201


    Finished


    Zephyrine


    Peace. Turmoil. I felt both at once. My body ached, sore and heavy with exhaustion. Slowly, I fluttered my eyelids open only to feel the solid warmth of a chest beneath my cheek. I blinked the haze away… and froze. A king.


    For what felt like an eternity, everything stilled. Morning light filtered through, painting his skin in gold.


    Why in the empire is Lycannar so… beautiful?


    Hey asleep deep, unbothered on the floor where we had wrecked each other, where we had mated, taken and given everything we had to offer. My eyes roamed his face; he looked almost dead in his stillness, but the steady rise and fall of his chest told me otherwise.


    I let my gaze wander lower, tracing the faint runes across his neck and chest. Forbidden marks. My mind flickered back tost night, how he had shifted in the water.


    How his fangs had grazed my lips when he kissed me. Why did he have fangs?<fn13c7> Find the newest release on fι?dnοvel</fn13c7>


    No answer came. Only the hollow ache in my chest as I looked at him again. He was a king, powerful, unmatched in skill. I had seen firsthand what he could do without even a sword in hand. The fastest shifter I had ever encountered. And yet… I couldn’t be happy with him. We were ipatible.


    Soon, people would call me his whore for real, because now… I was his slut. We had no bond. Only unspoken lust. That wasn’t enough.


    What would Varyn think of me? My parents? Would they be ashamed I gave myself to a man who wasn’t my mate, my husband? And worst of all, what if Lycannar woke and looked at me the way he looked at the others? What if he looked into my eyes and saw my death? Would the obsession vanish?


    The thought wed at my chest. Before I could be humiliated or hurt, I would rather inflict the pain first.


    I carefully slid from his arms and crept toward the door. My hand had just touched the wood when it mmed shut, as though by some unseen force.


    I went still. Did he have magic?


    When I turned, my heart stumbled. He stood there, watching me. His hair was a mess, yet somehow it made him more dangerous, more beautiful. His face was unreadable, until his eyes lowered to my thighs. His frown was subtle, but sharp.


    The blood of my virginity was still there. I didn’t care. I just wanted my dress from the bathing chamber and to leave quietly. –


    “What are you doing? His voice was low.


    “To get my dress,” I said tly.


    “Why?” His eyes lifted to mine. “You’re leaving?”


    “I am.”


    Shock rippled across his face, quickly reced by confusion. He got confused so easily.


    “Why?”


    I said nothing. His gaze softened.


    “Did I hurt you?”


    Guilt red, sudden and unwanted.


    “Was I too harshst night?”


    No. I just want to leave. Last night meant nothing.”


    9:31 PM p <b>p </b>


    His eyes widened in horror.


    “What? Last night was what?”


    “Nothing, Lycan. Now can I go?”


    He stepped closer, catching my wrist.


    “What are you talking about, Zephyrine? How could you say it meant nothing? It’s our first night together.”


    And probably thest. I’m not staying here to be ttered. You got what you wanted, now let me go.”


    Finished


    Silence crashed between us. He released my wrist and turned away. The door opened as if by his will. I could have walked out. I didn’t. My throat tightened, tears stinging my eyes.


    He walked into his bedchamber. I followed without thinking.


    “Are you not going to say anything?”


    He stopped, startled, as though he hadn’t expected me to follow. The royal robe slipped from his fingers.


    “How did you getin?”


    “That wasn’t my question. Are you not going to say anything about… us?”


    He didn’t answer. Instead, his gaze swept past me toward the doorway, puzzlement deepening.


    “No one is supposed to enter this chamber except… Chantel,” he murmured, almost to himself.


    I wasn’t listening.


    “Now you’re avoiding the discussion about us. I should leave.”


    I turned, but he caught my wrist again.


    “Why would I avoid any discussion about us<b>?</b>”


    “Because you got what


    you


    wanted.”


    “Stop saying that,” he growled quietly. “It makes me feel like I used you. Why would I want you for sex alone? You think I stare into those eyes of yours, ride out of my kingdom to your pack, eat in your home, without trust issue because of one night?”


    I froze.


    “I’m a king, Zephyrine. Not to brag, but I can have any woman I want. Virgin or not. Beauty or more. But you… you stand above them. One night isn’t enough for me. That night only made me want you more. This body of yours… it’s mine. No other man’s.”


    Tears slid down my cheeks. He looked horrified, as though unsure what he’d done wrong. I shoved at his chest.


    “Why didn’t youe for me five years ago and say this? Why now?”


    He faltered. I shoved him again.


    “I hate you for not finding me sooner.”


    “Then let me make–up for the time I lost,” he said softly, pulling me toward his bed.


    What began as a vicious argument dissolved into a desperate, animalistic iming. His growls filled the air, his body pounding into mine with feral need, and I wed at his back as if holding him there would keep the world from breaking


    apart.