Lycannar


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    I stamped the reports, trying hard to focus on the content, but I couldn’t. The more I forced myself, the more I lost focus. All I could worry about was her. Zephyrine.


    Atst, I dropped the royal seal back into its ce, to the confusion of Baron, my beta, and the elders.


    Slowly, I bowed my head, my face creasing into a small frown. Behind me, I felt Chantel stir, always ready for anything.


    I swallowed hard, lowered my gaze, and sighed. Then I rose from my seat and walked to the window to draw a deep breath.


    War. Killing and taking lives. Wounds etched into the mind forever.


    I had gone to the battlefield. I had won but I lost myself. I made it back alive, but in truth I was dead, buried under the weight of trauma.


    I had sworn never to touch a de again after the war five years ago. The war with the Ashmeres, led by my brother Hades. Yet somehow… this war, the one to free her brother… I wanted to join it. If that was what it took to keep her safe, to steady her, to bring her back to herself, then so be it.


    “Your Majesty, are you well?” My uncle Dareth’s voice broke the silence, and I turned slowly to face him.


    Chantel’s words echoed in my mind about Dareth entertaining a woman while the rest of us had gone to Ash Pack for the Alpha’s ascension.


    Who was this woman?


    As much as I hated my father, an evil, abusive man, he had always loved one woman. My mother. And he had told me once that I took her from him at birth. That was why he swore to make me suffer. And suffer I did.


    I lowered my gaze from my uncle Dareth and turned back to the window. His question came again.


    “If you are not feeling well, you can rest. Leave the task to your beta. Hand him the royal seal, let him


    continue the work.”


    I paused, staring at him again. The royal seal. Again. Why?


    Turning back to the window, I swallowed hard. Being King was a burden. A heavy, merciless burden.


    “I’ll continue tomorrow,” I said quietly and walked out of the hall, through the dining chamber, and into the tower stairs when suddenly, the chill hit me.


    A cold shiver ran down my spine. I mounted the stairs quickly, bursting into the dim hallway. I pushed open the door of my living room only to find her there, seatedfortably in a chair.


    Xyrrha,


    What?


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    “Ah, you’re here,” she said softly, looking up at me with a grin. “Wee, Your Majesty.”


    “Get out.” My voice was steel, but she didn’t move. Goosebumps prickled my skin.


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    “I saw Hades give you the letters. That means you learned the truth of who sent the Blood Army to the frontlines, isted. It wasn’t me. It was your father’s order. And yet you broke up with me for that. Don’t you think I deserve an apology?”


    I swallowed and nodded quickly.


    “Fine. I apologize for the misunderstanding. Now leave.”


    “Why?” she asked again, rising to her feet and swaying toward me, her body writhing seductively. She reached for my chest, but I stepped back, jaw clenched.


    “Leave, Xyrrha. Don’t make me use force.”


    “Because of the woman you’re courting?” she pressed. I swallowed again. “You don’t want her to find me here, in your tower, and think the wrong thing?”


    She smiled slyly.


    “It’s behind us now, Apex. I’m only here as your cousin. Oh wait. You didn’t tell her yet? That you’re part demon?” She chuckled. “I wonder how she’ll react when she finds out. She’ll run for her life.”


    “Shut up. She’s nothing like you,” I muttered, tired. “If you want to stay as my cousin, go to my sisters’ quarters. They’ll give you a room.”


    I tried to pass, but she grabbed my arm, freezing me in ce. I turned slowly, meeting her pleading eyes.


    “Life has been empty since you left me, Apex. I’ll leave tomorrow night. Just let me stay until then. I won’t try anything, I swear.”


    I didn’t answer. I only pulled free and walked into my bedchamber. She couldn’t cross that threshold. No one could, except Chantel, myself, and her, Zephyrine.


    I sank into a chair, sighing heavily. It pressed on me, crushing down, though it wasn’t even my burden. I knew it came from the amulet at her neck.


    I could feel it. Her emotions bleeding through it. I swallowed hard, closed my eyes, trying to calm myself. But then footsteps approached.


    The living room door opened. Silence, then pause. Whoever entered must have seen Xyrrha.


    I rose and stepped into the room, finding my eldest sister standing there. Her eyes shifted from Xyrrha to me. She shut the door behind her without a word. <fn8ea0> Original content can be found at fin?novel</fn8ea0>


    I followed quickly, catching her wrist at the foot of the stairs, forcing her to stop. She turned, disbelief


    etched in her face.


    “What are you doing, Lycannar? Why is she here?”


    “Nothing. She’s leaving tomorrow night.”


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    “Really? And if your woman arrives and finds her here… you think she’ll believe that?”


    “I’m done with Nyrrha. She’s only here as my cousin, Mearez.”


    :?


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    “Oh, perfect. So you’ll tell Zephyrine that Xyrrha isn’t here as your ex, but as your cousin? You’re ready to open up to her that Xyrrha was once your lover? Really, Lycannar? After you finally found love?”


    I said nothing. Couldn’t. The sadness bleeding from Zephyrine’s heart weighed on me, crushing me harder than my sister’s words. What had happened to her today?


    1 clenched my jaw against the heaviness and finally nodded.


    “She’ll be gone tomorrow night, Mearez.”


    She pulled her wrist from my grip.


    “How I wish it were a mistress in your tower, rather than that vile woman. I pray your woman never finds her here.”


    She left, leaving me cold.


    I had tried to pinpoint it, but the harder I tried, the less I understood. Mearez-my gentlest sister—had always carried a silent grudge against Xyrrha. A hatred I couldn’t trace.


    Had Xyrrha done something to her in the past? Something unforgivable?


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