07

SANDY:

A shiver ran down my spine. 

It was not a threat, but it will happen if I keep on being stubborn. The Lycan King could kill us any moment from now. If he wished to. 

This was his territory. We were nothing but mere insects in his eyes.

If that was the case, why did he want to marry me? Where were the rest of his wives? 

The Lycan King can take as many women as he can. However, there was only one queen and the rest were concubines. Which did not mean that they were his mates.  Wives who wished that they would be queen one day. 

The people did not have a queen. Not yet. Unless the Lycan King will choose one. 

Who? He could choose any of his women, but he did not. 

Speaking of those women, where were they? I had not seen any of them in the palace. My parents had some research. Told me to memorize the women the Lycan King had. They added that J should know the competitors that I will have in the near future. 

The Lycan King suddenly snapped his fingers in front of my face. "Focus, woman."

I blinked a couple of times and was reminded that I should focus. 

"If you told my parents that you wanted me to marry when I was a child, why did you give them a treasure of gold?" I asked while fisting on my fist. 

"I have a lot of gold in this castle. I wanted to dispose of some of them," he explained nonchalantly. 

My jaw dropped.

"You were indirectly giving them a bride price. What you said and what you did were contradicting, Your Highness. Do you believe I am dumb?"

He must be. He believed just because we came from the line of omegas, that we were gullible

He scoffed. 

"It was not a bride price. I was not that evil to choose a child as my bride. Nevertheless, the gold that I gave to your parents was nothing but you can say...a prize for humoring me that day."

My eyes narrowed. "You think you want me to believe that kind of shit?"

"Ask them, if you want," he dismissed. 

"How could I when you forbade me from going home."

He smirked. "You're stuck in this place for as long as you live." He wore a triumphant smile, something that made my blood boil in anger. "You will never know the truth, however, if you want to try to guess what made me give them the gold, you can tell me. If you get it right, I will give you the freedom to marry me or not."

"The real reason why you give them the gold?" I asked. 

 No matter what I think about it, the only thing that I could think was that he offered it to them because my parents sold me to you. 

"Yes."

"It was a bride price."

"Wrong. I'll only give you four  more chances. After that, you will marry me."

Was he always this irritating? Because he looked like one.

Why would he want to marry me? 

"Why do you want to marry me? I think you already know about our family history. My parents were slaves and used your gold to buy their freedom."

He straightened his back and lifted his chin. He looked regal and authoritative. 

"I am the Lycan King. I can have everything I want. Women. Gold. Treasure. Power. Name it. Everything that you can think of."

"I don't think so. You will never have my heart."

He stared at me for a long time as if I said something wrong and then said, "I don't need your heart. I need someone who will stand as my queen."

"How about your wives? You have a lot of them."

Anger flashed in his eyes, making me step back. The room grew tense, making breathing even more difficult.

"They are not my mates. It is you." He turned his back, while his muscles were tense.  "Try to escape and you will see if I am telling the truth or not. When your parents die, it will be your fault. Not mine."

--------

I paced in my room back and forth, not knowing what to do. I wanted to escape, but how? The security was tight. The Lycan King and I were also in the same room. If I disappear, he will know right away.

Damn it.

What to do? 

'You should not be in a hurry,' my wolf stated. 'If you want to demand the truth from your parents, find a way to escape.'

I stopped pacing and leaned heavily on the wall.

‘What if he caught me?’

‘You’re scared? Then don't think about escaping if you're that kind of coward.’

If I managed to escape, the Lycan King would know right away and went directly to my parents. He would kill them. 

Images of their lifeless body flashes in my mind, making my body grow cold.

'What will I do? Hire to help me?' I asked. I already expected that she would be siding with the Lycan King, but it turned out, he was not. 

'Why not? I also wanted to know the truth to make me decide if I'm going to forgive them or not.'

My eyebrows formed a straight line. 'You do know that if you do this, you're going to fight off your mate.'

'I'm not fighting him. I loved him already. He’s gorgeous. He is hot. He is the man of my dreams. Imagine being paired with the Lycan King? It is such an honor! I only wanted to know the truth. That's why I want you to escape.’

‘He will kill us. You heard what he said.’

‘He will not kill his mate. That's a given. If he kills us, it will make him emotionally devoid.’

‘You sounded as if you knew him  well.’

‘I just know,’ she responded with a dreamy look on her face. 

I sauntered to the glass window, saw that I was probably on the second floor of the castle and found out that it was locked. Next, checked everything, the other window, but it was also locked. 

Except the door. 

The Lycan King left it unlocked. Why? Did he believe I did not have the guts to escape after his threat? 

Watch me, King Lucius.

If the door was unlocked, then it meant I was not forbidden to roam around. I needed to scan the surroundings. Familiarize everything and plan my escape. 

As I spun around, my heart almost dropped when I saw someone standing at the door. A woman in her twenties?

"Are you perhaps trying to escape, My Queen?" she asked, pure curiosity in her voice. 

My Queen.

“I am not declared as the queen. Not yet.” There will be a lot of ceremonies to do. 

The woman thought for a moment and looked like she was studying me. 

She was petite and smaller than me, but I could tell that she was not someone to be messed around. 

"Who are you?"

She smiled and bowed then said, "I am your new lady-in-waiting, My Queen. The name is Honora from the House of Vale." 

The House of Vale was considered one of the most powerful houses in the kingdom. For how many years they were able to maintain the house. 

How did I know? Simple. My parents punished me if I did not memorize everything about the kingdom and the houses surrounding it.

"Honora. I don't need a lady-in-waiting."

She sauntered towards me, with a smile painted on her lips. "Why, My Queen? Is it because you're trying to escape from this place?"

I faked a gasp. "I am not! What ridiculous idea is that?"

She smiled even more. "I watched you earlier, My Queen. You've been looking for an escape. How about this? Do you want me to tell you a better idea of an escape route?"