-HIM-
I never saw her after that. I went to Zaeris several times for several reasons but I never got to see her again. Ever.
This agitated my lycan but I never showed it on the surface. I acted the opposite. I acted as if I really didn't care where she was and why she wasn't around whenever I went to Zaeris. I acted as if it really didn't matter to me but deep down, I was dying to know where she was and how she was and why I wasn't able to see her.
On the surface, I acted as if I'd never really met her but deep down, I hoped for a chance to see her again. As the years passed, my lycan and I got more and more agitated. At one point, I could have done anything to see her, even just a glimpse of her would have been enough for my tortured lycan but all of a sudden, she seemed to have disappeared.
I wouldn't have admitted it out loud but for a moment, I was actually scared. She occupied my thoughts more than I could have ever allowed. A part of me was starting to think that I hadn't met her in the first place and it was all just a part of my imagination.
I thought that I should have been happier pursuing this thought but I wasn't. I was terrified at a point to just think that all of this could have been a dream— something new that those women in my harem had made up to simply entertain me. But I kept telling myself that this just wasn't possible like that.
"Where's she?" I'd asked Nefret once I'd gotten very frustrated with her absence. Several years had passed since that incident and after that, she seemed to have disappeared in thin air and her memory was also starting to fading away but my lycan was clinging to it like a ray of hope in the darkness. Whatever happened to her, I wanted to know— I needed to know!
At this, Nefret'd turned to me and cocked an eyebrow while a look of bewilderment had climbed on her face. I was aware that she knew about Celeste. Nefret knew just too much than I would have liked.
"Who?" She'd asked me.
"Her," I'd gritted as I'd scanned the crowd from the balcony we were seated on. I'd already forgotten why I was in Zaeris at that time. I just needed to see her— just a glance would've lightened me up from the inside.
Nefret's vibrant blue eyes had bored into me with an amount of intensity that I'd have disliked. I'd have threatened her if she weren't a woman and if Arles hadn't been standing right beside me, looking down at the crowd. I remembered being invited to a ceremony for Arles' third grand-pup. The way things were progressing, I knew that Arles' time to step down wasn't away. He'd then have to pass it to his son and that enchantress who claimed to be his mate, Arsinoe.
I hated her as well. How couldn't I? She was going to be the Queen of the Wolves. She was very much like Nefret, but much more blunt. I could already see myself having a hard time dealing with her.
"Why?" Nefret had questioned me, the intensity in her eyes had been enough to penetrate my skin. I hadn't like it a bit. Especially, that power oozing off her. She was a woman. The only thing she was allowed to be was submissive.
"Answer my question first," I'd gritted at her and had earned a sharp look from Arles. He might haven't said it out loud but I had known that he was on the verge of exhausting his patience with me.
To be honest, I'd been disappointed in him too for a long, long time. But I'd been surer that his son and his cabinet of ministers were going to disappoint me even more.
"She is in a great place. Doing much better and really happy," Nefret had answered with a mocking smile. I had clenched my fist and jaw. I had to contain myself from glaring at her because Arles was there. I wouldn't have risked it in a situation like that.
I'd really wanted to know where she was and why she wasn't around whenever I visited Zaeris but I'd known that Nefret wouldn't let me know anything anyway. I'd have to wait till the day when Ares would have gotten crowned. His cabinet of ministers would also be taking over the court and if they were crazy enough to still have her be their General then I'd be able to see her and make some very, very necessary changes as well.
I was the Lycan King after all. I had a great say in what happened in Zaeris because we worked collectively. I wouldn't let a woman become a General of such a powerful kingdom. It would be very foolish and would definitely be their downfall. Everyone seemed to have lost their senses but I hadn't. I wouldn't let it happen at any cost.
~
That day arrived. Finally.
I'd been very impatiently waiting for this day than Arles himself. Although our motives were different behind the impatience. He wanted to see his son as the King of the Wolves and I wanted to make sure that incompetent people don't get the most important position.
My lycan was pacing inside me very impatiently as my carriage pulled over in front of the palace in Zaeris. Ares' coronation day was finally here and so was the day I'd been waiting for so many days... and very long nights.
I ignored everything and every one the moment I stepped out of my carriage and headed straight to the court where the whole ceremony was supposed to take place. Most of the guests had already arrived along with the old ministers but the Royal Couple and their successors and their ministers were nowhere to be seen yet. I was growing very impatient for every passing minute until they finally arrived.
Even though the whole place was crowded, I was able to sense her right away before my eyes found the she-wolf who'd been keeping me awake at night for years. Something tickled in my stomach and my heart instantly sped up. My lycan stilled inside me for a moment as he drank in her appearance. She'd changed a lot since the last time I saw her. She now walked tall and looked very confident while chatting to a man at her side.
I clenched my jaw and fists and fixed my eyes on her. My eyes bore down on her as she walked with the other future ministers and took a seat opposite to me, on the other end of the room.
Huge distance laid between us but I was able to see everything about her as clear as the day. Even though my eyes continued to bore down at her, she never looked at me for once.
In fact, she acted as if I wasn't there at all, as if she hadn't felt me there at all! This was starting to piss me off. All the ministers were dressed according to the field they'd serve in. So, she happened to wear her fighting gear and her beautiful platinum blond hair was very delicately braided aside.
The heat in my gaze rapidly increased but she never looked my way and this was making me angrier but I never looked away. I just couldn't look away from her at that point.
The Royals finally arrived at the courtroom and the ceremony started but my eyes remained on her all the time, waiting for her to turn around and have her grey eyes lock with mine but she never looked at me. All the while she smiled and looked like she was very much enjoying the whole ceremony and this was burning me even more from the inside.
She looked unbothered and happy... without me.
At first, Ares and Arsinoe were crowned king and queen. Arles and Nefret looked very happy to step down from their throne and pass it over to their son and daughter-in-law. The ceremony progressed without any interruption. Everyone was just too focused on what was happening at the front of the courtroom but I couldn't have cared less about all of it.
My eyes were trained only on one person. That vixen!
After the coronation of Ares, it was time for his ministers to take their oaths. The Royal advisor first pledged his loyalty, followed by a couple of new ministers before it was finally time for Celeste to take up that position for which she wasn't competent at all!
With my teeth clenched with the force of a crushing boulder, I watched her rise from the crowd, standing taller and looking more confident as ever as she walked towards the front of the courtroom with her chin held high and her face decorated with a look of determination and pride. My nails were digging in my palm as I watched her go up to the Head Priest - who, first, blessed her and then sprinkled some elixir over her.
After this, another priest stepped closer to her and slit her palm and squeezed some blood out of it and let them drop over the large crystal clear basin. Huge blue flames rose from the water as soon as her blood landed in the basin. She was then asked to repeat her oath.
I waited as she chanted the oath. The seconds ticked in my head and my eyes zeroed on her lips. I couldn't help but notice how they moved. I'd almost forgotten how they'd felt and tasted but I knew that I'd soon find ways to recount them again once I manage to find her alone after this ceremony.
I snapped out of my temporary daze when her lips stopped moving and the Head Priest asked, "Does anyone have any objection with this she-wolf being the General of this state ?"
A very, very, brief silence followed his question. They were about to move on, not expecting anything but hah! I still had some senses left in me because I spoke up all of a sudden, claiming everyone's attention in the room all at once.
"I object!" I roared, my strong and regal voice bounced through the walls of the courtroom, making everyone straightened up and lower their eyes. My eyes instantly locked with Ares- who was now sitting on the throne as the new king of Zaeris.
"What is your objection?" Ares demanded regally. The tension in the air of the courtroom was now crackling. I could see a look of hesitance in everyone's eyes as a screaming silence temporarily drowned the courtroom.
My eyes left Ares' for a monetarily before they locked with a very passive pair of grey eyes, looking at me with annoyance.
"A woman can never be the General of the army of Wolves!" I roared, boring my eyes into her but she looked very calm and unfazed as she tore her eyes away from me and looked back at the new Royal couple. A very tense silence followed my words. I waited for them to come to their senses and right what was being done wrong but nothing like that happened.
"Objection dismissed," The new Queen of Wolves, spoke. The amusement in her voice was unmissable as she gave me a mocking look. The crowd on the other end of the courtroom erupted in cheers and applauded with a deafening roar as the High Priest declared Celeste the new General of the wolve's army.
I'd never felt this humiliated in my life before and I wasn't simply going to sit back and let them get away with it. I'd make them pay.
I'll make her pay... she'd done a lot more damage to me than she could ever realize. I'd make her realize.
_
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