Chapter 28

VIOLET'S POV

"Is... Is this a good idea? You said you didn't want anyone to see you," Rae, the Lycan girl assigned to attend to my needs as my personal maid, whispered. She carefully trailed behind me as we exited the building.

After Kyran left, Jayden had taken Rae and me to a new place, one that was far better than the previous building I'd been staying in. Since Rae would be staying with me for as long as I remained in the Lycan pack, we'd had a heart-to-heart conversation.

I told her everything, leaving out the mark. She was still a Lycan, and I couldn't risk sharing something that could get me killed.

Not with her. Not with any Lycan.

"Weren't you the one who kept staring out of the window for hours, making a fuss about how boring it was in there? Now that I've decided to come outside, you're suddenly overly concerned about my safety?" I rolled my eyes, wrapping the scarf I'd found in my new room around my neck to hide my mark from prying eyes.

I'd changed into a pair of clean black jeans and a purple button-down shirt that Rae had brought me after worrying about the fact that I had nothing to change into.

I hadn't expected her to be kind to me, but she'd proved that not all Lycans were egotistical bastards.

"It's boring in there, but I never said I wanted to come out here so badly. Please reconsider," Rae groaned, tugging at my sleeve as we followed a path that led somewhere that looked like a garden.

It wasn't a particularly large garden, but it was still beautiful enough to serve as one. There was a fountain at the far end, surrounded by different kinds of flowers.

I wanted to go there so badly, but I feared I might be getting ahead of myself.

"Please stop talking before we draw attention to ourselves," I whined, looking around our surroundings, but I couldn't see a single soul.

"People don't usually come here. I could even get into trouble if anyone spotted me. No maid is allowed here. Only officials are..." She trailed off with a scoff, fidgeting with my sleeve.

I shrugged my arm free, letting her hand fall away.

Rae let out a playful snort, and I chuckled.

"You sound like you want to go back, but you keep following me," I pointed out, eyeing her playfully. "Tell me something I don't know."

"Ahh, you're a bad influence." She threw her head back and let out the most silent laughter I'd ever heard.

"Let's just say I've always wanted to come here. I wanted to see the magnificent building all the maids in the quarters have been making such a fuss about."

"What building?" I asked, halting in my tracks.

Rae turned around and pointed towards a tall building in the distance. I couldn't see it clearly because another building stood in front of it, casting a shadow over it. Only its golden roof was visible.

"That building over there." She smiled, moving closer and wrapping her arms around mine. "That's His Majesty's main building. His office is right there, and rumour has it that there might be some underground facilities in it."

I let out a faint smile and shook my head.

"Is that what you wanted to see so badly that you followed me here?" I slowly raised an eyebrow, smiling as I watched Rae wrinkle her nose.

"Like I had any choice but to follow you here in the first place." She chuckled, turned around, and we continued walking.

I completely moved on from the possibility that there might be some underground facility beneath one of the royal buildings, where dangerous things could be happening.

"You sound like a loyal companion, and I'm afraid I might actually start liking you more than I'm allowed to," I muttered honestly.

I wasn't sure I could ever like anyone enough to start depending on them. Not after what had happened with Kira.

"I'm lovable, you know?" Rae winked.

I let out a deep grunt and rolled my eyes.

"Yeah, yeah. I already know that."

I mean, it hadn't even been long since she'd been introduced to me as my maid, yet we were already getting along as though we'd known each other for years.

Rae suddenly stopped, pulling me back until I bumped into her.

She swallowed nervously, and I stared at her, only to see her shaking her head at me.

"You know, most of the buildings around here are used by officials. We might run into His Majesty, and that wouldn't be good." She drew her bottom lip between her teeth and bit down on it.

I turned around, looking in every direction as panic settled in my gut.

She might have been right.

But then again, after thinking about it, I realised it might actually be for the best.

"I think it would be great if I ran into His Majesty. I've been wanting to meet him anyway, so I don't see why I should worry about that."

A little voice in my head screamed at me to stop talking nonsense and turn back.

I chose to ignore it.

Rae grimaced and opened her mouth to say something, but I caught the reflection of someone in her eyes.

I was about to ask who she was staring at when she beat me to it.

"Greetings, Your Majesty, the King!"

Rae hastily bowed her head, her shoulders tense as she clasped her hands in front of her.

His Majesty?

The Lycan King was standing behind me?

An anxious lump formed in my throat, feeling like a bullet lodged there as I struggled to swallow.

I turned around and almost bumped into a solid wall of a chest.

The Lycan King stood before me in all his glory. His eyes were dark, as though he were having the worst day of his life. His gaze was cold, sending a chill through my body.

"Your... Majesty?" I stuttered, staring into his cold eyes for what felt like a minute before my gaze travelled down to the bloodstain on his neck, then to his chest and stomach.

There were bloodstains on his hands, too. They looked so fresh that bile rose in the back of my throat.

I wondered who might have met their demise at the hands of this man, whose long, beautiful fingers looked as though they had been made solely for taking lives.

My heart was still racing when my gaze unconsciously drifted towards his stomach, to the spot where he'd sustained a stab wound the previous night.

I wanted to move closer, rip open his shirt, and check the wound to find out whether I was hallucinating or not.

The man standing before me didn't seem to be in any pain. Not at all.

That made me wonder whether I'd imagined seeing him stumble into my room the previous night, looking half-dead.

"You, little wolf," the King called out.

His voice was cold, devoid of any emotion.

My head snapped up, and I found him staring right back at me. Our eyes met, and something about his silver-grey eyes made me immediately lower my gaze to the floor.

His eyes looked as though they could pierce straight into my soul and suck the air out of my lungs.

"Y-yes, Your Majesty." I swallowed hard, rubbing my clammy hands against my shirt. I didn't dare look up at him again.

Wasn't I the one who had been hell-bent on meeting him earlier? Wasn't I the one who had decided to risk being seen just so I could meet him?

Then why was I so scared to face him? Why was I so afraid to look him in the eyes?

"I want you to come with me," I heard the Lycan King say.

At first, I thought I'd heard him wrong, until I felt a hand pinch my side.

I jumped in fright and craned my neck to see Rae gesturing for me to move.

"Ahh..." I sucked in a sharp breath and turned around, only to see the Lycan King already walking towards the building Rae had pointed out earlier.

His Majesty's main building.

The very place where she'd mentioned there might be an underground facility.

Whatever he wanted me there for, I hoped it had nothing to do with me dying in some underground building.

No. That would be the worst way to die.

Ever.