Page 10 of Lycan King’s Claim (Lycan King’s Reign Duet #2)

"No, she can go back to her room; I don't trust her," he snarls, and my stomach twists. I swallow, staring ahead at the wall. The next second, I hear the click of Adina's heels. I turn to see her walking toward me. She seizes my arm, dragging me toward the door, and Xandros steps in her path.

"Move. I need help in town. I’ll handcuff her to me if you'd like," she snaps at her son.

My heart pounds as I stare at Xandros’s furious face.

He tilts his hand, and I flinch, bracing for the blow.

It never comes.

"You try anything or leave her fucking side. You'll live in the dungeons when I catch you," he snarls, barging past me. Adina sighs and lets my arm go.

"Brooding Lycan and their ass-holiness. You wouldn't think I birthed him with those manners. A damn caveman has better manners—he gets it from his father," she clicks her tongue.

I snicker.

No—he definitely gets it from her.

I don't tell her that. Instead, I follow her out to the waiting limo.

Sitting across from Queen Adina; tension lines her face, etching the marks of her worries evident for the world to see. I focus my attention out the window, and she rummages in her purse before holding out a compact to me. I take it, opening it to find its foundation.

I look at her, and she points to her collarbone.

"I thought my son healed you?" she murmurs and using the tiny mirror, I see the blackening skin, my brows furrow in confusion. Why is it spreading?

I hastily dab the sponge in the powder, dabbing at the marks, trying to cover them.

"He did. The wounds closed, though it still bruised."

"He mustn't have given you enough blood; I will remind him to check you once home," she tells me, and I shake my head.

"That isn't necessary," I tell her, handing her back her compact. She takes it, dropping it back inside her purse. I return my attention back to the window.

"King Vin is pressing for the wedding to go ahead next week," she says casually, and I nod.

"I'm supposed to be going in to pick up the table name tags and the silk napkins," she adds.

I nod again, trying to pretend anyone other than my mate is getting married.

"The wedding is to go ahead next Saturday, though everyone must be getting sick of the dates changing, I know the caterers are," she adds.

"Though the wedding could be pushed back further," she tells me, I side glance at her wondering why she is telling me this. "Xandros and Carina have been together for two years, he tolerates her, he doesn't love her. Though I think he did try to, she is a bit of a handful, even for my son."

"Although the wedding may not go ahead at all if she is challenged. Such old, outdated traditions. It is law," she tells me. "Something to think about, even if it's just to push it back an extra week. Maybe then my son might come to his senses."

I stare at her. She shrugs, turning her gaze out the window.

Now I'm questioning her intentions by telling me this. Is she wanting Carina to kill me?

The words strike confusion within me, leaving me in a state of bewildered curiosity. Once we've collected the napkins and table name tags, we head back, and I return to the confines of my room.

When Javier enters the room later to check on me, I can't help asking.

"Queen Adina said something odd today," I start, then sigh.

"Right, you can't talk." I wave him off, knowing it's pointless to ask.

"What did she say?" he asks, and I freeze, wondering if my mind is playing tricks on me.

Glancing at him, I see him smiling. "You spoke right? I didn't imagine it?" I ask.

"Yes, what did Adina say?" he asks, and my eyes widen before I crash against him, wrapping my arms around him. He chuckles, kissing the top of my head. "I missed talking to you, too," he tells me and I step away. "He lifted the command," I gasp, surprised.

"He did, just don't piss him off. I am a guard not a mime," he tells me, and I snort.

"So, Adina?" he asks.

"She told me the wedding would be pushed back if I challenged for Xandros's hand," I tell him nervously.

"Xandros wouldn't allow it; he's angry, he's not going to allow you to fight for his hand, it would be suicide." I sigh and he continues. "But you're right it is strange she said that," he says thoughtfully.

"And If I did, what would happen?"

"Hypothetically, if you did, you'd have to officially file with the Council online."

Javier's voice breaks through the silence, laden with both caution and explanation.

"The Council would gather, an arena would need to be made of course," he reveals. "Only through the death of one combatant would victory be claimed and Xandros's hand won. Should you emerge triumphant, the union between Carina and Xandros would be void." Javier's tone carries a firm warning.

“But, Sienna, that path holds nothing but the cruel embrace of death. It is a futile endeavor, not worth the risk. Carina is God only knows how old, and if you've never trained in your Lycan form, you wouldn't stand a chance." His voice falters, his concern etched upon his face.

"So you think she was telling me this hoping I would challenge and let her kill me?" I ask Javier. He presses his lips in a line for a second, seeming to think. "No, I don't think that's it. I think it is more for Xandros."

"What do you mean?"

Javier points to me.

"You really need me to explain?" He sighs loudly. "If you don't know, I shouldn't be telling you, but Xandros isn't stable right now, he's been losing control."

"What do you mean?"

Javier shrugs. "I can't tell you anymore, not without putting both of us at risk, just try not to get on his bad side.

" he tells me before looking at his watch.

"I need to go grab your dinner," he tells me, I assume using it as an escape, so he isn't forced to endure the never-ending questions now playing on my mind.

As the night comes and the temperature plummets, a different visitor arrives, shattering the fragile peace that surrounds me as I lay in front of the fire, rolled in my blanket trying to keep warm.

Xandros materializes before me, his foot nudging me awake. Rubbing my eyes, I glance up at him, his presence commanding and laced with an unsettling blend of detachment and torment.

The bond between us trembles with a yearning desire, urging me to reach out to him, but his eyes refuse to meet mine.

He leans down, his grip tight and unforgiving as he seizes my wrist, thrusting me toward the bed.

The air thickens with unspoken anguish as he commands, "Undress.

" His words lash out, a venomous sting that pierces my very soul.

"Xandros?" I whisper, a plea for understanding, my hand outstretched toward him.

His retort cuts through the fragile thread of hope, his voice dripping with acidic bitterness.

"It is not me who craves your bond. Do not confuse its desires with my own.

Now, remove your clothes," his words slice through me like a jagged blade, leaving me wounded and breathless.

"Now!" he orders, and my hands shake as I do as I am told, Javier's words replaying in my head.

"Get on the bed," he tells me, and I nod climbing up on it only for him to follow, he grips my hips, dragging me closer only to undo his belt. He doesn't even look at me, like he can't bear to.

It becomes a transaction devoid of love, devoid of any semblance of tenderness. His eyes barely graze my presence, his touch reduced to a mere mechanical action. However, beneath the facade of indifference, a mounting frustration gnaws at him as he fails to find release.

Rolling onto his back, he pulls me on top of him, his hands seizing my breasts with an almost detached fondness.

Gripping my hips with an unyielding force, he drives me down onto his cock.

I scream out in agony, clutching my tortured stomach, and he halts his movements abruptly at the tortured sound that leaves me, almost as if it has snapped him out of whatever emotionless haze he is in.

Tears cascade down my cheeks, my sobs echoing through the suffocating room, I try to climb off him, when he grabs my hips sitting up. "What? Why are you crying now?" he demands, and fury burns through me. How could he ask that? How could he not know?

In a moment of uncontrollable fury, I lash out, striking him.

He captures my wrists, imprisoning me against the cold embrace of the mattress as he pins me down.

His voice rises in a desperate demand, a wounded plea for comprehension.

I struggle against him, unable to comprehend how he remains blind to the pain he inflicts upon me.

My stomach twists in agony, my inside feeling chaffed and rubbed raw.

"I am dry, devoid of desire, and yet you expect me to perform, thrusting into me like I don't feel fucking pain, then impaling me!

" How does he not see the agony of what he's doing to me?

"Just get off me!" I scream, my voice raw and filled with a rage of shattered emotions.

"You said it yourself, you don't want me, you can’t even fucking look at me, now get off me! "

"What did you expect? I caught you with another fucking man!” he bellows, the force of his words reverberating through the room.

"You betrayed me," he growls, his hands tightening on my wrist. "You forget how you betrayed me first," I whisper, and he scoffs.

"I never fucked her, nor would I. I only wanted you. "

"Yet you chose her," I tell him.

"I had no choice; I was already married!" he snarls. "Don't try to throw this back on me, I am not the one who ran off with someone else."

"You are right, you didn't run off, instead you made me watch you flaunt her around, made me her slave, let her feed on me, and then blamed me, locked me up for something my parents did, choosing her all over again.

How did you think that was going to work, Xandros?

That I would watch you be with her, watch you have children with her. "