The Lycan's Queen

The Lycan’s Queen Book 1 - Chapter 23 My lycan is excited, as am I. The thrill of Adonis chasing me pushes me to run faster. Excitement pulses through my veins as I run past dozens and dozens of trees in a blur. My confidence levels rose since I thought Adonis would be too far behind to even catch up to me. That was my first mistake. A familiar growl sent shivers down my spine as I stopped running. Well, I couldn't let him catch me this easily. Thinking I had a foolproof plan, I ran in another direction and every few minutes changed my direction. See, my logic was that if I change direction, my scent would be everywhere and that would confuse Adonis. That was my second mistake. I was so caught up in my own world, thinking I had fooled Adonis, that when I saw him standing in front of me with a smirk on my face, I panicked So, what did I do? Turned around and ran off, of course. And that was my third and final mistake. I didn't get very far before Adonis’s arms wrapped around my waist and pulled me to him. My lycan decided to give me back control when she saw we were caught. How lovely. We both fell, but Adonis, being the gentleman, took the fall. Unlike last time when he pushed me down to the ground. "Hmm... I keep chasing you, and you keep losing.” Adonis smirked at me. “Well, it's not my fault you're too fast. If you slowed down, then it would be a fair chase.” I rolled my eyes and stood up. “I do enjoy our chases though, little one.” Adonis’s eyes twinkled with amusement as he stood up and brushed off the dirt. “Whatever, I know you're just teasing me,” I huffed. Adonis was trying hard not to laugh, and I glared at him. God, if he wasn't so hot, then I'd punch him. No, I'd kiss him. Wait, what? “You wouldn't have had to chase me anyway. Blame that idiot hanging from Niya's window,” I mumbled. In a flash, the amusement from Adonis's eyes vanished, and it was replaced with anger. “Do you know how worried I was? I thought something had happened.” Adonis looked at me. “You would have been certain nothing happened to me if you kept me with you.” I glared at Adonis. Adonis sighed and ran his hands through his hair. “Little one, I would have, but I wasn't sure how the parents would react.” “Whatever, no use talking about it now. At least tell me you got the guy?” I replied. “Yes, and he’s being questioned as we speak. Aarya, you scared Niya when you jumped out the window. She was freaked out and only managed to say you did this.” Adonis sighed. “That bastard held my cousin at knifepoint thinking she was me! I couldn't control my anger, and my lycan took over,” I answered. “Your lycan took over. I would have loved to see that.” Adonis smiled. “Really?” I was shocked, thinking the opposite. I mean, who would want to see their mate lose control like I did? “To us lycans, nothing is sexier than seeing our mate lose control. Seeing their lycans take over their body,” Adonis replied. "Huh, didn’t know that. So, when can I see your lycan then?" I asked, finding what Adonis said to be true. "Hopefully never,” he grumbled. “Um, I don't think so. That day I saw only a brief part of your lycan, and I want to see all of him. Come on, Adonis!” I begged. "ARTA 1.- ant Lau, La vill mannt U ndannut +La+ Laamulata la maling process with you. He hates seelly you unilalcu. AUDIS siglicu. Yeah, I was nervous for the whole mating part, with Adonis in his human form. His lycan form was a whole different board game. Something told me I wouldn't be able to argue with his lycan, and that wouldn't end well, for either of us. “Oh, right... maybe another time then?” I looked at him hopefully. Adonis chuckled. “Once all this drama has died down, I'll show you him. He's just as impatient to meet you.” I smiled and then realized what the hell just happened today. “Holy shit! I took you away from the meeting. Oh no! Did you find out anything? How where the parents? I mean how helpful were they?” I rambled until Adonis put his finger on my lips. “And breathe,” he said. “Well, it didn't go too well. They don't have much information, and they were too distraught for me to continuously question them. I have them staying in one of our guest rooms until they can take their daughter's body home.” Adonis looked at me defeated, sitting down by a tree, and I followed suit. For the first time we both just sat there in silence. No words were even needed. It was then I realized that Adonis had the world on his shoulders but no one to share the load with. His worries, his feelings were pushed aside so that the kingdom would run smoothly. But what was the consequence of that? He was portrayed as this emotionless king with no mate. A great king, but one who scared people. One whose stories were told to scare children. But the reality was so much different. Adonis had feelings, I have seen it since I have been here. He just didn’t care about them because, to him, making_sure everyone was okay and there were no issues was more important. Granted, everyone loved him, but they didn't know the real Adonis, and that angered me. People are so quick to judge. Now he had someone to share his feelings with, someone he could open up to, and someone who could share the pressure with him. All the books I read throughout the years could have never prepared me for the pressure of being a queen. But when I looked at Adonis, I knew that if he was by my side, I could do anything I wanted to do, and I wanted him to know that I am always going to be here. The thought of escaping was long gone from my mind now. There was no way I could leave Adonis anyway. He had grown on me, and I wouldn't be able to survive without him. "Don't do that, Adonis.” I broke the silence. He looked at me, confused, and I sighed. “Don't give up,” I told him. “I won't ever give up. I have to find the person who killed that little girl and who drugged my mate under my own fucking roof,” he growled. My lycan and I both agreed that Adonis needed to calm down, and the first thing that popped into my head was me climbing on Adonis's lap so I was straddling him. I held his face in my hands and replied, “This anger won't help you catch the bastard. I know you feel defeated because you couldn't get much information out of the parents, but you are smart. You will find clues, and you will catch this son of a bitch and make him pay.” Adonis smiled at me and pressed his lips against mine. It was a slow kiss but was still just as amazing. He broke the kiss and rested his forehead against mine. "When Gabe found Lexi all those years ago, I was so happy for him, but I was jealous. Jealous that I couldn't find my mate. People used to stare at me; I was aware of what they all thought. Some days all I wanted to do was hide in my room, but I thought about my mate. I wanted to make her proud, even if we were both unaware of each other.” Adonis smiled sadly. I couldn't help the tears that escaped my eyes. Hearing him say those words really hurt my heart. He was suffering, and there was nothing I could do. “Hey, I wasn't meant to make you cry.” Adonis softly laughed, wiping away the tears that fell. "I feel like such an idiot. While vou were here trving to do vour best for your mate, what was I doing! Pining after some idiot who won me over with his sweet talk. Looking back, I don't even know what came over me. He said some sweet things and promised me something, and I waited like a complete fool.” I shook my head, ashamed of myself. “You were young, don't forget that. Clearly this guy knew what to say to you. Your past doesn't define who you are now,” Adonis said, wiping another tear that fell. “You are full of good advice.” I smiled. “It was worth it,” Adonis replied. “Worth it? What was?" I asked, confused. “It was worth waiting all those years for you. It was worth disregarding my council till the last minute because you came into my life. I'd do it all again if I have you.” Adonis breathed in my scent and closed his eyes, like he was savoring it. "You can't say those things and not expect me to cry.” I playfully hit him while tears streamed down my face. Adonis kissed both sides of my face where tears were falling. “You're still cute.” He winked. I rolled my eyes before replying, “Whatever. But, on a more serious note, I have this nagging feeling that whoever did this will strike again. So, we need to put on a united front. We will find this bastard, but to do that, we have to work together.’ Adonis nodded. “You're right, I have the same feeling.” "First things first, let me talk to the parents. Maybe they felt intimidated by you, so let me see if I can get any information,” I told him. Adonis looked at me with reluctance but soon nodded his head. “Okay. But I will be right outside. I'm not risking it anymore.” Well, that's as good as I am going to get anyway. I nodded, and Adonis stood up, lifting me up with him. He put me down, and I smirked. “Race ya?” Adonis chuckled. “As much as I would love to, I think not.” Obviously I was about to complain, but Adonis picked me up bridal style and started running. The nerve of him. So I wasn't that fast, but I only became a lycan a few days ago! Even though I was annoyed, I didn't mind that much because it meant being in Adonis's arms, and, I mean, who am I to complain about that? When we reached the front of the palace, Adonis let me down, and I was about to storm off, but he held my hand, preventing me from doing so. Hand in hand, we walked through the palace and straight to his office. Evan, Gabe, Lexi, and even Niya were already there. Niya jumped up, and her eyes ran over my body. “You're okay? How did you jump so far and not break anything?” “Perks of being a lycan I guess,” I answered. Since everyone had their seats, I decided to sit with Niya, but Adonis had other ideas and pulled me toward his seat "Oh, great. Now the lovebirds are sitting with each other. Thank God she ran off to the forest so they could do whatever over there.” Evan pretended to gag. Both Adonis and I glared at Evan, and Gabe hit Evan on the back of his head. “Not the time or place, bro. You'll get your ass kicked by the both of them,” Gabe said. “Right. Let's move on then.” Evan smiled at Adonis. Adonis rolled his eyes and asked, “How are the parents?” "All good, I have three guards outside their room and two below their window,” Gabe replied. Adonis nodded, satisfied, and then asked, “The prisoner?” “Being held in the cell as you asked. We haven't questioned him yet,” Evan answered, his playful eyes turning serious. Guess he wasn't a fan of the person who held his mate at knifepoint either. Adonis nodded slowly and looked at me. “Should we pay a visit to our prisoner?” His eyes were full of anger and glee. Clearly his lycan was excited about that. I nodded and was about to stand up, but someone knocked on the door. I didn't recognize the scent, but the men did as they all exchanged confused looks. Before I could ask, a middle-aged woman slowly opened the door. My eyes widened as I realized who it was. How could I not know? She had the same eyes as the little girl. “Is everything okay? Do you need anything?” Adonis asked. “Your Majesty, I want to speak to you,” the lady asked, staring directly at

iE LT Adonis looked at me and then back at the lady. “Of course, we can go somewhere else.” She shook her head. “I have to speak to the queen. Alone.” An uneasy feeling settled in me as I stared at the panic in the lady's eyes....