Chapter 3

"Did you see how hot that was?" Sarah exclaims with hands clasped together and dreamy eyes.

"See what?" My brother asks when he sees that I am not in the mood to entertain whatever nonsense she's about to say.

I'm always in a bad mood when we reach this place, for obvious reasons.

Only my brother and I know about what truly happened to our parents. Sarah is still in the dark and we plan to keep it that way.

"Xavier." She says and sighs deeply. I almost groan out loud but instead turn to look out the window again as we prepare for another lecture on how and why Xavier is her mate.

I tune her out as unwanted memories from the first time I was here come to me.

It was my first time visiting the capital and honestly I did not want to be here at that time.

The taunts and teases I got from my unique features were already enough from my own clan mates, talk-more of people from another clan.

My parents would have none of it and wanted all of us to go so they could keep an eye on all of us. On the 9th of the festival was the first time I saw the Lycan King and I became infatuated with him immediately.

I was only 13 at the time and was drawn to his cold persona and the dark suffocating air he carried with him wherever he went.

He always has this look of indifference and the few times I saw him smile felt like an extraordinary gift from the gods.

He was terrifyingly beautiful, a god among men. Built to perfection, a face that could make one weep in envy or amazement and eyes that could burn you alive if you looked too deeply.

I stalked him throughout the night until it was time for the underaged lycans to retire.

Unwilling to let him out of my sight after I have imagined every scenario where we mate and live happily ever after, I hid in the castle garden, behind the statue of the object of my desire, praying and hoping that he passes by.

It was around midnight that someone finally entered the garden but they weren't alone. My parents were with them and I briefly wondered if the celebration had ended.

My question was answered when my father's head was cleanly cut off from his body and my mother followed straight after.

Her head fell to the floor with a resounding thud and rolled my way.

I remember going so still, I couldn't breathe, unbelieving of what my eyes had witnessed until my mother's detached head stared at me with a shocked expression that mirrored mine.

All at once the pain and grief of watching their deaths consumed me and I let out an agonizing scream that was muffled by a hand over my mouth.

I had fainted immediately in paralyzing fear but later found out that it was Richard that stopped me from alerting the killer.

The killer whose face I was so unfortunate to glimpse, splattered with the blood of my parents and a mad look in his eyes. I have never fallen so hard and hated so deeply as I did that day.

I have never wanted anything much out of life. A peaceful one would have been enough for me even if it was just with family since I was never a people person.

That was all thwarted to hell after my beloved peace-loving parents' lives were taken without mercy, in the most barbaric way possible.

Now, I have a purpose; I have to kill the Lycan king and if I get caught, I'm taking him down either way.

The bus stops moving and the commotion outside snaps me out of my reverie and I look to my siblings to ask what the fuss is about only to find them staring out the window.

Sarah is silently squealing and squirming with stars in her eye while my brother is wearing a blank expression which is so unlike him.

I follow their eye movement and mine widens a bit and I have to look away and look back again to make sure.

There are four black Jeeps and a limo in the middle, making their way towards us, or may I say, past us and towards the castle.

"It's the king. Oh my goodness, it's really him!" Sarah and almost everyone else are whispering to themselves as they watch with wide eyes, hoping to catch a glimpse of him. Their windows are tinted so I think that's unlikely to happen.

On the outside, I am a picture of calm and collected but inside me, I'm having a near breakdown. Against my will, my heart beat speeds up and I feel a bit sweaty. Why is it so hot all of a sudden?

'Calm down, you won't even see him and there's no way he can read my mind. He might not even see me. There's a ninety percent chance he won't see me,' I give myself an internal pep talk and my body relaxes a bit.

I find my brother's gaze on me, his eyes asking if I'm alright and I smile with a nod. He nods back and looks back outside, tensing up almost immediately.

I look out of my window to find what the problem is and my heart almost jumps out of my chest as my eyes meet the king's.

His window is halfway down and he is staring directly at me with those eyes that promise safety and uncanny death.

It's like I'm falling all over again but I refuse to acknowledge the tingles that are racing all over my body.

I will not say that I'm almost on the verge of a heart attack with how fast it's beating.

I can't say how the way his eyes trail down my face and to the parts of me he could see makes the butterflies in my stomach go crazy.

I can only hope and pray that my face doesn't show my inner turmoil.

One of his eyebrows lifts up and a small smirk slowly appears on his face before he rolls the window all the way up and they drive away.

"Oh my goodness! May! He was staring at you. What does that mean?! Either way, I'm so happy for you!" Sarah all but gushes.

"Are you alright?" Richard asks.

I try to smile but I just can't so I nod and lay back with closed eyes.

"Why won't she be alright? The king himself was staring at our beautiful sister. Oh gosh, he is soooo fiiine," Sarah groans.

Richard shushes her of which I am grateful but he can't shush everyone else. The people in our bus already guessed that he was looking at me and my sister only confirmed it.

As if I wasn't already out casted enough.

Why was he staring though? He can't read minds, can he?

My heart hasn't stopped its staccato beat and I subtly take deep breaths.

I can't falter with this. Whatever his reasons are shouldn't matter.