8. Doomed Vessel

Silas POV

My brain felt foggy and heavy, like I was swimming through thick mud. Slowly, as I started to regain consciousness, painful fragments of the things that happened before started to come back. The hum of machines, the ache in every muscle, the burning pull across my whipped back.

The moment I realized I was waking up, my heart started beating fast. I didn’t want to wake up, I preferred the darkness, it had been kinder.

Can't I just stay like this forever?

“Are you awake or are you just going to lie there pretending to be dead?”

The deep, cold voice cut through the haze like a blade. My eyes snapped open and I sat up abruptly, ignoring the scream of protest from my body and the dizziness that suddenly overwhelmed me. As my vision slowly cleared, my eyes zeroed on the figure across the room, the owner of the voice.

It was the King.

He sat in an armchair by the window, dressed in dark robes that hung open at the chest, revealing a glimpse of his toned chest. Behind him, the sky looked dull, it was either the early hours of dawn or the late hours of the evening.

How long have I been asleep?

My eyes settled on him again and my heart skipped a beat. He looked like the devil himself, radiating pure evil under the dim light filtering through the curtains.

I gulped hard as he stood up and walked toward me with slow, calculated steps. My heart hammered against my ribs when he sat at the edge of the bed, pinning me in place with those cold blue eyes. There was no warmth in there.

“How is your health?” he asked flatly, which didn't surprise me, because his tone made it clear he didn’t give a single damn about the answer.

So I stayed silent, my fingers fidgeting nervously with the edge of the blanket. I knew it was rude, but what was I supposed to say anyways? That every inch of me hurt? That I still felt the echo of the pain that horrible wired chair caused burning through my veins?

The King’s lips curled in mocking disdain as he regarded me. “You were too weak to withstand even the first level of questioning. Pathetic.” He spat in my face and I didn't even bother to meet his eyes, I knew I was only going to be glared at.

“That’s hardly a quality I would want in someone I’m supposed to regard as a mate. But it’s fine.” His voice dropped lower, like he was amused. “I’ve accepted my fate.”

I was bewildered. HE had accepted his fate? Shouldn’t I be the one saying that? I was the one chained to this nightmare, the one who couldn’t escape the ruthless Lycan King if I tried, I knew that it was either death or endless torture for me. Unless His Majesty decided to let me go, which seemed like a dream that would never ever come true. Why was he speaking as if the bond was some terrible burden only he had to endure?

But still, I said nothing. I kept my gaze fixed on my fidgeting fingers, refusing to meet his eyes. Maybe if I stayed quiet, he would leave.

He didn't leave.

Instead, a thin folder was suddenly thrown onto my lap. I flinched at the sharp motion.

“Open it,” he commanded.

With trembling hands and growing confusion, I opened the folder. My eyes scanned the papers inside, it was full of medical reports, scans, and some other things I didn't understand. Slowly, dread began to wash over me like ice water as my eyes finally found it.

There it was, all of it. The secrets I had spent years killing myself to hide. The reason I had poisoned my body with those dangerous suppressants. It was the confirmation of the womb inside me. The truth that I, a male Omega, could conceive and carry children.

My hands shook violently as I stared at the words. This couldn’t be happening, no one was ever supposed to know. And now… the King had it all laid out in front of him.

I was going to die.

I finally looked up at him. A little smirk played on his lips, cold and satisfied as I met his eyes.

“Surprise,” he said in the most manic way possible, his voice dripping with dark triumph. His cold blue eyes regarded me with something I couldn’t quite explain, possession, perhaps, or cruel delight. “You can bear a child.”

The fake smile on the King’s face vanished in an instant, replaced by a very cold look that settled deep chills into my bones. “But you already know that, don’t you?” he asked quietly, his voice dangerously low.

Something in his tone warned me that lying would only make things worse. I nodded weakly, unable to find my voice.

He stared at me for a few seconds longer, those cold blue eyes boring into me like he could see every secret I had ever buried. Then he reached forward and took the folder from my trembling hands and placed it neatly on the bedside table.

“Then you should be happy,” he said bluntly.

Happy? The word echoed strangely in my head. Why would I be happy? I had spent almost my entire life hiding this exact truth, poisoning myself with suppressants, living in constant fear, just to avoid becoming exactly what everyone said male Omegas were good for, a vessel.

I didn't want to be a vessel.

“At least you’re now finally useful to me.”

Cold dread draped over me like a blanket as the meaning sank in. The message was simple, clear, and devastating. Because I could conceive, I was no longer just a worthless traitor or a pathetic mistake to hum.

I was now useful. A breeding tool for the Lycan King.

I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at the bitter irony. All those years of hiding, only to end up right here, strapped to the bed of the one Alpha who could ruin me completely.

Oh fate, you have a cruel sense of humor.

Before I could go any deeper into my thoughts, another object was thrown into my lap. This time, it was a small red box.

“Open it,” he commanded, again.

I obeyed immediately, and clumsily lifted the lid with my fingers. Inside, resting on black velvet, was a ring unlike anything I had ever seen. It looked as though it had been forged from living moonlight and shadow, it looked like a band crafted from smooth, translucent material resembling delicate ceramic fused with glass. There were swirling patterns of liquid silver that moved beneath its surface like captured smoke and starlight, shifting subtly with every angle of light. It was beautiful in the most terrifying way, like a piece of dark fantasy that screamed power and possession.

I looked up at him, confused and terrified.

The King had already stood up and was walking toward the door.

“Wh-what’s this for?” I managed to ask, my voice barely above a whisper, when I realized he wasn’t planning to explain anything.

“It’s your ring for our mating ceremony, of course,” he said briefly, not even bothering to turn around.

My body stiffened, and horror washed over me. Mating ceremony?

He paused at the door, then turned to look at me one final time, with that wicked glint in his eyes that made my stomach drop.

“We’re getting married this weekend.”

And with that, he walked out, slamming the door behind him.

I sat there in the heavy silence, staring at the ring in my lap. The liquid patterns inside it continued to swirl, almost mockingly.

This was it. I was truly doomed.

There would be no escape, no mercy, and definitely no chance of survival. The Lycan King had decided my fate, I would be his breeder, bound to him in a ceremony that would seal my body and soul to the very Alpha who despised me.

A broken sob escaped my throat as I curled into myself, ignoring the faint pain in my back. The golden bond between us pulsed mockingly, reminding me that even in my despair, a part of me still ached for the monster who had just claimed ownership over my womb, my future, and my entire existence.