When Kiyan and I were much younger and more naïve than we now were, my grandmother would sit us down in front of the fireplace every night and tell us a story. It never changed and always began with the same person- Lycaon. He was said to be the first of the lycans, cursed to shapeshift into a wolf by Zeus. The reason? He tried to serve the great and powerful Zeus human flesh. Furious with Lycaon’s trickery, Zeus cursed him. From there the lycan curse spread. Lycans would bite humans, cursing them to the same fate. Eventually, word had spread about these strange shape-shifting creatures. And so, a war broke out between the humans and lycans, both believing that the world had no place for the other. It was a long, brutal war which almost seemed unending until one faithful day. The day the Lycan Kings and Queens were chosen. Each had a unique ability: Queen Aura was blessed with the ability to manipulate fire and could even command the magma within the Earth’s surface by Hephaestus; Queen Nikita was gifted the ability to manipulate water by Poseidon; King Theodore could speak to and command the dead and see the spirit realm, a gift bestowed upon him by Hades and King Griffen was given the gift of wisdom and thought by Athena- rumour had it he also received dreams and messages from the gods themselves. Lastly was King Nicholas. Zeus generously bestowed upon him the ability to control and manipulate the weather. Once they had entered into the war, it was over for us humans. As punishment for losing the war against the lycans, and so as to ensure lasting ‘peace’, we were condemned to a life of servitude to them. Shortly thereafter a new era was born and the five Lycan Kings and Queens divided the world up into five regions over which to rule- Larkspur, ruled by Queen Aura; Aster ruled by Queen Nikita; Bouvardia ruled by King Theodore, Dhalia ruled by King Griffen and finally Iris, ruled by King Nicholas. Although their rule was prevalent and powerful to this day, they had become nothing but mere legends to me, characters of a story once told in front of a humble fireplace.
But that all changed when I saw him.
Although centuries had passed, he looked ageless. He was tall, well-bult and devilishly handsome in a unique and almost ethereal way. His skin was a beautiful and intense, warm, golden honey tone and not a single blemish tainted any of it. His eyes were a strikingly extraordinary, yet nonchalant shade of grey and were framed by a set of dark, thick brows. His hair, the dark shade of raven, fell in smooth waves which reached below his ears and some of it hung lowly in his face, shadowing its beauty. For a moment, all I could do was bask in awe at how beautiful he was. I was so engrossed and overwhelmed by the man before me that I hadn’t the chance to register what he had previously said. It wasn’t until the red-haired lycan who had previously tried to kill me, spoke, that I finally snapped back to reality.
“Was that aimed at me, King Nicholas?” she asked as she straightened her clothing. But he never even made an attempt to look at her, instead, his eyes stayed on me, watching me curiously.
“No,” he began, “I was talking to her.” And with this, he pointed towards me.
My eyes widened and I gazed at my brother who shared my surprised expression, before resting my eyes back on the King’s.
“Me?” I asked, pointing at my chest.
He nodded slowly before nearing me. Each movement he made was smooth and graceful, as if he’d perfected the art of movement mere centuries ago. Then, he held out a hand for me before saying softly, “Yes, you. It’s taken centuries… but I’ve finally found you, my mate.”
I gulped nervously and then hesitated before taking his hand in mine, letting my curious nature overtake my senses. The second our fingers touched, there was no denying what he’d said. It was as though there was some sort of force, pulling us together, drawing us to one another. Even the way his skin felt against mine was absolutely electrifying. He helped me off of the floor and then almost immediately let my hand go.
“Ah, how rude of me. I haven’t even introduced myself. Forgive me. I am King Nicholas Carden, and you are-”
“Human!” The woman who had previously tried to murder me interjected. “You can’t be serious my love. There is no way this lowly human could be your mate. Besides, it doesn’t even matter. You’re betrothed to me.”
As if this day could not even get any worse, the woman I’d punched just moments ago was also the King’s fiancé. Was there any escaping death today?
I expected King Nicholas to agree with her and then demand that I be executed on spot. After all, the five lycan Kings and Queens were not known for their merciful decision making when it came to humans. But instead, he surprised me, first, by wearing a look of annoyance on his face, then, by the words he spoke.
“I’ve told you many times before not to call me that. We might be engaged, but we’re hardly close enough for you to call me your love. Besides,” he said, once again gazing into my eyes, “I have a feeling that you and I won’t be betrothed for much longer.”
Admittedly I relished in the disappointment on her face, until I realised what his words and her disappointment meant. Although there was no denying that I downright hated the woman standing in front of me, I most certainly did not want to complicate her future marriage especially when it meant fucking up my own very peaceful life in the process. I had a plan for the future, one that Ophelia and I had so carefully constructed together. I wouldn’t have it all amount to nothing because of some extraordinary meeting with a man I once thought of as a myth, now claiming me as his mate.
“Listen… King Nicholas. It was very nice to meet you, but I think my brother and I will be going now.” I said, trying my best to get myself out of the situation. But my efforts proved futile.
“I’m afraid I can’t let you leave Miss-”
“I don’t think you have any business knowing my name. In fact, I’d appreciate it if we could leave this restaurant as we entered it, as nothing but strangers, your Majesty.” I said firmly.
It was then that my brother got up from the floor and rushed to my side, saying, “Her name’s Ariya, your Majesty. I apologise for the scene that we’ve caused but the fault is mine and mine alone. Please don’t punish her.”
Kiyan’s selfless proclamation did nothing but annoy me. This was my mess, and I wanted to fix it myself.
“Like hell! That bitch fucking punched me in the face! She deserves to die!” King Nicholas’ fiancé yelled out before attempting to charge towards me. But he grabbed her arm and pulled her back as if she were nothing but a blade of grass in the soil.
“Stop it now Stacey! And no one is getting punished here so if we could all keep our composure!” he said sternly. It was mostly directed towards Stacey who eventually retreated to his side. Then, he once again turned his attention towards me before coming a little closer.
“Ariya…” he tested on his tongue. “It’s an absolutely beautiful name. However, I’m afraid that you and I cannot leave this place as strangers. You are going to have to come with me.”
I’ll admit, it was a charming moment until he started commanding me to follow him. I snatched my hand from his immediately and then shook my head. “Excuse you? I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, your Majesty, but I don’t know you. I refuse to go anywhere with you! In fact, I’d much rather die.”
He looked taken aback for a moment before saying, “That’s a bold statement, don’t you think? Though, taking into account your previous actions towards my fiancé, I doubt you truly fear death…” then his eyes wandered to my brother, and suddenly, I began to realise that perhaps I’d made a mistake.
“Judging by the way you tried to protect your brother earlier, I assume you love him quite a lot.”
I didn’t answer, instead, I grabbed at my brother’s hand and pulled him behind me, unfortunately only confirming the King’s suspicions.
“If you don’t come along with me then I’ll…” he fell silent for a moment. “I’ll…” again, a moment of silence passed by before his eyes widened and he nodded, “I’ll kill your brother.”
I shared a confused glance with Kiyan who’d escaped my grasp and moved from behind me, to next to me. Then I glanced back at Nicholas and asked the question on both my mind and my brother’s, “Is that a serious threat?”
“Of course it is. Do you think I’m the type of person to make false threats?”
Admittedly I didn’t doubt his ability to end my brother’s life. But I’d been threatened a few times in my lifetime and so I could more or less tell whenever a threat was made half-heartedly. And so, I nodded and folded my arms in front of my chest. “Yes.”
He raised a brow before letting out a sigh and then raising his fingers in the air before snapping them thrice. Immediately, two women entered the restaurant, both identical to one another, with stern, sharp brown eyes, dark skin and short, curly hair styled exactly the same. Even the black suits they wore were exactly identical. They took quick strides and then stopped abruptly, each on either side of King Nicholas.
“These two lethal ladies are Lovita and Floran. Both are more than equipped to have your brother’s head and the rest of his body on either side of the room. If you aren’t convinced, then I could have them demonstrate.”
I stood silent for a moment as I gazed into the eyes of the people standing before me. Although his were insincere, the look in Lovita’s and Floran’s were more than enough to convince me not to argue any further. Kiyan’s life was much too important for me to attempt to defy the King further. So, I let out a sigh before nodding my head and saying, “Fine. I will go with you as long as you leave my brother alone and you at least tell me where you’re taking me.”
Kiyan let out an angered gasp and then shook his head violently, finally letting his polite façade fade away. “No! You’re not taking my sister anywhere!”
But King Nicholas completely ignored him. Instead, he fixed his gaze on me and said, “Very well then. I’ll be taking you back to your master’s home so that you may collect your belongings.”
“My belongings? Why the hell will I need my belongings?” I asked confused.
“Because you’re going to be staying with me.” He said in an almost matter-of-fact tone.
Staying with him? There was no way in hell. However just as I was about to open my mouth and argue with him, he pointed at the two women standing on either side of him. And so, I sighed and nodded. “Fine.”
I then turned towards my brother, who was just about to make another protest, and brought him into a tight hug before saying softly, “I need you to listen to me very carefully. I don’t trust anyone here. So, what you’re going to do the second I let you go, is walk straight out of this restaurant. Did you come with a car?”
“No but-”
I shook my head at him and then dug my hand in my pocket before retrieving a pair of keys from it. “Take the car I used. Drive home and when you get there, lock the door. Then call me and tell me that you’re safe.”
“But-”
“I don’t have time to argue with you Kiyan.” I then sighed deeply. I didn’t want to use the blame card, especially because Kiyan was just trying to do the right thing in the first place. But I had no other choice. “This is all your fault Kiyan. So, you’re going to suck it up and respect my decision. I’m going with King Nicholas, and you’re going to do what I asked. I appreciate you trying to look after me, but it’s just you and I left. I can’t lose you too.”
His eyes, once angry and determined, now softened. “I-I just don’t want you to get hurt… he might say you’re his mate, but you’re still human and he’s lycan.”
I was about to reassure him when King Nicholas spoke instead. “Kiyan, was it? I assure you; I mean no harm. Your sister is my mate and so if I hurt her, I’ll only end up hurting myself. I don’t care about the fact that I’m lycan and she’s human. My only intention is to keep her safe with me so that no harm comes to her.” He said it as though he were doing me some sort of great favour, as though he were the only person in the world capable of keeping me safe. It was funny, especially seeing as he was the one parading around with two ‘bodyguards’.
When I pulled away from Kiyan, I gazed into his eyes, inspecting them carefully. It seemed both King Nicholas and I had silenced him into agreeing. He wrapped his arms around me tightly, one last time, apologised softly and then let go. Then, he spared me one last sad glance before heading for the door, bypassing King Nicholas who was now engaged in a rather heated conversation with his fiancé. They whispered harshly and she flung her arms in the air in frustration, but eventually, she reluctantly sighed and nodded. Then, he turned to me, held out a hand and said, “Ariya, I believe we should get going.”
In that moment I knew that nothing would ever be the same again. The comfort of the life I’d grown to appreciate shattered with every step I took towards King Nicholas, every step towards a future which was now becoming unknown to me.
I was relatively familiar with the concept of mates, all thanks to the hopeless romantic that was Ophelia. Two people destined for one another, drawn to each other, connected in some sort of unique, otherworldly way. She spoke of mates as though she’d found hers, but I knew she spoke from loneliness and not from experience. Although I could agree that Ophelia was right about mates being drawn to each other, I couldn’t quite equate the glossy image she’d painted to the one now in front of me. In fact, all that I felt was drawn to him and nothing else. It did, however, make me wonder how on Earth he had known that I was his mate, the person destined to him. Eventually the silence and my curiosity got the better of me and so I began to ask, “King Nicholas−”“Please, just call me Nicholas.”I paused and then shrugged before saying, “Nicholas, how did you know I was your mate?”He pulled his attention away from the blurry pavements outside of the car window and set it on me. The moment his
It was raining when we arrived at the gates of Ophelia’s home. I made a move to open the car door so that I could open the gate. But as I shuffled in my seat, Nicholas placed an arm in front of me. I gazed at him questioningly and then he shook his head before saying, “Lovita will get the gate. It’s raining, you’ll catch a cold.” He was right, it was raining and although I was extremely stubborn and occasionally spiteful, I wouldn’t spite myself. So, I leaned back and stared out the window as Lovita opened the large purple gate. Where I usually struggled with the heavy gate, Lovita moved it almost with no effort at all. She then stood to the side while Floran drove right through. Once inside, I was ready to escape the car and get as far away from Nicholas as possible. But again, he held me back. Then, he stared out of the window, at the sky, and a look of concentration appeared on his face. I watched him closely and curiously. At first, his grey eyes remained stern and emotionless a
We sat in the sitting room on one of Ophelia’s purple velvet couches. I took one of the smaller ones in hopes of forcing King Nicholas to sit somewhere else. But much to my dismay, he squeezed himself in beside me. It was the first time I’d been so close to him. Even in the car, I’d tried my best to keep my distance. However now, with his body right up against mine, I felt flustered and overwhelmed. He smelled good, like expensive cologne and aftershave. But there was something else, a scent I could only describe as severely intoxicating. It was relatively subtle, but once my nose picked it up, there was a part of me that wanted to get closer to him to so I could let more of it invade my nostrils. It was ambrosial and slightly citrusy. However, as much as I enjoyed this pleasant scent, I desperately tried to avoid it and its effects on me. Eventually, I even turned my head to the side and started taking in shallower breaths.Ophelia took a seat across from us, on the other side of the
“I assume that the plastic stationary bag you’re keeping so close to you contains the writings of the novel you’re working on?” Nicholas asked after about an hour of silence in the car. I gazed at the bag and then nodded. “Let me guess…” he said before leaning in a little closer towards me, his lips so close to mine all I could do was stare at them as he spoke, “you write horror?” I gazed up at him and searched his eyes for a moment as I contemplated whether to answer or not. Behind his nonchalance, I could sense some sort of subtle playfulness. It was refreshing and for a moment I lost myself in it. “Why would you assume that? Does something about me scream ‘horror novelist’?” I asked before folding my arms. He stayed silent for a moment and just stared at me, the beautiful grey of his eyes drawing me into their intensity. “No… not at all. If I look at you, truly look at you, you seem like the type of person to write about something you’re passionate about,” he then leaned back
“Jasper, you don’t need to worry about unpacking all of her belongings. Just take out enough clothes for a night’s stay and then leave the rest,” Nicholas said as we walked up the curved marble staircase towards the second floor of his home. His lips never did end up touching mine, all thanks to my saviour Jasper who’d come to ask a question. Unfortunately for the both of us, it left us with a bad case of a common ailment called awkwardness and the symptoms included feverish embarrassment and the feeling of wanting the ground to open up and swallow you whole. Though I’d rather face awkwardness than the unimaginable− and quite frankly spine-chilling− aftermath of having actually kissed him. But as I realised what Nicholas had just said, I shot him a confused gaze and then asked, “One night? Why will I only be here for one night?” It was becoming apparent to me that Nicholas wasn’t very good with keeping me informed and I was starting to lose my patience again. In fact, I was just abo
By the time I’d woken up, the sun had disappeared from the sky. After gazing out into the darkness with swollen and heavy eyes from all the crying, I felt the need to go back to sleep. That was, until my stomach began to remind me that I hadn’t eaten in a while. The idea of dinner sounded quite pleasant to me, but I was certain that it was way past dinnertime. I hoped, however, that there’d still be some food left over in the fridge. But before I could even begin to follow my stomach’s instincts, I remembered that Kiyan was supposed to have given me a call as soon as he was safe. I checked my phone, well aware that I hadn’t switched the sound on and wouldn’t have heard him call if he had while I was asleep. He had. 1 missed call from Kiyan and a rather passive aggressive text to accompany it. I shook my head and breathed out a sigh of relief before trying to call him back. But he never picked up. Instead, I was directed to voicemail. And so I decided to return his passive aggressive t
We walked in comfortable silence through the first hallway with him occasionally glancing back at me to make sure I was still keeping pace with him. The kitchen was located right at the end of the hallway and was just as beautiful as the rest of the house with dark, granite tabletops, glass cabinets, a fancy stove and a wide variety of appliances ranging from an expensive digital microwave to a glass kettle and a state-of-the-art coffee machine.Standing in the corner of the room, busying himself with a sandwich, was Jasper who immediately straightened when he saw me.“Miss Raine,” he said politely before bowing his head slightly. Clearly Nicholas had finally revealed my identity to him as well, though he seemed to have a completely different way of treating that information than Dante did.I wanted to tell Jasper that there was no need to be so formal and polite with me. But before I could, he turned sharply towards Dante and frowned before saying, “How dare you bring her in here. Yo
I couldn’t sleep and spent most of the night crying. Then, just as the morning hours began to show against the horizon and I eventually found sleep, I was rudely awakened by the violent shaking of my body and whispered yells of “Ariya! Ariya wake up!”When I did finally manage to pry my swollen eyelids open, I was met with a concerned set of beautiful dark brown eyes and a deep-set frown. Melissa, I assumed. Her dark, curly hair was in a mess all over her head and there were dark circles underneath her eyes. She also smelled faintly of booze and tried to cover it up with a lot of sweet-scented perfume. Was she hungover?“Oh, thank goodness. You sleep like the dead Ariya!” After she’d said this, she placed a hand against her red stained lips and her eyes widened with fright.Slowly she removed her hand from her mouth before asking softly, “Dante wasn’t lying right… you do prefer us to use your name? That fucking asshole is always trying to play tricks on us. He’s really on the way to b
“Dante… what have you done!” I yelled out as the flames began to engulf the outskirts of the house.He frowned and shook his head, “You don’t look nearly as impressed as I expected you to be. Did you want it grander?”“Grander… you’re a sick bastard!” I said before spitting on the floor next to him. Then, I attempted to near the house to head inside, grab Nicholas and drag him out. But just as I reached the door, Dante grabbed my arm and yanked me back. Immediately I retracted my free arm, ready to punch him in the face. But someone else beat me to it, smacking him in the side of the head and causing him to fall onto the ground.“K-Kiyan?” I gasped out.“No time for questions! Let’s get your fiancé out of there before the rest of them come!”The rest?But he dismissed my words and ran into the house immediately. I followed suit, rushing towards the bedroom.“Can you stand?” he asked Nicholas who seemed half asleep still.“Sort of… what the hell is going on… and what’s that smell?” he
I fell asleep in the warmth and comfort of Nicholas’ arms, but my sleep was a restless one. Something had begun to worry me. It rang over and over in my head, nudging me with extreme caution. It was the words that Daniel had said earlier on today, “You wouldn’t by any chance need a bandage, would you? I always keep some on me, in case anyone has bruised knuckles…” And along with these words came a memory of the first night a spent here. It was a memory of Dante who had bandaged up my bruised knuckles. And although some part of me wanted to pass it off as some kind of strange coincidence, my instincts were telling me differently. Although they were twins, Daniel was too much like Dante. And so, a glaringly obvious deduction began to swirl around in my mind. And as outrageous as it sounded, it was the only one clear thought I’d had these past few weeks.Suddenly I was awoken by the loud sound of tapping on the windowsill, coming from outside and the harsh whispers of “Ariya! Ariya!”I ga
I gasped, completely dumbstruck by what he’d said. I thought that I would be the only weakness that King Nicholas would have. I thought that they were all completely invincible. But I was wrong.“I thought that, perhaps she had made a mistake,” Nicholas continued to speak, “that she’d take it back and apologise. But when I turned around, all I saw in her eyes was pure hatred. It had poisoned her completely and she drew another blade and tried to stab me with it. I tried to reason with her, but she wouldn’t listen. She was too corrupted… that was when Lorenzo entered the front door, a gun in each hand. I realised then, that the whole thing was orchestrated by him. He tried to shoot me with one of his silver bullets, but I was too quick and evaded his aim. But he was careless with his shots and at one point he almost shot Portia. That fucking careless bastard. Each time he pulled the trigger and each time Portia tried to lunge for me, my hatred for Lorenzo only grew. Until I couldn’t ta
Daniel had left soon after he’d confided in me regarding his mother. But the cruel experiences of Portia Knight stayed with me. Part of me could not believe what Daniel had said, and the other part felt bad for denying what had happened to his mother. I’d never known Nicholas to be cruel or vindictive. Then again, he’d lived for centuries, and I’d arrived here a few months ago. What I knew about him was only a drop in the ocean of who he was. And as I walked to his room, I’d resigned myself to approach this in a very logical and very open-minded way.“How dare you, you cruel bastard!”Or not.“Excuse me?” Nicholas muttered, his eyes were wide in shock, and I could see confusion slowly creeping into his grey irises.There was a moment of hesitation on my side. I was fuelled up on anger and I knew that everything I would say now would stem from that anger.“What have I done Ariya? Why do you look so disgusted?”But I couldn’t keep in the information I’d now learned.“Portia Knight… you
It had been more than a day after Nicholas had fallen ill, and although he was slowly starting to get better, his body was still extremely exhausted, and he found it difficult to use his abilities. He’d spent most of his time asleep, filling the hallway with the sound of his snores. I found it so strange for him to be this weak and powerless as opposed to the formidable man that he usually was. Nonetheless, I tried as best as I could to look after him, putting my relatively mediocre cooking skills to the test. In fact, I’d been in the kitchen, making a toasted cheese sandwich for him when I heard the sound of knocking at the front door.“I’ll get it!” I yelled. And as I tried to shift the pan on the plate of the stove, it slipped from my fingers, and I burnt my thumb. I hissed in pain and quickly tried to run it under some cool water before I rushed to meet whoever was at the door.One of the guards, Arthur, stood there with Daniel next to him. After the incident with Melissa, where t
And so, Kiyan explained the origin of his hatred. Kiyan had always hated being cooped in and so he always managed to find a way to get out during the day. Ophelia so happened to need eggs from the store that day, and so Kiyan was eager to venture out and buy some for her. Kiyan took his time wandering the aisles, until he stumbled across the eggs on the shelf. He reached up and retrieved a carton, and as he did, one of the staff members came crashing into him, knocking the eggs out of his hands and spilling their contents on the floor. That’s when the lycan owner appeared, completely set on beating both Kiyan and the employee who’d bumped into him. But, as Kiyan explained, he was left untouched once the owner recognised him as ‘Ophelia’s boy’. Kiyan recalled the shame he felt as he watched the human employee being hit by his lycan master. And that was how his hatred developed. He didn’t want to be some human favoured because a lycan had taken him in and he couldn’t take another day in
“You know what,” Daniel said, “now that I think about it, there was a man that used to come to visit Melissa. I saw him once or twice.” “What did he look like?” I asked curiously. Daniel fell silent for a moment as he sat and thought hard. Then his eyes brightened, and he nodded to himself before saying, “I didn’t get a good look at his face. He wore a shroud of dark cloth that covered most of it. The only feature of his that I could see was a pair of dark brown eyes… Oh! And on the clothing he wore was a purple flower.” My hands shook and my skin became covered in goosebumps. My mind was brought back to an interaction I’d had a while ago with a man who matched that exact description. It was Hawk, the leader of Wolfsbane. I wondered now if Wolfsbane really was responsible for this, but for a completely different reason. Perhaps Melissa had been a part of Wolfsbane after all. Perhaps something had transpired between her and Hawk, and he needed to get rid of her. Theo watched my cont
When my eyes opened, I was met with a pair of dark brown ones. A sense of confusion crept up on me and I whispered out a soft, "Dante..." His eyes furrowed and his lips parted as he took in a sharp breath and gazed down at me. Then, his brown eyes filled with a conflicted look, as though he were contemplating something very deeply. That was when realisation dawned on me, and I shook my head in embarrassment. "I'm sorry, Daniel. You just... still remind me of your brother," I said softly. Daniel smiled and gave a soft and awkward chuckle, "It's alright, I'm glad I remind you of him. You always seem to speak of him so fondly." His smile was genuine and bright and the previous feeling I'd had of discomfort when he'd brought me to my room almost completely vanished. But I couldn't help but wonder why he was currently in my room. And so I questioned him. Daniel's face turned a little more serious and he let out a deep sigh. "Melissa... was poisoned. She's unable to wake up.”Immediat
Silence ensued and the both of us just stared at each other cautiously. I didn’t know what to say or what to think. I was in a state of disbelief, unable to comprehend that he could have killed his friend whom he loved. Perhaps, I thought to myself, it had been an accident, just like with me. But that didn’t make it any less eery. At least with me, Nicholas hadn’t actually killed me. My body had been in a state of in-between, drawn to death, but able to come back to life. And so, I wondered if Theo could still bring someone back if they’d completely crossed over. If they’d already been kissed by death and embraced it openly. Was that what had happened to Portia Knight, or was it something else, something more sinister… “Say something, please…” Nicholas said softly, breaking the silence between us. There was a sense of desperation in his voice and his eyes were ashamed and seemed to be eagerly searching my face. But I couldn’t find my words. “I… I−” Suddenly, there was a loud, despe