Chapter 9

"We sometimes trade one devil for another, believing we are making the right decision."

VIOLET'S POV

The door opened, and the guy whom the stranger—the Lycan King—had asked to take me gently pushed me inside the room. He looked pissed, or rather, he seemed mad for some reason best known to him.

He gave me a once-over, as if I were his worst nightmare. He muttered some curse words under his breath before moving his gaze away from me. Groaning, he said, "Stay here until His Majesty tells us what to do with you."

"Why…"

The door slammed shut, and he had already left before I could ask my question.

"Why am I here?" I whispered the question to myself. My hands gripped the coat I was covered with, and I gulped nervously.

I stood still for a while, staring at the door, trying to think about what was going on, but I couldn't think of anything. I let out a deep sigh of frustration, walked deeper into the room, and then strolled back to the door, feeling restless.

My mind was blank, and my brain couldn't process anything as I paced back and forth in the empty room of the brothel from the night before.

My heart hammered against my chest. My throat hurt like hell as I swallowed a heavy lump. My chest tightened with fear as I paced back and forth in the spacious room of the brothel I never thought I'd return to.

"Hold on." I halted abruptly in my tracks, rewinding to the past event. I let out a sharp gasp the moment the realization dawned on me. "Oh my goodness! The stranger I hooked up with was the King of the Lycans? The stranger who marked me was the Lycan King—an enemy?"

A wave of anxiety and fear washed over me, and I hastily slapped a hand over my mouth, suppressing the scream that was threatening to break free.

"This can't be happening," I muttered to myself. My shaky hands scooped up both sides of the long coat, wrapping it tightly around my body. "No, this isn't happening."

If the Lycan King was in my pack, it only meant one thing: war. And I would be tagged as a traitor if word got out that I had met him in a brothel room. My family would be ruined.

"Didn't that already happen?" I whispered to myself, my hands slumping at my sides. "I need to meet him. I need to meet the Lycan King!"

Balls of sweat rolled down my face as I rushed back to the door, grabbed the doorknob, and twisted it, but the door wouldn't open.

"Goodness!" I exclaimed, falling to my knees and breaking down into tears. My shoulders jerked as I wailed profusely. "This is really happening."

My body trembled as I continued crying on the floor. I let the coat slide down from my body as I wrapped my arms around my almost naked body. Reality sank in, and I wished I could disappear to wherever I would be free from the pain that was eating me up.

From the grave I had dug for myself with my own two hands.

"I shouldn't have done it. I shouldn't have done it. I'm sorry." Tears rolled down my cheeks, my claws piercing the flesh of my thighs. Pain was all I knew as I knelt there, crying my eyes out over my own mistake.

My father would be so disappointed in me. I had always wanted him to see me as his daughter, to earn his praise. But I had been nothing but a disgrace to him. An incompetent fool who had gotten his wife killed.

"My father would…" Something sharp cut through my chest like a shard of glass as I remembered my father. We were both at the pack palace, about to receive the Alpha's punishment because of the crime I had committed. The stranger came, and I was dragged out of the hall, leaving my father behind with the Alpha. "No!" I screamed, standing up.

"I shouldn't be here. I shouldn't have left my father behind. I can't run away like that and leave him behind to serve the punishment for the crime I committed. I should pay for my crime. With my life. I should be the one there. Not him." I shook my head as I whispered the words. More tears rolled down my cheeks, which I didn't bother to wipe away.

I stood up on one knee, staggered a little, and almost hit the ground. My body felt light, too light, as though I might get swept off my feet by a gust of wind.

"I need to be there for my father." I swallowed hard, as if the situation might get a little better if I kept saying it out loud.

I got to my feet, swept the coat off the ground, and threw it on, wrapping my arms around my body to stop myself from shivering so hard.

I got to the door and grabbed the doorknob. I twisted and turned it, hoping the door would magically swing open for me. But I could only dream, because it wouldn't happen.

"Please, let me out!" I cried out, banging my hands against the door, but it only made a faint noise. No one would hear the noise, not even if they were right on the other side. "Please, let me go. I need to go."

I kept banging my hands against the door. My hands hurt, and my head was a mess as I tried to imagine what might have happened to my father.

Had he already received his punishment? Had he been dragged to the dungeon to stay there until I returned? Had he finally realized he shouldn't have given birth to me? Did he… Was he already dead?

"That can't be!" I gasped out loud, shaking my head as I grabbed the knob and kept pushing my luck to get the door open. "Please, if anyone is out there, please, I want out. My father is going to die. Please."

I shouldn't be worrying about my father. Not after everything he had done to me. Not after he had hated me for years. Not after he had made me suffer for years as punishment for my mother's death. But I couldn't help it. I couldn't bring myself to hate my father, even though he had zero tenderness for me.

"Please, let me out. I want to get out of here." I cried even more.

It seemed my pleas meant nothing, or maybe no one heard me begging for the door to be opened for me.

"No one is opening the door. I'm stuck here." A sob broke free from my chest. I pressed my back against the door and slid down to the floor.

"I'm sorry, Father. I'm so sorry." I cried out, banging my head against the door as I dragged my knees up to my chest, wrapping my arms around them.

Suddenly, the door gave a click, and I jumped to my feet. I grabbed the doorknob and twisted it. A cry of gratitude left my mouth the moment the door opened.

"I'm finally going to get out of…"

The rest of the words hung tightly on my tongue as the guy from earlier walked in. Irritation spread all over him as he walked into the room, making me take a few steps backwards, away from the guy who seemed to have planned my death in his head.

He stopped, assessing me from head to toe, probably thinking of the best way to murder me. He scoffed, then sighed. "His Majesty wants to meet with you."

My head snapped up to meet his gaze. But that might have been the worst mistake of my life. There was fury in his eyes, and I could die if I kept looking at his face.

The guy stood still, not saying anything to me for a while. He took his time checking me out, and I didn't know if I should just disappear.

"Come with me," he muttered, not waiting for my reply. He turned around and started walking again.

I didn't say anything as I trailed behind him, moving gently down the long corridor. My head was screaming at me to turn around and run away. But I couldn't do it.

There was something about the guy that challenged me to misbehave so he wouldn't have to find any reason to keep me alive.

"Stop!" he groaned when we got to a familiar door, which I assumed was the Lycan King's brothel room. If I wasn't mistaken, the door seemed like the same one I had walked through the night before.

"Go in. He's in there," he said through gritted teeth.

I nodded my head, holding my breath as he walked past me, leaving me alone in the dilemma.

"Run. This is your chance to run," a voice in my head screamed at me. I was about to do just that when another voice stopped me from doing so, saying, "Unless you want to die, don't run."

I was still contemplating what to do when I felt an invisible force pushing me into the room. My chest tightened, and my breath hitched in fear as I found myself back in that room, where I never thought I would be coming back to.

The sound of running water stopped, and I hadn't even thought of what to make of it when the door on the other side opened, revealing the Lycan King as he stepped out of the shower with a towel hanging low around his waist. Water dripped down his bare chest, and I found it difficult to take my eyes off him.