Hope I had hoped things wouldn't turn out this way, but they still did. After Darius left, I sunk into deep thoughts. Darius wanted me to keep this child, but the heavens knew that I couldn't.I wouldn't be able to even if I could.I looked down at my stomach. My hand led itself to touch it. It wasn't the child's fault. I just didn't want to become a Lycan. I didn't want to lose my humanity.The Blood Moon would occur in less than a week. This was the absolute worst time to even be thinking about bringing a child into the world.I had no clue why Darius would want a child at this time. Suddenly, I remembered something. He had once told me that he wanted to get me pregnant so that I wouldn't leave him.How foolish of him.If I truly wanted to leave him now, being pregnant would be the least thing that I would be bothered about in our relationship.*****Later in the day, I got out of bed and decided to actually do queenly activities. But as soon as I stepped out of my chambers, Kyle w
Hope Back in my room, I folded myself into a ball on my bed. It seemed like everyone else was happy about my pregnancy except for me. Why did that make me feel bad? That they were all placing their hope on me and that I was going to destroy it?Maybe that was why.I didn't know how long I was curled up for before I heard the subtle sounds of knocking on my door."Your Majesty, it's me. I've brought you food." I heard a voice similar to Kyle's own coming from the outside of the room.I sighed and forced myself to say, "Come in." Not even a second later, the door to my room opened up and Kyle walked in with a food tray. Thankfully, it was only Kyle, and not another person whom I did not want to see or talk to.Kyle walked over to my bed to set the food tray next to me, but I directed him to put the food away and shut the door. There was a complex look on Kyle's face after receiving those orders, however he still obeyed them."Come closer." I said to Kyle, who was still standing by the
PrologueAt the dawn of the year, fourteen hundred, the Lycans came out of hiding and brought war onto Humans. The Lycans were powerful and skilled in combat, unlike the humans. They conquered the Humans and ruled over them. The Lycan King of that century was cruel and turned every Human into a slave or a sex worker.After two hundred years, from the human slaves came a man with the name Vitalis. He despised the werewolves and their rule, along with some other Humans. They secretly learned combat skills from the Lycan army. Once they became strong, they led a war against the Lycans.They were strong but not as strong as the Lycans. They fought well and slew one-fourth of the Lycans, while their numbers remained less than half. The Lycan King decided to end the war by bringing forth a proposition.He offered a treaty for peace to reign, he wanted to ally with Humans. In exchange for peace to reign, he would marry the first daughter of Vitalis, whom he thought was beautiful. Vitalis was
Chapter 2HopeDarius looked like he was in the mood for killing. Killing me. I gulped down on my saliva as I stared at him, not knowing what else to do.My parents had rushed to my aid, trying to create a barrier between the King of the Lycans and myself."Your Majesty, never mind Hope. Light must be playing somewhere around the castle. You know that, don't you? That she plays a lot." My Father said with a rushed tone, then added a nervous laugh. He sounded nothing like how a person who bore the name 'Vitalis' should sound. Then again, for the past few hundred years, the Vitalis' had not upheld the glory of the name. My Mother also let out a nervous laugh, supporting my Father.Darius regarded them as specks of dust. He walked right past them and stood a few paces in front of me. His red lips were pressed into a thin firm line as he looked down at my short figure. Compared to his six-foot-seven height, I looked like a child. Hells, every Human who stood next to him looked like a chi
Chapter 3HopeMy entire being froze up. I could not believe what my ears were hearing and my eyes were seeing. My fingers started to fiddle on their own as my breathing turned uneven. "I don't approve of your suggestion. This daughter of yours has nothing to offer," Darius glanced back at me, his eyes raked across my body from my head, down to my toes, then back up to settle on my breasts. He didn't look interested in them the slightest bit, only curious.He turned back to my Father. "I want Light and no one else. That was the deal. Find her and get her to return the Morati knife to me." Darius said with a firm tone.My Father trembled on the spot as he racked his brain for another suggestion. My Mother was ahead of him, she threw herself in front of the Lycan King with desperacy written all over her features."Your Majesty, Hope is a fine young lady. She will bring you no trouble. She is beautiful, well-mannered, and most important of all, quiet. She is very quiet." My Mother spoke
Chapter 4HopeI was married to the Lycan King. Everyone started to stand up from their seats to leave the wedding scene. I looked around me, searching for my parents but I found them nowhere among the dispersing crowd. My throat felt dry.Were they going to leave me all alone?I looked at the Lycan King—my husband—and he bore no expression on his beautiful face. He gripped my wrist once again as he started to yank me away from the scene. I tried to free myself, tugging my hand away from his grip.Once he noticed it, he stopped yanking me. "What?" he spat in annoyance and I gulped down on my saliva."My parents. I have to go bid them farewell and…" I trailed off as I saw the angry look on his face."They do not wish to see you. If they did, then they would have been the ones to seek you out instead of you going to them." He said, and I hated the logic behind his words.He started to move again, and I stopped him once more with a whimper. "My things. They haven't been packed yet. I c
Chapter 5HopeMy lips parted as I tried to assimilate Darius' words. Consummate this marriage? My throat felt dry and a scary shiver ran down my spine.I watched as Darius took a step into the room and locked the door behind him. My heart dropped at the act. He ambulated towards me like a predator going for the kill. Once he got to me, he gripped my wrist, raising it to his chest, and I gasped at the sudden act."Strip." He commanded, my heartbeat race sped up."Your Majesty, I can't—""I will not repeat myself one more time. Strip." He boomed with a loud voice, and I flinched. My heart was racing. I couldn't do what he asked of me. My chastity was all I had. If I yielded, he would taint and destroy me. Moreover, I was not supposed to be his wife, Light was. "King Darius, please. My innocence is all I have. I have never been with a man before." I explained, looking into his dead eyes, hoping to find some shred of sympathy in them but I couldn't find any.His eyes gave nothing of em
Chapter 6HopeI was terrified. I felt myself shrink that instant as Darius glared at me. I wanted to ask what made him so upset but he spoke up before I could do that."It's like you don't know where you are. You are in Moratia. The Lycan King's castle. You will learn to behave yourself while you reside here." He said with a no-nonsense tone and I wetted my lips unconsciously.He was still agitated about the meal incident. I had no idea that telling them the truth would be such a huge thing. I wasn't supposed to eat eggs and meat, what was so disrespectful about that?"My Mother—" I started to speak, but the look he threw my way caused the rest of my words to die down inside my throat."I do not want to hear any of that; anything about those spineless parents of yours," my lips parted but words refused to come out to defend my parents. "Since finding your sister has proven to be a challenge, I don't want to keep wrapping myself up in all of your useless family drama." Darius contin
Hope Back in my room, I folded myself into a ball on my bed. It seemed like everyone else was happy about my pregnancy except for me. Why did that make me feel bad? That they were all placing their hope on me and that I was going to destroy it?Maybe that was why.I didn't know how long I was curled up for before I heard the subtle sounds of knocking on my door."Your Majesty, it's me. I've brought you food." I heard a voice similar to Kyle's own coming from the outside of the room.I sighed and forced myself to say, "Come in." Not even a second later, the door to my room opened up and Kyle walked in with a food tray. Thankfully, it was only Kyle, and not another person whom I did not want to see or talk to.Kyle walked over to my bed to set the food tray next to me, but I directed him to put the food away and shut the door. There was a complex look on Kyle's face after receiving those orders, however he still obeyed them."Come closer." I said to Kyle, who was still standing by the
Hope I had hoped things wouldn't turn out this way, but they still did. After Darius left, I sunk into deep thoughts. Darius wanted me to keep this child, but the heavens knew that I couldn't.I wouldn't be able to even if I could.I looked down at my stomach. My hand led itself to touch it. It wasn't the child's fault. I just didn't want to become a Lycan. I didn't want to lose my humanity.The Blood Moon would occur in less than a week. This was the absolute worst time to even be thinking about bringing a child into the world.I had no clue why Darius would want a child at this time. Suddenly, I remembered something. He had once told me that he wanted to get me pregnant so that I wouldn't leave him.How foolish of him.If I truly wanted to leave him now, being pregnant would be the least thing that I would be bothered about in our relationship.*****Later in the day, I got out of bed and decided to actually do queenly activities. But as soon as I stepped out of my chambers, Kyle w
Hope"This is the greatest news ever!" Darius exclaimed joyfully, standing up to his feet to rejoice."Congratulations, your majesties," the physician said to me and Darius with a proud smile. "The queen is about two to three months pregnant. We should quickly begin the transformation process in order to ensure a safe delivery and a stable health for her Majesty." "Transformation process...?" I said slowly, then looked at Darius.There was a bright smile on his face as he said, "Yes. The transformation process. You know you can't give birth to a royal Lycan child with a human bodily constitution. There is a ninety percent chance of dying. It is better to transform into a Lycan to give birth."It is not a very difficult process. Painful, yes. But I will be there for you and help you-" "Are you listening yourself, Darius Moratis?" I cut him off with a sharp tone. The tension in the room surged."Ah... Your majesties, I will take my leave now." The physician said with a hint of discomf
Hope It was annoying how I was always waking up to Darius sitting by my bed. However, today, he was not the only person by my bed. There was a physician standing over the bed. I easily recognized him as he had attended to me once before.I sat up on my bed defensively and said, "What is it? What's going on?" "Calm down. Everything is going to be alright." Darius said in a soothing voice, then reached to touch my face.I slapped his hand away from my face. "Don't. Why's he here? What's happening?" Seeing that I wasn't going to relent until I got answers, Darius exhaled through his mouth and decided to explain things to me."He is here to perform a full body check up on-""I don't need one," I quickly said, cutting Darius off.A full body check up? That was equivalent to executing me with a stake! I glanced at the physician and glared at him. If he touched me and sensed my pulse, he would immediately be able to tell that I was pregnant.And since he appeared to be deathly loyal to Da
HopeThe next day, Darius was in my room when I woke up. I was momentarily startled, causing me to sit up on my bed and say, "What are you doing here?" Darius smiled gently before saying, "I came to check up on you. It's almost noon and you're still in bed." I frowned, then turned to look at my window. The afternoon sun was much too bright and I got the urge to close my eyes once again and continue sleeping. "Well, I'm fine as you can see. I was just resting. You've checked up on me. You can leave now. You've done enough." I didn't hide the irritation and annoyance in my tone, causing Darius to flinch at the sudden hostility he was receiving from me.I wanted to take back my words but it was already too late and I was still much uncomfortable in Darius' presence. He made me pregnant for hell's sake! I didn't want to even look at his face right now."Oh, okay then. I'll leave you to rest." Darius' tone sounded awfully pitiful in that moment as he stood up from the bed and dismissed
Chapter 78Hope Kyle was quick. It didn't take up to two days and he had already set up a meeting with the witch for me. According to him, she wanted to keep her name and location a secret.So, instead of leaving the castle to meet her, she would be the one to come over. I had no problems with this, as all I wanted to do was get this phase of my life over and done with.She arrived at midnight. Earlier today, I had told Darius not to come to my room since I wanted to rest well and him being around would only disturb and irritate me.Though he had been against it because of his recent overprotective behavior, I still managed to wear him down at the end of the day.By the time the witch arrived, I was seated by the window in my room. She and Kyle entered so quietly that I didn't even notice them until they had gotten close to the window.The moon was incredible bright this night and my room was brightened with lamps and lit candles. The witch was dressed as a castle worker to avoid sus
Chapter 77 Hope When I regained consciousness, I saw that Darius was sitting on the side of my bed with a worried look on his face. I let out a soft sigh, and he jerked into action, noticing that I was finally awake. "How are you? How do you feel? Hope, are you alright?" he questioned. I rolled my eyes and stretched to take a sitting position on the bed. "I'm fine, just a little tired and thirsty." Darius quickly took the cue to stand up from the bed and pour in a glass of water from a jug and gave it to me. I emptied the glass and handed it back to him. "Hope, I was so worried. It's all my fault. I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have kept you up working all night. I should've—" "It's not your fault, quit acting so pitiful," I chided him. "It was just a sunstroke. And I'm not the first person in the world to get dizzy under the sun. Stop worrying unnecessarily." "You say that so easily, but I wouldn't be able to bear it if something bad happened to you. You've been so moody these da
Chapter 76HopeA cold chill slapped my face after Darius said that word. It was foolish of me to have expected that something like war would be taken care of with no hitches along the way.And because of this reason, I softened up a little and used a small voice to say, "I want to see. Show me what you're doing." Darius stared at me for a little while before shaking his head negatively. "It's nothing. You don't need to bother yourself with things like this. Please, go and rest. I'll take care of everything."Darius must have thought that saying such things would put my mind at ease but all that it did was anger me as I raised the volume of my voice and said:"You'll take care of everything and I should go rest? Have you forgotten that I'm the queen of this kingdom? I should rest while you deal with the brunt of things and I remain a silly little oblivious queen. Is that what you want me to be? You want me to be stupid and ignorant for you?"Darius immediately stood up from his chair
Chapter 75HopeI turned around to look at who just spoke. To my surprise, it was Thomas—the grumpy son of the commander. There was a clear frown on his face as he came forward. But before he could step in front of me, Kyle stood between us."Her majesty was not speaking to you, back away." Kyle said with a firm tone.Thomas glared at him and said, "So what if she wasn't talking to me? Is it a bad thing for me to offer myself to my queen?"His last two words were coated with deep sarcasm that I couldn't even ignore. I patted Kyle on his shoulder, gesturing for him to step aside. He did so, but begrudgingly.I faced Thomas and asked, "You want to fight me?" He didn't even bother to hide the defiance in his tone as he said, "Yes, and so what?" I smiled, surprising the kid who was one or two years younger than me. "Okay then, let's spar." Kyle stepped forward, probably about to stop me but I held my hand up and gave him a look, causing him to step back. I spoke to him with my eyes, an