Taming the Rogue King

That Was You?

Liam

The old woman chuckled and Liam looked at Ben. His face showed no recollection of who the woman was, and he remained prepared to attack.

His eye colour darkened and Liam knew Ben's wolf was at the surface, even as Ben squared his shoulders and let out a low growl. Liam non verbally commanded Ben to stay put.

He had also seen her only once, and that too, in the middle of the night so it took a while for him to place the memory. That night he had been speaking to Ira. All his senses had been clouded as Ira had dominated every rational thought of his.

He had been fighting his lust with every ounce of his strength. Didn’t want to make a fool of himself and scare Ira from agreeing to take up his offer.

She looked so beautiful when she stepped off that travel bubble thingy with Kirra and her nana. Her blue gown billowed around her legs and her open hair danced in the breeze. He had wanted to touch her smooth cheeks as she listened to James' proposal for her to help trace Liam’s lineage.

He had wanted to move aside the strands of hair covering her face and tuck them behind those cute ears. He wanted to get lost in the depths of her blue eyes.

Instead, he had kept his hands hanging next to his body, balled up into fists with nails digging into his own skin. The pain kept him grounded as he fought against his wolf, who wanted to claim her right there in front of her family.

With two powerful witches and an Alpha wolf on Ira’s side, he would have had to face a lot of trouble trying to claim Ira, but it would have been worth it!

‘F*ck yes! And now Ira would have been here with us!’ His wolf grumbled.

Sarena was peering at him with piercing eyes that looked like she could see a lot more than just his body. He gathered his senses and said before Ben did something stupid.

“Aren’t you, Sarena? Where are Kirra and James?” Liam walked up to her and held her hand to guide her into the room. She used the short staff in her left hand for support but he suspected it could do a lot more.

He had seen Miriam in action to be vary of any object that a witch carried.

“Things happen in a particular way for a reason, young one! If Ira was here now, you wouldn’t have realised that you are a Lycan. The block on your memory placed by Miriam would not have broken. Neither would you have learned to use your power!” She chuckled again, stirring something in Liam’s memory.

“So it was you?” Liam asked, stunned, as realization dawned. The memory of a fifteen year old boy running away from his mom teased his mind.

The feeling of an invisible barrier keeping him off the Blood Moon territory reminded him how small he had felt that day, how powerless and inconspicuous as a voice in his head had cackled away to glory.

Wasn't the voice similar to Sarena's chuckle? Or had his mind changed the intensity of the chuckle into a burst of cruel mirthless laughter because he wanted to believe that he was dealing with an unknown enemy?

Sarena continued to observe him, letting him take his own time to decipher his thoughts, and instead of chuckling, just smiled. The old woman had patience! Her eyes lit up with the maternal softness that he had always craved for in Miriam when he believed that she was his mother.

“Yes, my boy! I am so proud of you.” He stared as her eyes turned misty. “So proud of the man that you have become!”

Ben looked at them with mouth agape and wide open eyes. His confusion was clear on his expressive face as he tried to understand what was happening, but Liam wasn’t ready to share his little secret.

The secret of his failed entry into the Blood Moon clan. The day he faced a barrier that he could neither see nor breach and then the laughter that remained in his consciousness taunted him to gain control and power.

“You knew! You could have told me. You could have saved me from Miriam.” Liam growled, getting angrier. “Did you know about Ira and me too?”

“Sit down and relax, my boy. You don’t understand how the magic of intuition works. It is nothing but guesswork.” She asked Ben to make her a tea and conjured two glasses of whiskey out of thin air.

Passing the glasses of whiskey to them, she continued, “I had an idea that the Blood moon clan was unsafe. I also helped protect Jiemba's child. I did not know that sweet Kirra, god bless her soul! would turn out to be my James' mate. I was around to understand why Waru flipped and what happened to Riaana. She had sent me a distress signal which allowed me free access to the land where she disappeared. I knew that the Blood Moon clan hadn’t murdered your parents. I was also aware of Miriam’s involvement but she had covered her tracks with dark magic. She used the services of a dark wizard, a recalcitrant. I know his signature but he is far stronger than I am. So I couldn’t do much. I knew you had special powers, I could feel them when you collided against the barrier set up by me. But I did not know if you were just an elder or a mage or a Lycan or a witch wizard hybrid. So yes, I might have known a few things but certainly not all and I surely did not know about Ira being your mate.”

She let that sink in and continued. "I can guess who your parents are, but I don't have proof. Ira is supposed to get you to them and I can't interfere. These things can go horribly wrong if we interfere. They are always changing, reforming and rearranging themselves. So every action of mine has a butterfly effect on events around us."

An omega came in with lavender chamomile tea. Ben had mind linked and ordered some for Sarena. The old lady chuckled, "Now here’s a drink for me!”

Liam waited as Sarena took slow deliberate sips from her cup. His patience was running low and his wolf was on the surface. F*ck why do I still call him my wolf, now that I know he is a bloody Lycan?

‘Because you are a dense moron!’ The Lycan snorted. ‘I like this woman. Ask her more. Ask her where Ira is. Is she around us? Does she only come to read the book? Ask her how to get Ira to un-reject us.’

‘Shut up, will you! That’s not even a word and Ira has not rejected us! Sarena is taking her time for us to think about something but I don’t know what she wants us to think.’ Liam chided.

‘Then f*cking ask her!’

*****