The Lycan King's Muse

Ep 55: Delivering Bad News

"Jen," I let out a nervous laugh. "I'm... I'm not... This is not..." I try to pull my hands from hers, but she wouldn't let me go. The moment Lyall steps near me after sensing my discomfort through the bond, Jen and the werewolves in the assembly hall growl at him.

Instantly the lycans growl back. It's considered a threat to show fangs in someone else's territory.

Athena and Lyall shoot deadly gazes at the fae king and prince. "Argamon." Lyall's voice is low. It vibrates with a darkening sense of danger. Of threat.

Lyall's fists are clenched so hard that his veins bulge. There is a thunderstorm rumbling inside him, which I can feel through the bond. I caress our bond mentally, trying to calm him down. He might not care about angering Argamon, or the rogues. But I know Jen. She can be the most stubborn and relentless person when she has made her mind up to something. She scares me sometimes.

"Let go of my mate," Lyall puts emphasis on the last word. His eyes burn through Jen, and of course, Jen serves the right amount of heat back. She was always branded as someone with an ugly attitude in our old pack. Now that we are not part of the pack anymore, she is just someone who stands up for herself and for other women who couldn't.

It's funny how our old pack tends to label someone as difficult, or worse, hysteric, just because she speaks her mind.

I thought we were done for. There is no way these two hot-headed individuals can see eye to eye. But then, Lyall surprises me.

"Please," he adds softly. His eyes flick to Jen's hands on mine. "Let her choose on her own. Don't take her away out of her will." There is a sense of desperateness in his voice that makes everyone in the room widen their eyes in shock. The cold-blooded lycan king that everyone knows has spoken softly and with consideration... for me.

I can tell that Lyall's words take Jen aback a little. But she keeps her hands on mine. "I have seen many women so mentally abused that they never thought of leaving their horrible partner," Jen speaks in a low voice, "because they think they couldn't, because they think their partner would hurt them if they do, or worse, they think that's the kind of love they deserve."

Her words ring true to every werewolf female. And they ring true to me. I have seen women choose to be invisible for survival and I have seen women choose to endure the mental strain their partners put them through because of two reasons. One, because they think they deserve it. Two, because of their children.

The most sickening part is that some of the children these women have cared for, turn into the same males that treat their mothers horribly. It's a sickening hell cycle in our old pack.

But at this point, I need to step in. Because that's truly not what's happening to me.

"Jen," I call to the only mother figure I have known. My voice is calm. That's the only way to make Jen listen. I don't need to raise my voice, I just need to be more assertive.

She looks at me with her blue eyes. "You don't need to save me," I say, "I am already saved."

"Mars," she shakes my shoulders, "Wake up. You have us now. You don't need to settle–"

She stops when she sees me shaking my head. "I'm not settling. I'm choosing."

Besides, I actually doubt Jen's rogues can stand a chance against Lyall, especially in the Lycan Kingdom itself. Despite Jen having Argamon as an ally, it wouldn't be a sure victory. Unless perhaps... Jen has something else up her sleeve. Knowing her cunning and calculating brain, I wouldn't put it past Jen to know a trick or two that can take down an entire kingdom.

Jen catches my gaze with a disbelief look. Her pupils shake slightly as if she is trying to determine if I have been hypnotized. "Is it because of the baby?"