Forced to marry the powerful Lycan

Chapter eight...It's been Seven days

Arielle pov

The days passed in a blink, and before I knew it, five days had already slipped away.

I was confined to this Keeping Castle, completely isolated from the rest of the world. I hadn't seen my supposed husband since the wedding.

I didn't know how cruel he could truly be he knew very well that I knew no one in this foreign realm except him, yet he had dumped me here on my own and vanished without a word.

On my first day here, I was assigned a personal guard. Linkin was his name. I remembered him from my wedding as one of my husband's elite guards.

He had long black hair and striking blue eyes. He was very polite and quiet at first, but as the days wore on, he began loosening up and actually started answering my questions about Eldoria.Thats how I learnt my husband's name was Kael. Linkin he was kind, and in my heart, I felt like he had become a friend to me even though I knew deep down that to him, protecting me was just a duty.

My lessons started on day one as well.

They taught me a mountain of material every single afternoon. It wasn't overly hard for me because, as a princess of Valen, I had already been trained in royal etiquette, history, and diplomacy since childhood.

They taught me about the history of Valen and Eldoria most of which I already knew from my prep work before the wedding. But what frustrated me was that they never covered the things I didn't know, like the true nature of Lycans or the secrets of the royal court.

All my tutors were strict, stern, and hardly ever smiled. I even started to think they secretly hated me.

By the ninth day, after finishing another dry, silent lesson, I knew it was time to take matters into my own hands. I needed to know if my theory was right if my husband had truly abandoned me here to rot. I needed to hear directly from his own lips why I was being kept in hiding like a shame.

If he wasn't going to come to me, I was going to force him.

I walked out onto my huge balcony. The sun was high in the sky, blazing down on the stone courtyard below.

Taking a deep breath, I pulled the heavy bedsheets off my four-poster bed and began knotting them tightly together, attaching the pillowcases at the end to add extra length. It still wasn't nearly long enough to reach the ground, but I didn't care. Right now, I desperately wished I had magic of my own. I hated myself sometimes for being so helpless against the dark forces of this world.

I tied the final knot and secured the top around the heavy stone balustrade.

My goal was simple: get them to declare me missing. I couldn't walk out through the front door because Linkin was posted right outside. But if I slipped over the ledge and vanished into the lower grounds, the panic of a missing crown princess would reach the capital ..and my husband would be forced to come here and face me himself.

I swung one leg over the carved stone railing, then the other.

Holding tight to the knotted linen, I lowered myself over the edge. The wind whipped through my hair and dress as my feet searched frantically for footholds against the smooth tower wall. My heart pounded against my ribs like a trapped bird.

Just a little lower, I told myself. Just make it look like a real escape attempt.

Suddenly, the top fabric gave a violent groan.

Before I could even gasp, the sheets snapped.

Air rushed past my ears as gravity ripped me downward into a freefall. I squeezed my eyes shut, bracing for the bone-crushing impact with the courtyard stone below...

WOOSH.

I didn't hit the stone. Strong, steady arms caught me effortlessly mid-air, snapping me against a chest as hard as iron armor. The sudden deceleration knocked the breath right out of my lungs.

"Princess Ariella," a smooth, calm voice rumbled above me.

I snapped my eyes open to find myself staring into a pair of vivid, cool blue eyes framed by long, dark hair. Linkin was standing effortlessly on a wide stone archway below my balcony, holding me bridal-style as if I weighed no more than a feather. He wasn't even out of breath.

Swinging down to the courtyard floor, Linkin set me gently back onto my feet, keeping a steadying hand on my elbow until my trembling knees locked into place.

He glanced up at the torn bedsheets flapping uselessly high above us, then looked down at me. For the first time since I'd met him, a tiny, amused twitch touched the corner of his lips.

"I must admit," Linkin said, his polite, quiet tone returning, "tying pillowcases to bedsheets is a remarkably creative attempt. But jumping from the third-story tower of a Lycan stronghold is... unwise, Your Highness."

I pulled my arm back, hastily smoothing down my skirt and trying to regain whatever royal dignity I had left, even as my heart continued to hammer.

"I wasn't trying to escape the entire kingdom, Linkin," I said, looking him dead in the eye, my voice shaking only a little. "I know there are guards at every outer gate. I knew you would catch me. Or at least... I hoped you would."

Linkin tilted his head, his blue eyes softening with genuine confusion. "If you knew you couldn't get away, why put yourself in danger?"

"Because it's been nine days!" I burst out, unable to hold it in a second longer. "Nine days in this castle! Nine days of strict teachers who look at me like I'm a plague, nine days of history lessons I already know, and nine days of complete silence from the man who brought me here! If Prince Kael is going to abandon me in a tower, he should at least have the courage to say it to my face!"

I took a ragged breath, my face burning with frustration.

"I knew if the Crown Princess went missing, they would have no choice but to notify him," I admitted softly, looking at the stone floor. "I just wanted to make him come here."

Linkin stayed silent for a long moment. The stiff guard facade melted away, replaced by a warm, sympathetic expression. He let out a soft sigh and crossed his arms over his chest.

"You didn't have to throw yourself off a balcony to get his attention, Ariella," Linkin said gently, dropping the formal title for just a moment as a friend. "If you wanted to see the Crown Prince, all you had to do was ask me to send word."

"Would he have even answered?" I asked bitterly.

Linkin opened his mouth to reply, but before the words could leave his lips, the temperature in the sunny courtyard plummeted.

A thick, suffocating shadow stretched across the stone floor, swallowing the warmth of the afternoon sun. The air grew so heavy with raw magic that even Linkin instantly snapped straight, his posture going rigid as he slammed his fist over his chest and bowed his head low.

From the dark archway leading into the main courtyard, a tall, imposing figure stepped into the light.

Silver hair gleaming in the pale sun, dark golden eyes locked onto mine with an intensity that made my skin prickle with heat.

Crown Prince Kael had arrived.

He didn't look at Linkin. He didn't look at the torn bedsheets dangling from the third-story balcony. His golden eyes were fixed entirely on me, burning with a mix of fury, exhaustion, and something far more dangerous a dark, possessive intensity that made my breath hitch in my throat.

He took three slow, deliberate strides toward us, the shadow magic clinging to the hem of his dark coat like liquid smoke.

"Leave us, Linkin," Kael commanded. His voice wasn't loud, but the sheer weight of his Alpha authority vibrated through the stone beneath our feet.

Linkin didn't hesitate. "Yes, Your Highness." He cast one brief, concerned glance in my direction before turning on his heel and vanishing down the corridor, leaving the two of us completely alone in the silent courtyard.

I stood my ground, balling my hands into tight fists inside my skirt to keep them from shaking. I had spent nine days rehearsing all the sharp, angry speeches I would give him when we finally met, but as Kael stopped just a few paces away from me, every single word dissolved.

His scent hit me first...crisp pine, winter frost, and something deep and metallic that made my pulse race wildly.

Kael tilted his head, his golden eyes sweeping over me from my disheveled hair down to my dusty slippers, before finally locking onto my face.

"Nine days," Kael purred low, his voice like velvet over iron. "And you're already throwing yourself off balconies just to drag me away from the capital, little princess?"