Lycan Kings Dormant Sovereign

Chapter7: Precaution, Not a Cage

Jianna

Idris ducked his tall frame slightly as he carried me through the heavy arched door of the royal carriage, tossing me onto the plush, deep-crimson velvet seat as if I weighed nothing more than a bundle of furs.

The moment my boots hit the cushions, I launched my body forward.

I didn't even get my hands around the silver door handle before an iron arm clamped around my ribs, yanking me flat against the hard leather of his chest. The heavy oak door slammed shut with a resounding thud that rattled through my body, followed immediately by the sharp, echoing click of an outside lock turning into place.

"Let me go, you oversized Ass!" I snarled, driving my elbow back into his ribs with every ounce of force I could muster.

It was like slamming solid brick. He didn't even grunt. Instead, Idris trapped my left wrist with lightning speed, pinning my hands down against my lap as he maneuvered us both onto the velvet bench directly across from the door. He didn't lock me in physical iron chains, but his sheer size and wall of muscle caged me in completely, blocking any possible path to the small glass windows or the locked exit.

Idris tilted his head, his eyes suddenly flashing from amber-gold to a terrifying, pitch-black abyss. A violent, dual-layered rumble shook his chest, two voices speaking as one, as if he were arguing with something ravenous inside his own mind before turning that dark fury onto me.

"Save your energy, little storm," he rumbled. Then, his jaw tightened, his posture shifting into something much more feral and dominant as Erebos shoved his way right to the surface. His voice dropped into a pitch-black, gravelly roar that wasn't Idris at all. "You aren't jumping out of a moving carriage, little storm. Idris may go easy on you, but I will pin you to these cushions myself if you keep fighting us."

"Try me!" I spat, baring my teeth at the beast staring out of the King's face. "I'll take my chances with the gravel rocks on the road before I spend another second taking orders from an arrogant male with a crown up his ass!"

Idris eyes snapped back for a split second as he wrestled his wolf back under control, muttering a dark curse under his breath aimed straight at Erebos.

The carriage jolted forward with a sharp creak, the massive iron-rimmed wheels grinding against the dirt pass as the royal escort began their steady march away from Silver Moon territory. Out the small, heavy glass window, I caught a brief, sickening glimpse of the border trees fading into the dusty distance.

My sanctuary. My forest. My brief, stolen taste of real freedom, completely stolen before the sun had even set on my first day.

A bitter, suffocating knot tightened in my throat, threatening to choke me where I sat. I squeezed my eyes shut for a split second, forcing the burning moisture behind my eyelids to evaporate before it could form a single tear. I refused to let him see me break. I hadn't cried when Kael discarded me in front of the entire pack in the Grand Square, and I certainly wasn't going to break down in front of the High Sovereign of the entire continent.

"You think this is some grand rescue, don't you?" I asked, snapping my eyes open to glare at his dark, handsome face with pure venom. "You think you're saving the poor, helpless, wolfless girl from her cruel little pack. You want me to fall on my knees and thank you for sweeping in like some savior in armor?"

Idris studied my face in the dim cabin light, his sharp jawline tightening as I heard him inhale sharply, clearly fighting another command echoing from Erebos inside his head. He didn't look at me with the pity I had grown to despise back in Silver Moon. He looked at me like I was a force of nature he was fully determined to tame.

"I didn't come into those woods to play savior, Jianna," Idris said softly, though his pupils dilated black again as Erebos snapped control back, growling directly through his lips. "And Erebos agrees with me. Neither of us has any desire to see you on your knees for anyone. Especially not us."

"Then unlock that door and let me out!" I demanded, yanking hard against his grip until my skin bruised. "I had a plan! I had my money, my permits, my entire life mapped out. I didn't ask for a King, and I damn sure didn't ask for whatever twisted, f****d up game the Moon Goddess continuously keeps playing with my life!"

Idris released my wrists slowly, stepping back just an inch to give me space, though his massive frame still dominated the narrow compartment. He leaned back against the leather cushions, crossing his heavy arms over his broad, armored chest as his dark indigo velvet cloak draped across his knees. He closed his eyes for a fraction of a second, his knuckles turning white against his sleeves as if he were arguing silently with the beast beneath his ribs.

"Your plan was to live as a lonely rogue in the borderlands," Idris said, his tone turning dry and sharp as he forced his own voice back over Erebos's dark growls. "Sparring in blood-soaked underground arenas for pocket money and dodging border patrols who would put a collar on your neck the second they realized you walked alone without a pack signature."

"It was my choice!" I shouted, slamming my fist hard against the cushion between us. "A hard life on my own two feet is worth a thousand times more than a comfortable life in your pretty gilded cage!"

"You think every hall outside your woods is a cage," he countered, his voice dropping an octave, heavy with a dark, commanding weight.

"When I am dragged into it against my will by a male carrying a broadsword? Yes!" I screamed back, leaning over the space between us until our noses were inches apart. "That is the definition of a cage, High Sovereign!"

Idris stared at me in complete silence for a long, agonizing moment. Then, his eyes flared brilliant gold, black veins tracing up his neck as Erebos pushed straight through Idris's throat, speaking directly into my face with a terrifying, ancient rumble.

"A cage, little storm?" Erebos purred through Idris's lips, leaning forward until his face was so close I could feel the scorching heat radiating off his skin, his rich scent sweeping over my senses. "Idris might call this a court, but I call you ours. We are not locking you away from the world."

"Then what do you call locked oak doors and forty armed royal guards surrounding me?" I hissed, refusing to back down or break his monstrous stare.

"A precaution," Erebos snarled softly, his golden eyes locking onto mine with an absolute, unshakeable certainty that made my heart hammer wildly against my ribs. "Because until you understand what you truly are to us, and what you are destined to become at our side, we cannot have you running off to bleed in the dirt."

I let out a harsh, bitter laugh that echoed off the leather walls. "What I am to you? Look at me! I'm a wolfless outcast! Your royal council will laugh you right out of the capital the second you bring me through the grand gates!"

Idris shook his head slightly, wrestling control back from Erebos just enough to lean in even closer. His heavy, warm hand came up to gently catch my chin, his broad thumb brushing over my jawline with a touch so unexpectedly tender it sent a violent jolt of heat straight down my spine.

"Let them try," Idris whispered, his voice layering perfectly with Erebos's deep, lethal roar in a unified promise of absolute ruin to anyone who stood in our way. "You don't need a wolf to wear a crown, Jianna. And if anyone in my court dares to call you broken, I will hand you my blade and let you cut their tongue out yourself."