The King Everyone Fears

By the third day of my royal imprisonment, I’d learned three things:

1. The food here was way too good for a “dungeon.” I was starting to suspect they were fattening me up for some ritual sacrifice.

2. Lycans had terrible taste in wall art. Who hangs portraits of themselves snarling? I mean, relax, we get it—you’re scary.

3. The King of Lycans was the single most frustrating male in existence. And I’d dated a warlock who cursed my underwear drawer, so that was saying something.

Kael hadn’t visited me since our little “You’ll need your strength for surviving me” chat, but his presence lingered like smoke in the air. And judging by the whispers I overheard from servants who scurried in and out of my chamber, the man was practically legend.

Kael wasn’t just king. He was the King. The one who’d inherited the throne after ripping it from his own father’s hands in combat when he was only twenty-five. Now, at thirty-two, he was a ruler no one dared to question. A warrior whose claws had ended entire bloodlines. A strategist who crushed rebellions before they even began. And—most annoyingly—an eligible bachelor whose refusal to take a mate had every noble family sharpening their claws to shove a daughter at him.

“Unclaimed,” I muttered, pacing the room. “All that power, all those muscles, and no queen. Either he’s secretly impossible to please, or he’s just waiting for someone sarcastic enough to test his patience.”

My wolf yawned. Guess who fits that description?

“Don’t even start,” I hissed.

Still, I couldn’t deny it. The man was… magnetic. The kind of dangerous that made lesser wolves bow and stronger wolves fantasize. And apparently, he’d chosen me—a rogue, an exile, an unclaimed wolf with a sharp tongue—to lock up in his palace instead of execute.

Lucky me.

The door creaked open just as I was mid-rant about how even kings should have manners. Two guards stepped aside, and there he was: Kael.

Tall, broad, every step carrying the weight of someone born to rule. His golden eyes swept the room and landed on me, pinning me in place without a single word.

My heart skipped. My mouth, of course, did not. “Wow, three days without a visit. What happened, Your Majesty? Busy brooding in front of a mirror?”

One corner of his mouth lifted. Not quite a smile—more like a warning. “Busy ruling an empire. Something you wouldn’t understand.”

“True,” I shot back, folding my arms. “But I do know a thing or two about abandonment issues. You sure you’re not just avoiding me because I hurt your royal feelings?”

Gasps echoed from the guards, but Kael didn’t flinch. Instead, he closed the distance between us in two strides, his dominance rolling off him in waves.

I should have stepped back. I didn’t.

“You have a sharp tongue, little wolf,” he murmured, tilting his head so his gaze bored straight into mine. “One day, it will either make me laugh… or make me silence you.”

Heat curled low in my stomach. My wolf practically wagged her tail. I, however, lifted my chin higher.

“Careful, Your Majesty. You might find out I bite back.”

For a second, his expression darkened—hungry, dangerous, lethal. Then, with a smirk that promised trouble, he turned toward the door.

“Dress her,” he ordered the guards. “Tonight, she dines with me.”

And just like that, the King was gone, leaving me with two terrified guards, a pile of expensive gowns, and a sinking feeling that dinner was going to end with either murder or foreplay.

I pressed a hand to my racing heart. “This is bad,” I muttered. “Very, very bad.”

My wolf purred. Or very, very good.

---

The grand dining hall was everything I expected: endless polished tables, chandeliers dripping crystals, and nobles dressed in silks so expensive they probably cried if someone spilled wine on them.

I’d convinced myself that maybe, just maybe, Kael had decided to play “civilized king” and invite me to sit at his side. A rogue as his scandalous dinner guest? Sure, it would’ve been gossip-worthy, but at least it meant I could pretend to be something other than a prisoner.

Yeah, no.

“Bring the wine,” Kael’s voice commanded, deep and unyielding, the second I stepped inside.

I froze. “Excuse me?”

He didn’t even look at me. He was already seated at the head of the table, broad shoulders draped in black, golden eyes focused on the gathered nobles. Two young women sat nearest to him, both impossibly beautiful, both eyeing him with the kind of hunger that made my stomach twist. His pretendantes.

Kael finally turned his head, gaze locking onto mine. A smirk curved his lips. “You heard me, little wolf. Tonight, you serve.”

For a heartbeat, I thought he was joking. Then a goblet was thrust into my hands by one of the guards, and reality hit me like a slap.

He didn’t want me beside him. He wanted me on display. Serving wine. Watching every simpering female try to get his attention while I played the part of a servant.

My cheeks burned hot, but I forced a smile. “Wow. Kidnap me, lock me up, dress me like a doll, and now make me your waitress. You really know how to treat a lady.”

Kael’s eyes glinted, amused. “Consider it training. A queen must learn humility before she can wear a crown.”

Gasps rippled across the table, and the two women nearest him stiffened. Queen? He hadn’t just said that, had he?

But before I could bite back, he tipped his head lazily toward my tray. “Now pour.”

My wolf growled inside me. He’s testing us.

I clenched my jaw and stalked to the first noble, tilting the goblet until the red wine glugged out. If my hand shook, no one needed to know it was because I wanted to dump the entire bottle over Kael’s smug head.

As I worked my way around the table, whispers rose like smoke. Some sneered at me, some looked terrified, but all of them watched—waiting for me to slip, to lash out, to prove I wasn’t fit to stand in this hall.

Finally, I reached Kael himself. He lifted his goblet, eyes glittering gold in the candlelight.

I leaned down, close enough that only he could hear me. “One day, Your Majesty, I’m going to make you regret this.”

His smirk widened. “I look forward to it.”

And just like that, the room spun on, laughter and music echoing, while I stood there, a rogue-turned-waitress, forced to watch the Lycan King’s world of power, politics, and women who would kill for his attention.

And for the first time, I wasn’t sure if I hated him more… or wanted him more

Possibly both.