Lahat ng Kabanata ng Crimson Moon Bound To The Lycan King : Kabanata 81 - Kabanata 90

Zephyra They’re talking through the mindlink. Their faces barely move, but I can see the silent exchange passing between them while I stand right here, like I’m invisible. I want to know what they’re saying. I want to know why I’m really here. King Theron said it was to push my beast out, which means he already knows. It shouldn’t come as a shock that he knows. He’s not blind or stupid. But the way he’s holding my hand, the way he hasn’t let go even once… it doesn’t feel like he’s planning to kill me. Khaisha glances at me again, worry creasing her brow, then her eyes drop to where my fingers are laced with his. She looks back at Theron, says something through the link, and suddenly her face brightens with a smile. “We should get going,” I turn to Theron. “What exactly are we going to do here? You said I’m here to observe…” He waits until Khaisha runs back toward the field before answering me. “You’re hiding your beast.” My eyes go wide…impossibly wide. “You’re wrong.”

Theron It doesn’t take long before I shove the door open with my shoulder, cradling Zephyra’s limp body against my chest as I storm straight into Kalb’s office. Kalb shoots up from her chair so fast the wheels screech. “What happened?” I cross the room in two strides and lay Zephyra down on the leather exam bed. Her head lolls to the side, skin flushed and moist with sweat, lips parted as she takes shallow breaths. She’s burning. “She’s not responding,” the heat radiating from her skin brushes against my own. My voice is rough as I watch her lashes tremble. “She’s breathing but she’s not here because she’s trapped in some sort of dream or a memory,” The second she collapsed in the clearing, something ripped open between us. I saw it…felt it, like I was inside her head. The dim house, the dead bodies sprawled on the floor, the belt in her father’s hand, the iron buckle glinting before it peeled her skin open. Grimm snarls inside me and fury boils in my veins so thick I can

Theron Jareth links me. ‘I found the witch.’ My fingers glide teasingly around Zephyra’s neck while I focus on him. ‘Is she dead yet?’ ‘No.’ ‘Not quite the update I was expecting. What changed?’ ‘I’m not sure what games these wolves are running, but she’s asking to see Zephyra.’ My fingers stop their movement. Zephyra looks up at me, sniffling as she wipes the remaining tears from her lower lash line. “What’s wrong?” ‘Prisoners don’t make demands. She is in our cell, not the other way around. If she thinks she has leverage, remove the illusion. Torture her,’ I say to Jareth. Out loud to Zephyra, I say, “It’s nothing.” The words come out as an angry growl, though the irritation is not directed at her. Jareth doesn’t retreat. ‘You are sure you don’t want to see her first?’ I don’t. But the fact that she’s asking for Zephyra by name changes things. Torture might get answers faster, but it could also lose us whatever information she’s dangling. ‘I do not like that the female

Kalb drops the mug on the table. “But it could be the first step to finding your ground. You are already regarded as pathetic because you didn’t have a beast.” “Because I am cursed,” I correct her. “That too,” she concedes. “But let’s face it. If you’d had a beast earlier, maybe you wouldn’t feel so afraid of everything.” “I had a beast. My father beat it into submission because he wanted to tame me.” Horror spreads across Kalb’s face. She looks from me to Khaisha, who nods, confirming what she just heard. “As if that wasn't enough, he took her away from me. He forced poison into my mouth so I would become wolfless.” Sitting here, I can still see the jar. My stepmother held a green, translucent bottle in her hand. When she uncorked it, my father forced it down my throat. They took my beast away….they are the reason I am this pathetic. “Hold on.” Kalb sits straighter. Her eyes glow slightly with interest. “Say that again.” “I said he forced me to drink poison.” “To take you

Is this another game? “You should have told me the truth from the start! Especially if you knew they intended to kill you.” “You are the Lycan King, feared by every pack. I am cursed. Someone like you would never have believed someone like me.” “I would have believed you!” Silence falls between us after my outburst. Breath by breath, her trembling eases, until she is almost still. She stares at me, trying to understand what I meant. “I would have trusted every word that came from your lips. If I cared only about the shade of your eyes, I would never have kept you this close.” She is kept here because she soothes the feral side of me. Maybe it is more than that, but I am not going to dive into those depths to find out. Her eyes glow again. My hand on her hip slides lower, my touch moving of its own accord. Her heart pounds against her ribs as I keep exploring her curves. ‘Stop it,’ I warn Grimm. ‘You are the one in full control. I have done nothing,’ he chuckles. It does no