Page 27 of Lycan King's Claim
I take a moment to gather myself, to steady my breathing and calm the storm that rages within me. Carina stands before me, her eyes filled with a mix of sadness and resignation.
I try to comprehend the weight of such a revelation, the intricacies of the bond that binds them together. Yet she can't have him, just as I can't have Xandros. It is a truth that alters everything, adding another layer of complexity to our already ruined lives.
But before I can process the full implications, another piece of the puzzle presents itself. Carina's father and what he said in the stables and all the other things she has said to me, so cryptic.
"Who was your father talking about in the stables, was it Neve?" I demand to know what her father meant, to understand the hidden truths that lie beneath the surface.
Carina takes a deep breath, her voice filled with a mixture of pain and resignation. "Well, I might as well tell you now. You know most of everything else. Besides I owe you after what you did," she starts before sitting on the floor at my feet. I stare down at her, right now she looks like a battered woman, trying to escape a past that haunts her, however, after tonight I doubt she cares how she looks. "I knew your parents, Sienna. I was in love with your mother," she confesses, her words hanging in the air like a dark cloud.
"My mother was your handmaiden," I answer and she nods. "Your mother was having an affair on your father..... with me," she answers slowly. I suddenly remember Javier's words of him saying he didn't believe my father was guilty.
"My father didn't know or was he also with you?" Saying those words sounds so odd to my ears. She shakes her head. "He didn't know, but when we came here to visit the Queen, to sort out the treaties we were staying across from Neve's quarters. Neve walked in on me and your mother, she was showing my father which room I was staying in."
"So you killed her?" I ask but Carina shakes her head glancing away. She swallows down some emotion that haunts her. "No... I was never a part of her death, nor did I know what your mother would do to her," she answers.
"So what happened?" I ask her curiously. “My father dragged me out of the castle, told everyone he was taking me into the city." my brows pinch together but she continues speaking. "He kept raving on about how he wouldn't have a lesbian for a daughter. That I needed to get in good with the King and Queen Zeppelin's. That I would one day become Carina Zeppelin and he wouldn't let me ruin his plans." she tells me. A stray tear rolls down her cheek and she swipes it away.
"I tried to explain to him that I liked both genders and that I would one day marry Xandros like he asks, but he didn't believe me and told me he'd ensure I was straight.... so he took me to the hotel our guards were staying at..... he ordered the entire guard to rape me until I turned straight. Yet Xandros apparently asked where I was, my father told him I was catching up with friends, so my father came back and got me." she picks at the remnants of her dress.
"And Neve was dead when you returned?" She shakes her head. "No, your mother snuck in to see me. My father of course, caught her, he slapped her, told her it was her fault and that if Neve tells anyone, he'll be ruined, that he'll kill her." she tells me. My stomach sinks at her words. "I told your mother to run, to go get you and your father and run, but she didn't," she says, sadly. "The next day Neve didn't come out of her room. Xandros went looking for her and found her. Her neck was cut, and she was covered in stab wounds." Carina sniffles and I cross my legs.
"Xandros checked the footage and realized it was her. I called your mother, I asked her if she did it, she had this delusion that if she got rid of Neve my father would let us be together. I told her that Neve wouldn't have said anything because chances are she wouldn't have remembered, she wasn't of sound mind," she shakes her.
"When we returned to the kingdom, she was waiting there. My father had his guard arrest her, then forced me to bring her back to Xandros. Your father had no idea what was going on, he looked lost and I tried to save him. I pleaded with my father but he wouldn't hear it, saying he should be killed for not realizing his wife was having an affair."
My thoughts go back to what Javier said, so my father was collateral damage. "When we got here, your father begged me to take you. So I did, I dropped you off at your uncles, I think your father knew she did it, and I believe he knew why," she tells me.
"When I returned them to the castle. Adina was beside herself, she wouldn't let anyone near her sister or her baby, she wanted you dead, wanted your mother to know what it felt like to lose a child. She was furious when I didn't bring you here, but Rehan and I managed to convince her to leave you be. That killing your father was punishment enough."
"Does Queen Adina know about you and my mother?" she shakes her head.
The gravity of her words strikes me. My mind races, trying to process the depth of what she just told me. The pieces of the puzzle begin to fall into place, connecting the dots I had never imagined.
Carina's words linger in the air, the silence between us heavy with unspoken understanding. The revelations of the night have shattered the fragile illusions I once held, exposing the raw truths that lie at the core of everything. We are entangled in a web of secrets and desires, our lives intertwined in ways I never anticipated.
Carina's eyes meet mine, a mixture of gratitude and vulnerability shining within them. “I won’t tell them, I think enough people have died for my mother’s crimes, but what will you tell your father?” I ask her.
“That I escaped after you came into the stables. That his men tried to attack you, too,” she tells me. She sighs heavily before her brows pinch together. “Why were you in there, anyway?” she asks, and now it's my turn to look away when suddenly the door opens and Xandros walks in, saving me from answering. However, by what’s in his hand, I know I won’t get off that easy. “What the fuck is this?” he snarls, and Carina jumps to her feet; she tries to stop his advance before she falters when she sees the noose in his hand.
Carina glances back at me, her lips parted in shock. “You were going to kill yourself?” she whispers, and emotion threatens to choke me. What did they expect, that tomorrow they marry, and I remain happy for them? That I will wait patiently for something that will never happen, that I would live for an eternity serving them both?
“Well! Fucking answer, Sienna! Do I need to lock you in a fucking straight jacket?” he screams, tossing it at me. I flinch at his anger. Carina looks at me, waiting for an answer also. However, I don’t have the answer they want to hear.
“Forever the Lycan King’s captive,” I murmur. “What?” he growls, grabbing my arm and hauling me to my feet. He glares at me, fury burning in his gaze, which sets me ablaze with anger that burns just as hot. “I said forever the Lycan King’s captive. That is what you expect, isn’t it? That I live in the shadows, ready and waiting for you to stick your dick in whenever you feel like it, just your mistress when you don’t want to be with Carina, just a tool to stop you going fucking crazy!” his hand connects with the side of my face.
My face whips to the side, and I clutch my face, the skin feeling raised and hot. Tears burn my eyes at what he did, humiliation burning violently through me.
Carina shrieks at his anger, and he glares at her. “Get out!” he yells at her, but she shakes her head. “Not until I know you won’t hurt her,” Carina snarls back, they glare at each other and I worry for a second he’ll hurt her, but his attention returns swiftly back to me, his finger shaking in front of my face.
“You dare speak such vile words and put words in my mouth. I said I would find a way for us to be together; I never said you were to be my mistress!”
“Yet I am. You don’t have to say it. You treat me like I am your dirty little secret, and your actions speak volumes about how you want me. Just like this one did,” I tell him before turning on my heel and walking toward the bathroom. I slam the door before locking it, and I hear Carina arguing with Xandros before hearing the bedroom door slam shut, their voices being carried away, and only then do I let the emotions threaten to consume and drown me.
14
The weight of betrayal hangs heavy in the air as I pace back and forth in my study. The walls feel like they are closing in around me, suffocating me as rage courses through every inch of me. I listen to the phone ring, each passing second, my impatience growing stronger. My mother watches me nervously, knowing this is her fault; she never should have filed the challenge with the Council.
It will cause a delay. However, it may also end in Sienna’s death. It makes me wonder how much training Carina has had; every time I visited her, she was always with the guard, and her father always had to fetch her. I know she hated training; she was always excited to see me and escape her father’s relentless training.
