Chapter 153 Fateful

Chapter 153 Fateful
LORCAN
At this point, my hands are bleeding from how hard I'm slamming my fists against the door. 
These motherfuckers. They have to let me out. Fuck, there has to be a way out of this hellhole! I can't let Lyria marry that guy. 
I can't let it happen. 
I'm not even sure of how much time has passed. It could be minutes since I last spoke to her through the door or hours. This is all so fucked up. Out of all the times in the world that I had to be helpless, why now? 
I clench my jaw and rake my fingers through my hair. I turn my back to the door for a split second and it fucking opens. I charge forward, but the warrior shuts it behind him quickly. 
"The king wishes to speak to you. On the bed."
"Fuck you and your king!" I grit out, anger getting the best of me. "I want to see Lyria. Where is she?"
"You're in no position to make demands, werewolf," he retorts with a viciousness in his tone. "You do as you're told because here, you are not in your country. Sit on the bed, or I will ask my friends to come in here and whip you into submission."
"I'd like to see you fucking try."
The last thing I'm ever going to do is show submission to an asshole like this. Who does he think he is? Who the fuck do they think they are? The guy stares back at me with a thin-ass smile, then asks, "You're not afraid of what your disrespect is going to do to her? Have you not noticed that she has been paying for your disobedience this whole time? Do you want her to keep being punished?"
His words inject ice straight into my veins. I'm torn between lunging right at him and staying the fuck put. "What did you do to her?"
"Sit and we will tell you," he claims. "Or don't. Either way, you'll find out soon."
He turns to leave, and this time, when he looks at me, it's like he's daring me to go after him and try to escape. I'm tempted, but what he told me about Lyria threw me off completely. I can't do something that will directly harm her. 
That won't do. 
So, I stand rooted to the spot while he leaves, and then I hate myself for it. We should've never come here. Fuck, regret is eating at me, making it impossible for me to even see a way out of this because it's all I can focus on. 
What am I going to find out eventually? What the hell was he talking about?
I wait for the whole night. I couldn't possibly sleep a wink. I think that asshole might have done it on purpose. In any case, he got what he wanted. 
In the morning, the king finally comes. I stand up and nearly fall over. It's a miracle that I'm still standing. I'm pretty sure that it's the blood loss I experienced, but as far as I know, I healed well. 
I'll have the scar running through my eyebrow for the rest of my life, though. That much I can tell. 
Depending on how much I have left of it. 
"I thought you were told to sit on the bed when I arrived," he immediately says in a tone that sets my teeth on edge. "You truly are insolent, aren't you? Insolent and stupid. Like all wolves."
"So stupid that you're the ones who almost went extinct, remember?"
I regret the words as soon as they leave my lips. Lyria. I have to think about her right now, no matter how angry I am. He narrows his eyes at me, then says, "I should've killed you when I had the chance, but I hesitated in the very last second, and here you are. Tormenting me."
This time, I keep my mouth shut. The dragon king straightens his spine and tells me, "I have news for you. The wolf girl will marry my son this afternoon, and you will be able to return to Cassea as soon as the ceremony is through."
It takes everything for my feet to remain rooted to the ground. I can't do anything stupid now, not when he's standing directly in front of me. That wouldn't even make any fucking sense. 
But I want to kill him. Rip him apart with my bare hands. 
"I will be happy to get rid of you. But you should be thanking us now, not the other way around," he claims before he turns away. "After two hours, your existence and that of your kind will be thanks to us, the creatures who were stupid enough to near extinction, as you put it."
One of the warriors opens the door wide enough while looking at me, almost like she's daring me to take the chance. I know for a fact that I would be killed if I even tried, and in any case, something keeps me rooted to the spot. 
It could be shock. 
When they're gone and I'm all alone, despair washes over me, and I finally sink to the ground while gripping the roots of my hair. Everything seems to hit me all at once. 
This is going to happen and I have no way of stopping it. 
In two hours, I will lose Lyria forever. 
The notion is impossible to accept. I can't believe that I failed so miserably. How can I even call myself a man after this? What will I even do with myself? What will be the point of heading to Eron and living there after it's saved from the plague when I won't have her by my side? 
The sound of the door opening pulls me right out of my trance and I look up. I see the asshole from earlier standing over me with a look that makes me stand up. It's smug and makes panic course through me. 
Has it been two hours already?
"Time to go, wolf," he spits. 
I can't stop myself from racing right past him as quickly as I can. He tries to make a grab for me, but his hands slip. Lyria. She's the only thing at the forefront of my mind. The only thing I can focus on. 
I have to find her. She's coming with me. 
And if she can't come with me, then there's no point in my leaving at all. 
I only come to a staggering halt when I nearly run right into her. Her wide eyes meet mine, and I don't hesitate. I close the distance separating us and gather her into my arms. Holding her close, I tell her, "I'm not leaving this place without you, Lyria. I don't care what happens."
"You won't have to," she whispers against my skin. "I'm going with you."
I pull away to peer into her eyes and see that she's fighting a small smile while tears gather in her eyes. "What... What does that mean? But I thought that you were going to marry—"
"I was," she interrupts. "But I guess fate had something else in store for us."
I tilt my head to the side. I don't understand shit. "So, you're not going to marry the prince?"
Lyria shakes her head. 
"Why not?"
"Zorah," she claims. "She's the one who married him. I guess she fell in love with the dragon prince when we first met in the cave and, well... the switch happened."
I can barely believe my fucking ears.