Page 17 of The Unwanted Mate of the Lycan Kings
The wolf rears back onto me with a yelp, and I wrap my arms around Hunter’s wide chest just as fur brushes across my face on one side and my arm on the other.
Gnash and the other wolf growl furiously at Zeke, who stops dead in his tracks with his fist still raised.
“Regan, Lyon, call ’em off!”Zeke snarls.
Regan and Lyon look at each other as the two wolves stalk Zeke, pushing him back, heads dropping and teeth clashing together as they stalk the king.
“Shadow, here now!”King Lyon calls, yet the wolves do not respond.Their eyes remain on Zeke as they protect their injured brother.
“Gnash, come!”King Regan calls to his wolf.Gnash doesn’t even look in Regan’s direction.He’s too focused on his target.
Zeke’s wolf, Hunter, is on top of me, and he crawls off with a slight limp as I shuffle toward the exit behind me.As I do, I watch in horror as each wolf stands off with its owner.
“They aren’t protecting Hunter, Zeke, look.They’re protecting her!”Lyon snaps, pointing at me, and I freeze frommy slow escape.
“Where she goes, they follow!”Lyon points out, making me realize that with each slow move backward, the wolves back up with me, but their eyes watch their masters.
King Regan glares at me, and so does Zeke, while Lyon cocks his head to the side.A low growl emits from Regan, and his surrounding aura grows darker, more sinister.
“Fuck this.I’ve had enough of this shit.Gnash now!”King Regan orders his wolf.
His aura floods out like a storm cloud, his eyes turning to pits of onyx, and Gnash whimpers under the command.His legs shake as he tries not to drop to his belly under the pressure of the command.I know if I was standing, his command would drop me, which I find odd, auras and commands have never affected me.
Yet, saying that, I have never met a lycan until I came here.As a child, I stumbled across a werewolf once, but Granny killed it quickly.I’ve even seen vampires and pumas, but never a lycan.Granny said they were the worst of fate’s creations.
She told me they could command werewolves, normal wolves, any form of canine, and even weak-minded humans.However, she told me my runes would protect me from a lycan command or vampire compulsion, even help me to see through vampiric glamours.
It makes me wonder if my runes are failing, though they haven’t faded over the years at all.
Now and then Granny touched them up, usually only one here and there, or she added another, not like the first time when I received the biggest all at once.
Gnash whimpers as his legs threaten to give out from under him, and the wolf’s aura trembles and falters under the pressure of its master.A normal wolf wouldn’t stand a chance against a full-grown lycan.But these wolves are fed with the kings’ blood, which appears to give them some form of immunity to fight them.
Regan moves toward us, and Gnash and Hunter both droptheir heads.At first, I thought to submit, but instead, they bare their teeth as their huge shoulders roll, ready to pounce while they growl menacingly.King Regan stops mid-step when Gnash snaps his teeth at him.
All three brothers look at each other and growl in unison before charging at us.The moment they do, they’re attacked by their own wolves.The kings are trying not to hurt their pets, yet their wolves don’t hold the same fear as they tear through flesh and rip into the kings.
Chapter 12
Blood sprays and fur flies as the kings try to ward off theirwolves without hurting them.They must care deeply for their pets.
I will have to remember that.Caring for something means they have a weakness, yet it also means they would probably kill for their pets too.
Neither man nor beast seems ready to relent, and I can tell this fight will only end in death.The majestic, beautiful creatures may be lethal and monstrous, but something inside me recoils in disgust at the idea of watching them be killed because they refuse to submit.
“Gnash, Hunter, Shadow!”My voice rings out the order clearly, not even sounding like my own, nor do I remember thinking or speaking the words.Like some baser instinct to protect, the wolves override common sense because they obey instantly, moving to sit at my feet.
I blink at what I did.What the heck is happening?How did I command their loyal pets when they couldn’t?
“Well then, isn’t this a startling new development?”A baritone voice brings all three kings to an abrupt stop as we peer to the left, seeing their father entering the maze’s center.
He is dressed in an elaborate and stylish robe made ofthick material, the golden buttons holding it to his shoulders match the gold medals that line his shirt.
His clothes beneath the heavy-looking robe are made of silk and embroidered with gold thread, and although his crown does not sit on top of his head, he still looked like a king and is far more presentable than his casually dressed sons.
He exudes power and authority, just like his sons, but they have not yet mastered his authoritative stance.Even the air surrounding him seems otherworldly in an eerie, yet powerful way.
Their father walks into the center of the maze, and the wolves whine at him instead of growling.They either think he is harmless or they know he is untouchable—I’m not sure which—but it is clear the king does not fear the wolves.He gives Gnash and Hunter a scolding look, and they both drop their furry heads and then look back up at me.
