Page 27 of Lycan King's Captives
Toby quickly walks over, locking the door. “You didn’t call me?” he snaps. I shake my head.
“How did you know I was here?”
“Ashley, the waitress, she called the moment she spotted a woman with Xandros,” he tells me. I sigh, shaking my head moving off toward the toilet cubicle when he grabs me, tugging me back to him.
“Toby, you shouldn’t be here. He’ll kill you if he finds out you’re in here,” I tell him, but he grabs my face in his hands.
“I know you don’t want him, Sienna.” I shake my head. It doesn’t matter what I want, the mate bond will always draw me back to Xandros.
“I know a witch. She can break your bond. I will get you out…” Toby tells me, and I blink at him.
“What?” I ask, a little dumbfounded.
“A witch, then we run. I can get us out of the city. We can start off fresh somewhere else. Somewhere away from that monster,” he growls, cupping my face in his hands.
“You’re being ridiculous, Toby. You’ll get us both killed and why do you even care? I am just an old employee,” I tell him, pulling away and rushing into a cubicle. I lift my dress and quickly pee.
“You don’t believe that. I know you don’t. Don’t pretend you don’t feel the same way about me as I do you,” he tells me. I furrow my brows. I shake my head and finish peeing. Leaving the cubicle, I move to the sink basin and wash my hands.
“You are insane,” I tell him when he grips my face, forcing me to look at him. I stare at his handsome face.
“Tell me you feel nothing for me?” he says, and I chew my lip. I thought I did, but do I still? The bond makes things complicated. I don’t know what I feel that is real and the bond.
“Toby, what you’re asking?—”
“Is for you to be with me. Run with me. I love you. Unfortunately, it took that asshole stealing you from me to realize that,” he exhales, pressing his forehead against mine.
“Just think about it and call me when you get a chance. I will find a way to get you out of the city,” he tells me, pressing his lips to my forehead before slipping out of the bathroom before I can protest.
11
The air feels suffocating as I leave the bathroom, my heart pounding erratically in my chest. Toby’s words echo in my ears, a tempting offer of escape from Xandros that seems too good to be true, yet one I am not sure I can take. The bond we share aches just with him gone momentarily and that is not something I am sure I can live with for eternity.
As I step out into the club, I instantly notice a change in the atmosphere. Everyone has stopped what they’re doing, and their eyes are locked on me; it is like I’ve stepped into some alternate reality, everyone watching me with scrutinizing eyes. It makes me wonder what has happened in the brief moments I have been gone. The music continues to blare, only it’s drowned out by the palpable tension that fills the room.
I walk slowly back to Xandros, doing my best to ignore the stares that burn into me. As I approach the table, I see Javier, the king’s Beta. It makes me pause, recognizing the man from my uncle’s house. He is engaged in a heated discussion with Xandros; he seems to be trying to reason with Xandros over something. I strain to hear their words over the thumping music, their tense expressions tell me something is very wrong and whatever Javier is speaking with him over is the cause of conflict in the air.
My heart skips a beat when I see a file in Javier’s hand with a picture of me on it. My heart palpitates, and my breath comes out in short raps as it dawns on me. Xandros lifts his head and locks eyes with me, and a guttural growl rips through him. His lips curl back revealing sharp canines, and his eyes become dark and demonic. His jaw is clenched and his nostrils flare, and a feral energy radiates from him. He looks like a wild animal, ready to attack. His entire body is tense, and his muscles spasm with barely contained rage. The air around him is charged with hostility and danger chilling me to the bone, a palpable reminder of the beast he can become.
In this moment, I know he knows who I am – not just as his mate, but as the daughter of traitors, traitors who betrayed his family.
As panic sets in, I glance at the exit, thinking of Toby’s words and the possibility of freedom. Wishing I ran when I had the chance, that I escaped with Toby. Now I’ll be lucky to escape with my life. Xandros’s voice slices through the air, filled with rage. “Don’t you fucking dare think about it!”
My instincts kick in. Fight or flight has already taken over, and my body moves on its own. I turn and sprint for the fire exit, my legs carrying me faster than I’ve ever run before. The sound of Xandros’s growl and the chaos in the club fade as I burst through the door and into the cool night air.
As I push my way through the bustling people, I can feel their sneers and glares. The streetlights seem too bright and they overwhelm my senses. My fear only rises as I make my way through the streets running as fast as I can, running off pure adrenaline. The smell of garbage and exhaust fumes linger in the air, along with blood and the sickening scents of too many colognes. I can hear the distant sound of a train, and cars honking their horns as I dart across the alleyway, a cab narrowly missing me. Glancing over my shoulder I see the crowds of people parting as Xandros chases after me.
I run through the streets, my heart hammering in my chest, knowing Xandros is not far behind me. My lungs are burning, still fear keeps propelling me forward. I take turn after turn, trying to lose him. I know it’s only a matter of time before he catches up.
Taking a sharp turn, I find myself cornered in a dark alleyway. “No!” I gasp, staring up at the tall apartment building encasing me, and dumpsters blocking off the alleyway at the end I took the wrong one. The smell of damp trash and my desperation fill the air with each ragged breath I take. I glance around. There’s nowhere left to run—no way to escape the fate that’s been chasing me since I left the club. I turn, seeing Xandros rush past the end of the alleyway, only to stop. I press my back against the cold brick wall, my breath coming in ragged gasps, as I wait for Xandros to find me which is mere seconds when his fluorescent eyes glow back at me as they lock on mine.
A growl tears out of him that raises goosebumps on my arms as he stands there, at the entrance to the alley, his eyes burning with fury. I know I can’t escape him now, and I brace myself for whatever comes next. He stalks toward me, his steps calculated and menacing. Within the blink of an eye, he stands beside me, moving with a speed that is impossible to track.
“You thought you could just run away, Sienna?” he snarls, his face inches from mine. I feel his breath, hot and heavy, on my skin. “You really thought you could escape me?”
I tremble, fear and desperation coursing through me. “I-I’m not my parents, Xandros. Please, you have to believe me.”
His expression darkens further, and he grabs my arm, his grip like iron. “You think I care about that? You think that changes anything?”
