A King's Duty

Chapter 2: Elsrae

The Lycan stared straight into my eyes without a word. His large frame blocked most of the rain from pounding against my face and the warmth of his higher body temperature seeped through my soaked clothing, keeping me somewhat warm.

I tried to be patient by waiting for him to make a decision, but I was tired of being stuck in the downpour. Just as I was about to knock him out, the Lycan took his hand off my throat and planted it next to my head.

Eying him carefully, I slowly withdrew my weapon from his neck, but kept it as a barrier between us because I didn't trust him yet. He remained silent as he started to lean downwards and I tensed in caution.

"What are you doing?" I asked as I put my hand on his muscular shoulder to stop him from coming closer.

"To see if you're lying to me or not," he grumbled. His enticingly low voice immediately enraptured all my attention.

Feeling stupidly brave and weirdly confident that he wasn't going to rip my throat out, I stopped pushing. 

He leaned in a little closer and sniffed.

"And the verdict is?" I asked with a hint of amusement, knowing that he wouldn't be able to smell anything with the poison in his veins.

He narrowed his eyes at me in annoyance and I bit back a smile.

"Lycan, I told you that- " My next words got caught in my throat as the tip of his nose brushed against the column of my neck.

Shivers ran up my spine and I started to feel vulnerable. As my mind registered that him, a potential enemy, being this close to my neck was a horrible idea, I pulled my dagger up to a defensive position.

The Lycan let out a sigh in frustration and gave up. 

He lifted himself off of my body and let out a pained grunt as he slowly got up. When he successfully staggered onto his feet while clutching his stomach, he took a step back to lean his upper body heavily against the tree behind him then closed his eyes tiredly.

I sheathed my dagger and planted my hands down on the forest floor. "My house is few steps away, come on," I said as I stood upright.

The Lycan's eyes snapped open and he let out a deep growl. It sounded more weak and tired rather than menacing. "Leave."

I paused for a second to contemplate. Ultimately, I offered my help and he was the one that refused it, so it wouldn't be my fault if this male met an unfortunate end tonight. 

"Fine," I answered back with a shrug and traced back home.

As I was about to start taking off my dirty clothes, the nagging feeling returned and I felt an odd pull to go back to him, to save him.

I gritted my teeth in irritation as I couldn't ignore the feeling and traced back outside. Looking around, I saw that the Lycan was now sitting on the ground. He still leaned against the tree, but he looked barely conscious now. 

With a small sigh, I walked up to the Lycan and knelt down next to him so that we were eye level.

"Why did you come back?" The Lycan asked as he opened his eyes halfway, then closed them as if even that action took too much effort and strength.

"I'm busy tomorrow. I won't have time to bury your body and give you a proper send-off if you die tonight, lycan. Besides, it's bad luck to not help an injured and I certainly don't need more of those," I replied back lightly, hoping that the slight humor in my voice sounded friendly enough to convince him that I wasn't going to kill him in his sleep.

The Lycan let out a tired chuckle with his eyes closed. "I'm not dying tonight, vampire. Leave me be."

"If you don't die from your wounds, then you'll die when the RVA finds you. Right now, your life should be worth more than your pride, so don't be stubborn," I chided. "Let's go."