Lycan Prince's Fated Mate

4

IVIE

“G

et the rose petals.”

The air was cloying and I could barely breathe. The water around me seemed to tug at me, dragging at me from beneath.

I was tired. So damn tired.

“That will not be necessary,” I said, standing up from my pool-sized heated bathtub.

“But Princess—” Sofia sounded appalled, but I was already halfway back to my room, my maids covering me up with my robes and heated towels as I moved.

I stopped in front of the mirror and almost didn't recognize myself.

My dark brown hair was the healthiest it had ever been, reaching just beneath my backside, my skin was paler but soft and pampered. But my dead tired eyes told a different story.

“You might as well save your strength. My mate will not look at me no matter what I look like.” I said softly.

I was so sick and tired of this.

My bedroom went completely silent. Then my maids, all twelve of them, bowed, quiet censure in their voices.

“Princess.”

Right.

I was Lycan Princess Ivie Morgan, “happily” mated to Lycan Prince Dante Orion, and easily the most envied female among the Lycans.

I was living the dream.

“Your life is going to change now, Ivie,” Mia said excitedly as she saw me off after my hastily carried out mating ceremony to Dante.

If only we’d known how much.

I was shell-shocked. One moment I was almost forced to be a breeder and the next I was mated to a Lycan Prince?

Lycans were similar to wolves in the fact they only had one mate. If Dante came back for me then it meant he’d canceled his engagement to be with me.

Diana’s excitement within me was palpable but I was a bit more cautious. After his hurtful words earlier in the hotel room, where did that leave us?

The drive away from the Shadow Pack was silent until I cleared my throat.

“Thank you,” I said, and Dante looked away from the window long enough to toss my phone at me.

Something clicked. The messages Mia had left to warn me. Was that how he’d known about my situation?

“You are now my responsibility,” Dante said coldly, his expression forbidding. His words laced with undisguised loathing.

I was confused. Why was he acting this way? Why did he save me only to behave so coldly?

I was so disturbed that I barely noticed the magnificence of the palace laid out around me. I was especially when Dante dropped me off at “my room”.

For a moment, I stared at the door before hurrying after Dante who was already walking away.

“We are staying in separate rooms?” I asked but Dante simply ignored me, his fists clenched at his sides and his strides lengthening.

I ran, moving in front of him and blocked his route forward.

“Dante,” I said, reaching out to take his hand. “Look, I know this is all a little fast but I’m really trying to understand you and⁠—”

One minute my hand was on Dante’s, the next he slammed me hard against the wall, his hand tight around my neck effectively strangling me.

I choked, struggling against his grip.

“Don’t you ever dare touch me without my permission,” Dante growled, his eyes black with rage. “Through your scheming, you have wrecked my relationship with Miranda. The title of being my mate is all you will ever get.”

His grip on my neck tightened ever so slightly and the dark spots at the edges of my vision grew larger.

Then Dante let go of me, walking away and leaving me on the ground coughing and sucking in air desperately.

I was going to be his mate in name only.

Tears fell uncontrollably from my eyes and the intensity of Diana’s howls of pain in my head threatened to unmake me. I touched the tender skin on my neck. Was this how life in this foreign palace would be?

What exactly had I gotten into by being mated to Dante Orion?

A shadow fell over me and I looked up to see a kind-looking matronly woman gazing at me with concern, her head inclined.

“Welcome. I am Sophia Carter, your head lady-in-waiting, I will escort you to your room, Princess.”

I didn't feel like a princess as I took Sophia’s outstretched hand. Little did I know the worst of my pain was yet to come.

Life in the palace was as cruel as it was lonely. As the only werewolf, I was secluded. As the mate of Prince Dante, I was never disrespected by the court or staff, at least not directly.

As for my mate, Dante, I never saw him again after that day.

No, that wasn't true. I saw him at every official event that required our appearance as a couple. But he held himself apart. He never looked at me, never held me, never kissed me. Not even once.

Sophia always said he was busy growing his business but we both knew that was a lie. Dante hated me and I think I hated him too.

Then the King relapsed into his sickness. It was blood poisoning. A rare untreatable Lycan ailment.

I was on my way to visit him when I overheard a conversation I shouldn't have.

“...we have the best healers and the latest technology. He will heal even if I have to get human doctors here.”

I froze at the melodious sound of Dante’s voice, shocked at how it still affected me viscerally.

“We must prepare for the worst, Prince Dante.” The elder’s voice was solemn.

“I do not need an heir.” Dante spat out as though the very idea disgusted him, and I died a little bit inside.

I’d always wanted children someday. I had heard about how apparently it was extremely difficult for Lycans to conceive.

“Even a half-breed will do,” the elder said emphatically. “The council will not let a childless Lycan lead and⁠—”