The Lycan Kings’ Fated Mate

Chapter Four

The loud voices woke me up.

“The courtier has picked up an interest in Wonder, they are taking the girls back to the palace….. them…… to prevent war……”” “I will never!…. Not unless they kill me….”

As I groggily stir, slowly making out the words and who the voices belong to. I slowly got out of bed and headed to the living room.

"Mummy”….. I say.

Two heads quickly turn towards me, 2 pairs of eyes stare at me with fear in their depth. My parents were standing a few feet away, looking like they had been caught stealing. My mom was quick to recover and mask her emotions.

“Hey sweetie, you’re awake already… did we wake you?” She asked, eyeing me curiously, wanting to figure out if I had heard their conversation. “No mommy.” I said, rubbing my eyes.. I looked into her cyan blue eyes, seeing my own reflection, but there was determination settling in the depth of her eyes. My mom was beautiful, with cyan blue eyes, fair skin that was tanned to perfection, ash hair which I always found strange and plump lips. My father had the normal look for a man, grey eyes and raven-colored hair. My father was one of the pack warriors, the second in command, and my mother… well, had a strange upbringing. She rarely let her wolf out. She was neither an alpha, beta, gamma or an omega, but she was strong. Trained from a young age to fight and defend herself. The family that raised her were the beta family of a pack to the west. Although they were friendly, they were reserved as well. The circumstances of her birth were one that they were tight-lipped about.

“You have to take her far away from here before they get here,” my father said, drawing my attention. I frowned, confused, trying to understand what and who they were talking about.

"You have to come with us,” my mom tells him.

He shook his head slowly, “no, that will only raise suspicion and draw attention and it wouldn’t take long for them to realize what we plan to do…we won’t get far before they catch up to us.” He squared his shoulders and says “I have to stay here to distract them while we wait on the Royal army’s arrival and slip out unnoticed.”

My mom gasped..”No! Ishana, you can’t do that, I can never leave you here.”

“I know you can’t Bloom, but you have to… this is the only way, please” he says.

“No! I will never do that, my wolf and I won’t be able to bear it. We have never stayed apart for even a day, Ishana, we won’t start now” my mother retorts, her voice rising an octave.

I watch as my father stands up and walks to my mother, her face glistening as the light from the fireplace burns brightly. He hugs her tightly and kisses the top of her head, he brings a hand to her face and slowly wipes the tears away. Turning to me, he opens his mouth to say something, but closes it as we hear the bell followed by a warrior’s bellow letting everyone know that it was time and the Royal army had crossed the pack border.

I stare out the window, easily making out the commotion and noise coming from other houses. I shift my eyes back to my parents, as my father, with jaw clenched so tightly, reluctantly releases my mother and steps back.

“I have to go see what is happening.” My mother goes to grab him but he stepped further back.

“I will be back as soon as I can. I just have to appear to welcome the army. It will rouse their suspicion if I’m found absent,” not bothering with a reply, he turns and hurries out of the house.

We both stood in the same spot for a while, not saying anything, while the noise seemed to get louder. My mom finally took a deep breath and turned to me.

“Go and pack some of your things sweetie. Do not pack anything that is unnecessary or heavy. Go now.”

I nodded my head and hurried to my room, picking up my small bag made from animal skin, I stuffed some of my clothes, not that I had plenty, but I had enough. As I was looking around, I heard the front door open.

I rushed to the living room and saw my father, fear evident in his eyes.

“You have to leave now! The Lycan Kings are here!”

I heard my mother gasp behind me. I turned and I saw her standing there holding a bag in her hand. She must have gone to pack up while I was in my room.

“But that is too soon. How did they get here so quickly?”

“I have no idea but we need to leave before they pick up Wonder’s scent or realize that she’s not among the girls presented.” My father urged.

“Come on, there is no time, we have to make use of this commotion and get you both out undetected.” He says, leading us through the back door. Carrying me, he holds my mother’s hand and sprints, making our way to the fenced border that is at the back of the pack which leads to the stream.

“We are lucky that the army came in through the front.” My father pointed out.

As we got to the fence, he lets go of my mother’s hand and lowers me to the ground. He walked to a stack of barrels lined up by the wall of the fence and one by one he moved them, finally revealing an exit.

He bends and pokes his head out, looking around. After a while, he pulls his head back in and nods.

“It’s clear, Bloom come on.” Reaching for my mother, he helped her through the exit.

“Wonder baby come on, you’re next.”

I go to squat down, stopping as I hear a twig snap, turning to the noise I freeze as my eyes land on the Beta warrior first in command, beta Levi. My father noticing my state, slowly stands. Following my line of sight, I felt him stiffen when he saw beta Levi. Beta Levi shifts his gaze from me and focuses on my dad. They stare at each other for a long time, possibly mind-linking as I notice my father clench and unclench his fists. Suddenly, Beta Levi turns and walks away. I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding. I felt my father relax a bit.

“Hurry wonder, we might not get so lucky next time.” My father encouraged. I crunched down, hurriedly passing through the gap. As I step out of it, my mother grabs me and helps me stand.

A weird noise behind me made us turn to realize that my father was stacking back the barrels.

“Ishana please don’t do this, I am begging you. Come with us. We can get as far away as possible please.” My mother sobbed.

“This is the only way love. I have to protect my family, have to protect you both. You both are my life. I love you bloom, I love you my fruity.”

I smiled at my father… “I love you too, daddy.”

Looking through the tiny space in the fence, I watched his retreating back. My mom sobbed inconsolably. I wrap my tiny arms around her shoulder, not quite making the round. I was shocked at how composed I was, the sad feeling getting sucked away. I knew it was my wolf’s doing. We sat for a while in silence, her occasional convulsive breath sounding so loud. Wiping her eyes, she finally stands. Grabbing my hand so tightly that I feared she might crush the bones, we hurried towards the stream.

We walked until Donna’s hut came into view, bringing back the events that occurred yesterday. As we approached the hut, Donna came out, probably hearing our footsteps. Her face was devoid of any emotion, not even surprised at seeing us, which I had thought would be the case.

“What took you so long?” She asked.

It took me a moment to realize that she wasn’t talking to me.

My mom’s reply threw me off balance.

“We couldn’t leave on time without getting caught, mom.”

I stared at them… slowly trying to make out the words.

Looking at Donna now, the realization hit me. Gone were the bloodshot eyes and brown teeth. Standing before me was a beautiful woman with flawless skin. She had on a warrior attire different from the one our pack wore, her biceps were in view and I could see that they were slim but muscular.

“Where’s Ishana? We have to leave now if we want to make it out of the pack border alive”, Donna suggests.

Unshed tears formed in my mom’s eyes and her hand holding mine shook slightly.

“He’s not coming, he stayed back to distract them and give us a good head start” she crocked. Donna nods,

“Mom..??” I called her in a questionable manner, looking between her and Donna.

Seeming to understand my confusion, Donna smiled.

“I’m your grandmother wonder.”

“How? All these while, why didn’t you tell me?”

I ask.

“So many questions with so little time. Come, my dear, we need to get going. All your questions will be answered when we have successfully crossed the border.”

She carried her bag and together we hurried to the stream. Getting to the bank of the stream, we began stripping off clothes that would only get in the way. Getting out of the pack land meant that we would have to swim. Just as we were about to step into the water, we heard a piercing howl. We all froze, the hair on my neck stood and a shiver ran through me. For that howl was one that I would recognize anywhere, any day. That was ash, my father’s wolf. Fear gripped me at that moment, fear of the unknown.

Donna carried me and my mom placed my bag and something wrapped in a piece of cloth in the space between Donna’s chest and mine. We walked into the stream, thankful that at this time of the year the level wasn’t that high. The water reached donna’s stomach. As we got to the middle, we both stopped, realizing that my mom was not directly behind us. Turning, we saw that she was still on the bank of the stream.

“I’m sorry, but I can’t leave him. I just can’t” she sobbed.

Donna sighs “I knew that it would come to this. I understand. Stay alive child.”

My mom smiled sadly, with tears in her eyes, she mouthed at me ‘I love you.’ Without waiting for a reply, she transformed into her wolf and sped off, heading back in the direction we had come. Heading back home.

It took me a second to get over my shock before I screamed for her. Watching her disappear from my view, “mom!!!!!!” And soon all I met was darkness as I passed out from all the emotional turmoil.