Page 36 of The Unwanted Mate of the Lycan Kings (Unwanted #1)

“But it’s not cooked, it’s barely even seared?” Lyon says, looking at me appalled, and I stare down at the plate.

“Yeah, I don’t understand why they burned it,” I tell him, poking the outside with my knife before staring at the massacred meat on the platter in the center of the table. It reeks of burned flesh.

“But you’re human,” Regan says.

“Humans eat meat too. That doesn’t mean I’m vegetarian.” His eyebrows raise. Are all the servants on a vegetarian diet? Come to think of it, I have never even seen a servant eat.

“Apparently not,” Regan says, sitting back in his chair.

Zeke’s brows raise and Lyon crosses his arms over his chest.

“Go on then,” he urges, nodding toward my plate.

Shaking my head, I cut off a piece, trying to chew it as small as possible, and have to reach for my glass of water.

I can feel it scraping down the sides of my throat, my eyes burn at the pain, and my fingertips prod my neck.

Sighing, I am about to give up. It’s not worth the agony it causes every time I try to swallow.

Using my fork, I try to mash up some potatoes when I hear Lyon’s chair scrape across the floor, making me look at him. He bites the side of his hand.

“What are you doing?” Zeke demands when Lyon holds it over my glass of water. His blood leaks into the glass, turning it red, and I pull a face.

“She is in pain and my saliva won’t heal the inside of her throat unless I kiss her. Or would you prefer I did that, Zeke?”

“Let her suffer, maybe we’ll get lucky and she’ll starve to death before Father returns!”

“Drink it, Zirah,” Regan orders beside him, and Zeke turns his head in his direction.

“Zirah?” Zeke spits at him.

“Yes, it’s her name!” Regan growls, and I quickly snatch up the glass, gulping it down if it means the pain will go. Surprisingly, it doesn’t taste bad. I half expected it to taste as crappy as their personalities.

“I can think of many other names more suited.”

“I could do the same for you. Do you want to hear them?” I ask and almost moan as the pain fades. His blood makes me feel tingly all of a sudden, and I giggle.

“I dare you to speak them,” Zeke challenges. My head feels funny, clouded even, and his face morphs and twists. One minute he looks normal, the next, his nose is growing bulbous. I blink at him before shaking it off when Lyon grips my shoulder, making me look at him.

“It’s just the high from my blood. You’re fine. It will pass in a few minutes,” he says, though his voice sounds musical when his face also warps and twists.

“I don’t think I like this feeling,” I tell him.

“Most humans like it. Some even become addicted to it.”

“You’re an addiction?” I question. Trying to remember what the word means. He laughs, the sound echoing around me, making me turn my head to figure out where it was echoing from.

“No, our blood is. It’s why lycans aren’t supposed to give it to other lycans. Blood sharing can bond you with them and make them extremely high, in some cases, turn them rabid. Humans not so much. It will just make you high as a kite.”

“Where’s the kite?” I ask, looking for it but not seeing one.

“Just share all our secrets with the damn wench, why don’t you,” Zeke snaps, drawing my attention to him.

His face swirls, his eyes morphing into one, making him look like a cyclops I saw in a picture book once. He growls just like the cyclops in the book would have, if books could growl.

Regan snorts a laugh for some reason, and I look across the table at him, stunned by his gorgeous eyes and his smile. He shakes his head, grabbing his bottle of liquor.

“I might keep her high when she’s with me.

” Lyon chuckles and the room begins to settle.

My ears no longer make everything sound hollow, and I can suddenly feel my tongue when I accidentally bite it.

My sense of smell returns, and my stomach gurgles loudly as I shake off the lingering affects his blood has.

“Eat. I want to have an early night. I have a Skype meeting at eight in the morning,” Regan states, and I pick up my fork, suddenly feeling energized.

Cutting off a piece of steak, I pop it into my mouth and chew quickly, swallowing it down and sighing when I feel no pain.

Slicing into the meat, I start devouring my food, suddenly feeling absolutely ravenous like I haven’t eaten in weeks.

The hunger feels so much worse than before, making me wonder if it is also to do with his blood.

“She’s really eating raw meat?” I hear Lyon murmur, making me look up.

I raise an eyebrow at him and note both Regan and Zeke are also gaping at me.

Making me wonder what is wrong with them, not that I’m not used to weird looks.

Before we were shunned by the others in our community, we had plenty of people who thought we were odd for not cooking our meat the way others did.

Granny said we’d lose all the nutrients, that the flames ruin the flavor, and she was right.

when we could find themWhen I was seven, Granny got so sick from raw eggs, I thought she would die.

Her fever and vomiting seemed endless, and the other cave people said it served her right for eating everything raw.

They told her one day she would kill me.

I was too scared to eat while she was sick, but once she was better, Granny insisted I did not change my diet and that things affect her differently since she is getting older.

She said the others don’t understand what they don’t know about.

Once she recovered, I made sure we cooked fish, poultry, and eggs because I was scared to lose her. I once convinced her to cook some of the meat like the other people in our community, but that was the first time food ever made me sick.

Eating my dinner, I have to fight back emotions thinking of Granny. It’s stupid. I know I’ll see her again in the next life, but knowing that doesn’t seem to make her loss hurt any less. By the time I am finished, I just want to go to bed. “She really ate it all?” Lyon whispers.

“Pardon?” I ask. He shakes his head, giving me a weird look.

Zeke snorts. “Natural selection at its finest. Maybe I won’t have to accidentally kill her tomorrow. If we’re lucky, her weakened immune system will take her out for us.”

“Where are you taking her tomorrow?” Lyon asks, looking at his brother.

“Don’t you worry about it, brother. She’ll be perfectly safe from any danger with me,” Zeke says, though by his tone and the way he speaks, he’s promises something else.

“Get your rest, human. You’ll need it.” Zeke reaches for the bottle of wine.

Regan gets to his feet, shooting a glare at Zeke.

I push my chair out to leave, but Zeke clears his throat dramatically.

“Oh and Zirah, don’t break rule five. I’ll be making sure.

” Zeke laughs, and my eyes go back to the rules.

5. The bride must bathe the kings.