Page 29 of Lycan King's Captives
“Nothing! Inside. I will come to see you in a minute,” he snarls at her before turning his gaze to Carina.
“You knew?” he accuses, his voice filled with betrayal.
“Of course I knew who she was. You forget whose family executed them! She smells exactly like her mother! I should know; I’ve tasted her, though I wonder if her daughter tastes as bitter as that bitch did!” Carina sneers, her words cutting through me like a knife.
“Sienna, out now!” Xandros commands, and I obey, my legs trembling as I step out of the car. He seizes my arm, and his mother asks, “Wait, who’s her mother?” she asks, looking at her son, but it is Carina who is all too eager to tell her.
“Rosaline Draven,” Carina tells her, her voice dripping with disdain. My blood runs cold as the weight of her words settles over me. I swallow hard as Queen Adina turns slowly to look at me with shock. “Draven?” she stutters, her eyes wide with disbelief. She looks to her son, searching for confirmation.
Xandros clenches his teeth, his jaw tight with anger. Adina’s gaze turns murderous as it settles on me. Her hand whips out faster than I can track, her claws raking down my face. Her claws slice through my flesh like razors. Blood spurts everywhere, coating me in the warm, coppery liquid.
I cry out, my face burning as I clutch it, while Xandros just stands there, his expression unreadable. Javier looks away, his face a mask of something I can’t decipher, and King Rehan looks on in shock. Carina’s smug smile widens as she folds her arms across her chest, pushing her breasts up.
“Put her in the fucking dungeons,” Queen Adina snarls before storming off into the castle. Instantly, guards step forward and grab me, their grips like iron bands wrapping around my arms. I struggle in their hold, their grips are like shackles, tight and unrelenting, only growing stronger the more I struggle. “No, please! I didn’t do anything,” I beg. My cries fall on deaf ears and Carina smiles smugly like she just won some prize I wasn’t aware we were competing for. I cry out at their bone crushing grips, my vision tainted by the blood getting in my eyes as I panic.
More guards race forward to seize me, their grip like iron on my battered body as they grab my legs. I stare at Xandros. Desperation etched on my face and is audible in my voice. “Xandros, please, I am your mate,” I beg, my voice trembling.
“I can’t have a traitor as a mate,” he says. His voice is cold and detached as if our bond means nothing to him. He looks away, his expression unreadable. My heart shatters into a thousand pieces at his dismissal and I stop fighting, knowing it’s pointless.
My eyes dart to Carina, who saunters over to Xandros, looping her arm through his. I take one last look at Xandros before turning away. Tears sting my eyes, but I refuse to let them fall. I take a deep breath. “Come, love, let’s clean you up,” she purrs at him, her voice dripping with satisfaction.
Xandros shrugs Carina off and storms off inside, abandoning me at the mercy of the guards.
They drag me around the side of the castle to a massive concrete building hidden among the dark, foreboding forest. The forest is dark and oppressive, with thick trees that block out most of the moonlight. The guards are gruff and unsympathetic, their grips bruising my arms as they drag me along. My feet can barely keep up, and my shoes are lost in the process. I can feel my toes scraping against the rough ground when I trip, landing on my hip, yet they don’t stop, not even giving me a chance to get back to my feet, instead dragging me harshly across the landscape. Each movement sends a sharp pain through my body. Despite my struggles, the guards hold me firmly, not allowing me to escape.
As I approach the dungeons, I am filled with a sense of dread. The air is heavy and still, the trees looming over me like silent sentinels. The entrance to the dungeons is a heavy, iron door, and the windows are barred. The walls are thick and made of cold, gray stone, and the only light comes from a few torches flickering in the darkness. It is a haunting and domineering sight, and my heart sinks at the thought of being trapped within its walls.
They open a huge metal door that leads to a set of stairs. I see nothing, only darkness as we descend the stairs, my feet aching from the cold, which only gets worse the deeper we get. The place is freezing, like I’ve been chucked inside a freezer.
The dungeons are filthy, the air damp and heavy with the scent of mold and whatever other excrement; a sewer would smell more appealing than this place. They drag me down the stairs, their grip unyielding, and chuck me into a cell with a small window. This is the only source of light in this bleak, lonely place. The window is so high I can only see outside if I stand on my tiptoes, straining my neck to catch a glimpse of the world outside, not that the world out there offers anything to me—it never has.
The guards lock me in, their laughter echoing off the walls as they leave. I realize with a pang of despair there isn’t even a bed in the cell—nothing but a cold, grime-covered concrete floor and a filthy toilet in the corner. There are cobwebs and spiders in every corner, and the sound of rats scurrying around is ever-present. The walls are stained with blood, the shackles and chains hanging in the cell across from me are a reminder of the horrors that await me if I dare to attempt to escape. I huddle against the damp stone wall, trying to warm myself. However, the dungeon chill seeps into my bones, and I can’t stop shivering.
As I sit there in the darkness, my thoughts race with fear and despair. I can’t believe Xandros, my mate, abandoned me so easily. Was our bond truly worth nothing to him? I wonder what will happen to me now, locked away in this cold, dark cell. Will I be left here to rot, forgotten and alone? Or will they decide I am too dangerous to be left alive? Tears stream down my face as I contemplate my fate. All I can do is wait and hope for the best while knowing there will be no best outcome. I close my eyes, taking in a shaky breath.
Tears fill my eyes, and I can’t hold them back any longer. As they stream down my face, I realize I am truly on my own, left to face the consequences of a past I was never a part of. The pain in my chest is a constant ache, a reminder of Xandros’s careless dismissal.
The darkness of the cell presses in on me, suffocating me with its oppressive weight—the cold seeps into my very soul, chilling me to the core. I hear the howls of wild wolves in the forest, and the taunting laughter of the guards who stand outside the small barred window serving as a haunting reminder of the fate that could await me.
I clench my fists, and the pain grounds me as I try to regather myself, knowing my crying is only bringing the guards outside something to mock me further for. My heart races, and I feel my face flush as I try to regain my composure and focus on the present. I take a deep breath and open my eyes. For a moment, I’m able to forget the pain as I focus on my breathing and the smoke clouds that fill the air with each breath.
13
The guilt of abandoning Sienna is like a crushing weight on my chest, suffocating me, threatening to consume and destroy me. The look on her face when I didn’t defend her will forever haunt me, along with the scars I know she now bears from my mother’s hand.
The mate bond between us screams out in agony, causing me pain I can’t ignore. Frustration courses through me like a raging river, threatening to sweep me away and drown me in its rapids.
I wander into the billiard room, my footsteps heavy and echoing in the silence as I pace the floor trying to make sense of the events that took place. The more it nags at me the more enraged and betrayed I feel.
I make a beeline for the bar, desperately hoping the amber liquid within the bottles can drown out the torment that consumes me. I pour myself a drink. The clink of the ice against the glass is a stark reminder of the coldness I showed Sienna. I take a sip, and the burn of the alcohol is nothing compared to the pain in my heart. I take another sip, and the tears that have been threatening to fall burn my eyes. I know I’ll never be able to forgive myself for what I did.
As I take another sip, my mother storms into the room, her anger palpable, her dressing gown billowing behind her as she storms into the room like a raging storm.
“Xandros, you cannot keep her here. She’s a traitor, the daughter of the woman who killed my sister! I want her gone!” she exclaims, her voice shrill and laced with venom. Her eyes blaze with her need for revenge, and her need to hurt my mate.
“And you know it’s not that simple. She’s my mate!” I snap back, my voice strained and filled with anguish.
“She doesn’t deserve to be your mate, Xandros. She should be executed for her family’s crimes!” she argues, her eyes filled with fire and fury. My father moves to try to calm her down. She shrugs him off, stepping away, her gaze cutting through him.
