Chapter 70: 70. Meeting The Lycan Queen III

Maisie

I slipped in and out of consciousness.

The first time I opened my eyes, I was being strapped to the seat of a private jet. The second time was during touch down. I was lifted like cargo into the backseat of a limousine with the Queen’s crest.

I barely took note of the dark haired guard speaking in hushed tones from the front seat before I was dragged under again.

The third time, I saw only darkness. There was something over my head—a hood?—or maybe I was in a sack of some sorts. The hands carrying me shifted and the fabric over my face shifted enough that I caught sight of red roofs, lush gardens, high pillars of gold that ran all the way up to the skies, marbles polished to such perfection that I caught a glimpse of my reflection against them.

I was in a sack.

My eyelids drooped again, no matter how hard I tried to leave them open.

When I awoke the last time, it was to the sounds of voices being spoken over me. The first was soft and deferring. The other was rich, lilting, condescending and yet, powerful enough to have my skin erupting with goosebumps before I was even fully awake yet.

"And she will be in perfect condition for tonight?" The second voice said in a languid, almost disinterested tone.

"Y-yes, Your Majesty," the first answered. "The sedative should have worn off completely by the time the full moon is out. There shouldn’t be a problem."

Your Majesty?

I tried to open my eyes again but my body seemed to be waking up at its own pace. My fingers and toes twitched first.

"I want her thoroughly cleansed." I heard a small sniff. "Get rid of the foul stink of wolf. And all that hair on her legs and pubic area. I want her smooth as a new born." A pause. "Do you have the fertility draught prepared?"

"I-I didn’t think it was necessary, considering it’s been proven the transitioned are extremely fertile—"

My lashes felt less heavier, but I didn’t dare open them. I also kept my breath steady and my heartbeat slow, listening in to understand what they had planned to do with me.

"Did I, or did I not ask you to create the draught, Memah? Or shall I have you replace her on the field tonight?"

The heavy stench of fear filled the room.

"I’ll get it done before the rite."

"Good. Now, get out. I would like a moment with my guest who pretends to be asleep. Eavesdropping is a terrible habit, you know?"

I opened my eyes.

The women wasn’t wearing a crown. She didn’t have on exorbitant robes or jewelry betraying her station.

And yet, she didn’t need any of those things, because even the air knew that the being in front of me was a force to be reckoned with. My very being knew it.

Her aura choked me like fingers around my throat and I wheezed. I couldn’t move my body and it wasn’t that the drugs were still keeping me down.

It was her. I felt like I was under the heel of a giant and couldn’t get out from underneath her. It was, till date, the most terrifying thing.

And then, I looked upon her face.

The Lycan Queen was both flawed and flawless. She was flawed in the way her face wasn’t perfectly symmetrical and her brows were finely arched in a way that one rose slightly higher than the other, giving her a permanent look of utter disdain. Even her lips had one curled up higher than the other, completing the look that could have curdled milk.

But she was flawless in the way her red hair burned like flames, looking nearly alive in the way it caressed her skin that was the color of moonlight.

Her lips were reddened, almost as though she had smeared heart’s blood over the plump fullness of them.

And her eyes were the most disturbing thing about her. I couldn’t tell if they were dark green, blue or pitch black. The colors kept sifting as she peered down at me.

Hers was a beauty that cut as sharply as a weapon. Beautiful that felt... unnatural. Immortal.

Tessa didn’t even come close.

She was in a simple white slip of a dress that was see-through in all the right places, showing off her voluptuous figure.

The dress hung loosely off her left shoulder and I saw bite marks decorating the elegant arch of her neck. Six of them.

Her hair was slightly mussed, like fingers had been run through them. And her lips were kiss swollen, and I realized she looked like she’d just rolled out of her lover’s bed.

"You are certainly not what I expected," she said in that condescending tone, though she sat by the beside, running sharp fingers along my face.

My skin prickled at her touch. Though her fingertips were smooth as velvet, it felt like there was a blade to my neck.

"Too much flesh," she tutted. "Not nearly enough beauty to captivate. What is it my nephew sees in you that has him besotted and foolish enough to defy me?"

Her eyes flicked to mine. "You may speak."

The pressure on my throat released slightly and I found myself sputtering all the things that were stuck in my chest. "What did you do—what are you going to do with me?"

She sighed. "You see, I spent the last fortnight since I found out of my nephew’s mistake asking myself the same thing. How, exactly, might I punish them for this deliberate blunder they have made? Nothing I could think up seemed cruel enough to fit the gravity of their insolence."

She yawned, reaching for me again. This time, she caught a lock of hair from my head and twisted it around her finger as she stared at the highlights in the strands.

I didn’t think she realized she was doing it. Or maybe she did and was just trying to make me uncomfortable, considering I still couldn’t move a single inch.

"Their efforts to keep what they’ve done completely hidden almost warmed my heart. Even my spies in their little mansion were convinced you were nothing of consequence."

I blinked rapidly. What... she had spies in the mansion? But the only one who lived in the house apart from me and the four of them was...

Corazon.

A sudden sickness lurched in my stomach. I didn’t understand a single thing. Why would she go so far to spy on them? And what had they done that was so terrible that they had to be punished for it?

"You think with your face," she noted. "He should’ve taught you to guard your emotions." She caressed my mouth. "You’re an easy mark. Too easy."

Then she stood abruptly, folding her hands behind her back. "Seeing that you will bear the brunt of their punishment tonight, I suppose it is fair to tell you why this is happening to you. What were you told was the reason why you were... changing?"

"That I got bitten," I answered, not because I wanted to, but because she had the uncanny ability to tear the answers right out of me. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

She snorted. "Soren always has been a liar. A very good one. A bite is not enough to force the change, girl. Anyone can be bitten. Most die from it, that much is true. But what effects the change is if you get claimed by your Erasthai. It is possible you have been claimed for longer than you even realize, and the bite was only the first step. You see, the transition you are experiencing is what happens when your body prepares you to be a suitable mate for the one who has claimed you."

For the second time that day, my mind blanked out. I didn’t understand what she was saying. She was claiming I was their Erasthai and I was claimed and—

You’re it.

Tears prickled in my eyes.

Had it been on purpose? Had it not been a mistake? What was going on?

"Whatever the reason is," she said with another yawn. "There are rules that have been broken and an example must be set. You will be the maiden of honour at the Red Moon rite tonight."

"What... does that mean?"

She smiled. It was a cruel thing that set fear to my body. "It is a rite of fertility, and you will be the vessel of pleasure tonight. What better punishment than having them watch every male in attendance lie with you and be unable to do a single thing about it? I imagine Soren will find this method most thrilling."