All Chapters of Bound To The Lycan King : Chapter 61 - Chapter 70

AYLIN'S POV The walls felt like they were closing in around me, the surfaces drawing inward with every breath I forced into my throat. Air scraped against my windpipe refusing to settle the burning ache deep within my chest. I slammed the heel of my palm hard against my chest, pressing down as though physical force might manually jump-start my lungs.He's lying. He has to be lying. He just has to.....The denial tasted desperate, sour on the back of my tongue, but a deeper part of my consciousness refused to let the thought rest in peace.Is he, though? How long will you live in denial?The voice came all of a sudden.I dropped heavily onto the edge of the mattress, my fingers clawing into the woven fabric of the sheets until my knuckles turned stark white. Roderick's parting words played in an endless, agonizing loop inside my mind, each repetition sharper and more venomous than the last. Humans and werewolves have always been enemies. You forgot why you were truly here. You forg

AYLIN'S POV "Who's there?" My voice cracked against the silence. "Come out. Step into the light."Moonlight spilled through the window, thin and pale, just enough to catch the edges of the room. The eyes stayed exactly where they were. Watching. Then, low and unhurried, a chuckle slid out of the dark.I didn't have time to react before the shadow moved.One blink, and the figure was gone from the corner. Another, and it was at the window, a blur of motion vanishing over the sill and into the night. I ran to it anyway, chest heaving, and caught nothing but the flutter of a cape disappearing into the dark beyond the palace walls."What is going on," I whispered, to no one, to the empty room, to the moon that didn't answer.I sank down against the wall beneath the window, arms wrapped around my knees. If I hadn't been chosen for any of this, none of it would be happening. If my parents were still alive, I wouldn't be here at all, trembling in a palace that wasn't mine, hunted by things

AYLIN'S POV I stood frozen in the ballroom, the echo of my own words ringing louder than anything else around me.I had messed up. I knew that the second the words I told Lucien came out of my mouth."Classic Aylin."The voice slid back into my head, smooth and pleased with itself. "Always tearing down the foundation you've spent months building. Wonderful. It's almost like you actually listen to me.""Stop it.""The voice lives in your mind more than your heart does these days. You're slowly going insane, if you ask me.""Oh god." I pressed both hands against my temples. "I actually am going insane.""Who are you?" I thought it as hard and loudly as I could, like volume alone might force an answer out of it. "What are you? This isn't my voice. I know this isn't my own thoughts. What do you want from me? Please. I've already ruined enough because of you. Please, just leave me alone."The voice went quiet.I stood there a moment longer, waiting for it to come back, almost wishing i

AYLIN'S POV Seraphine and I walked side by side down the long corridor, my silver dress whispering against the marble with every step.We found Terak and Kaelen waiting near the grand staircase, and Terak reached us first, dressed in a suit unlike anything I'd seen at court before. No tie, just an open collar with embroidery threaded up the front in gold patterns that caught the torchlight, cufflinks shaped like small crescent moons, and a sash tied loosely at his waist that fell in soft folds down one side, giving the whole thing the elegant, structured look of something from an older world entirely.Seraphine let go of my hand and slipped hers into Kaelen's instead. Terak offered me his arm, and I took it, falling into step beside him.His hair had grown in since I'd last seen him properly, and his shoulders seemed broader somehow, though maybe I'd simply forgotten what he looked like outside of beta duty and quiet corners.He leaned close. "You look beautiful tonight, Aylin.""You

AYLIN'S POV I turned and found the last face I wanted to see tonight."You look exquisite, darling.""Roderick." "Is that all I get?" He smiled, easy and unbothered. "No 'thank you'?" He was practically grinning at this point."Thank you." I kept my voice flat.We stood there a moment, his gaze fixed on mine, and something about the stillness of it made my skin crawl. He had a presence that never sat right with me, a calm that always seemed to be hiding something sharper underneath, and I hated it."May I have this dance?""I'd really rather not....." I deadpanned.He didn't wait for the rest of my sentence. His hand closed around mine, and before I could pull away, he'd already led me into the center of the floor, pulling me into step with him.I kept as much distance between us as the dance allowed."How are you enjoying the ball?" he asked."It's going well." I lifted my chin. "Better than some people promised it would."He only laughed, low and unbothered. "Oh, Aylin. This is j