A Maid for the Lycan King

CHAPTER 3

An overwhelming warmth surged through me the moment my body came in contact with hers.

What was that pull? I’d never felt it toward another woman.

Mate! The word left my lips before I could process it.

Her scent filled my nostrils—an intoxicating smell of honey and wild jasmine. Her body was delicate but firm, pooling in me a reaction I didn’t know was possible.

Gathering her in my arms, I studied her features closely.

She was still unconscious, but even in her state she was adorable with long fluttering lashes that seemed to stop time. Blood dripped on the floor from a gash on her back.

Those low-lifes, they’d inflicted this on her. I wanted to go after them, but I also needed to act fast towards my mate. She needed help. If care wasn’t taken, the wounds might escalate to something irredeemable.

A guttural growl tore from my lips, the fact that I’d appeared late. Perhaps, if I’d come earlier, I would have saved her from this.

I was about to move when something slipped from her grasp and chimed on the floor. A necklace.

I picked it up and stared at the diamond jewel, marveling how she could come in contact with such an expensive piece.

Breath lodged in my throat as the realization dawned on me. A slave. A village raided by my army. Now that explained her color, her dressing, and the diamond in my hand.

My heart twisted with guilt and great sorrow. My mother had ordered that raid and now fate has bonded me to one of its victims.

Fresh blood trickled on my feet, reminding me of her wounds. I bolted into the night.

The world was a blur around me as I darted for the castle not through the forest. I ran across the streets, hurdled across rooftops and soon appeared at the gates of the castle.

“Raise the gates!!” a guard in the tower hollered and a slight creaking sound echoed through the night as the other guards towed open the gates and lifted the portcullis.

With my mate unconscious in my arms, I tore through the night toward the castle’s infirmary, barking orders before skidding to a halt at the terraces.

The nurses scurried out of the building with a gurney. I snarled at them as they reached out to my mate even though they meant no harm—they cowered back, and I recollected myself. They were here to help. I had to let them take her if I wanted her to get better.

I needed her to get better.

Swallowing my snarl, I laid her down on the gurney myself, and stepped back. The nurses curtsied and they rolled her into the hospital. Just as I was about to follow them, I heard my name across the courtyard.

“Your Majesty? Your Majesty?” Joshua scurried across the place clutching my clothes. He stopped before me and bowed, panting as he straightened up. “I heard your orders, My Lord. I came as soon as I could.”

I gazed at my valet before lowering my gaze to the fresh clothes in his hands. I stretched my massive clawed hands at him and he dropped the clothes which looked almost miniature compared to my homogenous form.

Joshua stepped back and bowed.

I walked to a close by shadow, shifted from my lycanthrope and slipped into my clothes. “And Queen Eleanor?” I asked as I stepped back on the terrace of the infirmary.

“Her Majesty is in her chamber. She has been sobbing since you left.”

A growl rumbled in my chest. Fake tears. I wonder how long she has manipulated me with those. I walked past my valet, towards the entrance of the infirmary and he followed me.

I strode into the hospital and a staff stepped forward, guiding me to the emergency room where my mate was. I stood before the glass door and watched as the doctors worked on her.

The incessant beeping of the electrocardiographic machine keyed me into further anxiety but was also a reassurance that everything was under control. Dr. Sinclair, the lead doctor and one who handled my birth, glanced at me and I gave him an approval nod.

As soon as they rounded off the surgery, he stepped out of the room, shutting the door again after him. “What's the situation?” I asked, my gaze flickering from my mate to the doctor.

“Your Grace.” The man arched forward in a slight bow. “She’s steady, except she lost too much blood. There’s a significant presence of her wolf but it's dormant, the reason she was unable to self heal.”

“Her wolf is dormant?”

Dr. Sinclair bopped his head. “Yes, Your Majesty. Except it seems to have gone into inactiveness before her first shift as a result of grief or great shock.”

A wave of melancholy swept through me. I glanced at my unconscious mate before dragging my gaze back to the royal doctor. “So what’s next? What could be done to help the situation?” I asked.

“The laboratory is already conducting a blood count test. Once the result is out, we’ll be able to know what steps to take, whether to administer a blood transfusion or not. For now, we need only to monitor and make sure she’s stable.”

My gaze drifted past him to my mate. Regardless of the sorrow flooding my heart, a ray of happiness shimmered through me at realizing I’d finally found her. Henceforth, it would be my duty to keep her safe and make sure she lacks nothing.

Footsteps inched into the hallway. “Henry?” a familiar voice called me.

A fresh wave of fury rippled me as I tilted my head over my shoulder and caught a glimpse of her hurrying across the corridor to meet me, in the company of her three ladies-in-waiting.

“I’ll excuse you,” Dr. Sinclair said and I gave him a nod of approval.

Queen Eleanor sniffled as she covered the distance between us. “Oh, Henry! I’m so glad you’re safe and back.” She hugged me, the most suffocating ten seconds of my life. When she finally straightened, she dabbed the tears in her eyes with a handkerchief. “Rosalind has retired for the night, she was heartbroken but I managed to talk to her before she drifted off to a sad sleep. It was a bit overwhelming for her seeing her big brother angry. What are you doing here?” she asked.

“Perhaps, I should be the one asking you. What are you doing here?” I muttered.

She gasped, touching your chest. “I am your mother, Henry. I deserve to know everything. When I heard your roar towards the infirmary moments ago, I was worried that something bad might have happened to you. But here you’re standing, all well, so now I would like to know, why are you here? For whom were you commanding the nurses to get the gurney?”

Her gaze darted past me and settled on my mate in the emergency room.

Queen Eleanor sniggered dryly and glanced at her ladies-in-waiting. “I might as well be going blind tonight,” she said to them. “Is that a colored person lying on the royal bed?” When they wouldn’t respond, but glanced at me before lowering their gazes to the floor in fear, she dragged her gaze back to me. “Tell me I’m seeing things, Henry. That is not—” Her voice broke, then hardened. “That is not a colored woman lying in there, is it?”

“Yes, it is,” I replied, crossing my arms.

“Why do we have a colored maiden lying on my hospital bed?”

“First of all, it’s not your hospital bed. Lest you forget, I am the reigning king. Everything in Britanor and the Seven Provinces belongs to me which includes this infirmary and the bed!” I paused and pointed at my mate. “That maiden over there, lying on the bed is my mate!”

Queen Eleanor gasped, clutching her chest. She stepped back, her mouth opening and closing as though looking for the right word. She failed anyway.

“A n***o?” She rasped and shook her head. “No, no. We can’t— We certainly can’t have a colored queen sitting on the throne of Britanor,” she rasped.

“Who’s going to stop it? You?” I snarled as my lycanthrope rose to the surface.

Queen Eleanor flinched, stepping back until her back hit the walls.