Chapter 29

VIOLET'S POV

"Heard you were looking for me?"

King Renzo was the first to break the silence the moment we stepped into his office.

The room was painted black, and all the furniture was either grey or black, giving his office an eerily peaceful atmosphere. I'd never seen black look so beautiful before.

I nodded gently, taking a seat on one of the couches directly opposite him.

"Yes, Y-Your Majesty." I let out a puff of air, my eyes wandering around his office. Everything was perfectly arranged, making me think he was something of a neat freak.

Nothing was out of place. It almost felt as though he barely touched anything in his office.

King Renzo remained silent for a while, standing there and watching me shift nervously in my seat. He sighed, grabbed his coat, and peeled it off.

"Right." His response was cold, sending a chill down my spine. "Here I am," he added, folding his coat and carefully placing it on the edge of the couch beside him.

I watched as he unbuttoned his shirt and rolled up his sleeves. I winced and looked away when my eyes accidentally landed on his bloodied fingers.

I straightened up in my seat. My back ached, and I suddenly felt the urge to get to my feet. But I didn't even make an attempt to leave the couch.

There was something about this man that made me nervous.

It was normal for me to feel nervous around him. After all, he was the infamous Lycan King, known for his brutality.

But no. That wasn't the only reason.

I was unsettled because he was the same man whose life had been hanging by a thread just a few hours earlier. And now, he looked just as cold as he had the first time I met him, showing no signs of pain. None whatsoever.

"You were in my room last night?" I blurted out. It came out more like a question than a statement.

"Yes."

His reply was sharp and quick, making me snap my head up to look at him.

His perfectly shaped eyebrows slowly creased.

I sighed, rubbing my clammy hands together.

"You were hurt..."

"Surely, you weren't looking for me just because you were worried about me. Were you?" He smirked, crossing the room before settling onto the couch.

He sank into the seat, crossing one leg over the other.

"Y-yes... Um, no." I stuttered, clearing my throat as I struggled to remember why I'd been so determined to meet him.

Nothing came to mind, so I simply said what I thought was necessary.

"How's your wound?"

"Why are you here?" he snapped, cutting me off.

"Ahh, I..." I pressed my lips into a thin line, wondering what was so wrong with my question that it had made him so angry.

I wouldn't have asked if I knew worrying about him was a sin.

"Can you talk?" King Renzo asked, uncrossing his legs. He leaned back into his seat, folding his arms across his chest. "Why were you making such a fuss earlier about having something to tell me?"

"That?" I swallowed, wondering if Kyran had mentioned to him that I'd asked to see him.

I mean, hadn't Kyran already told me I couldn't meet the King?

"I thought something might have happened to you, and I was worried about what would become of me if anything happened to you. That..." I choked on my saliva. A tear rolled down my cheek as I struggled to cough. "I... I was scared someone might have seen you passed out on the cold floor of my room. And that could put my life in danger."

I continued rambling, unable to keep my mouth shut as I blurted out everything that came to mind.

"Passed?"

He smiled warmly, a strange glint of amusement in his eyes.

"You're the first werewolf I've ever met who tells the truth. The others are a bunch of liars. Petty liars." He nodded, as though my concern for my own safety made perfect sense to him.

"I..."

I didn't know what to say. I completed the rest of my sentence in my head, daring not to utter anything that might wipe the smile off this vicious man's face.

"It's good to put your life before others." He cleared his throat and gently lifted his head from the headrest. "Thanks for worrying about yourself."

My mouth fell open in shock as I stared at him like he'd suddenly grown an extra head.

Or perhaps he actually meant what he said, because there wasn't even a hint of hatred in his tone.

"You think it's okay to think only of myself while your life was on the line?" I asked, watching as he nodded once.

Then twice.

"I brought you here even though you never wanted to come. I brought you somewhere you'd be unlikely to find anyone who would worry about you. Of course, I expected you to worry about yourself because you're all you have here." King Renzo shrugged.

All my life, no one had ever told me to put myself first.

Even with Kira, I'd always put her needs before mine because I was afraid she'd stop being my friend.

With the Lycan King, it felt as though I could finally become myself. Someone I'd always wanted to be but had been too afraid to become.

"Did something happen here last night? Why were you hurt?" I whispered, tears building in my eyes as I asked him.

I couldn't help wanting to return the favour. I wanted to know if he was truly okay. I wanted to worry about him in return for showing an interest in me.

"Nothing happened here. And for your own sake, don't worry about me. I never spare anyone who shows concern for me. People only worry about those who can't take care of themselves."

Venom seeped into every word he uttered.

"I'm not weak," he added, shaking his head as though repeating it might eventually make him believe it himself.

I'd never thought he was weak. I would never think of him as someone weak.

Not when I'd feared him even before I got to know him.

If only this man knew how terrified we werewolves were of him, he wouldn't have to prove anything. We already knew he was the strongest and most vicious Lycan to have ever existed.

"Oh..."

That was the only sound I could manage as I lowered my gaze to my hands, rubbing circles into my palm.

"I asked them to move you somewhere else, didn't I?" the Lycan King suddenly asked, clearly changing the subject. "Do you like the new place? It's much nicer and bigger than the previous one."

"I do like the building, and the room is more spacious than the previous one. But what's the point of having a bigger room when I don't have anything of my own in there? Not even a change of clothes," I mumbled, biting down on my bottom lip.

"I'll have someone take care of that. Anything else?" he asked, suddenly sounding impatient.

I slowly lifted my gaze from my hands and stared at him, my eyes glistening with tears.

"What will I be doing here? Will I be locked away in my room forever?"

King Renzo's frown deepened as he stared at me in disbelief.

"I never said that would be the case. Of course, I already had something in mind before bringing you here."

My head snapped up, mostly because of the way he whispered the last part.

I straightened my back, suddenly frightened by what he might have planned.

"You did?"

"Sure did," he replied with a shrug.

My chest rose and fell rapidly. The sound of my heartbeat thundered in my ears.

"What..."

I couldn't form a proper sentence. My mind screamed at me to ask what he had planned for me, but no matter how many times I opened my mouth, I couldn't get the words out.

"I'm making you my mate. And that mark..." He lifted his hand, pointing towards the part of my neck hidden beneath the scarf. "That mark is proof of it."

I let out a bark of laughter.

Tears rolled down my cheeks as I tried desperately to hold them back, but I couldn't.

"What?" I sniffed, wiping away my tears. "Just because you marked me by mistake doesn't make me your mate. I already have a mate, and you... You already have a fiancée."

"There. You made a mistake right there." He pointed out, standing up from his seat.

He rounded the couch and stopped behind me.

"You used to have a mate, but not anymore. And who says I can't end things with my fiancée?"

"Why are you doing this? I... I'm a werewolf."

I was a stuttering mess as I felt his hands settle on my shoulders. I held my breath when he leaned closer, resting his jaw against my shoulder.

"Why does it matter?" he asked, pressing his face against my cheek and breathing me in. "Why does it matter when you have something I desperately need?"

"What..." I paused, shutting my eyes as I tried to control my breathing. "What's that thing I have that Your Majesty desperately needs?"

"Your scent, little wolf." He whispered into my ear. "I have a secret that no one should ever know about. And, surprise, you could help me keep that secret forever simply by staying by my side. Your scent is everything I've ever wanted. And who says I can't defy the Goddess by choosing my own mate just to keep my secret safe?"

My heart skipped a beat as I felt his hand wrap around my neck. He pulled me back against his body, rubbing his thumb over the mark.

"From today onwards..." He pressed a kiss against my mark, and I felt my body tremble beneath his touch. "Every single day that follows, you're my mate. Mine."