Lycan Kings Dormant Sovereign

Chapter 9: The Beast's Challenge

Jianna

The steady, rhythmic clatter of the iron wheels rolling over jagged mountain stone was enough to drive any sane person mad.

Night had fallen hours ago, casting the carriages interior into deep, flickering shadows lit only by the faint amber glow of Idris’s eyes across from me. He hadn’t slept. Neither had the ravenous beast living inside him. Every few minutes, I could feel the invisible weight of Erebos’s gaze sweeping over my skin like warm velvet, cataloging every breath I took.

I sat with my arms crossed tightly over my chest, my fingers resting half an inch from the hilt of the small steel blade tucked into the side of my leather boot. They hadn’t disarmed me. Whether that was sheer arrogance on Idris’s part or a deliberate test, I didn’t care. It was the only weapon I had left, and I was fully prepared to sink it into his broad neck the moment he gave me an opening.

“You’re pacing with your eyes, little storm,” Idris rumbled quietly into the dark cabin. The deep timbre of his voice vibrated through the velvet cushions, low and infuriatingly smooth.

“I’m calculating how many guards throats have to slit through to reach the horses,” I said flatly, keeping my gaze locked on the small square window. Outside, the dark pine trees were passing in a blur of black silhouettes against the moonlight, moving further and further into royal territory with every beat of my heart.

Idris let out a soft, dark chuckle that rustled the quiet cabin air.

“Forty-two,” Erebos purred through his throat, the wolf’s gravelly edge bleeding into the King’s words before Idris even had a chance to filter it. “Plus the two of us. And you won’t make it past the door handle before I have you back on this bench.”

“I wasn’t asking for your permission, beast,” I snapped, turning my head to glare straight at him.

“You don’t need permission to entertain wild fantasies,” Idris interjected, forcing his smooth, velvet tone back over Erebos’s dark growl. “But you do need a dose of reality. You’re wolfless, exhausted, and sitting three feet away from a Lycan who can track your heartbeat from across a mountain range. Your odds of escaping tonight are zero.”

“My odds back in Silver Moon were zero too,” I spat back, my jaw clenching as the memory of Kael’s pathetic face flickered in my mind. “I still walked away. I don’t care how many men you line up outside that door. I will find a crack in your armor, Idris, and when I do, I am gone.”

The carriage lurched violently without warning. The front left wheel struck a deep, hidden hole in the rocky mountain pass, sending a harsh shudder straight through the timber frame. The sudden jolt threw me completely off balance before I could plant my feet, flinging my body sideways off the velvet bench.

Before my knees could hit the wooden floorboards, an iron-hard arm cut through the space between us with terrifying speed.

Idris caught me mid-fall, his broad hand wrapping flush around my waist and pulling me straight into his lap. The sudden heat of his massive body hit me like an oven door opening. His heavy indigo velvet cloak instantly pooled around us both, trapping me against the solid steel plate beneath his tunic.

“Get off me!” I growled, planting both hands flat against his collarbone and pushing back with every ounce of muscle I possessed.

He didn’t move an inch. It was like trying to push down a mountain peak. His fingers gripped my hip with a possessive, unyielding weight, holding me firmly against his thigh while the carriage rocked through the uneven pass.

“Sit still before you break an ankle or something,” Idris commanded softly. His face was inches from mine,

Mine, a dark, echoing growl vibrated straight through his chest, hitting my palms where they pressed against his armor. Erebos was practically clawing at the back of Idris’s ribs, his golden glow flaring brightly behind the King’s pupils like a wild, untamed flame. Keep her here. Mark the storm.

“I said let me go,” I hissed, my left hand dropping down toward my boot strap in one quick, practiced motion. My fingers wrapped around the bone hilt of my dagger, yanking the steel clean from the leather lining.

Before I could even angle the razor-sharp tip toward his throat, Idris’s hand shot down. His broad fingers clamped around my wrist like a steel vise, freezing my arm in place before I could draw blood. He squeezed just enough to pin my strength, his thumb pressing directly into the pulse point on my wrist where my blood was racing wildly.

He didn’t look threatened. He didn’t even look angry.

A slow, lethal smile spread across his handsome face, his golden eyes flashing with a wicked, dangerous delight that sent a shiver straight down my spine.

“Is that for me?” Idris purred, his voice dropping into a joint rumble with his wolf as Erebos pushed straight through his vocal cords. “Or were you planning to use that tiny thorn to carve your way back to Silver Moon?”

“I’ll carve it right into your collarbone if you don’t take your hand off my hip,” I snarled back, holding his gaze without blinking, even as the terrifying pressure of his Sovereign aura pressed heavily against the cabin air.

Idris didn’t flinch. Slow and deliberately, he pulled my pinned wrist upward, forcing the tip of my small blade right against the dark velvet of his tunic, positioning the steel directly over his beating heart.

“Go ahead then,” Idris whispered, his eyes burning into mine with an insane, unshakeable challenge. “Take your shot, little storm. But if you don’t kill me with the first strike, Erebos and I are taking that blade.”