His Firebird: Obsession of the Cursed King

Chapter Four

Alora.

"Let me go!" I yell at the guard dragging me, biting down on his arm, and now that I've gained his attention, I regret that action. He grabs me by the neck so hard that I couldn't breathe.

Choking under his manhandling, he spits. "Don't get on my f*****g nerves, wolf-girl, or else..." He doesn't have to finish his words before I surrender.

"Please, I just need to see my family. I'll follow you, but please let me confirm they are safe." I force out the words as his fingers are still wrapped around my neck.

He gets sarcastic. "Oh, yeah, like I f*****g care."

From the corners of my eyes, I caught the swift movement of a Lycan approaching us. He has an intense look in his eyes, his claws stained with blood and a perilous motive in his approach, but before I can alarm the Lycan guard, the other Lycan has lunged himself at us.

The force pulls me to the ground, and when I find my balance, I see the Lycan guard and the other Lycan from the cursed king's side fighting for each other's head. And that's my chance to escape.

I have no idea where I'm running to, but I just know I need to find my family. The thought of seeing them in a pool of blood keeps flashing across my face, and it worsens the twisting of my intestines.

Everywhere is chaotic, causing everyone to crash into each other. While I'm weaving my way through the rambling crowd, I collide into Amelia. Her eyes grow big when she realises it's me. Her hair is drenched in thick red liquid, and I swallow a loud lump, knowing exactly what it is.

She looks traumatised, but she managed to utter. "Your father, Alpha Aaron, has sent guards out to look for you."

A relief washes over me. "Where is he?"

"In the Garden. He's with the Luna and your sister." Her words lift off some worries off of me. I did not even waste another second as I ran off in the direction of the Garden.

The Garden is the most guarded spot in the pack. Weird, isn't it? Father is a huge fan of cultivating flowers, so he made his first garden the most special place in the entire pack.

My ribs are hurting by the time I get to the Garden. The guards at the entrance allow me to enter, and as soon as I'm inside, Elena's high-pitched tone pierces my hearing. "Heavens, it's Alora!"

I turn around and run to her, capturing her little figure in my arms. "Oh, goodness. I'm so glad you're safe." When I blink up, I see father and mother coupled with his advisers and other royals in the pack that father really never introduced me to.

"Where is Alpha Maverick?" My heart sinks at father's question. Does he not want to know how I'm faring? Or how I don't have my head cut off by some rogues already?

Fury boils inside me, and I say harshly, "He isn't coming to save any of us. Hell, he doesn't even care. We need to protect ourselves."

A hit on my cheek silenced me. I raise my gaze at father, shocked that he actually slapped me. "It's my fault to raise you this way. That's your Alpha now. You respect him." He points his fingers at me, then turns around to face everyone else. "Please, don't be frightened. The Lycan King of the West will surely protect us."

I couldn't control the tears that brimmed my eyes. I've always known that father doesn't believe that I can save our people, but I didn't think in a situation as threatening as this, he would let his pride control him and belittle me again.

Suddenly, a sense of danger diffuses into the air, followed by eerie gasps of the royals. In a flash, all the guards are dead, their heads twisted inversely.

A few Lycans walk in, their eyes bloodshot, fangs baring alongside their snarling. Each of them is soaked with the blood of their victims. My chest tightens, my breathing quivering, and I pull Elena behind me to protect her from seeing such a sight.

Finally, the Cursed King walks in. He releases a ghost of a smile the instant his eyes find mine. His voice is low, dangerously low, yet I heard it clearly. "My little cherry." The title reels a remembrance in my head. The letter. That was the exact word he used for me.

"The Cursed King. His little cherry." His scribble finds its way into my head.

"I know you are here for me, so leave my people alone. Enough with the killing." Father growls, his Alpha aura coming to the surface. I can sense his wolf.

The cursed king is silent for a moment. The entire space is completely mute, and then he tilts his head. "Bring me his head."

I gasp, astounded at how a being could be so coldhearted. Adrenaline pumps more into my veins, and I jump in front of my father, spreading my arms wide. "You come for him, you come for me, and you'll regret it, fuckers!"

I didn't think I could curse.

Suddenly, the ground shifts as well as the air, and before I know it, I'm pinned to a wall with the Cursed King in front of me. A reason of some sort, perhaps fear or intimidation, but I couldn't move, and he isn't pinning me.

My eyes are locked into his. Mesmerised, it's as though everything else spirals out of my reality. I'm focused only on those dark glints in his lens. His iris simulates the crimson colour of blood, signalling the lethal presence of the curse inside him.

Through his lashes, he looks at me. His voice, once again soft, tender, and hypnotising, sinks into my head. "A curiosity: how did you make my heart beat, little cherry?"

My senses are clipped, everything hazy, and like a flip, I gather myself. What was that? He's the Cursed King.

"f**k off." My voice carries my hate, and I raise my thighs with enough force to hit him where the sun doesn't shine. Even the Cursed King has got that weakness, releasing me from his clasp.

Distancing myself from him, I turn around and raise my fist up to fight him. I've got no wolf, but I've had years of training myself to fight monsters like him. I know it's stupid, but what other choice have I got here?

The Cursed King laughs, obviously finding my actions funny. "You really think you could hurt me?"

My throat feels dry as I voice out the words. "Leave my family alone."

"What if I don't?" He teases and the following second, he disappears from my front, and when I dart my eyes around, finally turning behind me, I scream at the horror before me. The Cursed King is chuckling aloud, finding pleasure in his torment—my agony.

All the royals are dead, their blood still spurting out of their necks, leaving only my family. He picks Father from in-between Mother and Elena and plays with his claws around his neck.

"Do you think you can still hurt me, little cherry?"

A million and one thoughts roam my mind. I have no idea what to do. My eyes shift from my crying mother and sister to my father, who, even as an Alpha, is frozen under his compulsion. Father's alpha aura has no power compared to this evil of a cursed being.

I'm indeed useless. I can only plead. "I received your letter. I know you sent it, and I know what you want. It's me. Please, take me and leave them alone." Something flashes across his eyes, but it vanishes as soon as it came.

"You made your way into my heart...a pain I can never dismiss. I would like to repay the same. Either way, I still have you. You're my property now, little cherry. My Firebird." He growls, his eyes darkening, his look of menace channelling greater aura, and for some reason, I know what terror he's about to launch again, so I run to stop him...whichever way I could.

But his words flow inside my head, swirling me into a deep slumber. "Sleep, Firebird." As my entire body falls into darkness, my sight catches the terror in my father's eyes as the cursed king digs his claws into his neck and my family's wail of pain.