All Chapters of Bride of the Lycan King: Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

We assemble in the enormous space on the ground floor, the entire area is covered in gold and white marble and decorated with portraits and tapestries. There's an exquisite chandelier hanging off the roof in the center of the room, although it is spacious, I feel cramped. This was my first time in a crowd, my first time standing amongst strangers, and the feeling is less than pleasant.Paige is standing at my side, listening attentively to whatever the woman at the front of the room is saying. Her eyes were wide in excitement and she kept pulling at my fingers whenever the woman mentioned the King. I, on the other hand, felt dizzy and nauseous. Different scents from the many people in the room overwhelmed me and made me feel queasy. My body was hot and uncomfortable under all the heavy layers of clothing I had on. I tried to concentrate on the discussion and ignore the heat burning through my clothes, but it seemed an impossible task.I try to breathe through my mouth to dispel some

"Thank you!" We said simultaneously to the guard at the gates, then collected our pass cards from his hand as we made our way out of the castle walls. I turn over the small plastic card in my hand, frowning at the photo of my sister staring back at me,"I can't believe they used our passports. I look terrible in this." Paige pouted, showing me her pass card. I couldn't help it, I snorted at the picture on her card, my lips twitching into a smile."Oh shut up," she snapped, shoving me lightly. "I'd just woken up moments ago before I was forced to take a picture, what would you have expected?" She rolled her eyes and craned her neck to see mine. "Let's see yours."My heart stuttered slightly and I quickly shoved the item into the back of my jean pocket. She wasn't stupid, anyone with good enough eyes would know that the person in the photo was not me. Although I had changed my hairstyle and dressed more like her, there were still obvious differences. "Nope, mine looks worse." I chuc

Paige's strained grunts meet my ears and I cast her a pitiful look, the bags in my arms were weighing me down like rocks,"How much longer to the castle?" Paige asks between panting breaths, sweat dotting her brows. Her blonde hair was plastered to her face and her dark blue tank top was glued to her frame. She looked as if she had just finished running a marathon and I couldn't blame her. I didn't look any better. I take a glance at the clock on my device, doing an estimate in my head, "Three more minutes?"She groaned, letting her head fall forward. "I'm so sorry. This is all my fault, if only I'd been more careful..." I trailed off with a sigh. "Don't blame yourself, Dee. Blame the kid who stole your purse." I frowned, pouting as the events of the last few minutes replayed in my mind. The intensity of the stranger's eyes boring into mine made me freeze up. I wanted to apologize, to say something to make up for the mistake I had made. But I just remained on top of him, gaping

My fingers flexed against the leather of my gloves as I adjusted the strap on the back of my hand. The leather was soft and cool beneath my hands, reminding me of home. It had been a long time since anyone had allowed me to wear this sort of thing. The only other time I'd ever worn it was a few years back during my first and last combat in my pack, I'd emerged in second place following Judy. "These gloves are so cool, don't you think ?" Paige turned to me, an excited glimmer in her eyes. "Who knew leather could be this comfortable?" "It's imperial leather," I told her, pointing at the intricate silver engravings. "My father told me the capital produces the leather themselves, it's as hard as steel but feels like silk."A loud snort from behind us drew our attention, turning our heads toward the source of the noise. Cora had an eyebrow raised and her arms were crossed as she stared us down. "Everyone's at the arena already and you two are here discussing leather?"Paige made a chok

The arena looked completely different compared to an hour ago, for one, the once-empty bleachers were now occupied by a wild throng of spectators. The throne wasn't empty anymore, the Queen dowager sat regally on one of the golden chairs, the other was left vacant. My eyes flickered to the field where we would be competing, the dias was now decorated with golden and silver ribbons, and Lady Calloway stood at the center, microphone in hand. "Goddess, we're doing this in front of a crowd?" Paige's soft voice reached my ears and I turned to her. She still looked nervous, and I tried for an encouraging smile but my lips were trembling too much to be anything resembling convincing. I took a deep breath as we walked further into the enormous field, I'd lost sight of Cora and the rest of the girls during our run here. My eyes scanned the raving crowd, they looked pumped up for this, some even carrying banners. One group had been singing some songs I didn't recognize when we arrived. Oth