The Lycan King's Muse

Ep 52: Without Words

My senior healer once told me a fable from the human world about a princess who was cursed to sleep until a prince woke her up with a true love kiss. I thought the story was ridiculous.

But when I wake up today, I feel like I had been that sleeping princess. Especially when I learn that I've been sleeping for almost two days.

The only thing that the princess has that I don't have is a prince waking me up with a kiss. I wake up alone. The side of the bed where Lyall slept is now cold.

I look at the opened window. The afternoon wind makes the thin curtain dance a little. The room is a bit chilly, so I tiptoe to close the window. That's when I notice the lingering scent of Lyall. Musk and a little smoky scent.

It's faint, which means he has been gone for quite some time.

As I lock the window and close the curtains, I feel a heavy anchor weighing my heart deep under the earth.

He left me.

For the rest of the day, I spend my time looking at the door, waiting for him. I feel stupid, but I hold on to that hope that he will come back. Maybe he just needs time to accept what happened.

What I did to him is worthy of punishment in my old pack. A female can't claim a male without the male's permission. It's unheard of. Even if they are mates, if the female claims the male first, the male will consider that an insult.

I know the lycan kingdom is much more forward than my old pack. But as I have only been a few months in this kingdom, I can't be sure how they will take some things. What if they also have the same belief as my old pack?

Especially because Lyall is the king, the highest one in power. Claiming him first can be considered an act of insulting his authority. Even if I did it to save him.

When Lyall doesn't come back until sundown, I begin to worry if my thoughts have been correct. I don't dare to ask about it to anyone because I also don't know if Lyall would like it if words spread around about me having claimed him.

In the end, I am tired of waiting. So I go to the academy, and live my life like that day never happened. Everyone keeps giving me sly eyes, but none would ask me about it. It doesn't help that my belly is no longer able to be hidden.

Lola tells me that one particular rumor has been going around the kingdom, that I am conceiving Lyall's son. She also tells me that Adina's supporters are not having it, but somehow, they are forced to stay quiet for the time being. Something is holding them back from taking action on me.

This pony-tailed girl has made significant progress in her transformation. Unlike Lyall, who has it hard and painful in transforming, Lola's trouble is in the mind. Her body is ready to transform, but her mind cannot synch with her body. I have helped her to synch both and now she can transform for a few minutes.

She has also become one of my fiercest protectors in the academy. None of the students dare to mock me because of her.

Well, also because they are all intimidated by Grey's deadly stare.

I find out recently that Grey is dating the academy's herbalist, which, to my surprise, is a rogue werewolf. His name is Marlin, and he is a mute. But his soul is like blooming jasmine, pretty and pure. He is the first person I have met that offers for me to read his soul from the get-go. That's how I understand the reason he had to become rogue; he was born in the wrong body and no one in his pack could understand that. As much as they pressure women to act a certain way, they also pressure men to... well, act like a bunch of douchebags.

"I hate the system," Marlin gestured to me. "It puts us in boxes that cage us, preventing us from living totally free. Those labels only limit us."

I could not agree more.