Page 60 of The Unwanted Mate of the Lycan Kings (Unwanted #1)

My surroundings dissolve, her screams ringing loudly as I am swallowed by darkness.

Her screams are ear-piercing, but it’s not from her burning at the stake as I thought.

No longer am I standing in the square, chained to a pillar, but inside a tunnel.

Peering around the darkness, whispers are carried on the draft that caresses me.

“Hello?” I murmur, yet my voice carries too, echoing back at me as I try to figure out where I am. The deeper I move through the tunnels, the whispers grow louder, like a chant in an icy breeze.

“A bond once sacred, now torn apart, in the lycans fate lies a broken heart.”

Turning, I look for the voice but find no one there.

My heart is beating so loudly that it makes me pause as I peer around the darkened tunnel.

The only light offered flickers ahead, casting shadows on the wall.

I hear another whisper, only this one sounds from behind my ear, and the iciness of its breath skates across my neck.

“No daughters born, the line shall fade, a heavy price your defiance paid.”

The whisper makes me jump, but once again, no one is there.

Suddenly, the whispers repeat, echoing around me, more voices, their taunting whispers making goosebumps rise on the back of my neck.

So many that I run, clutching my ears, wishing they’d stop.

I keep running, trying to find my way through the tunnels.

Only when I find the source of the light at the end of the tunnel does the last whisper skim across me.

“In shadows hidden, the truth is near. The oracle’s power brings hope and fear.”

As the whispers dissipate, the tunnel suddenly opens a little.

I stop in my tracks when I see two women.

One woman stands clutching the stone walls, her clothes filthy and her hair matted.

She wears a floor-length dress that was once white but is now stained in blood and dirt.

Her pain echoes through the tunnel, and the runes glowing up her arms burn brightly in the darkened room.

The other woman is clutching her arm, trying to help her up as she falls to one knee.

It takes me two seconds to figure out who they are.

“You must move, Litha. We need to get out of here,” the woman whispers urgently, trying to haul Litha to her feet.

The woman peers down the tunnel, yet when I catch sight of her face, I stagger back a step.

“Granny?” I murmur.

My mind is racing as I try to make sense of what I’m seeing. I have no doubt it’s her. Her face is the same though brighter, younger, not marred with the lines of old age.

“I can’t,” Litha gasps, clutching her swollen belly. “The baby is coming,” she groans.

My granny’s eyes widen in fear, but she holds Litha’s hand, offering what little comfort she can.

“Please, Litha, come on. We can’t stay here. The war is spreading. It won’t be long before they check the tunnels,” Granny begs Litha.

“Then go, Mother. Just leave me, there is no point in both of us dying!” Litha yells, shaking off Granny’s hand.

“I am not leaving you...I will not abandon you.”

“Get the coven, run. He’ll go after them next,” Litha urges my granny. However, Granny shakes her head.

As the contractions grow stronger, I know there is no turning back for Litha. The pain makes it nearly impossible for her to take a few steps before the next contraction comes. Time seems to stand still in the dimly lit tunnel. The air ripples with each of her contractions when footsteps sound.

“Litha, up. They’re coming,” Granny hisses, pulling her up, only for Litha to scream and clutch her stomach.

My granny clamps a hand over her mouth, her eyes frantically peering down the tunnel.

Suddenly, the footsteps grow so loud it makes me turn to see Zeke and Regan storm into the tunnels, walking straight through me as if I am nothing more than an apparition.

Met with the scene before them, they stop in their tracks. My granny puts herself in front of Litha protectively. “You don’t have to do this...”

Regan and Zeke look at each other in shock. “She’s pregnant?” Regan gasps. “He never said anything about her being with child...” Regan says, looking at Zeke.

“I’m not killing a pregnant woman,” Zeke says, clutching his hair as Litha screams, drawing everyone’s attention to her. My granny turns, trying to help her while still watching the kings.

“What do we do?” Regan looks at Zeke as he paces, but Litha’s screams echo loudly.

“Shut her up! You need to keep her quiet!” Zeke hisses at my granny, glancing nervously down the tunnels.

In the dimly lit tunnel, with the support of my granny, she gives birth to her daughter.

“She’s perfect,” Litha whispers. My stomach sinks as I take in what I’m witnessing, what I’m learning.

When Litha turns her pleading gaze to the kings.

“Please, I beg you, just let us go. We’ll leave.

We won’t return. You can have the Kingdom,” she pleads.

Her voice is weak as she continues to bleed, my granny frantically tries to stop the bleeding by removing the placenta.

“Here, take her,” my mother says to my granny. I still can’t wrap my head around it. However, I know that title feels right. Litha is my mother.

“Please, spare my mother. Let her take my daughter. Please, she is just a baby,” she pleads, lifting her arms to Regan. Regan scratches his chin.

“Let me think...let me. You have half the city hunting you. There’s a bounty on...” his words trail off as he looks at the baby in Litha’s arms.

Regan suddenly falls to his knees beside her, hands trembling as he kneels and carefully takes me from her arms. He looks up at Zeke, and I see the same wonder in his eyes.

“It can’t be...” Regan murmurs.

Yet no sooner has the baby been placed in Regan’s arms, Zeke staggers forward. Zeke’s eyes lock onto me in his arms, and I can see the hunger in Zeke’s eyes as he reaches for me.

“She’s mine!” he snarls. My granny screams, shoving him back, but Zeke lunges at her, knocking her aside and into the wall. Regan shoves me back into my mother’s arms and tackles Zeke.

“What’s gotten into you? You’re not touching her,” Regan snarls.

“The baby, she’s mine. Take the fucking kingdom, just give me my mate.” Zeke snarls.

Regan looks at him, confused. “No, she is mine,” Regan snarls.

The confusion on both their faces is evident. However, Litha glares at them, clutching me in her ripped shawl as she tries to stand, but she falls heavily back to the floor.

Zeke turns his attention to Litha. “You! You did this! It’s a trick...fix it. Tell him she’s my mate!” he yells, shoving Regan off.

“No, it is not possible. How could we share a mate...” Regan snarls. “She did something. She can fix it. I won’t share her!”

“You won’t touch her!” Litha screams. Zeke’s eyes flash dangerously, his head tilting, and he lunges at Litha only to be tackled by Regan.

Regan tries to calm his brother down, but the situation escalates quickly.

The two brothers fight while my granny demands they stop and keep the noise down, telling them that they’ll draw attention to the tunnels.

As their fight rages on, I can hear the distant sound of approaching footsteps and shouts from guards.

As the guards draw nearer, both Regan and Zeke look at my mother in panic, realizing their mistake.

They alerted the king’s guard to their location.

Regan’s skin ripples as he peers over at the tunnel entrance just as guards emerge.

They carefully take in the scene before spotting my mother, and one guard smiles wickedly, lifts his gun, aims it at my mother, and pulls the trigger.

The bang echoes off the walls, drilling into my ears, and Regan attacks the guards, ripping them to shreds, yet I pay him no mind. Instead, I stare down at Zeke, gasping for breath, having taken the bullet to protect my mother.

“Zeke, we need to get them out of—” Regan turns around, drenched in blood, his brother gasping for breath on the hard ground.

“Get them out,” Zeke rasps, as Regan falls to his knees beside him.

“No...” He tries to stop the bleeding, but nothing works. The poison from the bullets spreads through Zeke, and the blood drains from his face.

I can see the anguish in Regan’s expression as he looks at his fallen brother. “No, stay with me, Zeke,” Regan begs, clutching his brother. Lyon stumble into the tunnel. He staggers forward then stops, making Regan look at him.

“I heard the guns...the...Zeke?” Lyon stutters.

“Get a fucking healer!” Regan snarls at Lyon, who seems to be in a state of shock. Lyon nods. “I’ll get help...I will get...” his eyes go to Litha, and I watch something change in Lyon.

Like a switch has been flicked suddenly, his voice no longer trembles. “I’ll get help,” he assures Regan, who is fussing over Zeke and not witnessing the wicked glint in his brother’s eyes. Yet when Lyon doesn’t return quickly, Regan can tell Zeke is dying. Suddenly, Regan straightens.

“You’re a witch. Fix him...” Litha stares at Zeke, then her eyes flick to Regan. “Litha, you can save him,” Regan begs, his voice breaking with desperation.

“You want me to mess with the fates to save someone trying to kill me?” my mother snarls.

“He’s dying!”

“I know...” Litha tells him. Regan looks at my granny. “She can’t save him. My mother handed that power to me when I became queen. If I save him, you let us go!” my mother demands, and Regan nods.

“Anything. I will set you free. Just save him,” Regan begs.

“Litha, you’re too weak. You can’t,” my granny pleads.

“She’s a high priestess!” Regan yells at my granny.

“One that has been hiding in tunnels for days. She’s lost her connection to the sun and moon, trapped down here hiding from your father! She just had a baby!” my granny yells at him, and Regan growls.

“No, I am a mother. I save him, you give me your word you’ll get us out of here. Saving him will deplete me of power. I can’t cloak my daughter with the elements without the moon,”

“Yes! I said yes, now hurry before he dies!”

Litha stares at Zeke, then her eyes flit back to Regan. “Your word, I want your word. You get us out. I need the moon. I need the moon to cloak them,” my mother tells him.

“Yes, I give you my word...I will get you to the moon. Just hurry,” Regan tells her. I watch my mother heal Zeke, tying his life to Regan’s while the energy it takes exhausts her. By the time she is done, she can barely stand.

“She did what you asked. Now help her, help me get her out of these tunnels,” my granny yells. But as Regan moves to grab her, footsteps sound, and Zeke wakes, disorientated. Within seconds, the tunnels are filled with guards blocking all exits, and King Theron walks into the tunnel.

“See, Father,” Lyon says in a taunting voice coming up behind him.

“What is the meaning of this?” he demands, his voice cold and unforgiving.

Lyon, still in shock, struggles to find his words. “Father...I found them like this.”

King Theron’s eyes flick from my mother to Regan and then to Zeke. “Is this true?” he asks, his voice dripping with menace.

Regan hesitates, casting a furtive glance at the baby in Litha’s arms before responding. “We were...trying to protect them, Father. She was pregnant. The guards attacked, and Zeke—” a deep threatening growl leaves King Theron, cutting off his son.

“I said bring her to me. I never asked you to play midwife!” Theron booms.

“She’s just a baby!” Regan growls back at him.

“You betrayed me!” Theron points at his son.

I can see the anger building in King Theron as he takes in the information. He turns his gaze back to my mother when his eyes fall on me in her arms.

Regan glares at Lyon, and Zeke sits up while Theron smiles cruelly at Litha. “Seize them!” Theron orders, but Regan steps in the guard’s way.

“I hoped your brother was wrong, but clearly there is truth to what he claims. You were told to bring her to me, not help her escape.”

As the vision ripples, it moves along while I ponder everything I’ve learned from it. The whispers return, only this time I welcome them as they transport me to a new vision. Showing me the ghosts of my mother’s past, showing me their sins.