All Chapters of The Lycan King's Forbidden Mate: Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

POV: AriaI need answers from him, now.I tuck the book under my arm and leave the library, navigating the corridors until I reach the west wing.The guards outside his chambers are gone and the door is unlocked.I push it open quietly.The room is dim with curtains drawn. I can make out the massive bed against the far wall and the figure in it.Valerian, asleep.I move closer. He's on his stomach with one arm thrown over his head. The blankets have slipped down to his waist, revealing his scarred back.Then the blanket slips lower and I realize he's not wearing anything.My face goes hot.He shifts in his sleep and rolls slightly.The blanket slips further.I make a strangled sound.His eyes snap open, gold and confused.He sits up fast and the blanket pools around his waist, barely covering anything."What?" His voice is rough with sleep. "Aria?"I grab a pillow and throw it at his face."CLOTHES!" I shout. "WEAR THEM!"He catches the pillow one-handed and blinks at me."What are yo

POV: ValerianEvery muscle in my body goes rigid and my vision narrows.We both turn.A young warrior stands near one of the training rings, mid-twenties, tall and lean with his face flushed with alcohol and stupidity. I can smell the cheap whiskey from here.Several warriors nearby have stepped away from him, creating distance. They know he's about to do something catastrophically stupid."Is that her?" he calls out, loud and slurred. "The human whore the King's keeping?"The entire training ground goes silent.Not gradually but all at once, like someone cut the strings of every marionette.Heat floods through me, not anger but something colder and more controlled.Aria's hand closes around my wrist with her grip surprisingly strong."Valerian, don't." Her voice shakes. "He's drunk. He doesn't know what he's saying.""He knows exactly what he's saying." I pull my wrist free gently and deliberately. "And he's going to learn why you don't say it.""Please, it's not worth it.""You are

POV: AriaHe moves to the edge of the tub and kneels beside it, still not looking at anything below my face."By giving your body what it needs." His hand hovers over the water. "Not everything, not the full claiming, but enough to ease the heat, to let you breathe again."My heart hammers against my ribs. "I don't, I can't...""You don't have to do anything." His hand dips into the water and finds my shoulder. The touch sends electricity racing through me, sparking along every nerve. "Just let me touch you. Let me take care of you.""Why?" My voice cracks. "Why would you help me when you could just take what you want? Force the bond?"His jaw works and something dark flashes in his eyes. "Because when I claim you fully, it won't be because biology forced your hand. It will be because you want me, choose me." His thumb traces my collarbone and the simple touch makes me shiver despite the heat. "This heat is torture for both of us, but I won't use it to manipulate you into something yo

POV: ValerianThe council breaks for midday meal.I'm heading to check on Aria when I see her.She crosses the grand hall with Kova and they're talking quietly with Aria's face animated as she asks questions. She wears deep green that makes her hair look like living fire.Beautiful and mine.I start toward her.Bane appears from a side corridor, and from the deliberate way he angles his path, he's been waiting and watching.He steps directly into her path."Well, well." His voice carries across the hall. "You must be the infamous hybrid."Aria stops and her spine straightens. Kova immediately moves closer, protective.I'm already moving and crossing the distance.But Bane speaks first."Exquisite," he murmurs and his gaze roams over her in a way that makes my vision edge red. "The rumors don't do you justice. Tell me, little hybrid, does the King treat you well? Or are you just another pretty prisoner?""I'm not a prisoner," Aria says with her voice steady despite the fear I can smell

POV: AriaValerian's roar shakes the hall, rattles the crystal, and makes the candle flames dance.Everything moves in slow motion and too fast simultaneously.Mira gasps and stands with her chair scraping back. Theron is on his feet with his hand reaching across the table. Bane's expression shifts, surprise flickering across his features before settling into something unreadable.The room tilts harder and spins. My throat closes and I can't breathe, can't breathe, CAN'T BREATHE.Valerian is there, when did he move, catching me before I hit the floor.His face above mine is twisted with pure terror, more terrified than I've ever seen him, this brutal king who fears nothing."Don't you dare," he's saying, or screaming, I can't tell anymore. "Don't you dare die on me. KOVA!"Darkness pulls at me and drags me down into depths I might not return from.I try to tell him I'm sorry.Sorry for being trouble, sorry for being weak, sorry for not being the queen he needs, sorry for...My throat