Chapter 4
1201 Words
“You are a monster!” Isaac screamed, his voice cracking with raw agony. “You f*****g monster! How could you do this to your own family?!”
I stood there in the hallway, arms crossed, watching him without a flicker of emotion. Flames still roared behind me in the dining room, consuming what was left of Liliana and Clara. Their screams had finally died out, leaving only the crackle of my hellfire and the sickening scent of burned flesh.
Isaac kept screaming, throwing every curse he could think of at me — calling me an abomination, a demon spawn, the devil’s w***e. He cursed my mother, cursed the day I was born, cursed the hellfire in my blood. I didn’t flinch, I didn’t even move. I simply watched him break.
When I finally withdrew Ashra’s aura, the crushing weight of my hybrid dominance lifted from him. He collapsed like a sack of potatoes, his knees slamming into the marble floor. The sound was deeply satisfying.
I turned away without a word and walked back to my assigned room, leaving the burning chaos behind me. Ashra purred in my mind, pleased. *They deserved every second.*
The moment I stepped inside, I noticed a sleek black box on the bedside table. I opened it and found a brand-new phone — the latest model, expensive and untouched. A small sticky note was attached: *For my daughter. Welcome home.*
I stared at the note for a long moment, then laughed coldly. “He was planning to surprise me with a phone,” I muttered. “I returned the favor by burning his family. Seems fair.”
It was his fault. All of it.
I reached into my duffel bag and pulled out the old SIM card I had carried for years. In Thornwall, I never made enough money to afford a phone, and even if I had, they made sure hybrids like me didn’t get easy access to the outside world. I inserted the card. The phone lit up immediately, buzzing nonstop as hundreds of messages flooded in.
Before I could check them, a call came through. I answered.
A soft, tiny voice spoke. “Evie? Is that really you?”
It was Lena — my boss’s daughter from the small underground clinic where I sometimes worked odd jobs in Thornwall. She was the only person who had ever been genuinely kind to me.
“Hey, Lena,” I said, sitting on the edge of the bed. “Yeah, it’s me.”
“Oh Goddess, I’ve been so worried! Why did they suddenly remember you exist? After all these years?”
I leaned back against the headboard. “They remembered because they needed to sell me off. To be more precise, they’re marrying me to the Lycan King.”
Lena gasped. “Evie… they’re trying to kill you. Can’t you see it? Haven’t you heard? All three of his previous wives died less than twenty-four hours after he claimed them. That man is cursed. Everyone knows it.”
I nodded even though she couldn’t see me. “I know. I’ve heard the stories. But the others were ordinary she-wolves. I’m a hybrid. If I survive, I’ll tell you everything. If I don’t… I need you to come take my body and bury me far away from both Thornwall and Ironmoor Pack.”
Tears filled her voice. She had always been a crybaby. “Evie, please don’t talk like that. You’re scaring me.”
“I’m being realistic,” I said gently. “You’ve been the only good thing in my life these past few years. Thank you for that.”
I comforted her the best I could, letting her cry until she calmed down, then ended the call. The silence that followed felt heavy.
Curiosity got the better of me. I opened the browser and typed: *Lycan King Nyx Calder*.
Page after page of information loaded. Articles about his rise to power through brutal conquests. Photos of him — tall, imposing, shoulder-length dark hair, silver eyes that looked like they could cut through steel. There were rumors, legends, and horror stories. Three dead brides. A curse that killed any woman he fully claimed. Whispers that he was slowly losing control to his wolf, Vesper.
I read until my eyes burned. The more I learned, the more my pulse quickened with a strange mix of dread and dark anticipation. This was the man they were throwing me to.
I dropped the phone on the bed, exhausted. I changed into a simple black nightdress and fell onto the mattress. Sleep claimed me almost instantly.
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Knock! Knock!! Knock!!!
The persistent banging pulled me from sleep. I sat up slowly, irritation flaring. These people never learned.
I opened the door to find a young maid standing there, head bowed, refusing to meet my eyes. “The royal car will arrive soon, miss. You should get dressed.”
I nodded. “What about Isaac?”
“He… he is not fine, miss. After what happened last night—”
I cut her off. “As long as he’s not fine, I’m good.” I closed the door in her face.
I dressed carefully — black jeans, a fitted black top that showed my scars, and my reliable combat boots. I braided my hair with the crimson streaks visible. I packed my bag, slipped the new phone inside, and walked out.
The hallway smelled of smoke and death.
Isaac was on his knees in front of the dining room entrance. Two charred corpses lay on the floor beside him — barely recognizable as Liliana and Clara. He was rocking back and forth, tears streaming down his face, hands covered in soot from where he had tried to reach them.
I stopped a few feet away and looked down at him.
“Do you feel nice, Father?” I asked quietly. “Because this is exactly how I felt fifteen years ago when I watched you let your fated mate murder my mother.”
Isaac lifted his head. His eyes were red, broken. “You’re going to regret this, Evie. The King will destroy you. He’ll mate you and watch you die screaming, just like the others.”
I smiled. “We’ll see.”
Servants and guards watched from a distance, too terrified to come closer. The royal motorcade was already pulling up outside — sleek black vehicles with the royal crest. My ride to Ebonspire had arrived.
As I walked toward the front doors, I paused at the threshold and looked back one last time at the destruction I had left behind. Isaac’s broken sobs followed me.
Outside, the morning air was crisp. The royal cars gleamed like instruments of fate. A tall man in formal uniform opened the door of the lead vehicle and bowed slightly.
“Miss Evie Throne? His Majesty is expecting you.”
I climbed in without hesitation. The door shut with a solid click, sealing my fate. As the car pulled away from the estate, I stared at the receding mansion through the tinted windows.
I touched the window, leaving a faint scorch mark on the glass.
“ Why am I feeling uncomfortable?”
- Writer
