Chapter 165 THE BAIT
Chapter 165 THE BAIT
LUCIEN'S POV:
Two Lycan guards are dragging a young woman roughly across the gravel path!
Her hair is a chaotic bird's nest, her clothes are torn and her arms are bound tightly behind her back with thick straps. She is scrapped up in a few places and bleeding, yet she fights them every single step of the way, thrashing her body and kicking out at their shins!
"Hold still, you wild bitch!" one of the guards growls, shoving her forward so hard she nearly stumbles onto her knees. The guard raises his hand to smack her…
"Stop!" I command and the two guards freeze instantly, with their heads bowed in respect. "My King!"
Loki and I walk over to them. "Why are you handling a breeder so roughly?" I ask coldly, glaring down at the guards. "I have made it clear that unnecessary violence against the females will not be tolerated…”
Before the guard can open his mouth to answer, the girl violently pushes herself upright and snaps her head around, fixing me a glare with a pair of piercing, icy-blue eyes that burn with pure hatred!
Without a single second of hesitation, she spits directly onto the polished black leather of my shoes!
"I am no damsel in distress…” she snarls with her jaw clenched so tight the muscles twitch. “Fuck off!!!”
The guards recoil in shock and one of them immediately raises his hand to backhand her across the face. "You insolent bitch!”
"Touch her and I will break your fucking neck," Loki growls next to me with his voice dangerously low… The guard's hand freezes mid-air, trembling slightly before he slowly pulls it back. The girl on the other hand is still seething with rage! She’s taller than most females… And stronger too judging by how many straps were used in restraining her and yet she looks so thin… and emaciated with sunken eyes like she’s sick!
Loki steps up beside me, tsking softly as he shakes his head at the fiery girl. "My, my…” He chides smoothly with an amused smirk playing on his lips. "That is no way to speak to the Lycan King, little flower… Where are your manners?"
The girl turns her cold blue eyes onto Loki and her lip curl into a sneer. "And you can go fuck yourself too!” She snaps “This does not concern you!”
Loki's eyes widen slightly in genuine surprise and his smirk wavers for a fraction of a second before he lets out a quiet, amused chuckle.
I lift an eyebrow, looking down at her torn clothes and wild, defiant stance. She looks vaguely familiar… "What is your name?" I ask.
“I am Aurora Greystone…” she says proudly, standing as tall as her bound arms will allow. "And you… Lucien Voss… You murdered my father!"
I stare at her for a moment as the name registers in my mind. "I see..."
That’s why she looked familiar… Her father was the Alpha I’d beheaded. He’d had those same haunting blue eyes…
The head guard quickly steps forward, eager to explain himself. "My Lord, she is one of the Greystone pack women captured months ago… Last night, she shifted and tried to escape through the east perimeter! She attacked three guards and has been causing trouble ever since we brought her back! Without a silver collar to restrain her, we don't know what to do with her… So we were taking her down to the lower dungeons."
The guard pauses, clearing his throat awkwardly. “It doesn’t help that the Lycan warrior who’d claimed her as his harvest bounty was killed on border patrol two days ago. No male has agreed to claim her since then due to how troublesome she is…”
Loki hums thoughtfully, tapping his chin as he looks at the wild girl. "I see... I remember Vaela did quite a number on those Greystone women… This one is clearly not in her right senses anymore. Vaela’s telepathy is flawless so this breeder’s mind is definitely fragmented by now…”
Loki steps forward and a mischievous smile returns to his face. “If it’s no problem, I’d like to take her then, brother… My telepathy abilities might be a little rusty, but I can help reverse Vaela's brainwashing and fix her mind."
Aurora lets out a scoff at that, throwing her head back. "I don't need your damn help! I am not crazy! And I am not a piece of property you can just take, you arrogant freak!"
Loki's smirk widens, clearly enjoying her fire… He tilts his head, leaning down slightly to meet her icy glare. “Come on… you have limited choices here. You can either accept to be my bounty and come live in my warm, comfortable manor, get the mental help you so desperately need… or you can go rot in the dark, freezing dungeons underground. So what will it be?"
Aurora narrows her eyes and tilts her head, pretending to ponder the question deeply for a few dramatic seconds. Then, a dark smirk spreads across her face
Suddenly, she leans forward and spits right into Loki’s face!
Damn...
"The dungeons... I choose the dungeons happily!” she snarls, her eyes are flashing with defiance. "I'd rather die in a cold hole underground than accept help from the likes of you!"
Loki’s smirk vanishes instantly and he stands there frozen with Aurora’s spit running down his left cheek. His eyes are wide with shock and his mouth is slightly agape as he stares at her…
A wave of amusement washes over me… It has been years since anyone truly managed to wipe that arrogant, self-satisfied smirk off my brother's face completely!
Loki blinks and slowly reaches up with two fingers to wipe his cheek. Then, his shocked expression shifts, melting right back into a wide, dangerously smug smile.
"Please take this poor troubled woman to my manor immediately…” Loki commands the guards, his voice dripping with mock sweetness. "See that she is made comfortable and settled into the master suite… She is clearly quite troubled and requires a lot of… mental help... help which I happen to be very qualified to give."
Aurora’s face pales in horror as the realization hits her.
"Are you fucking deaf?!!" she screams, violently thrashing against the guards as they turn her around and begin hauling her toward Loki's Manor. "I chose the dungeons! I chose the freaking dungeons! You insane bastard! Let me go!!!”
Loki waves at her cheerfully as she is dragged away, kicking and cursing at the top of her lungs. "There, there, Flower… no need to thank me! I'll make sure you get all the help you need!"
Her loud screams of "I'm not fucking crazy!" echo through the courtyard until the doors slam shut behind her.
I look at my brother, raising an eyebrow in quiet judgment. "And what, exactly, was that about?"
Loki shrugs casually, smoothing down the front of his shirt. “Just a spur-of-the-moment decision, brother… She's clearly far too much trouble to be kept anywhere else. She needs a... delicate touch."
I give him a long, knowing look. "Right…”
Loki rolls his eyes and claps me firmly on the back. “Enough about me… Stop stalling and go face your mate. Go on, get out of here!"
I curse under my breath and turn away without another word, crossing the stone bridge that connects Loki's estate to my own grand manor. The quiet walk gives my mind time to settle as I try to draft the words I’d say to Malia in my head… I need to be calm. I need to ask her directly about what she meant yesterday, about what actually happened with the Kade pack’s Alpha… That arrogant bastard who dared laid his finger on her and tried to take her from me!
Also, I might have to come to terms with my own ‘feelings’ towards her…
Finally, I reach the grand doors and push them open. The manor is quiet now, with most of the servants gone and I follow Malia’s intoxicating scent, up the stairs and down the hallway towards the bedchamber… my hand hovers on the door knob and I take a deep, steadying breath, steeling my nerves and going over my rehearsed speech again in my head…
Finally, I push the door open and step inside. "Malia, we need to…”
The rest of the words instantly die in my throat!
My breath hitches and my blood immediately turns to pure, liquid fire as I take in the sight before me!
There, in the center of my massive, canopy bed, lies my Little Mate…
Malia’s long, thick dark hair is loose and sprawled across the sheets in a wild, tangled halo. She is also completely… utterly… stark naked!
Her soft bare skin is practically gleaming under the soft lights in the room and her back is arched slightly… A soft, raspy moan escapes her parted lips as she writhes slowly against the mattress and right between her smooth, parted thighs... her slender fingers are moving in rhythmic, erotic strokes! She finally notices my presence, turns her flushed face to look at me… And I instantly forget the rest of my speech!