The Lycan

It might have been the adrenaline wearing off or the lack of sleep or a bit of both, but as soon as the car drove off, my eyelids drooped, and I couldn’t keep them open for my life. Snuggled in the wolf pelt and with the soft drone of the engine in my ears, I gave in to drowsiness, not caring that this could be my last day on this earth.

“Useless!” My father’s angry voice. “Pick up that blade! Kill the monster!”

“No! No, I can’t. Please don’t make me.” Just before my father’s hand collided with my face, I woke with a yelp to stare into a pair of steel-gray eyes looking down at me.

“You always talk in your sleep?” he asked in his deep, rumbling voice.

To my horror, I realized I had my head in his lap and his large hand rested on my hip, keeping me there.

“S-sorry. Can I please get up?” I averted my eyes, remembering what I’ve been told. He didn’t seem angry, but you never know.

He didn’t move his hand. “What was the dream about?”

“I umm… I can’t remember.” But I remembered all too well. He lifted his hand, and I scrambled to the other side of the seat, my heart pounding in my chest.

“Do you know who I am?” he asked casually, turning towards me.

I nodded, my mouth becoming suddenly dry as I could now see his features clearly and it amazed me at how human he looked. How handsome he was. What did I expect? A monster?

“Yes? And who do you think I am?”

“The Lycan king.” I whispered. My father’s enemy. The one he had hunted for decades but never caught.

“But what am I to you, Erina Saul?” His voice had taken on a dangerous edge, and it had become harder to breathe.

I didn’t know what to say. His gaze held me captive. I couldn’t look away. This was it. I was a dead girl.

“Answer me!” his voice whipped over me and I cringed.

“M-my executioner?” I squeaked out. Heaven, help me… But his face, although stone cold, was beautiful in its cruel perfection. A beautiful monster.

He nodded, a slow, deliberate movement. “So much more, Erina.”

The way he said my name had my stomach and heart exchange places. If I had eaten, I would have vomited right there. I knew he meant I was his enemy, and he had every intention of making me suffer for the sins of my father.

***

The journey was long and tense. He never spoke again after our brief conversation, and I kept myself close to the passenger door. I would occasionally glance at him while he typed on his phone. The phone bathed his face in flickers of light, making him appear ghostlike. But he was no ghost, and my situation was all too frighteningly real.

I remembered all my father had told us about the monsters, the horrors he had seen. They ate human flesh or sometimes used them for their own perverted pleasure. And the worst of all was the Lycan king, king of the werewolves. He was the cruelest and most feared of all the creatures. Father said the Lycan had made a deal with the devil himself. Once a human, he wanted more power, and so the devil made him a Lycan, trading his soul for immortality.

I could see some truth in the tale because when I looked at him, he looked ageless.

“It’s rude to stare.” He spoke up so suddenly, it startled me.

“I… S-sorry. I didn’t mean to.” My voice faltered when he put his phone away and focused his attention on me.

“Address me as Master or your Excellence. Understood?” His tone was colder than the snow falling outside the window.

I nodded. He glared at me, and I hastily looked down at my clenched hands.

For what felt like an eternity, I felt his scorching gaze on me and then he said, “You fear me and that is a good thing. It will save you from making foolish mistakes.”

It was more than fear that I felt. I swear my heart would give out if he touched me.

The limo slowed and when I peeked out of the window, the scene enfolding was like something out of a storybook. I knew there were many beautiful castles in Germany, but this was breathtaking. The building rose out of the surrounding stone as if it was growing from the snow-covered rock. Of course, why wouldn’t he live in a castle? He was the Lycan king.

The car passed through the stone gates, which were guarded by heavily armed men. As the gates closed behind us, fear overwhelmed me, making it hard to breathe. The closer the car came to the main entrance, the worse it got until everything faded to gray before my eyes and I blacked out.

***

“You are a disgrace to this family, Erina!” my father shouted over my bowed head. I was on my knees in front of him, having fainted from the sight of the gore.

“Weak!” He yanked my head with my hair to make me look at the decapitated body of the creature. I couldn’t deal the final blow, and he was punishing me because of my refusal. “Look at this abomination. It wouldn’t have hesitated to disembowel you if the roles were reversed.”

“She was no threat!” I screamed back at him. “This is wrong, Father.” I could still feel the sting of the whip on my back as he punished me for my impudence.

The memory brought me back to my senses. I sat up with a gasp.

“Where am I?” My surroundings were unfamiliar. For a minute, I thought I was back with the traders. But then I remembered. The room I was in was small and dark, with no other furniture in it but the cot I woke up in. So, this was my new prison. I still had the wolf pelt around my shoulders, which smelled like him, the Lycan. It was the same scent I recalled from when I had my head in his lap. God, so embarrassing. Maybe he’ll just forget all about me and leave me here to rot. I wouldn’t mind.

As I relaxed, making peace with my fate, the door opened and the same man that fetched me from the auction stood there. “Come,” he ordered. “The king wants you.”