Chapter 4

Once I regain my balance, I look up to the same mystifying emerald eyes I saw in the woods. Just like that, many minds forget that I need to forget the castle, that I need to run from this man.

One of his arms wraps around my waist, securing my body against him.

"Where are you going, werewolf girl?" His hot breath fans my face, giving me shuddering chills deep down my spine. I find myself being frozen. The wolf inside me whimpers. And my mind is melting.

This is not a good sign.

But I cannot move.. not when I am in

his embrace. He chuckles deeply, making his chest rumble slightly. He looks at me

warmly. With a smile on his face.

This is the cold and brutal lycan king? He doesn't look as scary, and I feel more comfortable with him than with Brandon.

"Were you trying to run away?" He asks, "Werewolf girl, you should know that there is no place on earth where you can hide from me now. Your scent is ingrained in my mind. I'll find you anywhere."

All I could think of is how his lips are melting my mind instantly. My legs gave up and if it wasn't for his strong body, I would have crumbled to the floor. Perhaps even become a wet puddle of water because of the way he burns me.

He lets go of my hand and grabs the hair on my head, pinning my face closer to his. His breaths mingle with mine. Our scents entangled with each other, creating an addicting smell that sends shivers down to my core. My wolf howls in excitement at his touch. Then I realized something.

Feeling horrible, I try my best to push him away. My wolf whimpers because the kiss ends abruptly. But my conscience would just not let me continue this act.

At first, he kept me in his embrace, still wanting to claim my lips. With my growing restraint, however, he finally lets me go, though not completely. Looking down at me, his brows are furrowed in confusion.

Thank the Goddess he doesn't try to force me. 

"Did I do something wrong?"

I blink. Never in a million years would I expect a lycan king to ask me that.

"Y-yeah," I found my voice, "How old are you?!" He looks at me with a blank face,

before a second later, bursting into a fit of laughter. He laughs so much that he needs to hold his stomach. The sound of his laughter echoes in the room.

I am surprised that the Lycan king I have heard to be cold and brutal can laugh so freely like this. He doesn't look like a ruthless ruler. He just looks like a boy. Well, a very manly boy.

"I'm around your age."

Crossing my arms as I realize he was

teasing me with his age, I cocked my eyebrows.

"Really? How old are you, then?"

He assumes the same position as me, crossing his arms and cocking his eyebrow up. "How old do you think I am?"

I stare at him, unamused. Is this a trick? Is this a test? Why do I feel like he is poking fun at me? Before I can try to guess, however, someone approaches us from the direction where I was running from.

"Your Majesty!" a man cries out while running, "The girl! She escaped--" The man stops when he sees me. At the same time, Xander clears his throat and composes himself. His face becomes cold in just a blink of an eye, an impenetrable wall. There is no trace of that laughter on his face. What a transformation!

"Oh, there she is! You caught her!" the

man claps like a child. This man looks older, with greying hair and hunched back. There are spots on spots onpsspotson spots was I being delusional or did I hear you laughing, Your Majesty?" The man looks up at the lycan king with so much hope, which is weird.

"There's no way I'm letting her go, Eric," Xander says in a deep tone. The promise he has in his words makes my spine shiver yet again. Perhaps it's the mate bond, or perhaps it's just him. But if this goes on. I think I would be paralyzed.

Unlike how he spoke to me, this king speaks to his subject with an icy tone.

"You were being delusional because you know for sure that I don't laugh." I scoff at his words, making the two men look at me. 

"Everyone laughs," I say. But the two of them look at me like I am the wrong one.

"I don't," Xander says again.

I look at Eric, thinking he would back me up on this topic. No one can live without laughing. Humor is an iininstinctiveting almost immediately. 

"It's all the same. Moreover, it's been decades your Majesty and I would love to hear you laugh."

Wait.. what? My brain churns like an old computer trying to decipher a new program. What does he mean by 'decades'? Has the Lycan king gone years without laughing at all? How is that possible?

"Are you guys pranking me?" I blurt out the question just like that.

Eric looks at me with pity. But for Xander, I see his lips tugging upward for a sliver of a second before he assumes that cold face of his.

"King Xander has been cursed, Lady," Eric says, "A terrible terrible curse." 

I look at Xander. His green eyes twinkle

with amusement. 'Play along,' he mind-links to me.

"Are we pranking Eric, then?"

Xander laughs but immediately disguises it as a cough. Eric didn't catch his laughter as I did. What game are we playing, for Goodness' sake?

"Is the council ready?" Xander asks him

in a serious voice.

"Yes, Your Majesty," Eric then looks at me, "Will you bring the lady to the meeting too?"

"Yes."

"How about her... assessment?" Eric asks, "The healer is still here." 

My palms sweat as soon as I hear the word. My heart beats like a drum. I keep telling myself to appear calm but it is hard to press down with this much panic. I look at the door again. It is only a few feet away from me. But the lycan king is in front of me and I know I won't be able to outrun him.

"Don't worry. I think she looks fine," the king says to my relief, "The healer can go home. But if anything happens, tell him to be on standby. Although I'm sure my mate can take care of herself. She is a healer

too."

Eric's eyes go wide at the king's words.

"Are you taking her as your official mate?" Eric asks, "What about-"

Xander suddenly snarls aggressively at him, which shocks both of us. His stance is still relaxed, but his green eyes stare predatorily at Eric. It is not an angry response, which is commonly why someone would snarl. Instead, it looks more like a cold yet chilling threat. All the while, his face remains stoic.

As the subject, Eric immediately looks down and bows his head slightly. A submissive position. 

Inside me, however, my wolf howls with excitement. My wolf is praising our mate's authority.

"I told you not to talk about that," Xander

hisses. He then grabs my arm again and starts dragging me in the direction I was running from. "We're going to the council meeting. You don't have to Come, Eric."

"But Your Majes-"

"Eric!." Just one word, spoken in an icy tone, has set the old man to tremble. Unconsciously, I tug my arm away from the lycan king's grip, but he wouldn't let go of me.