Page 24 of The Unwanted Mate of the Lycan Kings (Unwanted #1)

“No, you’ll leave her in pieces, but you three, there wouldn’t be anything left of you to stitch back together.” I snicker, and Lyon raises an eyebrow at his words. Regan remains silent, staring at the table. “Son?” King Theron tilts his head, and Regan lifts his.

“Where are you going that is so important that you would risk leaving her unattended with us?”

“House of parliament,” King Theron retorts, pushing his chair in.

“There have been notices requiring your attendance? I would have seen those. What are you hiding?”

“What I am doing and where I am going is none of your business. You do as required, and don’t you dare question me, son!”

“No, if I am being forced to remain here, forced to accept these rules, and forced to accept...” King Regan’s eyes move to me. “This human, then I want answers.”

“You don’t have to accept anything, but you will do as I say and have some manners. Your bride has a name.”

“Not when with me, she doesn’t. She is a commoner, a peasant!

” Regan growls. King Theron walks around the table slowly, while Regan glares daggers of disgust at me.

Lyon presses his lips in a line before glaring at me too.

Suddenly, I feel as small as Regan insinuated.

Just when I thought he and Lyon were trying to show me a shred of kindness, they are back to being as mean as ever.

I hate them. Why do his words affect me so much?

I don’t want any part of this. What he calls me shouldn’t matter.

King Theron drops his hands on his oldest son’s shoulders, leaning down.

His aura oozes like lava from an erupting volcano.

It’s suffocating, and a bead of sweat rolls down the back of my neck.

Yet the longer I remain here, the more I feel and recognize their auras, which is becoming quite concerning.

Maybe Granny was wrong about them not affecting me, or maybe these runes are wearing down. I will have to c heck later.

“If you think so poorly of her, why did you change the rules to protect her?” Theron snarls.

“That is not why I changed them,” Regan booms, and he turns his deadly gaze on his smiling father.

“You had nothing to say until Zeke suggested sleeping with her. The moment that was mentioned, you suddenly cared for the rules. Why is that?”

Regan growls, his aura slipping out and challenging his father. I suddenly feel lightheaded under the oppressiveness of them. The room spins, and my vision blurs. What’s happening to me?

“You don’t know, do you? You went against your brother because instinct told you to. Maybe instead of questioning my choices, question your own and the meaning behind them.”

Regan shakes his head, and I suddenly see two of them across from me. My breathing grows harsher, and I barely catch myself before headbutting the table.

“Zirah!” Shelley shrieks, and her panicked voice brings everyone’s attention to me. Their auras drop, along with the sickening feeling inside me. The runes on my arms and spine burn fiercely, and then it stops.

Hands clutch my arms, and as I shake the feeling off, Regan and Lyon suddenly stand.

Their father purses his lips. “Interesting,” he says, then turns to walk out of the room, leaving us staring after him.

“You didn’t eat last night or this morning. When was your last meal?” Shelley gushes, waving down another servant.

“I’m fine.” I shrug her off.

“When did you last eat?” Regan demands, and I lift my gaze to him.

“Why do you care?” I snap.

“Because I am not carrying you home if you faint in town, now answer the question!” he bellows. I roll my eyes and try to think. I know it was before I came here.

Granny and I hadn’t done much hunting as she was unwell from casting, so maybe a couple of days before that. So I can’t be sure.

“I can’t remember.”

“Feed her. We leave in an hour.” King Regan stalks out of the room with Lyon jogging to catch up.

One of the servants quickly serves me juice and eggs on toast. Shelley hovers, refusing to let me leave until she has watched me eat every crumb.

“I’m fine!” I assure her as she hands me an apple.

I still take it, tapping my leg. Hunter slowly gets to his feet and stretches.

I watch him. He’s been off since he woke up, almost depressed.

“Hunter, come on, boy.” He wags his tail, moving to keep up as Shelley leads me back to my room.

Once we are inside, she locks the door and turns to me.

Reaching into the pockets of her apron, she pulls out a key.

Grabbing some decent clothes and removing the robe, I pull on a long sleeve blouse and one of the skirts. I have to roll it to keep it on my hips. This one is a lot lighter than the others.

“This key is to the back entrance behind the stables. It is heavily guarded, but shifts change at midnight, and it is left unmanned for approximately ten minutes, but there are still cameras and alarms,” she tells me.

Walking over to the bed, she grabs the corner of the mattress by the bedside table and slips it on the bed base before dropping the mattress and tucking in the bed linen.

“So I have not only ten minutes to escape, but have to somehow hide from the cameras and not trip any alarms?”

“No, before I leave, I plan on getting into the surveillance room. I will set them on a timer and shut them off for twenty minutes. But listen to me, Zirah, this is vital. Head west, follow the path, and don’t stray from it!

Do not run into the North Forest, that will lead you into enemy territory. ”

“Follow a path, wouldn’t it be under surveillance?”

Shelley nods. “Yes, but you have ten minutes, follow it to the drains. They will lead you outside the kingdom borders back toward the mountains. If you can get to those mountains and to the neighboring towns, you’ll get out unnoticed,” she tells me.

I chew my lip and nod before looking down at Hunter, knowing I can’t take him. “When?” I ask her.

“In two nights from now, Zeke is your best shot. He’s a terrible alcoholic and is usually passed out by then.”

“Why not tonight?”

“Because tonight the king leaves, and the king is ordering someone to be stationed at your door until you are under one of his sons’ care.” I sigh. This is a mess, and I am not looking forward to spending a night with Regan tomorrow.

“Here, the king told me to give you this,” she tells me, reaching into her pocket and pulling a plastic card out.

She hands it to me and then gives me a small purse full of gold coins.

I hold the card up, having never seen it before.

Turning it over, it has a stripe along the back and numbers on the front.

“What am I supposed to do with this?”

Shelley purses her lips. “Maybe just use the coins,” she says, taking it and tucking it inside the purse.

“There is enough gold in there that you could buy whatever you want anyway, and I don’t have enough time to teach you how to use it. Maybe ask King Regan,” she suggests. I raise an eyebrow at her.

“Good point, maybe not.” She chuckles. “Now remember midnight. Head west along the path!” she repeats, gripping my shoulders.

A sudden knock on the door makes us freeze.

“Just a minute, she is changing.” Shelley sings out, and I quickly finish getting dressed, pulling the sandals on and ensuring the sleeves cover me completely.

However, when I tug the sleeve down to my wrist, I notice the first rune on my arm is fading.

I stare at it, and Shelley glances at the door before looking at me.

“What is it?” I point to my wrist.

She grabs my wrist, turning my arm, studying the rune before yanking my sleeve up, her fingers tracing over them like it is the first time she’s truly looked at them.

“But these are cloa—” her words are cut off when the door opens, and the door handle twists and breaks, hitting the floor. Shelley yanks my sleeve down, and King Regan steps into the room.

“I said an hour. A king does not wait,” he snarls, and Shelley drops my hand and her head.

“Sorry, My King. We must have lost track of time,” Shelley answers, apologizing for me. Yet time hasn’t really passed that quickly, has it? Shelley gives me a worried look, but one growl from King Regan sends her rushing from the room.

“You don’t have to be so rude,” I snap at Regan before tapping my leg. Hunter gets up slowly from his spot in front of the fireplace and wanders over, his tail wagging.

“Leave him here,” King Regan says abruptly.

I look at the king, but his eyes are on Hunter. “He needs Zeke’s blood, he is weakening, and soon he will start to decay.”

“What?” I ask horrified. “ Decaying ?”

“Yes, he needs his master’s blood.”

“Can’t you give him yours?” King Regan shakes his head and crouches next to me, ruffling Hunter’s fur.

“No, we’ve tried in the past. It makes them sick. They’re sired to their master only. Only Zeke can fix him,” King Regan says, grabbing his face. He tilts Hunter’s head up, prying his mouth open and looking inside his mouth before doing the same to his eyes.

King Regan clicks his tongue. “You need to give him back to Zeke unless you want him to die. He’s gone too long without blood,” he says, standing up.

I chew my lip nervously. I don’t want him to die. “Maybe we can find Zeke together.” I am surprised when Regan nods.

“Hurry up then.” The king walks out, and I follow with Hunter.

“Where is Gnash?” I ask.

“Away from you,” Regan mutters, leading me through the castle. We have to slow a few times to wait for Hunter, who is growing worse by the second. It also makes me wonder if this is what will happen with Shelley when the king dies.

Regan leads me through the castle to a huge entertainment room.

A bar takes up an entire wall, and big screens play something.

A few guards stand around laughing and talking to Zeke, who is drinking and already wasted.

Peering through the door, I see a young maid looking petrified, pushed up against a billiard table by two of the vampire guards.

As I go to enter, King Regan grips my wrist and shoves me back out the doors.

The moment King Regan enters ahead of me, all chatter dies. “Leave us!” He orders, and the guards instantly scatter, almost falling over each other to leave the room.

“Now why did you have to wreck my fun, brother? I was about to make Lincoln and Pablo bend the maid over that table and fuck her so I can watch,” Zeke drawls, and I wander inside, stepping into the huge room to find he has the girl by her elbow.

“Go back to your station,” King Regan snaps, and she nods, eagerly wanting to escape the situation she has been placed in.

She goes to leave, but Zeke’s grip tightens on her arm. “Only if she is replacing her,” Zeke taunts, his eyes turning black as he licks his lips. I walk into the room further, and the maid’s eyes dart to me.

“Let her go, Zeke, you’re—” My words are cut off when he moves impossibly fast. One minute he was across the room, the next, his fingers are wrapped around my neck.

“Are you volunteering, love?” he purrs, yet his grip grows tighter.

“You can’t hurt me,” I chide, and he laughs.

“Wrong, I can’t kill you, there was no rule about hurting you.” Zeke smiles wickedly, and Hunter growls at my feet. His eyes dart down, and his grip tightens.

“Zeke!” Regan warns, but Hunter’s growl has not even half the menacing sound it usually carries, and I know he is too weak to actually attack him. My face changes color, and I grip his wrist.

“Zeke!” Regan snaps.

“What did you do to him!” Zeke snarls angrily. I clutch his wrist as the blood rushes to my head. He pushes me back, and my ass hits something solid. I glare at him before lifting my knee between his legs.

He drops his hold on me with a pained grunt and staggers back. My hands fall to my knees, gasping for breath.

Zeke roars, and I stand up only to see his fist flying toward my face. I flinch, waiting for the impact, only it never comes. Regan steps in front of me, and Zeke’s fist connects with his chest. He growls menacingly.

“Not on my watch! I have to be seen with her, and I am not going into town with her black and blue.” Regan shoves his brother back a step, and Zeke glares at me, shaking his head.

“Always worried about appearances, brother,” Zeke retorts. Regan mutters under his breath before stepping aside.

“Hunter needs your blood.” Regan motions toward the weakening wolf.

“So she is returning him?” Zeke questions, and I swallow, having no intention of doing that right now.

Zeke chuckles. “Oh, so you thought you could ask me to heal him but not return him?” Zeke questions.

“Zeke, give him your damn blood. I have work to do.” Regan sighs, sounding bored.

“Give him back and I will. If you don’t, he dies, and if something happens to him, your death would be worth losing my throne for.” Zeke speaks coldly. I look at Hunter and then Zeke.

“Think carefully, human, he won’t last the night.” Regan looks down at me, waiting for my answer, and I suck in a breath.

“Hunter, go to Zeke,” I murmur, knowing I am losing my only protection.

Hunter whines but does what he is told, and Zeke reaches toward the small coffee table and grabs a cheese knife. He slices his palm and crouches before his wolf. Hunter instantly starts drinking his blood while Zeke runs his fingers through his fur.

“Come, I don’t want to be all day,” Regan says, walking out of the room. I give Hunter one last glance before following King Regan.