Stripped Off The Past

Sage’s POV 

My question remained heavy in the air, raw and unfiltered. My desperation to have my life in my control tugged at the edge of my mind. 

Instead of getting a reply, he let out a light chuckle and turned back to the road ahead. 

Heat rose within me, both heat from anger and from being in the same car as the Lycan King. 

He said nothing. Absolutely nothing and his silence sounded louder than any growl Cyrus could let out. 

It almost felt like he knew something I didn’t. I felt somewhat embarrassed by his silence. 

Scared that I’ll embarrass myself further, I stayed quiet. Stealing glances at him from time to time as he buried his head in his phone. 

His side view alone was enough to make any woman breathless. My eyes travelled to his throat, landing on his Adam apple. It moved slightly, but my eyes caught the movement. 

When it was like his head was about to come up, I turned away, feigning like I was looking out the window the whole time. 

 “You’re free to stare properly.” He said. 

Chills went down my spine. He caught me. 

Why won’t this journey just end? This place is fucking suffocating. 

For the rest of the journey, I tried to keep my gaze outside the window, scared that I would once again loose control and began to look at him like a finished woman. 

The car soon came to a halt. 

I poke my head out a little to see what had made us stop.

There was a big gate in front of us, with over ten well-built soldiers standing in front of it. All of them had the same uniform and the same expression and the height difference was barely even noticeable.

The gigantic gate was rolled open and the car moved once again. 

“Greetings your majesty!” I heard the soldiers greet, with a bow as we drove past them. 

I thought our journey had ended after we past those gates, but we still drove for almost another thirty minutes before getting to another gate. Not as big as the previous one, but still very big on it’s own. 

Finally, I get to see the almighty Lycan Kingdom. 

They weren’t exaggerating when they said the Lycan Kingdom was massive. 

The other gate was opened and we drove in too. I couldn’t stop looking outside cause the view was beautiful and it left me in awe. 

The car stopped once again. 

This time around, I noticed a group of ladies in a beautiful uniform as well as men dressed in their own fine attire lined up opposite each other at the front of his door. 

One opened the door and the others bowed as he stepped out. 

He stretched his hand towards me, “Come!” 

My eyes scanned the whole scene, my heart thumping in my chest. I stepped out, my hand in his. He drew me close to himself. My breath hitched. 

I took in the beautiful sight before me. The massive Lycan Castle standing right before my eyes. I never thought I’d see the Lycan’s castle till the day I died. But here I am, standing in front of the Lycan Kingdom, walking hand in hand with the Lycan King.

We stepped in, everywhere we passed they bowed and greeted. 

I didn’t fail to notice the shocked expression on their faces as they tried to understand who this loser was and how she tricked the King into bringing her to his palace. 

“Dominic, you’re back?” An Elderly woman said, I didn’t need to be told who she was, I could already see the resemblance. 

Her eyes moved instinctively to me. As much as she tried to mask her disgust, I still caught it. “Who is she?” 

“You’ll find out soon.” Dominic said dismissively. 

“Show her to her room!” He handed me over to the ladies.

The guard that had taken my bag earlier also handed it to one of the ladies. I walked quietly with them, trying my best to keep my hands to myself as I walked past the beautiful paintings in the corridor.

The one that caught my eyes the most was the one of him. The Lycan King in a painted picture. It was a complete masterpiece. Very similar to him. 

“Ma’am!” One of the maid called my attention. That was when I noticed that they had stopped in front of a door. “This way please.”

 The maid in front pushed the door open. 

I took long strides and joined them quickly. 

“Your room.” The lady holding my luggage announced before taking my bag into another part of the room.  

My mouth dropped. “For… For me?” 

I shook my head, it felt like too much Luxury. “It can’t be. Please can you confirm from King Dominic.” 

“It’s your room ma’am.” Another confirmed. 

I peeped into the place where the luggage maid had entered. It was full of clothes. A walk in closet. 

My eyes scanned the whole room, the white suddenly looking too bright and clean for someone like me. I felt like dirt in it. 

“Dinner is at 6pm, we’ll remind you when the time comes.” 

“And if you need anything ma’am, don’t hesitate to call on us.” The mouthpiece of the maids said, pointing at the landline on the desk beside the bed. 

I nodded, still trying to come to terms with all of these.

Once they were gone, I turned to the bed. I pressed my hand against it, feeling the softeness beneath it. 

I shook my head. 

“This is too much!” I muttered. 

I was used to staying in that old cracked up room. That tiny space that Cyrus had given to me. This place was nothing like that. Even the walk in wardrobe was way bigger than where I used to stay back at Shadow Pack, not to talk of the fanciness of the room. 

I just kept staring at the room, thinking how my life had transformed within just a day.

The room was so spacious even with the big bed, a couch and a makeup table in it. There was even a fire place to keep the room warm, considering the whether. 

“This can’t be real.” I said, pinching myself. But here I was, still in this luxurious room with a walk in wardrobe that has numerous clothes my size. 

I took my bath and changed into one of the dresses I had come with. I can still haven’t accepted all of these yet. Accepting it would mean that I accept to be bond to another man again. 

I have no idea why I’m here, but I sure as hell would find out soon. I’m definitely not falling for the mate shit. That was the same way Cyrus trapped me, but never again.

The plan here is simple, find a way to repay him for all he has done for me and disappear for good. 

I waited for the maids to return. The time was 5:30 pm. I soon got bored and took up a book to read. 

Suddenly, I began to feel weird like I was going to throw up. I hurried to the washroom. 

I held onto the sink like a lifeline as I let it all out. I flushed down the greenish-yellow bile, yet the weird feeling didn’t leave me. 

I heard the door to the room fall open. 

I rushed out to meet the maids so as not to be late for dinner. I can’t afford to default on my first day here. 

I stepped out, only to find King Dominic staring intensely at me.

“Your majesty?” 

How come I hadn’t noticed that suffocating aura of his. 

“What are you wearing?” He said, eyes roaming over my body in an unpleasant way. 

I looked down at myself.

“My dress?” I replied, unsure. 

“Out of everything there, this is what you chose?” 

I swallowed hard but said nothing. 

“Get me your luggage!” He said, though not a request. 

Though skeptical, I had no choice but to obey. I went in and took it out, then I handed it over to him. 

Before I could even make sense of what was happening, he unlocked the bag and began to dump all my clothes into fireplace. 

I screamed. “What the heck are you doing?” I said, trying to stop him but he didn’t even spare me a glance. 

When he was done with the ones in the bag, he turned to me. “Take it off!” 

“What?” I blurted out. 

“Don’t make me repeat myself.” 

My heart kept beating fast. I swallowed hard as I took off the dress, leaving just my underwears. 

A chill ran down my spine. 

I quickly grabbed the blanket to cover myself. 

“Even the maids in my kingdom don’t wear rags.” He said as he dumped the last one in the fire. 

When he was done dumping them all in, he went into the walk-in wardrobe and took out a dress in a hanger. 

“Put it on!” 

Shamefully, I let go of the blanket and took the dress from him.

His eyes remained on my half-naked body, almost making me melt.

I watched his eyes change from that pissed look to something close to desire…