The Cursed Kingdom

FIFTEEN

The male with the neck tattoos and long black hair lowered his head, making me quirk a brow. When he stood straight again, I finally registered the similarities he shared with his sister, Callie. Their noses were the exact same, only Evander's was a bit larger and slightly crooked in two spots, no doubt from breaking it a lot in the past. But his eyes with a hint of silver amongst the gold, however, were completely his own. I'd never seen any other Lycan with such a shade. They were stunning in the rising sunlight creeping in through the window behind Henrik's desk.

"It's an honor," he said with a lopsided, boy-ish grin. His teeth were as white as Callie's too and I came to the conclusion that good genetics was the culprit for their pristine appearance. "I've heard so much good about you, Little Madam."

I glared at him, the corners of my lips quirking upwards, holding back a smile at his teasing. I could already tell we would get along if we spent enough time together. His demeanor reminded me uncannily of Taylium. And I hadn't realized how much I'd missed my friend until then.

Henrik growled and I could see his eyes glowing from the corner of my eye. Both mine and Evander's lips went back into straight lines and his eyes went to the floor along with all the other males', who were deeply concerned with upsetting their king further. I looked at Henrik and glowered at him, delivering all of my anger through my eyes in one blow.

"This is your future Queen, the female who will carry your next ruler. You know her scent. Now protect her," Henrik said through gritted teeth, taking the time to eye each male with his teeth bared and display his dominance. "You are all dismissed to the Meeting Room." That was their king's order. There was no room for question.

All the males bowed at him and then shared similar, apprehensive glances before turning and lowering their heads in my direction as well. As they walked by me to get through the now opened doorway, some threw me friendly smiles while others were too preoccupied with whispering to each other to do so. It interested me greatly to see how different all of them were appearance-wise, yet each one holding himself with utmost dignity and grace as if they were gods walking amongst the living.

As one male in particular grinned at me, I couldn't help but notice the mark on his neck, which appeared light pink against his extremely dark skin. I was taken aback. It had never crossed my mind that males could be marked since I'd only ever seen females with them, yet there he was. Noticing my stare, his chest noticeably puffed up with pride, obviously very pleased with whomever his mate was.

I watched his retreating back, which was dressed in a traditional Lycan-styled embroidered vest, with wide eyes until the guards closed the double doors. As soon as I heard them click shut, my emotions soured and I remembered last night's debacle with Henrik screaming in my face.

"Why must you tempt every unmated male that crosses your path?" Henrik asked, sounding irritated.

I looked behind me to catch sight of his large form leaned over his desk, clawed hands gripping the wooden edges. His eyes glowed like liquid gold as they glared daggers at me, aiming straight at my soul. It vexed me to no end that he was the one getting angry at me, when it easily should've been the other way around with him begging for the gift of my forgiveness.

I scoffed and shook my head in disbelief at his ridiculous claim, looking upwards at the chandelier and trying to reign in my true level of rage. When I finally felt like I had more control over my actions, I used my hand to gesture to my unkempt hair and then to the rest of me, eyeing him like he was insane for such a thought ever entering his head. "I can assure you, Your Majesty, that I have never tempted any male or man." The words stung as they left my mouth yet I believed them to be true without any doubt.