Lycan King's Forbidden Obsession

The rival gift pt 2

Serena's pov

Lady Veronica's smile faltered, just for a moment, before she smoothed it back into place, but I saw the flicker of hurt in her golden eyes.

"No?" Felipe repeated, and I could hear the anger beneath his calm voice, the frustration, and the desperation. "My king, Lady Veronica is of noble blood. Her family has served the crown for generations. She would be a perfect match for…"

"I said no," Alejandro interrupted, and his voice was ice, sharp and cold and final. "I already have a mate. I do not need another."

The room erupted in whispers. Nobles turned to look at me, standing in the doorway, and I felt their golden eyes on my skin like brands, hot and uncomfortable and invasive. Some of them were curious. Some of them were angry. Some of them looked at me like I had just stolen something that belonged to them, like I had reached out and taken something precious right out of their hands.

Lady Veronica curtsied again, though her movements were stiff now, and she walked toward the doors without looking at anyone. Her silk dress rustled against the stone floor, and the jewels at her throat caught the firelight and scattered it like sparks. She did not look at me as she passed, but I saw her hands shaking, just a little, and I felt a strange pang of sympathy for her.

She had been used. Felipe had used her like a pawn in his game, and she had not even known it.

Felipe's smile faltered as he watched her go. His face was calm and controlled, but I could see the fury in his eyes, the way his hands curled into fists at his sides, the way his jaw tightened until the muscles stood out like cords. He had planned this. He had brought Lady Veronica here to test the bond, to test the king, and to see how far he could push before something broke.

And he had lost.

He walked past me on his way out of the throne room, and I pressed myself against the wall to let him pass, making myself as small as possible, trying to disappear into the shadows. But he did not pass. He stopped, right beside me, close enough that I could smell the wolf on him, wild and ancient and hungry. His breath was hot on my ear, and his voice was low and dangerous.

"This is not over," he whispered. "He will break you. And when he does, I will be there."

Then he walked away, his boots echoing on the stone floor, his shadow stretching long behind him in the light of the torches. The other nobles followed, their whispers fading into the distance, until the throne room was empty except for me and the king.

I stood there for a long moment, my heart pounding, my hands shaking, and my throat so dry I could not swallow. Felipe's words echoed in my head like a warning, like a promise, and like a curse.

Alejandro rose from his throne and walked toward me, and the sound of his boots on the stone floor was the only noise in the empty room. The nobles were gone now, and the torches were burning low, and the shadows were growing long. His golden eyes never left mine, and his face was still unreadable, but I saw his hands shaking, just a little, the way they always did when he was near me.

"Come," he said, and his voice was low and rough.

He did not wait for me to answer. He walked past me into the corridor, and I followed because I did not know what else to do, because my feet would not stop moving, because something in me wanted to be near him even though every sensible part of my brain was screaming at me to run.

We walked in silence through the halls, past the guards who bowed their heads and the servants who pressed themselves against the walls, until we reached the door to my room. Alejandro opened it and stood aside, waiting for me to enter.

I walked inside, and he followed, and the door closed behind us with a click that echoed in the silence.

He did not speak. He just stood there, looking at me, and I stood there, looking at him, and the fire crackled between us like a living thing. The shadows danced on the walls, and the wind howled outside, and I could feel the weight of everything unsaid pressing down on us like a physical weight.

"Why did you say no?" I asked. My voice was smaller than I wanted it to be, barely loud enough to reach across the room.

Alejandro's golden eyes held mine. "Because she is not you."

He left before I could say anything else, the door closing behind him, and the lock clicking into place.

I stood there in the middle of my room, with the cloak warm on my shoulders, as the king's words echoed in my head. "She is not you."

I did not know what that meant. But I knew that something had changed, something important.

And somewhere in the darkness of the castle, Felipe was smiling and planning.