The Lycan King's Muse

Ep 49: What Do You Think You Are to Her?

"I..."

"You gave that monster," Lyall repeats his question in a darker tone, putting an emphasis on the word monster, "a name?" I take one step back, causing Sky to hit the broken walls behind us. Sky grips my skirt tightly. His red eyes are peaking from behind me.

"Lyall, please calm down–" I try. But every time I speak, the king cuts me off.

"I asked you a question, Werewolf Girl," he growls at the end. I gulp, knowing that he has reduced me to 'Werewolf Girl' again and not Mars. It pricks my heart knowing that the beautiful moment we spent together last night seems to just disintegrated into... nothing.

We're back to square one.

"I did." I can't bear the intensity of Lyall's eyes. As a pack creature, we, werewolves and lycans, don't like feeling like we've betrayed our leader. Although Lyall is not my official alpha.

Honestly, I've even forgotten that Lyall is the king here. I have been so occupied with my new daily life that I didn't care about his status in the natural hierarchy. It doesn't help that Lyall has always treated me as an equal.

He never made me feel like I have to submit to him, that I was below him.

Until now.

"Well, that's stupidity," he says in a low tone. The way he says it makes my eyes fill with tears. It was said to hurt me. "I thought you're smarter than that, Werewolf Girl. But I should've not expected much from someone who has never experienced formal education."

That.

That hurts.

I stare at Lyall in disbelief. He said it so easily as if it has always been at the tip of his tongue.

"If you're smart," he continues, "you'll step away now, Mars. Think! That creature isn't worth it."

It's condescending. He's belittling me. And it hurts.

So much.

His powerful gaze and fangs show authority. The lycan king is demanding submission from me, the Werewolf Girl.

Sasha whimpers as a burning feeling spread from my chest. The pain is dull, but it grows exponentially. It's different from the burning feeling of the heat. This is the kind of burn that suffocates you, the kind of burn similar to when your chest is carved with small knives. They make deep and small cuts. But all the cuts burn. And they do it slowly, mercilessly.

This is the price of defying an alpha.

I felt like this when I left my pack, but not to this extent. Our mate bond must have intensified the pain. That I bear Lyall's multiple bite marks on my body, despite not being on the marking spot, makes me more susceptible to Lyall's authority as well. It's called temporary marking. Only alphas can use their bites to make others submit temporarily. The stronger the alpha, the stronger the effect.

So, this burn... Lyall is burning me and he knows it. Yet he doesn't stop.

"Move!" he orders again.

My breathing becomes laborious. It's so hard to breathe, to fight the bond and the temporary marks, to defy Lyall.

But I stand my ground. Despite having it hard to breathe, I keep my body straight and I stare Lyall in the eyes. "No," I say.

My vision has become blurry. Fireflies are at the periphery of my vision. My legs are becoming weaker. Like always, I touch my stomach, and that's when a tear falls from my eyes.

The lack of oxygen is hurting my baby. And yet, I don't move. I choose not to move.

I keep my gaze on Lyall's beautiful emerald eyes as another tear descends on my cheek. "I'm sorry," I whisper to my baby.