Lycan King's Forbidden Obsession

The warning

Serena's POV

The morning after Alejandro stayed in my room, I woke to find him gone.

The space beside me was still warm, and the indent of his body was still pressed into the mattress, and I could smell him on the pillows, like snow and smoke and something wild that I was starting to recognize. I lay there for a long time, staring at the ceiling, and I tried to remember the last time I had woken up without fear pressing down on my chest, but I could not remember.

But this morning was different. The nightmares had come, and they had been worse than before, but Alejandro had been there. He had put his hand on my back, he had stayed, and he had not left even when I fell asleep again. I did not know what that meant, but I knew that something had changed, and I did not know if that change was good or bad.

The fire had been relit while I slept, and the room was warm. The tray of food on the table was fresh. There was bread and cheese, a cup of tea that was still steaming, the honey pot was full, and the spoon was clean. I sat up slowly, and my body ached from where I had been lying in the same position for too long, but it was a good ache, the kind that came from sleep instead of fear.

I was reaching for the bread when the door opened, and Camila slipped inside.

She did not knock. Honestly, she never did. But this morning, something was different about her. Her grey eyes were sharper than usual, her lips were pressed into a thin line, and she looked at me like she was seeing something she did not want to see. Her hands were clasped in front of her, her knuckles were white, and she was standing very still, like she was trying to hold herself together.

"He was here," she said. It was not a question.

I did not answer, because I did not know what to say.

Camila walked to the window, and she stood with her back to me. Her shoulders also looked very tense. The grey light from outside made her look pale and tired, and I could see the lines around her eyes that had not been there when I first arrived at this castle. She had been here for ten years, and every year had left its mark on her face.

"I heard him leave," she said. "In the middle of the night. Or rather, the early hours of this morning. I heard his boots in the hallway, and I heard your door close, so I knew. I knew he had been here, and I knew he had stayed. I also understood what that meant."

I set down the bread, and my appetite was gone. "Knew what?"

Camila turned to face me, and her grey eyes were sad, the kind of sad that came from years of watching bad things happen and being unable to stop them. Her lip trembled, just a little, and she blinked several times, like she was trying not to cry.

"That he stayed," she said. "That you let him. That you are falling for him, even after everything I told you. Even after I warned you about what happens to humans who trust Lycans."

My throat tightened, and I looked away. I could not look at her face anymore, because I knew she was right, and I did not want to admit it.

"You are falling for him," she said again, and her voice was softer now, but no less urgent. She stepped closer, her hand reached out, and she touched my arm. Her fingers were cold, and they were shaking. "I can see it in your face, I can hear it in your voice, and I can see the way you look at the door when you think no one is watching. Do not, Serena. Please. I am begging you. He will destroy you."

I shook my head, and I pulled my arm away. "He is trying to be good."

"Trying is not enough." Camila crossed the room, sat on the edge of the bed, and her hands fell into her lap. She looked up at me, and her eyes were wet. "He has spent three hundred years learning how to be cruel. He does not know how to be anything else. And when he fails, which he will fail, because three hundred years of habit does not disappear in a few weeks, you will be the one who pays the price. I have seen it happen before, and I cannot watch it happen again."

I looked down at my hands, and I thought about Alejandro's golden eyes, and the way he had looked at me like I was something precious, and the way his voice had cracked when he said, "I do not know how to be good, but I am trying." I thought about the way his hand had felt on my back, warm and steady, and the way he had stayed even when I fell asleep.

"He stopped," I said. "That first night, he kissed me, and he touched me, but he stopped. He did not hurt me. He could have, but he did not."

Camila's grip tightened on the edge of the bed, and her knuckles went more white. "He stopped that time. But there will be another time, and another, and one day, he will not stop. Not because he wants to hurt you, but because he does not know how not to. That is what scares me, Serena. He will destroy you with good intentions, and he will not even realize he is doing it until it is too late."

I stood up, and I walked to the window. The snow was falling again, and the flakes were small and fast, and they covered the courtyard in a fresh layer of white. The glass was cold against my palm, and I could see my breath fogging up the window.

"You do not know him," I said. My voice was quiet.

"Neither do you." Camila's voice was quiet too.

I turned to face her. My heart was pounding, my hands were shaking, and I did not know if I was angry or scared or something else entirely.

"He stayed," I said. "He did not have to stay, but he did. He sat on my bed, put his hand on my back, and he stayed until I fell asleep. That is not nothing. That is not cruelty. That is something I have never had before."

Camila stood up, walked to the door, and her hand rested on the handle. She did not look back at me, and her shoulders were shaking, just a little.

"I have seen humans fall in love with Lycans before," she said. "I have seen them trust, I have seen them hope, and I have seen them broken when the Lycans moved on to something new. You are not the first, Serena. And you will not be the last. The castle is full of ghosts, and most of them are human."

She opened the door, and the cold air from the hallway rushed in, and I shivered.

"You are wrong about him," I said.

Camila paused, and her shoulders rose and fell with a deep breath. She stood there for a long moment, and I could see her reflection in the mirror, looking pale and ghostly.

Then she turned her head, just enough that I could see her profile, the sharp line of her jaw and the grey in her hair.

"I hope so," she said. "For your sake. I hope so."

She left before I could say anything else, and the door closed behind her, the lock clicked, and I was alone again.

I stood there for a long time, staring at the door, and I thought about what she had said. He will destroy you. Not because he wants to, but because he does not know how not to. I thought about Ramona's words, about the bond and the goddess and the chance that Alejandro might become something better.

I wanted to believe that Camila was wrong. I wanted to believe that Alejandro was different, that the bond was different, and that I was different. I wanted to believe that the hand on my back in the dark last night meant something more than just a monster trying to be good.

But I did not know for sure, and that was what scared me most.