The loud sound of axe on wood snapped me awake. Rising to a sitting position, I rubbed at my arms to assuage some of the cold biting into my skin. Dropping down to the floor, I went over to the window and peeked out.
The early morning sun reflected on Lan's broad back, catching the sweat sliding down it. His muscles flexed as he rose the axe and brought it down, splitting the wood in two. I nibbled on my bottom lip, a girl could wake up to this view every morning...
My face flushed at my train of thoughts and I moved away from the window. I threw open the closet and was met with my uniform. My mood took a nosedive.
Distantly I heard the door opening. It barely registered because I continued to stare at the gown in contemplation. I'd managed to wear it through yesterday due to some mental superhuman strength, but today said strength was absent. I couldn't... do it.
My head whipped to the side on hearing something. Lan was in the process of leaning a should
The lycans below crouched, rearing to attack. While they were lean and toned, the bears were huge and robust, and despite myself, a part of me started to grow scared for them.But the fear vanished once a bear dropped down on all fours and attacked, surging forward with a bone-chilling roar. A huge lycan dashed at it with lethal speed, leaping on his hind legs to tackle it down, slicing a claw down its face.A roar of pain rose up from the bear even as excited cheers sounded. The cheers soon died down when a bear landed on another lycan, digging its teeth into his shoulder. When next it rose its mouth, it was bloody and contained a chunk of flesh. Nausea roiled in my stomach.Another lycan dove for the bear, knocking it off while throwing punches at it in rapid successions, large canines bared in a snarl. The bear clamped its teeth around a wrist and bit down hard, eliciting a loud howl.Two bears ganged up on a lycan. One tackling him to the ground
That night, I dreamt Lan's memories...I was in ancient Gornagon.My mouth dried up on seeing the state of the castle. Destroyed. Smoke emanated from the burnt remains of the keep and all around, lycans extracted and wheeled people away from the desolate remains.The air hung heavy with a sadness so potent it clogged my throat. Away from me, a young Lan stared ahead in horror. A thought of his slid through my mind. 'Mam, where are you?' My heart clenched, unease starting to grow in the pit of my stomach.A pale man made his way through the dark atmosphere, drawing level with the lycan king. Once he was close enough, I realized I'd never seen him before.From his strapping figure and regal bearing, I could only guess he was royalty. His irises were a light shade of red and when his lips parted slightly, I made out sharp fangs."King Dmitri, I'm glad you're here," said the brute that was Lan's father.The vampire, Dmitri, nodded,
The next day I awoke on my narrow bed, my hands held up above my head: Lan sucking a spot on my neck. "You're awake," he murmured against my skin.I barely had time to think before he stripped me down to my waist, cupping a breast in his rough palm. Once he dipped his head down to close his hot mouth over a nipple, I rose off the bed as a surge of pleasure attacked me. I grew fully awake, my confusion melting away.My breathing picked up once he bit down on the bud and licked away the sting, groaning around my flesh, "Gods, Willow... Can't get enough of you."Shock jolted through me when the rest of my clothes came off. "Lan--""Shh," he said absently, slowly running a rough hand up my sides. "I want to see you."The intensity in his gaze robbed me of breath. Masculine sounds broke out of his chest as he slowly explored me, sliding his hands over my skin while my breaths shallowed. His eyes met mine the same time he started a slow trail up my inner
I threw my head back and laughed, wheezing out, "You can't be serious, Lan!"His eyes glinted with amusement, then they slowly sobered. "I like it when you say my name."After a beat of silence, my voice turned suggestive and I snapped my teeth at him playfully. "Bet you like it even better when I scream it."A pause. A small smile teased Lan's lips. On a low note he said, "You just used bet twice in a sentence. . .and that's two letters short of butt."My laughter sharply cut through the room and I slapped his hard chest. "I really don't understand your fascination with butts.""Well then," he said lowly, sliding a rough hand under my shirt. "You must understand my fascination with yours." He splayed his hand over my ass cheek, softly kneading it.With a roll of my eyes, I chuckled. Lan, I realized during the past eight hours we spent goofing around on the living room floor, was insufferably cheeky when he wanted to be. A part of me wondere
awaynext day, Lan was cold.As warriors trooped into the cabin to heft out hunting equipments, he turned to lock expressionless eyes on me just as I emerged from the room with my travel bag, back in my ugly grey gown.He said in a tone lacking of emotion, "Is that everything?"Something in me stung. I did not expect him to speak kindly to me in the presence of his men, and I knew if we were to continue what we had here in the castle, it'd be done behind closed doors, away from the eyes of his people. I'd be his dirty little secret. Something in my stomach twisted.I should have more self respect than to agree to be someone he would be ashamed to show in front of his people. I should. Sucking in a breath, I pasted a smile on my face and replied, "Yes, Your Highness."His jaw clenched imperceptibly.If I'd thought he was merely being cold to me due to his men being in the same vicinity as us, I was wrong. In the solace of his car, he didn't sp
The room was quiet when I got in. Syb briefly removed her attention from her phone to shoot me a glance. Then after a beat, she looked back at me, doing a double take."You're back," she said."It appears."There was a stretch of silence. Walking over to my bedside, I dropped my bag down and sat on the narrow bed, taking off my shoes.Syb cleared her throat. "Miss Angela asks of you every day."My heart seized. Pushing down the panic starting to rise in my gut, I said indifferently, "Really?""Yes.""Then I'm sure you told her my whereabouts."There was a pause. "If by whereabouts you mean your brief exile, then yes."I blinked. "What?"She sighed then placed her headphones back over her ears. "Covered up for you. Try to keep up, dummy."Shock travelled through me. Then my brows creased. Why the hell would she do that? Even knowing she couldn't hear me, I said slowly, "Thank you..."After a moment, I
That night, I waited until the whole castle had fallen silent before throwing away the duvet covering my already dressed form.Climbing down my bed, I brushed a hand over my dark jeans and black turtle neck shirt that hid my magic restraint. I slipped into my shoes and quietly made my way over to Syb's corner. Grabbing a flashlight, I made a mental note to return it.Then I slipped into the empty hallway.Tonight I was going down the secret passage. With that thought, I slinked down the hallway, keeping close to the walls. After a while of tediously navigating through the massive castle, I came across an elevator. Quickly, I went over to it, keeping an eye out for the lycan warriors on night duty. Cramming in, I pressed a button to the top floor. The ride up was silent and nerve wracking, and all through it, my heart pounded a nervous best in my ears.Once the doors dinged open, I rushed out. Then came to an immediately halt when the lengthy barrel of a rifle was positioned before me
He dragged me across the hallway and over to a narrow door. Throwing it open, he pulled me into the small room roughly, slamming the door shut.I raced back to it, but he caught me around my nape, pulling me forcefully so that my eyes we level with his. He asked quietly, "Who the f*ck is he?"Twisting out of his hold, I gritted out, "You have some...f*cking nerve, don't you, asshole?"His hold tightened and he growled into my face, his eyes burning brighter. "I asked you a question, Willow."Drawing my leg back, I kicked him in the shin. As pain shot through my leg, I scampered away once his hold loosened, my breaths growing heavy. "Oh, it's Willow now?"He made a wild swipe for me, catching air as I bent underneath his muscled arm. The sound of items crashing down to the cramped floor met my ears.When I dashed for the door again, he caught my arm with a growl. He pulled me to stand before him. He gripped my jaw painfully and bent level with me, spelling out slowly, "You won't see hi