Found by the Lycan King



Zenovia

I had been so happy a few minutes ago because today was supposed to be an important day in my life.

I had trained hard for more than a month, religiously followed everything Callahan had asked me to do, and was waiting for the full moon to show up and my wolf to awaken.

For the first time in my life, I had taken the pains to dress up. Granted, I had worn a nice dress at the ball and even at the party that I went to with Harry, but today was a special day for me.

I had wanted to walk with my head held high amongst the other alphas for once.

I had simply wanted to be regarded as a strong and powerful girl, not an unwanted bastard of a child, an omega, or a wolfless person.

In fact, I had not even wanted to come to this meeting. I was happy with dressing up and then offering some silent prayer to the moon Goddess to grant me my wolf.

But the way Callahan had introduced me to the others made me feel hurt. The moment he called me his my stomach had fluttered but when he added the word 'breeder' it made that fluttering die down instantly. Adding to that, I was also reminded of how my father had offered me to him as a gift. Technically, he was not at fault.

That was the truth. But it hurt nonetheless.

The crowd of the other people were leaving the room quietly, and I did not want to make a fuss in front of everyone, so I stayed quiet when he uttered that.

I had seen the way his eyes had locked me in place, and those golden eyes flare with desire. But like always, I was mistaken that he wanted me as anything more than just a breeder and a property he owned. It made me feel like an omega all over again.

Callahan stood by the chair, his hand resting on the cushion as the long line of people left the meeting hall.

When the last of them left, I tried to slink away, but he was quick. Callahan slinked in the narrow space between me and the door and looked at me.

"I thought I asked you to stay back"

He said, looking at me intently.

"Let me go," I said without wanting to look up. I was barely trying to hold back my tears and I did not want to give him the satisfaction of how much he affected me.

But Callahan took a step forward and closed the door behind him.

"If I ask you to stay, you stay," He said, locking the door.

Coiling my hands into fists, I looked up at him, my eyes a little watery.

"What do you want to talk about?" I asked, not caring that I was not supposed to use this tone with the King.

Callahan took a step forward, and I retreated a step back again.

He did not answer, but kept moving forward and I kept retreating until there was no space to move back. The heel of my sandal hit the wall, and I softly bumped into the wall behind me. Despite the anger and irritation bubbling inside of me, I felt my heart quicken.

'How stupid of me?"

I thought and tried to glare at him.

"What are you doing?" I asked, and he raised a hand slowly, almost in a deliberate fashion. He was two heads taller than me, so he had to bend a little to look at me.

Callahan's left hand rested on the wall, directly above my head and he leaned forward, his tall figure towering over me.

"Looking at you," He answered, and that weird fluttering in my stomach returned again.

"I am sorry, I have to go"

I said and tried to walk away but his hand shot out and grabbed mine, pulling me back in the same spot again.

My heart almost leaped out of my throat at the unexpected touch that sent shivers up my spine. It was delicious. It was maddening.

But it ended all too quickly.

"You look....different" He said after a while and my eyes looked into those golden orbs again.

His face was devoid of the usual smirk and the smug or unbothered look that was forever plastered on it.

Instead, he looked a little.... lost.

A few strands of his hair fell in front of his eyes and I had the mad urge to push them back. In an attempt to stop myself from doing that, I folded my hands upon my chest and shot back. "Yes. I know"

Really?

That was what he wanted to talk to me about? And what did he even mean by different? Maybe he meant I looked like a clown or a fancy dress competition participant.

Callahan kept looking at me, his eyes fixated on my face. I could not bear to look into his eyes lest he broke my heart again, so I tore my gaze from him.

"Look at me," He said softly and the weird fluttering in my stomach intensified.

That voice... it was doing odd things to me.

Hell, he had not shown up to the gym, been busy the entire day, insulted me in front of everyone and I did not even deserve an apology?

Maybe he was only used to people saying sorry to him, not the other way around.

Well, not maybe. He definitely had never apologized to anyone.

I was fighting a losing war with my feelings. On one hand, my brain wanted me to be mad at him but on the other, my stupid heart was jumping out of my throat due to our nearness.

My body ached to touch those hands, to feel those fingers on my skin. It had been an eternity since he had been so near to me and was focused just on me.

When I did not obey his command, his hand reached up to caress my cheek and I sucked in a breath to steady my nerves.

"Zee..." He muttered and now there was a full-blown riot of butterflies going on in my stomach. My nerves were tingling and knotting up in so many places that I felt I would lose the ability to speak. Maybe I already had.

My eyes fluttered shut even though my brain was blaring warning signals at me to step away from him.

Today was the full moon, I was supposed to go outside, to maybe walk in the moonlight and pray to the Goddess, prepare for the big event.

But here I was, melting at the touch of the man who kept eluding me.

I craved his touch, I craved being closer to him, the scent of his cologne, and those damn eyes that turned my knees to jelly.

His thumb was slowly caressing my cheek, making me concentrate on that specific spot on my entire body.

The way his rough and calloused hands stroked my skin made goosebumps appear all over me.

I had been dying to see his reaction when he would see me wearing the dress. And it would not be wrong to say that I had imagined him doing just this- throwing everybody else out of the room and locking the door from the inside with just him and I. Frankly, I had expected a lot more, but I was not sure if I was hoping for too much.

"You...you were not there at the gym today," I blurted out in a grumbling tone.

Callahan leaned forward and whispered, "I am here...now"

He spoke and the way his voice caressed me made my bones turn to jelly.

"Drusilla said you need me for something. Please tell me what it is," I said and the fire raging in his eyes died abruptly.

In an instant, the cold mask was back on his face.

"She told you what?" He asked, straightening again and putting some distance between us.

And I hated him for doing that. Why did he have to step away?

"You have been hiding something from me. If you want me to help you, the least you can do is be honest about it."

I said, and the way his eyes looked at me made me shiver. It did not arouse me, but sent a chill down my spine.

"You know my curse, right? I will go feral if I don't find a cure soon. I will be trapped in the lycan body forever. Drusilla has been trying to search in vain for a cure, but she never found anything. And somehow, her visions told her that you would be able to somehow prevent that."

He had been so secretive about it all this time and now... he just told me the truth, just like that? Not that I would complain about it.

I only looked at him, and his concerned face that looked so gorgeous up close, waiting for more explanation, for more words to tumble out of his mouth.

Then why hide it from me all this time? And why did I feel that he was not telling me all of it?

"If you knew what I truly was, you wouldn't want me," He said and I could only stare at him blankly.

The words Drusilla had spoken were ringing in my ears, of how falling for him was risky. He might never be able to turn into a human again and slowly become a true animal. But then why was my heart willing to ignore that? Why did I feel such a great pull towards him? I felt I had to know what was going on since he was here, in front of me, just like he said a while ago.

"Are you going to push me away?" I blurted out.

Wait.

I was not going to ask him that, but then why did those words leave my mouth?

As if in response to my question, he leaned a bit more, his forehead almost touching mine. Those golden orbs were burning with a fire that wanted to consume me, devour me.

"I am trying but I am failing"

He answered, and those words cut through my heart.