Mated to the Lycan

CHAPTER V

RHEA

The pain in my head was like the thumping of a drum, loud and heavy. I was feeling groggy and my temples felt a little tender to touch. Dazed, I looked around my surroundings, noting I was not at the palace but was currently in a cave. A cave? I stood up in alarm.

How was I here?

The cave was on high ground and the cold night air whistled through the cave. My legs and fingers were freezing. My kidnapper was nowhere in sight and I wasn't sure how to feel about that. Should I be glad he wasn't nearby to harass me, vaguely remembering his ever-changing eyes and dirty clothing? Or be scared of being alone in an unknown area?

I had been dressed in a large grey sweatshirt that almost swallowed me to the knees, and a pair of black pants lay rumpled at my feet. Self-conscious, I noted he had worn the sweater over my thin night dress but had stopped halfway with the pants over me. Why?

I quickly threw on the pants over my shorts for added security I guess. Then, I patted my body to check if I was hurting anywhere. Surely, as a virgin, I would know if I'd been touched down there? A sigh of relief escaped my lips when my search came up empty.

The moss was soft under my feet, almost velvety as I crept closer to the edge and looked down. The cave was at least a good 15 meters above the ground and the rocks on the hill looked slippery with dew and loose. I was not a good climber and it would take me hours of careful descent to make it down. I couldn't risk wasting precious minutes climbing down.

I was a half-vampire and took longer to regenerate after an injury compared to full-blooded vampires. A fall from this height won't cripple me. Taking a deep breath, I closed my eyes tight and walked off the edge, gritting my teeth as I plummeted down the hill. A scream rips out from my throat as I land on my ankle, dislocating it.

The pain was radiating in waves from my ankle through the rest of my body. I logged a fist in my mouth to stem my whimpers as I lifted myself off the ground, putting my weight on my good leg and avoiding looking at my left ankle. Each step in the direction of the palace drew tears out from my eyes, but still, I kept trudging on, my injured leg dragging behind me.

A roar resonated through the forest which sent chills through me and I picked up a fallen tree branch using it as a third leg. I kept glancing behind me as I picked up speed, the pain in my ankle reduced to a throbbing ache.

I hear a rustling in the bushes behind me and I'm yanked into a hard chest. Looking up, I was met with burning bright hazel eyes with golden flecks. It was the eyes of my kidnapper, the same eyes which had turned fully golden the last time we were in close contact. I pushed away from his chest and began limping in the other direction.

A chuckle sounded behind me and he suddenly appeared in my front once more. Startled, I darted in the other direction, which earned me an exasperated sigh and he was in my front once more.

"Will you stop?" He asked, looking bored. His voice was heavy with an accent I couldn't quite place. It was somewhere between Italian and Spanish.

He jerked me back to his chest and my injured ankle caught on a stone, drawing a hiss from me. Immediately, I was released as he noticed my now swollen ankle. His lips pinched together with worry as he bent down to gently caress it with feather-light touches.

"Stay here, I'll be back," he said, voice gruff and husky as he started walking back in the direction of the hill. "Even if you run, you won't get far and I'll find you."

Immediately after he left my sight, I picked up the branch and began limping as fast as I could. I hadn't gotten far when I was snatched off my feet and placed on a nearby log.

"I thought I told you to stay put, woman?" He said, looking pissed.

Annoyed, my voice came out louder than I intended. "Why would I? I don't even know your name. Why would I stay just because a stranger told me to?"

"I am not a stranger. I'm-" He stopped halfway, staring intensely at me.

"Yes?" I questioned, urging him on.

"I'm Adair, the first Lycan prince and you're right. I am a stranger to you. I would like to know you but first let me tend to your injury. It needs to be popped back into place"

Adair...I had read about him in one of the dusty lore books stored in Lord Kinun's study. It was written there that he left home one day and never returned. Why was he here now?

He moved closer to me and took my ankle in his lap. "This is going to hurt, are you ready?"

Nodding in anger, I clamped my mouth and eyes shut.

"1...2..." Fire seared up my leg as my bone pops back into place and I let out a wail. My breath came out in pants as I try to breathe through the pain. He tore off the edge of his shirt and then placed two pieces of wood, wrapping them around my ankle, as a makeshift splint.

"Thank you," I muttered, grateful. "I am Rhea"

"Rheeaaaah" Adair pronounced, rolling the vowels in my name over his tongue as if tasting it. He looked up at me and his face broke into a smile. "It is a very pretty name, but not as pretty as you"

I was struck by how handsome he was as the moon beamed down on his face. His face had been washed clean of filth and the shirt he wore mapped out his ripped torso making him look like he came out of a novel. His fair was still long and his face still sported a beard. I imagined this was how he looked when he'd transited to an immortal. Not wanting to be caught staring, I diverted my eyes. Being handsome didn't change the fact that I'd been brought here without my consent.

My leg is pushed away and he puts distance between us. "Your legs have also been pricked by thorns, though, they seem healed now,"

"And who's fault is that?! Why am I here?" I demanded. "I want to go home"

"You can't" He flatly said.

"Do you need money? How much?" I asked desperately. "My uncle will give you anything you want for my release"

"I don't want-"

"I can show you just how wealthy I am. Did you see my credit card? A rectangular card about this size? It was in my purse in the room?" I rambled, raising two fingers in a demonstration.

"This?" He asked, pulling it out from my purse which had been stuffed into the pack at his feet.

"Yes, that. It has a lot of money in it. Take it all has a down payment. My uncle will also double it. Please just let me go"

He raised a quizzical eyebrow at the card. "A lot of money you say?"

"Yes"

"Will it get me to Cevio?"

Cervio was a small district located in Ticino, a state in Switzerland. It was three day drive away from Trento and was one of the places I wanted to visit for its nature and beauty.

“Yes, it’s more than enough to book a flight”

“A flight? What is that?”

Was he serious?

“You don’t know what a flight is?” I asked incredulously and he shook his head. “An aeroplane?” This time his blank expression gave me an answer and I sighed. Does he have memory loss or something?

“Do you have a passport?” Blank look.

“I.D card?” Another blank look.

“Well, you can just rent a car, and follow google map to your location”

“Car? Google maps?”

“How don’t you know what those are?” I inquired shocked.

“I’ve been imprisoned for a long time by your kind” He spat out the 'your kind' with disgust, looking away as a muscle ticked in his jaw.

“Why?” I asked surprised and he gave me a look as if saying “why would a vampire possible imprison Lycan?' The book finally made sense. Was that the reason he hadn't returned to his clan all this while? Because he had been captured?

“For how long?”

“I don’t know…What year is this?”

“2020”

He looks lost in thought as he calculates and then, gives a harsh laugh. “It’s been almost two centuries so you can see why I don’t know what an aeroplane or other things you mentioned her”

I feel something akin to compassion and pity for him, despite him being my kidnapper. The farthest I’d been from home was the college which was just in the next town. Cevio was in a whole different country, even though it was on the outskirts.

“And you want to go home? You’re sure it’s in Cevio?”

“Yes”

"Okay...If you can take me home unharmed...not the palace. My home. I promise to send someone who will go with you and direct you more than I ever could."

A look of fury crossed his face and he stood up to wag his finger at me.

"You must think me a fool. I should follow you to your home and expect you to let me go just like that? Trusting you'd deliver your end of the bargain? That's never happening" Adair snapped, shaking his head.

"I swear, my uncle will let you go if I demand it" I implored. Deciding to change tactics for my freedom, I sternly said, "I come from a reputable family, my uncle will have your head if I'm harmed in the slightest"

"Then I'll take pleasure in hurting you to give him more reasons to come after me. And then, I'll take his head and give it to you as a gift"

"W-Why are you doing this? You have the wrong person" As the words left her mouth, my beast stirred and whispered 'mate', confirming what I already knew. I had the right person.

"I'm doing this because it's you," Adair hissed. "You're coming with me even if I have to drag you all the way to Cervio!"

I threw him my most venomous look of hatred as he dragged me to my feet, pulling me out of the forest and into the waking city.