The Love of a Lycan

"What was the reason behind all this? I can't see what exactly the mating ceremony had to do anything with this war," Lilac said, she waited for Jedrek to respond, but the king seemed determined to shut his lips tightly. "Or, has it anything to do with Serefina?"

There was an emotion, which flashed in Jedrek's eyes with the mention of the witch's name and this confirmed Lilac's statement.

"You want to hear the truth?" Jedrek asked with an expression that was devoid of any emotion.

Lilac gave him a look. "I have enough of your lies."

"Yes," Jedrek replied curtly. "It has something to do with her."

Lilac could feel her heart beating faster. She had expected this answer, but she was still surprised when Jedrek admitted it readily.

"Your reason?" Lilac gritted her teeth. The feelings of disappointment began to rise within her

"As you know, we cannot escape from this mate bond, and no matter how hard we try to oppose it, this bond is just getting stronger for uniting us." Jedrek stood up and got very close to her. "So, I just want to be done with it."

Lilac was aware about it as well.

Even though, the mate bond didn't work the way it worked on Jedrek and despite her hatred to him, Lilac found it difficult to go all out to despise the lycan before her eyes.

"How about Serefina?" Lilac felt bitter when she remembered Jedrek's ex lover. "Will you run to her the moment you see her?"

Jedrek slightly furrowed his eyebrows. "No." Therefore, he needed this mating ceremony, to claim her as his and enclose what left of his feelings for Serefina.

It was ironic, when it came to physical strength, Jedrek could overpower any other creature in this realm without much of difficulty, but when it came to feelings, he needed to think carefully, to decide what should be done.

"So, in the end, you will choose your destined mate over your ex lover?" there was a hint of sarcasm and bitterness in the way Lilac asked him.

"I choose what is right," Jedrek replied.

Lilac nodded. "I hope you keep your words. We have a war ahead of us, so I don't want to fight for your affection too. If you want to be with me, that means there is no place for other women." She emphasized this.

"I want you to stay away from Tordoff too," Jedrek said. His eyes were slightly darker when he mentioned his general's name.

Wasn't he the one who asked Tordoff to look after her? Yet, Lilac didn't voice out what she thought. Their conversation now was going smoother than she had expected, thus she didn't want to ruin it. "Done."

And then, there was a moment of silence between them. Later, Jedrek grabbed her hand as he said, "Walk with me."

They walked out of the throne room with Jedrek holding her hand, to the small garden near this wing.

Lilac watched her small hand that was enveloped by his big one. Everything about him was exceptionally big, even Jedrek was a head taller than his other generals.

But, what Lilac liked the most was the fact, despite his cold demeanor, the Alpha King's hand felt warm.

"I have said it before, I will not live forever. How will you deal with that?" Lilac walked slightly behind him, staring at his broad shoulder.

"I will not let you die," Jedrek said without any hesitation.

On the other hand, Lilac could feel her heart thumping rapidly against her chest, she bit her lips and lowered her head when she spoke. "If there is no mate bond between us, will you be like this?"

"No," Jedrek answered in the same tone. "If there is no mate bond between us, we will not know each other."

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"Why are you so quiet? Is there something that you are thinking now?" Hope asked Raine. Since they entered this cave to the time when they buried those children and went back to the cave to retrieve the priestess's body, Raine had been very quiet.

If only Hope knew Raine a year ago, when she was still not able to talk, she wouldn't say that she was quiet now.

"Nothing," Raine raised her head and gave her a reassuring look, which was not very convincing.

"Don't lie. Tell me." Hope narrowed her eyes, as she glanced at their mates behind them. Torak and Kace were walking side by side, but no one seemed to be in a mood to strike a conversation. They seemed like strangers to each other.

If it was not because of Hope and Raine, who insisted on coming inside the cave to find where the dead body of the priestess was, or one could say the remains of the priestess, absolutely Torak and Kace wouldn't be here too.

Following behind Kace and Torak was Delta and another five more hunters.

"Don't you feel something?" Raine spoke in low voice, but of course the two lycans behind them could hear it too, though they didn't show it in their expressions.

"Feel what?" Hope crept closer as she looked around her in alert. There was no palpable change in this place since the last time she was here.

"A strange feeling," Raine mumbled.

"What do you mean by a strange feeling?" Hope scrunched her eyebrows. "I don't feel anything. Maybe you are afraid of the scene that you had to experience about those poor children."

"No," Raine replied. "This is a different feeling." However, she was not able to explain it to Hope in detail.

They walked to a place where the sound of the river flowing was clearer. The sound came from the underground river.

"Don't tell me, you are afraid of ghosts…" Hope said teasingly as she wrapped her arms around Raine's shoulder.

And then, they heard it. An ear-piercing scream that halted Hope and Raine in their tracks.

"What was that?" Hope looked around her to see if she could find the person who was screaming.

Meanwhile, Raine's first reaction was to turn around to look for Torak instinctively, as she knew she would be safe with him.

However, there was no one there…