His Lycan Princess | 18+

Destined

The night unfurled before us, a tapestry of shadow and moonlight, as we stood in a solemn line. All of us Slevorian young women, all dressed in crimson cloaks, clutching lanterns that glowed like dying stars against the encroaching darkness. Our village had never felt so foreboding as it did now, the air was thick with anticipation and unspoken fears.

I could feel my heart thrumming in my chest, its rhythm a wild dance that mirrored the turmoil within me. I knew this night was coming, but I expected it to only bring heartache, fear of the unknown, and maybe some pain if I were unlucky enough to mate with one of the beasts. What I didn’t know this night would entail was killing or being killed. By him. The Lycan King. A dagger through the heart, grandmother had said, to reclaim our freedom, to save our women.

Could I do it?

Lysandra, my friend, stood beside me at the square, her fingers wrapped so tightly around her lantern that I feared she might shatter the fragile glass. Her eyes were wide, pools of reflected moonlight brimming with trepidation. "Celine," she whispered, her voice quivering like the lantern flame. "Do you think… do you think they'll be gentle?"

Gentle. Gentle was not the word I’d choose to describe them. I didn’t know which part of the hybrids was more fearsome, the men or the beasts within them, but I knew neither were gentle. Not that I had ever laid eyes on one of them. Our pact forbode them from entering our village, and it obligated them to keep the other supernatural horrors away too. The woods teemed with creatures, ghosts and ghouls, and monsters, and the only thing capable of keeping them away were the wolves. That’s how fearsome and formidable they were. That’s how dangerous, evil, and twisted they were that no other spawn of Satan dared disobey them.

And so, they kept us safe, and in return, we paid them back with our lives, our flesh, and our hearts. We feared, obeyed, and bred their unholy offsprings. What became of the women who mated with the wolves was unknown. None ever got to see them again. My guess was they all died giving birth. The mundane female children were sent back to the village, the cursed male ones joined the wolves in the dark forest to strengthen the numbers of the pack.

The twelve young women chosen tonight would have to serve these magnificent beasts in any way they required. They would have to please them, take care of their deepest, darkest, most primal needs, and satisfy their hunger. Or, to be more precise, their hungers. Plural. For the wolves had many things they craved.

A servant, a feast, a plaything.

A mate.

The thought of mating with one of the beasts send shivers down my spine. All I could think about was being violated, forced down, and railed by something monstrous, all sharp claws, and fur, and grunts, bulging muscles and glistening teeth ready to devour me. It seemed rough, and rabid, primal, raw, and animalistic.

Gentle didn’t come to mind.

I cast Lysandra a glance, my own fears a tempest within me. "I wish I could assure you, Lysandra. But like you, I don't know what to expect."

She tried to smile, but it was a tremulous attempt at best. "I keep telling myself that it's a pact, a promise of safety. The wolves are our guardians. And yet, I'm so scared."

As I opened my mouth to offer a comforting response, the truth hung heavy on my tongue. I knew her fears intimately, for they mirrored my own. The wolves' intentions were a mystery, and the pact, though upheld for generations, could not banish the shadows that danced within our minds.

The square before us was alive with a mixture of subdued murmurs and anxious rustlings. The abbess, a figure of authority, stood at the center, surrounded by the nun. Her presence commanding the attention of all of us. She raised her hand, and the crowd fell silent, the weight of our destiny hanging between us like the breath of a held prayer.

"The time has come," her voice was strong and unwavering. "Tonight, as the Blood Moon graces our skies, we honor the pact that has safeguarded our village for centuries. Twelve among you will be chosen, their bravery celebrated as they embark on this sacred journey."

I swallowed hard, my heart a relentless drumbeat against my ribs. The abbess began to draw names, each call sending a shiver down my spine. I stood, rooted in place, listening to the names tumble from her lips—some familiar, some strangers with whom I had shared my life in fleeting moments.

Lysandra was called, her breath catching in her throat as she stepped forward. I clasped her hand, my fingers gripping her palm in silent support. "You've got this," I whispered, my voice barely more than a breath.

And then, as if the night held its own rhythm, my name was spoken—the last name. My heart surged and stalled all at once. The square seemed to sway around me, and suddenly I was walking, my legs moving of their own accord. My lantern felt heavy in my hand, its glow casting a faint, ethereal light on my path.

A few meters away, Lysandra's eyes met mine, a mixture of sympathy and understanding in their depths. We were bound by this shared fate, two souls stepping into the darkness, our lanterns flickering side by side.

The forest loomed before me, a world of shadows and secrets. My steps were hesitant, my breath uneven. The wolves awaited, their presence a mystery I was about to unravel. I couldn't help but think of the countless girls who had ventured here before, their destinies entwined with the beasts that lurked beyond sight. None of them ever came back. What had happened to them?

What would happen to me?

Maybe my mother and grandmother were wrong. I was no savior. I couldn’t save the others. I couldn’t even save myself.

I was doomed.

As the treeline embraced me, my lantern's glow dimming in the thick of the woods, I cast one last look over my shoulder. Slevoria shimmered in the distance, a beacon of light and life against the backdrop of the unknown. With each step I took, the forest seemed to swallow me whole, and the weight of my dagger grew and grew. Yet deep within, I clung to a flicker of hope—that whatever awaited me in the heart of the woods was my destiny.