The Lycan King and his Dark Temptation novel Chapter 409

BRENDA

Crouching low, I crawled backward across the cold tiles, trying to avoid being discovered.

I slipped through the half-open doors and rushed toward the mirror, examining myself to make sure I didn’t have leaves from the forest or anything that could give me away.

With my heart pounding, I practically threw myself onto the bed, just as the sound of boots echoed in the hallway.

The door swung open, and Duke Thesio entered the room. His steps moved toward me immediately.

I controlled my breathing as he stopped at the edge of the bed, scrutinizing me. Once satisfied, he turned and went into the bathroom. I opened my eyes in the darkness, calculating my next move.

Damn idiot. What good was being a Duke if he was just an elemental? They would never compare to the power of true supernatural beings.

Tomorrow, I would meet that vampire. Thesio’s days were numbered.

*****

NARRATOR

Several miles from the capital of Duke Thesio’s realm…

"Shit, I thought I was gonna die tonight. It felt endless." Tomás grumbled as he sat on the cart taking them back to their village.

Behind them, the enemy’s bodies lay scattered across the blood-soaked grass. A complete slaughter. They had caught them off guard, pants down, completely exposed.

On the large ships that had arrived from Elliot’s lands, the border guards escorted their people back home.

The wounded received medical assistance, including Álvaro, the brave soldier who had nearly been strangled to death by his romantic rival.

"Yeah… hell of a night," Aldo answered mechanically, his mind preoccupied with the image of the powerful lycan.

He worried that Elliot hadn’t been able to save his family.

"Aldo, where the hell did the Duke go?" Tomás leaned closer, whispering.

The cart rattled along the road, their feet dangling off the edge.

"He left on a ship back to his lands after receiving an urgent message."

"Shut up, don’t say anything else. I’ll tell you at home." Aldo added in his mind, subtly nodding toward the coachman and the soldier riding with them, who might overhear.

"Ah, right, right… yeah…" Tomás said awkwardly.

Aldo glanced at him, shaking his head in amusement.

If it weren’t for his good heart and bravery, the guy would be a complete idiot.

After traveling for nearly an hour…

"Alright, boys, this is where we part ways." The cart stopped at the entrance of the village, and the soldier got off to see them off.

The first hints of sunrise painted the horizon after that stormy night. Aldo and Tomás thanked him before heading home.

The Duke’s people would handle the rest. They had done their part.

"I just hope the Duke at least gives us back the grain rations and access to the forest’s medicine," Tomás muttered as they walked under the moonlight along the village’s main road.

A wider, dustier path than the narrow alleys winding between small houses.

"I imagine he will," Aldo said, once again admiring his friend’s simplicity.

"Lavinia!" I rushed into the servant’s quarters, finding the small bed empty. She was gone.

I ran in a panic, already knowing exactly where she had gone.

If that cursed memory had harmed my child, I would dig up its corpse just to strangle it again myself.

"Daughter!" I shouted when I saw her coming down the grand staircase.

Barefoot, her clothes dirty, she was holding something in her hands.

"Mom, weren’t you just with me?" she asked, confused, glancing over her shoulder.

There was no one there. I hurried up the steps.

I knew exactly who she was mistaking me for—the woman from my dreams, the one who had led me to the attic. I suspected it was the lingering magic of my mother.

"Are you okay? Did anyone hurt you, my love?" I checked her over anxiously, running my hands over her small frame, inspecting her face.

Then my eyes landed on the small chest in her hands.

"No, no. It’s just… you told me to come with you to find this," she said innocently, holding out the small black and gold box.

"It was lying on the hallway carpet."

I hesitated but took it. Immediately, a warmth spread through my fingers. I looked up and swore I saw the shadow of a woman fade at the top of the stairs.

Something important was inside. Something so crucial that my mother had hidden it from my father, keeping it only for us.

What was it? A way to strengthen my magic? Or something even more dangerous and dark?