Taming the Rogue King

Unknown Rituals

Liam

Not so directly, but Ira asked him to leave. She rejected his offer and almost told him off. But he caught the tears brimming in her beautiful blue eyes before she looked away. Yet again, he was the reason for her state of distress.

Sometime back, they were enjoying such a lovely light moment. He was almost on the verge of pulling her towel away and making sweet love to her again, but Ben's mind link had been a c*ck blocker.

As soon as he heard about the Monike fiasco, his mood changed. Obviously, Ira had noticed. It shouldn’t have. I don’t have anything for Monike.

It crushed his soul to see her cry. It wasn’t her mess and although she did not want it, she was doing the right thing.

He had to sort this mess. Before proclaiming his love for Ira and making love to her, he should have spoken with Monike. He did not love Monike, but she was going to be his fiance!

What was he doing? What could he have done against that strong pull of the mate bond? Especially after he had been in such agony over her disappearance!

Deep in his heart, he knew he did nothing wrong. According to werewolf law, their first duty was towards their mate, and all werewolves understood and respected that. If his would be fiance was a werewolf, it would have been easy to explain.

But Monike was a human. Things were different for humans. Their moralities and sensibilities were different. The werewolf laws were primal. Human beings had shunned their primal instincts in order to become civilized.

There was no point in arguing with Ira. He left before the omegas entered the room. He instructed them to remove Ira’s bag from the wardrobe in his bedroom and carry it back to her room.

It was one of the hardest things to do. He had wanted her to stay with him, but obviously, he couldn’t force her.

The girl is here with such a small bag! He felt a pinch of guilt as he spotted the torn blue dress lying in a heap on the floor. He lifted it up and threw it onto his bed. If not Ira, he was happy to sleep with her dress. At least her fragrance would calm him.

He would need to take Ira shopping, but first things first. He mind linked Ben and gave him a few orders related to the pack.

Then he called James to see if he was available sometime soon. Luckily, he would be around the coming week, so Liam planned a few things for Ira.

Once things with Monike were sorted, everything would be fine! I will get her into my life, in my arms again!

He heard her go into the library. Did the girl never sleep or what?

His Lycan whined to be with her, but he denied the temptation. Instead, he tried to sleep. It wasn’t possible. The mild scent of Ira made him miss her more. Like his Lycan, he too wanted her to be close to her.

As he tossed and turned in bed, his thoughts ran amok. Is she angry? Will she stay away from me again? Will I be able to hold her in my arms again? She felt so light! The way her hair tickled his bare chest! The way her soft hand felt against his shoulder!

The musings weren’t helping, so he got up and decided to go for a run.

Leaving his T-shirt behind, he walked to the main door in just his cut offs. The two guards outside his room always remained vigilant. They greeted him. He nodded, removed his pants and jumped, turning into his Lycan mid leap.

Not many wolves could do that. While in the air, hair burst out of his skin, palms and feet turned into paws, nails grew out of his snow white paws, his face elongated into a snout as his Lycan took control and he landed on the soft soil on his paws. Breaking into a steady run, he slowly picked up speed, letting the breeze blow against his face and his snout. His ears twitched taking in the sounds of the night. He loved these runs at night.

The image of Ira’s tattoo flashed in his head, and he smiled. Do I really look like that? What was this magic of tattoos? He did not have the answer to his Lycan’s question, so instead of responding, he enjoyed the exercise of running through the thicket.

A howl of pain broke through the night air, and without breaking speed, he turned in its direction. Someone was hurt, but who and how? In a mad dash, he ran as fast as his paws could carry. His muscles felt rejuvenated. Trees and bushes flew past him at an impossible speed. Just close to the borders, he found Ron and two young warriors in their wolf form, standing around a dead body.

The wolf had turned into his human self before dying. It was one of his newer members, Sammy, who was patrolling. He did not have a rank yet, was only a young hybrid boy who had just turned eighteen! He was still under training.

A long gash ran over his chest. Did not appear like a wound made by an animal. The edges were too sharp as if cut by a scalpel or a very sharp knife.

But how and why?

He sniffed the wound. There was no smell other than blood and steel. So the wound was a result of a weapon, but who was wielding the weapon?

He turned the body over. It had weird round marks with pentagonal stars and other occult symbols. Was this a ritualistic death?

‘Explain’, he growled through his mind link, asking Ron to explain. Ron was leading the patrol today.

‘We were patrolling, as usual. These kids started playing, running around. The weather is good, so I did not stop them. Suddenly we heard the howl and headed here. I am at a loss. It must have been only a few seconds, he went out of sight and we got no unfamiliar scent, no new sighting. How could this happen? I mind linked to the IT department, they did not see any breach either.’ Ron whined under his gaze. He was unknowingly projecting his strong aura, so he toned it down.

He did not like it. The quick execution and non healing wound pointed to the activity of a very strong witch. Werewolves could heal very fast unless the wound was inflicted with a silver weapon or was imbibed by killer dark magic. This wasn’t good. Ira had just returned. Werewolves already doubted witches. This might get tongues wagging when his pack members came to know about her identity as a witch.

No one trusted witches.

What if they feel Ira is the culprit? What if Ira is in danger? The thought was too distressful.

Giving orders to cremate the body and keep the remains at their temple, he ran back towards his living quarters.

He had to check on Ira. F*ck! If only he could mind link her! As soon as possible, he had to change her into a werewolf. He couldn’t tolerate fretting constantly about her. He mind linked the guards asking if anyone had left the house or had visited.

It was too late at night for anyone to visit, but he needed to ask to rule out intrusion. Thankfully, no one had.

Without breaking his stride, he entered the main gate. While walking, he turned into his human self and walked towards the library.

Ira was sleeping soundly, all curled up on the couch. The incomplete book that he had written lay open in front of her. The girl couldn’t keep herself away from any new book!

He smiled. Picked up the book, placed it on the coffee table, picked up Ira and lay her in his bed, in his own bedroom. He cleared the bed off her blue dress so that it did not bother her.

Turning off the light, he decided to go to his IT cell to see the CCTV feed. How can an attack this magnitude go unnoticed? He had lost a life. Goddess, damn it! What use were the cameras? But just like Ron mentioned, there was nothing. For some reason Sammy had moved away from the group, looking toward something.

They could see nothing on camera.

He would have to increase the vigil.

He received a frantic mind link from Dr Maggie informing him about Monike’s condition.

‘Tell her, I am on my way.’ He said in a stern voice and retrieved some clothes to wear before giving a peck on Ira's forehead. and leaving.

*****