, instantly recalling my nightmare last night.

Maybe this would be the perfect time to talk to dad about it.

“Dreams were a revelation of the future” Raven used to say.

I just hoped it wouldn't be the case this time.

“Are you okay?” Elena asked.

“Yeah. Thanks.” I pushed back the thin mattress and rushed out of the room.

I ran with all my might. Not minding the states I got as I raced the streets in my nightgown.

I arrived at the hall used for festivities and was ushered in from the backdoor.

“Father!” I called out as I entered his study.

“Layla!” Dad's voice cut me off mid-sentence and I pursed my lips.

I bowed my head. “Good evening, Your Highness.”

“Do you know why you were summoned here?” He asked, ignoring the fact that I wasn't properly dressed. Well, he did ignore a lot of things about me while growing up.

“This is about the ceremony. King Asher had been so generous to invite everyone including lowlifes like you.” He pushed back his seat. “And yet, you take it for granted.”

What was he talking about? “I don't understand, father.”

“You were flirting with your sister's husband-to-be. How shameful!” Dad blurted out.

Me? Flirt? If anything he was the one flirting.

“I…” I tried to speak, then the wind blew, playing with the fires in the fireplace. I suddenly remembered why I came here. “F - father, there is something  you must know…”

“Enough. Get out!” He sank back in his seat.

As if in cue, laughter bellowed from the hall below and I fisted my hands.

“It's important.” I said.

“You have never been important since you were born. Get out!” He slammed his fist on the desk and I jumped.

There's no way he would listen to me. I bowed my head. “I’m sorry, Your Highness.”

I walked out of the office with a heavy heart, praying Raven was bluffing about the nightmare being a revelation of the future. But that night while I slept, I had the nightmare again.

*****

Sending me to live in the hut was punishment enough but what was more cruel was summoning me back and forth to the mansion.

My goal was to avoid King Asher as much as possible and here father was, throwing me right into the dragon's den.

It was true that I couldn’t deny the bond between me and Lycan Asher but my mind raced with questions as to why this was happening to me. Ignoring the attraction between us was palpable and it was confusing her.

Father summoned me to his study one afternoon and I braced myself for another mouthful of scoldings.

As I neared the door, I heard raised voices.

“You don't understand, Alpha Nathan.  I am the Lycan King! I get what I want!”

I gasped. King Asher? What was he doing here?

“You can be the Moon Goddess’s twin brother for all I care but you will not reject my daughter after accepting her! I will not allow it!” Dad yelled back.

Reject? King Asher wanted to reject Isabella? Oh no.

“I want Layla. She's my true mate! I caught her scent. She knows it too.”

I heard the sound of glass breaking. Father must have hurled a glass to the wall. Now, his collection is down to 4.

He growled in a menacing voice. “Layla is bound to the Moon Goddess goddess for life. She cannot be mated to any man so give up.”  

“We'll see about that.”

I heard approaching footsteps and rushed into another room to hide.

Asher wants me? This was new.

As Asher told dad, he made attempts to fulfill it.

Tradition demands that he returns to his pack after the mating ceremony but he doesn't. He remained in the pack, trying at every turn to woo me.

At every chance he got, he would order his Beta, Hunter, to invite me over to his chambers, and I would say the same thing I always said :

“I'm not interested in being your mate. I'm bound to the moon goddess for life. Give up.”

However, despite saying that every time, I could not deny my true feelings for him.

One day, after attending the people's prayer's for the day, I decided to close up shop and take a nap but someone insisted it won't be happening.

“Will you take one more prayer?” Asher strode into the hut.

“Please, leave.” I turned to leave.

“It's forbidden to turn away anyone who comes to you for prayers.” He said, taking a seat on the map.

I rolled my eyes. He was right.

“So, my child, how do I help you?” I placed my hand on the Alkali, ready to beat it upon his request.

“What's that?” He asked.

“It's the Alkali, a drum I'm sure of when communicating with the Moon Goddess,” I explained dryly. “No, hurry up with your prayer request.”

“Okay.” He rubbed his hands together. “Well, I want the Moon Goddess to…”

“Yes?” My patience was running out.

“...make…you ... .mine,” he said and my fist slammed into the drum.

“Wait. What?”

Before I could react properly, he pulled me into a passionate kiss.

It was a taboo for me, a priestess, to do this with anyone but why did it feel so right? Asher deepened the kiss and I snaked my arms around his neck.  

We pulled away, catching our breaths.

“You deserve to be free like every other omega. Darling,” he cupped my cheek. “You should be wooed like every other woman. You shouldn't live a life of isolation any longer. Sweet goddess, you're so beautiful.”

He claimed my lips again and I pushed him away.

“Asher, stop.”

“Layla, come on. Don't tell me you actually want to live here?” He looks round the hut. “Don’t tell me you like being kept away from society?”

“Goodbye, Asher.” I turned aloof.

“I'll give you time to think, love.” He leaned forward and gave me a kiss on my cheek. “I'll be back.”

As soon as he left, I slammed the door shut. His words planted seeds of doubt in my mind but it made her more attracted to him. Maybe Asher was eight. Maybe, I needed freedom.

That night, he returned just like he said he would.  

And for the first time in my life, I let my passion run wild and free.