Page 33 of The Unwanted Mate of the Lycan Kings
“The king is leaving tonight.That is why he wants to see you.He sent for his sons, too.He is setting rules for while he is away.”
I watch her for a second, wondering if she’ll answer honestly.Something has been eating at me since I saw the darkness flickering in King Theron’s aura.“The king is dying, isn’t he?”
Her eyes widen in shock, and she rushes over to close the door.
“He is, isn’t he?”She chews her lip nervously.
“His sons don’t know, no one does except for me, and he told Malachi last night,” she whispers, looking down at the floor.
“That’s why he needs to choose between his sons?”
“Yes, but no one is supposed to know.If they find out, the surrounding kingdoms may start a war for King Theron’s throne, and if the Vampire Kingdom gets their hands on his throne...”She shakes her head.
“But King Theron has vampires working for him?”
“Yes, but not by choice they’re from the Bloodtaric Kingdom.It’s part of the alliance.He knows they’re traitors and were sent here to report back,” Shelley tells me.
“So why doesn’t he want his sons to know?”
“Because they’ve been at war with each other for years.He’s hoping that this...I can’t say.I’m sorry.Just trust me, what he’s doing is for the best.If you think the lycan kingdoms are brutal, you’re wrong.If the vamps get their hands on his throne before he hands it down...”
“What?Just tell me.”
“Humankind will be enslaved.”
“And they aren’t already?”I laugh.Humankind has been enslaved long before I existed.
“Since there are no lycan females anymore, they need humans to procreate.”
“But even with humans, the lycan blood will eventually be so watered down that they won’t exist anymore.Not really,” I tell her.
“But the lycans and werewolves are the only thing keeping the vampires at bay.Without them, humans will fall into the Bloodtaric Kingdom’s rule, and they don’t need us to procreate, they need us for food!That is why so many try to flee the Bloodtaric Kingdom and come here.Humans here donate blood to the Vampire Kingdom monthly, but under King Slavic’s rule, he’ll turn us into incubators and blood bags, enslave us, make feeders out of us and use us for slave labor.”
My brows furrow.That sounds horrendous.“I know because I’ve seen the Vampire Kingdom myself.The humans are kept on leashes, half-starved and tortured.And the men?”She shakes her head.“Trust me, you think the maze is harsh, in the Bloodtaric Kingdom, everyday you’re in the maze fighting for your life.I would take my chances in King Theon’s maze any day than end up there,” she tells me, and a violent shiver runs up my spine.
“So you said the king is leaving?”
“Yes, for treatment.And that will be your chance.”
“Chance?”I ask her, and she nods while I put on my slippers.
“Yes, to escape.You’ll have a week.”
“But you just said that the Vampire Kingdom...”she cuts me off with a wave of her hand.
“I know what I said.”
“But—”
“The king has a plan if they fail to marry, and quite frankly, I’d rather his sons not be on the throne.None of them deserve it,” she tells me.
“A plan?What plan?”
“No one knows.I’m not even supposed to know, but the king left his journal open one night.He swore me to secrecy, but if one of his sons doesn’t marry or prove they are worthy, he is stripping them of their thrones, uniting the four kingdoms, and giving all of it to Malachi.”
“Why Malachi?”Shelley smiles, her cheeks turning pink with her blush.
“He is the king’s illegitimate brother.”
