Bound by The Lycan Beast King

Chapter 9

Zaynx’s POV

“Alpha, it’s Elder Liandrin,” Lewis rushed into my study, panting heavily.

I didn’t need to guess anything, there was trouble.

I pulled myself away from the pile of documents before me and rushed toward him.

"What’s going on with her?” I asked, my voice sharper than I intended.

My heart was pounding wildly, my ears ringing. I wasn’t ready for the worst, not again. My limbs trembled, but I forced myself to stand upright. I was a Lycan, after all.

“Alpha, her condition has worsened. I can’t even put it into words. The doctor said….” Lewis’s voice trailed off, fading into the background of my spiraling thoughts. His words blurred, and the little faith I had left began to crumble.

“What if she dies?” I muttered under my breath, almost to myself.

Elder Liandrin, my only surviving family, the woman who believed in me more than I believed in myself. She had been sick for a while, but she always insisted it was nothing serious. I’d nagged her to go for regular checkups, to rest properly. I even planned to visit her today, but the mountain of work on my desk had chained me to my chair.

Last night, I dreamed of her dying. It had left me uneasy, but I brushed it off as paranoia. Now, that dream felt like an omen.

“Alpha, are you okay?” Lewis’s voice cut through my daze.

“Send a message to the Elders,” I ordered, my voice cracking slightly. “I won’t be meeting with them today.”

For the first time, I wished I wasn’t an Alpha. If I could, I would have ran through the streets of Darkhollow to reach her sooner.

Elder Liandrin wasn’t just family, she was the one who guided me, the one who kept me grounded after Maya’s death.

The journey to her home felt longer than ever. The silence between Lewis and me was thick.

To him, Elder Liandrin was more than a mentor; she was a savior. She had found him abandoned as a pup, left to die by his birth parents. She’d taken him in and raised him like her own.

Even in his quiet, I could feel his worry. I caught him glancing at me through the rearview mirror more than once.

When we finally arrived at her cottage, I didn’t wait for the car to stop completely. I leapt out and ran straight inside. I didn’t bother asking the physicians what was wrong, I needed to see her with my own eyes.

“Alpha, what are you doing here?” she rasped when I entered her room, frowning at me. The fact that she could still scold me was oddly comforting.

“What are you doing lying lazily on the bed at this hour? Shouldn’t you be preparing for the council meeting?” I teased, forcing a smile.

“You really didn’t have to come, I’ll be fine,” she said, struggling to push the words out. I could see the effort it took her to breathe.

“Of course you will be,” I replied softly, sitting beside her and rubbing her frail hands between mine. “I’ll make sure the best physicians care for you. You know I still need you, Liandrin.”

“I don’t need physicians, Alpha,” she whispered. “What I need is to see you happy. That alone will send me peacefully to the afterlife.” She coughed harshly, her frail body shaking with the effort.

“I am happy,” I lied through clenched teeth. “And the afterlife won’t be welcoming you anytime soon. You’re not dying.”

Her weak smile was both tender and tragic. “Get yourself a mate, Zaynx. Darkhollow needs a Luna. The Elders and the council are worried sick.”

“You know Maya is still..”

“I know,” she cut me off gently. “I loved Maya too. But she’s gone. You need someone to fill that void.” She paused, her breathing shallow. “Zaynx Valemount, I’m asking this of you as my dying wish. Allow me the honor of giving you and your new Luna my blessing before I leave this world.”

She only used my full name when she was serious, or desperate.

“You know I can’t just jump into another’s arms,” I said quietly. “Maya would want me to remember her.”

“No, she would want you to live,” Liandrin countered, her voice trembling but firm. “She would want you to lead Darkhollow with strength and hope. She would want you to give this pack an heir.”

We argued back and forth until her energy waned. Eventually, I changed the subject to ease her mind. But her words had already rooted themselves deep inside me.

That night, I couldn’t sleep. Her dying wish replayed over and over in my mind.

She was right. Darkhollow needed a Luna, someone to stand by my side when I was away, someone the pack could rally behind. The people needed reassurance that their Alpha hadn’t given up, that the Valemount lineage would continue.

But my heart couldn’t let go.

Maya had been my world. Her laughter, her strength, her wisdom, everything about her was irreplaceable. When she died, she took the best part of me with her. Since then, the world had felt colder, emptier.

Before dawn, news of Elder Liandrin’s worsened condition spread through the pack like wildfire. By morning, every wolf in Darkhollow was whispering her name.

That morning brought something that had never happened before in the history of our pack.

The Elders and council members gathered unannounced in the Alpha’s penthouse, an emergency meeting I hadn’t called for. They arrived with grim expressions and a document I had long avoided.

Fear filled the room like smoke.

The Valemount lineage had only one surviving member; me. Without a Luna or heir, Darkhollow’s future looked uncertain. And in the world of wolves, uncertainty was a weakness.

“Alpha,” one of the Elders began, his tone grave, “this isn’t a matter that can be ignored. You must give the pack assurance, proof that we have a future.”

His words sliced through the air, and for the first time, I had no response.

They had always respected me, followed me without question. It had been nine years since Maya’s death, and never once had they pressed me to remarry. But now, I could see the fear in their eyes.

The uncertainty of when death will strike kills faster than death itself.

I sat there in silence, staring at the faces of those who depended on me. My mind was clouded. Everything was happening all at once—Liandrin’s health, the council’s demands, the haunting memory of Maya.

I couldn’t give them what they wanted. Not yet. My heart wasn’t ready to move on.

I was firm in my resolve to remain unmated, until Lewis spoke.

His words shattered everything I stood for.

He offered a solution, one that made me question my sanity.

A solution that would break every principle I had ever lived by.

And the moment he said it, I knew my life would never be the same again.

A decision that changed everything.