Scent

Kira's POV

I remained standing outside the throne room, waiting for my sister and her mate to come out. But when the large doors opened, the man who stepped out of the room was not the Lycan King but a blond-haired man whose appearance was very handsome. But he was giving off a very cold aura that made me want to make myself small. I knew immediately that he was not someone to be easily messed with. I could make out a slight resemblance between him and the Lycan king, they must be related.

As he approached me, I quickly took a step out of the way and tried to make myself appear small. He didn't notice me before, maybe he did but he assumed I was unimportant, maybe a maid. But I had no idea what drove him to notice me, one second he was walking, then he was sniffing the air around him and then he turned those piercing blue eyes of his to me. There was a curious expression on his face as he regarded me.

" G..Greetings your Highness " I quickly said as he walked to stand in front of me. I bowed my head to show a respectful stance. I was hoping he would see how harmless I was and leave me the hell alone. God, it was already bad enough that Lucille was going to be the future Luna, which meant that she would have more power over me than before, I couldn't afford to make another enemy in the Lycan family. Especially when I had nobody here, there was none to protect me if anyone tried to hurt me.

" You are the peasant's sister?"

" B..brother " I corrected in a shaky voice.

His lips tilted up in an amused smirk. I couldn't believe that he just called Lucille a peasant. Although he was a Lycan, but Lucille was going to be the future Luna, even if he didn't like her he shouldn't have shown it to her face right? But that was my own opinion, some might say I was a coward and was always taking the easy way out of things. Unlike this man I could never say what was in my heart, I was always cautious. He gave off weird vibes, the fact that he had actually guessed my gender was unsettling. I knew I needed to stay away from him, for mine and Lucille's sake both. If the Lycan king ever finds out that my father lied to him about my identity it might lead to severe punishment.

After all the whole Kingdom knew that what the Lycan king hated the most was betrayal. It was said that he had once killed off an entire pack who had started a secret rebellion against him. He had also killed several members of his council, intact he wouldn't hesitate to kill his own siblings if he thought they would betray him. He was a very cruel man and I only got to see his patient side because of Lucille who was his mate. But if I gave him any reason to hate me, I knew that the end result would be my death. Lucille wouldn't even try to protect me, she would probably be thrilled if I got killed.

" Brother you say?" I was brought out of my thoughts by the blond man. His eyes were scanning my body as if I was a puzzle he was trying to piece together " Well then, what do you think of the palace? Your sister is going to be The Lycan King's mate, she will have a place here and so will you. Are you looking forward to it?"

" I...I just want to support her?"

" Is that how you feel, or were you told to do that?"

" I...I was..."

" It doesn't matter " He cut me off, clearly annoyed by my stuttering. " You are playing a very dangerous game, and I would love to watch how this plays out " He turns around and walks away after saying this. I watched him leave, wondering what he had meant by his words.

It was clear that he knew I wasn't a man. Did it mean he was going to tell the Lycan King about it? Would it mean the end of my stay here, even though I had only been in the palace for half an hour? Just when I thought I might get a shot at having a peaceful life, even if it was one of a servant, another problem had poked its ugly head. I would need to talk to Lucille about this, hopefully, she would know what to do

Lucille came out of the room along with the King not long after. Killian was holding onto Lucille tightly, a loving look in his eyes. " My love, I still need to discuss some matters with my father. But I will come for you tonight, and I will personally show you around the palace "

" It's alright. I understand that you have your duties to take care of. " Lucille said in a sweet voice. Killian beamed in obvious joy, thinking about how lucky he was to have a Luna who was both supportive and understanding.

He let himself be pulled down for a kiss by Lucille, and if he noticed how light her scent was he didn't comment on it. He assumed that his Luna's sweet scent had been masked with sweat, after all, it wasn't long since they came to the Empire. Maybe if she freshened up then her scent would be a lot stronger.

" I will have a servant show you to your rooms. Unfortunately, we won't be staying together, not until our mating ceremony is performed "

" I understand "

Killian nodded, after kissing Lucille once more and calling one of his men to direct her, he turned around and left. Before leaving he made eye contact with me, I saw his face pinch up in a confused look as he walked away. But thankfully he didn't deem me worthy of being addressed because if he spoke to me directly I was afraid that he might discover my gender as well.

" What the heck is wrong with you? Why are you still here?!" Lucille yelled at me, the disgust was evident in her voice as she eyed me. She didn't like that Killian had looked at me, she was always nervous whenever the two of us even looked at each other, it was like she was afraid of him finding out something, but I didn't know what that was. All I was told was that I had to pretend to be her brother and I had to wear all her clothes before she would wear them.

" I...I was waiting f..for you "

" From now on, I don't care if you have something important you wish to tell me. You are not allowed to come even close to my mate, do you understand me? You simply can't be in the same room with him "

" Yes "

" Now come, I need you to do something for me "

I followed behind Lucille as one of Killian's men led us through the halls towards the living quarters that had been prepared for Lucille. Because she couldn't live in the same area as Killian before the mating ceremony, she was given the second-best Chamber in the entire palace. She had a personal garden of her own and several maids were always around to answer to her every call. She was obviously pleased with the whole arrangement, she had a proud grin on her face as she introduced herself to the maids. She had them all refer to her as the future Luna and she told them that I was her younger brother, but I was going to be working in the kitchens with them.

Nobody questioned Lucille, because those who had lived in the palace knew what kind of dangerous person the king was, and they knew that if they dared to go against Lucille it might lead to severe punishment. So they all gave me curious looks, wondering why Luna would make her own family work as a servant in the palace. Usually, when someone else had this opportunity that presented itself to Lucille, they would use it to promote their family status in the Kingdom, but instead, she was lowering her own brother to do the job of a palace maid. It confused the servants to no end.

" Come inside, " Lucille said to me. I followed after her, making sure to keep my head lowered as we entered her luxurious room. The walls were painted in a milky color, there was a crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling, and the floors were all carved from expensive marble. She had golden sofas, tables, and other furniture decorating the room, it was indeed a room fit for a Queen.

Lucille went straight to her closet which was filled to the brim with clothes that had already been prepared for her even before her arrival. Killian hadn't wanted his Luna to worry herself about bringing clothes from home, so he ensured to get everything brought to her. Lucille brought out a beautiful knee-length gown that was strapless and would no doubt hug her figure perfectly. She put the dress on the bed and then brought out matching shoes and accessories. When she was satisfied with everything, she turned her gaze to me.

" Go inside the bathroom and wash up. Then I want you to wear this dress, and wait approximately five minutes before taking it off. You can go roll in the mud somewhere after doing this. Do you understand "

" Y..yes "

" Yes, what?"

" Yes Luna "

She smiled in satisfaction " Make it quick. Be out of the room before I come back, have the servants show you where to sleep " Lucille said, she turned around and walked away after saying this. I was left in the room alone. I quickly went to the bathroom, not wanting to be found guilty for keeping Lucille waiting. I stripped off my dirty clothes and quickly hopped in the shower. There was a large bathtub but I chose to use the shower because it would be quicker, and I didn't want to make a mess. The water was warm at least, and I scrubbed down my body before grabbing a

towel. I felt a pang of sadness in my chest WS I looked at myself in the mirror, without my hair and my bruised skin, I truly appeared more like a feminine guy than a woman.

With a sigh, I went back to the bedroom and threw on the dress Lucille had kept aside. The dress fit me perfectly, even more so than it would have on Lucille. I was naturally more curvaceous than she was, which was why I had to wear loose and baggy clothes that would cover it up, I was told to wear ugly clothes just so no one would pay attention to me. After ten minutes had passed, I took off the dress and put on my baggy clothes.

As I prepared to make my way out of the room, I ran into a hard chest. I nearly fell to the ground if not for the strong arm that steadied me. I looked up to see none other than the Lycan King!