100 Days to save my Lycan King

CHAPTER 3

ANNA'S POV

The guards dragged the maids out of the cave and Kamara did something stupid. She resisted. My eyes widened and screamed at her, “What are you doing, Kamara? Go with him! Please!” I begged.

She just smiled at me and kept on refusing to go with the guard. It happened so quickly, the guard pulled out his sword and slashed her across her neck. I watched her slump to the ground, dead. I was shaking from head to toe as silence took over the cave. She wanted to die…she wanted to! No!

Ciaran stood at the entrance of the cave and pointed at me. Suddenly the, blood-dripping sword of the guard who had killed Kamara was pointed at my chest. My labored breathing was the only sound in the cave, the sickening stench of blood filled my nostrils, I felt like retching my guts out.

“Take her to my chambers and have the maids attend to her and treat her wounds.” He instructed and my eyes gleamed when I noticed that his long, large claws suddenly popped out of his hands. “Damien, come here.”

He commanded and a hefty guard withdrew his sword from my direction and sheathed it before walking towards Ciaran. I recognized him as the guard from earlier who had dragged me across the stony ground, my eyes blazed with fury and hatred yet again. The other guards sheathed their swords and turned away from me. Ciaran placed a hand on the evil guard’s shoulders and muttered something into his ears. I squinted at the scene, confused at what was going on.

Suddenly, the guard let out a harsh cry and I noticed Ciaran’s claws sticking out from his back. My jaw dropped as I realized what had happened. Ciaran plunged his other claw into the guard’s chest, then gripped his throat and tore at the skin of his throat while his other claw was still in the guard’s stomach. I felt it building up in my stomach, then it my throat, I was going to throw up!

The last thing I saw before complete darkness covered my eyes was Ciaran throwing the lifeless body of the guard aside, then wiping the blood off his claws on a handkerchief. He spat at the guard and his last words were,

“No one puts his hands on the King’s mate.”

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I woke up in a pool of my own blood. My eyes widened as I noticed the frightening redness of the water that had formed a whirlpool around my body. I was about to spring to my feet when I felt that crushing pain in my knees again and I could only cry out. I shut my eyelids and gritted my teeth, the pain was as agonizing as it had been earlier, I felt like I was going to pass out again.

“She’s awake!” A feminine voice screamed suddenly and a curtain was swiped open.

I opened my eyes and saw two women, one young and the other aged with gray and white flowing hair. She held a small, wooden bowl and a tiny pestle, her eyes brightened at the sight of me. I became freaked out by the sight of them, the dimly lit room made my heart grip with fear and I felt the sudden impulse to scream again.

“Relax, child.” The old woman said and c****d her head at the other girl, “Don’t be scared of the water, it’s just to wash away the blood of your wounds.” She said and held out a frail, wrinkled arm. “Here, get out of the water and she will set another bath for you.”

I hesitated and looked around again, I was in a bathtub and the only light in the small room came from two candles. It took a painful effort, but I was able to get out of the bathtub, I couldn’t stand properly. The other girl set another bath for me, of a warmer, cleaner water and nodded to the old woman before walking out. The old lady poured the contents of the bowl into the water and a fine scent sizzled out of the warm liquid. I squinted at her curiously.

“It’s a medicinal bath,” She revealed, urging me to get into the tub. “It’ll soothe the pain and heal your pains faster than you can imagine.”

“I don’t trust you.”

She smiled and nodded, “I understand, but you must now. The king demands that you are in perfect shape before tomorrow night.” She said and held my hand. “Come on, child, get in.”

I stepped into the tub, holding back my groans of pain. I was grateful to lie in the tub again and let my mind drift off, but my curiosity was tugging at the back of my mind. I looked at the old lady and asked, “What’s happening tomorrow night?”

“You carry the weight of the entire pack on your shoulders now,” She started and perched on a low stool next to the tub. “As the King’s mate, you have the dire responsibility of choosing the next sacrifice to appease the Moon Goddess. It is an event that happens once every forty years, the King is lucky you showed up at the moment you did. If not…” Her voice trailed off and her eyes became serious. “Two sacrifices would have been made instead of one.”

“What sacrifices are you talking about and why does this pack have to appease the Goddess? I have never heard of that before.” I said.

“You’ll find out eventually, so I might as well just tell you,” She said and smacked her dry lips against each other. “This is a land covered in blood and built over the dead bodies of its original owners. Crestmoon city didn’t always own this territory, they had taken over it by killing ever last member of the owners of this land, hence incurring the Goddess’s wrath. Every forty years, a member of this pack by blood has to be offered. You see, in a cave no body knows, there are three red gems that hold this pack in place. The chosen one’s blood will be used as a blood potion to secure those gems. The person to be sacrificed is chosen by the King’s mate, if the King hasn’t found his mate, then two sacrifices would have to be offered,” She smiled again. “Luckily, you came around.”

“What?!” I exclaimed as the sudden realization struck me. “I don’t want to kill anyone! I can’t choose, I wasn’t cut out for this!”

She placed a soothing palm on my forehead and my shoulders dropped, my entire body felt so weak immediately. “Shh…go to sleep now, child.” She said and my eyes closed instantly.

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I looked up at the full moon that shone in the sky, the crowd around me cheered loudly and sang songs of praises that I didn’t recognize. I was standing in the middle of the courtyard, beautified in a lovely gown that clung to my body uncomfortably like a second skin. I had woken up hours ago on a comfortable bed to find a dozen maids in the room, I felt no pain in my legs. I had stared down at my knees in shock, no pain, not even a scar!

The maids had treated me as one would handle a doll princess. My makeup was light, but the jewelry around my neck wasn’t. It was made of pure gold, and so were the bracelets around my wrist and beautiful chains around my ankles.

The maids had referred to me as either “Luna” or “Chosen one”.

When the maids had left, I noticed someone leaning against the door. It was Ciaran, staring at me impassively. My heart skipped a beat.

“Do you know what to do when you go out there?” His deep voice filled the room, making me shudder slightly.

I nodded, “I-I have an idea,” I replied and he nodded also, “King Ciaran…” I called as he was about to walk away, “I’m scared…what if everything goes wrong and I don’t make the right choice?”

He stared at me silently for a few seconds, then turned around and walked out of the room. That had only made my heartbeat surge with fear.

The crowd stared at me with a mixture of fright and excitement, they knew what was to come, one of them had to be chosen by me to die on behalf of the pack, but I wasn’t ready for this. I felt an overwhelming presence suddenly and turned around to find Ciaran, clad in a brilliant three-piece suit, towering over me.

“Oh, my goodness…” I muttered under my breath.

“Witches! Bring the potion,” He commanded and looked at me again. “You’ll be aided by the special potion to make the right decision. Do not fret, for our great ancestors are with you. This potion contains the spirits of our ancestors, they will guide you to make the right decision.”

I saw three old women walking towards me with a glass filled with a glowing blue liquid, held by the woman in the middle. My eyes widened as I recognized her, the woman from the bathtub! She was a witch! She handed the glass to me with a smile and a hush went up amongst the crowd and then, absolute silence.

“Drink, child.” She urged.

I glanced at Ciaran, his impassive eyes made the tension building around my thumping heart even worse. I took the glass from her and took a sip of the liquid. I grimaced at the bitter taste and handed the glass back to the witch, but she shook her head.

“Everything, child.”

I gulped the rest of the bitter liquid down and as I handed the glass back to her, it suddenly slipped and fell to the ground, shattering into splinters. I groaned and ran my hands through my hair when I felt an ache burning in my head. The pain grew so unbearable that I screamed, my cry ringing into the dark, silent atmosphere.

“Her eyes have turned blue!” Someone from the crowd screamed suddenly.

“Gathered here is every single member of the Crestmoon city and whoever she points at, is the chosen sacrifice!” The witch stated and again, the crowd went into a tensed silence.

I was battling with my nerves, it felt like my entire body was on fire. Different voices screamed into my ears at the same time, my body moved at its own will. I was going crazy!

Suddenly, everything stopped. The voices ceased to speak to me, my nerves died down and I stood still. Then I felt a strange force lifting my arm into the air and the tense crowd shook with fear. My lips were quivering, already feeling pity for the poor soul that was going to be chosen. My finger stretched out into the crowd and my heart stopped beating for few seconds, then the unthinkable happened. My finger pointed at someone no one would have ever expected. I blinked severally, the crowd gasped and the shock wave ran through everyone. My arm had become stiff, unmoving, my finger insistent on who it had fallen upon.

Oh no! The chosen one was King Ciaran!