Found By The Lycan King
4: Aiden

ADRIANA'S POV

A small sound escaped from my lips, and I blinked a few times, trying to wake myself up. I felt soreeverywhere, my feet were burning, my thighs were on fire too. What happened?

I got up with a start, my heart beating wildly in my chest. I looked around, trying to make sense ofwhere I was. I couldn't remember coming here. My memories slowly started coming back as Ilooked around the unfamiliar place. It was a room, small from the looks of it, there were strangedecorations on the wall, and it had a musty smell. Like it wasnt frequented.

My head hurts as multiple thoughts come to me, all at once.

Ball, my father, dark aura and a large man with a black stare...The lycan king!

I'd been running and I remember falling. What the hell happened? How did I end up here? Could itbe that my father or alpha Xander found me? Please let it be a no. I think I would take anyone butthem right now.

I was terrified, wondering if Alpha Xander's guards had caught me and brought me to his pack. Ilooked around the room, taking in the oddities of the space. The walls were a sickly green color, andthere were strange symbols etched into the stone. A single window high up on the wall let in a smallamount of light, but it was dim and barely illuminated the room. There was a door on the far side ofthe room, but it was closed and that renewed my fear.

I moved back on what I assumed was a makeshift mattress, it seemed to be made of a few leaves orsomething I didn't know. I placed my hand on my chest, trying to steady my breathing.

I swung my legs off the bed and stood up, everything in me telling me to get the hell out of there. Iswayed on my feet, my vision going blank for a few moments. I was still dizzy, good to note.

I made my way over to the door, my heart pounding in my chest. I ignored the pain shootingthrough every crevice of my body, especially my legs. When I reached the locked door, I lifted myhands up, ready to rap my knuckles on it. I hesitated for a moment, wondering if I should just stayput and wait for someone to come to me. But I couldn't stand the thought of being there for amoment longer.

The fact that I was detained or anything told me it couldn't be my father's people or Xander's thatfound me. So I had to replace a way out and get as far away from here as possible. They would so easilycatch up with me and I can't have that.

I took a deep breath and reached for the doorknob, deciding to try that first before alertingwhoever it was that brought me here of my consciousness. It turned easily in my hand, and I slowlypushed the door open, peering out into the hallway beyond. It was empty and quiet, with doorslining either side. I stepped out, my bare feet making no noise on the cold stone floor.

I started down the hallway, my senses on high alert as I searched for a way out. As I walked, Icouldn't shake the feeling that I was being watched. It was as if the very walls were watching myevery move

Just as I was about to make my way over to the door, I began to hear footsteps coming from ahallway down the corridor. It was followed by a heated discussion between two people. I ran backinto the room and lay on the bed, my heart pounding and my eyes wide awake with fear.

The loud footsteps continued to approach until they stopped in front of the door. The personhesitated before the door creaked open and a man walked in. His eyes lit upon seeing I was awake."Hey," he greeted, keeping his voice soft. I curled into myself, trying to appear as small as possible."Are you ok?" He asked, trying to come close but I quickly sat up and backed away, glaring at him.He smelled like a lycan and that wasn't good. It couldn't be!

"Who are you? Where am 1?" I asked, moving back until my back could touch the wall. My heartcontinued to race in its frantic rhythm.

“My name is Aiden. I'm a pack warrior. I found you in the woods, where you had fainted. I broughtyou here to my house and had you treated. How are you feeling, are you-"I cut off his long speech.“How...how did you replace me? And why did you bring me here?” My words are ridden with stutters.“I was patrolling the woods when I came across you. You were hurt and I thought you needed help,”he replied easily. I nodded, but I didn't fully believe him.

"Where exactly am 1? Did he send you to catch me? Please let me go!” I begged, fidgeting as Ilooked around the room. I spotted my bag lying on one side of the room, beside a stove. I lookedback at him before making a move to run but he quickly grabbed me and took me back on the bed.“Let me go!” I struggled but he keeps on holding me tight until I stop struggling.

He was very huge, standing at 6'7 or so, with a strong and muscular build that exuded confidence.He had the body of a warrior, almost like the men Xander had come with. That didn't make me feelany better. There was a very high chance he either worked for him or was somehow related to thepack. Lycans were not found littering near wolf territories. Or have I gotten far from my father'spack? That didn't make me as happy as I thought I would be. Only made my nerves skyrocket,because now I had no idea where to go.

The large man bent towards me and I moved further back, there was no more space for me to movetoo but I kept pushing into the way, like it would open to accommodate my body. He didn't comeany closer when he saw what I was doing, but his eyes swept down my body in violating scrutiny.

“I want you to calm down and talk to me. You're safe here and nobody is after you, I promise.”Despite the dangerous aura he exuded, mostly familiar with warriors, his aura was different fromXander's, more peaceful I guess.

"Who are you? Which pack do you belong to?” I asked him as my breath came out harshly. Lycansdidn't have small packs because of their small numbers. They mostly just follow one leader, whichmeans there is a very high chance he is one of Xander's warriors.

“I told you, I'm Aiden and I don't belong to a pack as of now. I used to be a warrior but my pack wasdestroyed. I've been renting this property for a while.” He said, his soft gaze all over my face. Therewas something gentle in his face that urged me to believe him, but I was still cautious.

I nodded and tried to calm my breathing. I slowly let myself move from the wall, stretching my legsout. I peeked at the lone window and saw a bit of light, the sun was slowly dipping into the horizon.The sky was ablaze with fiery orange and pink hues as if the sun was trying to put on one lastspectacular show before it said goodbye for the day.

I got up, keeping my eyes on Aiden, as he said his name was. I stood to my full height and headedto the position of the window. I couldn't see much from here, just a dense wall of trees, theirbranches twisted, stretching out in every direction. We were surrounded by a sea of brown andgreen. We were somewhere in the middle of the woods but I knew my Pack wasn't far away fromhere. And I needed to run.

I couldn't let my father catch me, never.

Aiden didn’t know who I was. I haven't heard of any lycan packs being destroyed so he couldn't befrom here. That renewed my fear as I realized I probably wasn't that far out from my pack, whichmeant I needed to get away from here.

I rushed to where my backpack lay and grabbed it then I turned to the man who had been silentlywatching me and told him in clear terms. “Thank you for your help and I'm sorry I have nothing torepay you with but I have to leave right now.” I tried to keep the information I was giving him to aminimum. You know, in case he wasn't telling the truth.

"Why are you in a rush? Is someone after you?” he gave me a look that said to tell him the truth, itwouldn't be hard to replace me out.

I breathed and shook my head. I couldn't tell him, so I decided. He may have helped me but thatdidn't mean I should readily trust him. “If I know, maybe I can help you.”

That made me look at him with my brows raised and he nodded. A voice in my head told me Icouldn't be serious when I exhaled, and reached a conclusion almost immediately.

“The Alpha of my Pack wants to marry me to a man who isn’t my mate. A very evil man, and theymust be looking for me by now. I have to get away.” I made sure he heard the urgency in my voice.It wasn't hard to get since I was actually very desperate. And it wasn't a complete lie, I only hid myreal identity. What if he knew a way to contact Xander and he turns me in to save himself. I couldn'trisk that.

“I understand what you're saying, but just sit down and relax. There are rogues out there that will killyou once they set their eyes on you and you're still exhausted.” he said, taking my bag off myshoulders gently.

“No, I...I," I swallowed, unable to form any word. I felt like I was giving in too easily.

"At least, eat something. You can leave after that.” I nodded when he said that. I guess it wouldn'thurt to stay and eat something. He was right, I should at least rest before setting out again.

I moved back and sat on the bed again, doing as he said. Seeing I was willing to comply, he noddedand walked out of the room, leaving me to myself and my thoughts.

I reflected on the last few hours, or maybe a day ago, since it's evening again now. I had beenrunning from a life that I knew was going to be nothing but pain, running from my family that hasnever treated me like their own, and now I was being offered protection by a stranger.

Beggars couldn't really be choosers and my only option right now was to trust Aiden and hope thathe was telling the truth.

Aiden returned a few minutes later with a pitcher of water and a cup. He poured it in and handed itto me, I looked a little unsure and he stretched his arm further.

“You must be thirsty after all the running you obviously did, and you haven't had anything to drink."What he was saying made sense but I was still unsure. He sighed and set the pitcher down by myfeet and the cup beside it. “I have no intention of hurting you, I promise.” His eyes were soft. I onlynodded but still made no move to touch the water.

“I understand why you must be skeptical, but see,” he picked the water and drank half of it. “There isnothing wrong with it.” he spoke after. I nodded, a bit more convinced this time. He handed the cupback to me and I took it eagerly, drowning the rest of the water in it in one gulp.

“Thank you,” I muttered, my cheeks heating when I saw how he was watching me.

“You must be hungry, would you like something to eat?” My stomach growled, answering hisquestion and he chuckled. “Okay, I'll get you something right now.” I nodded eagerly. I wasn'thungry, I was starving. “You can rest before I have it ready,” he pointed to the bed before walkingtoward the door again.

I did as he instructed and laid back on the bed, but I couldn't sleep even after he left. I scanned theroom, now that I was more awake, I saw that in addition to the weird writings on the wall, they wereadorned with various weapons and battle gear, the smell of metal and aged blood permeated theroom.

I gave up on sleep and got up, making my way over to a bench in the corner, I sat down and took adeep breath. My head was still spinning from the fainting spiel I had suffered earlier. I haven't fullyregained my strength after the distance I ran, not to mention the multiple injuries I suffered. I didn'thave fast healing abilities like normal wolves, so the wounds would take a while to heal which was adownside for me right now.

There was a knock on the door and Aiden walked back in, he had a tray in his hand and the scent offood made my stomach grumble in complaint.

He kept the tray in front of me but I made no move to touch it, he sighed seeing my hesitation andcut a piece of the roasted meat. He shoved it in his mouth and chewed, then he swallowed. Heshowed me his tongue, I didn't know when a smile made its way to my face.

“It is safe, I promise.” I took his word for it and eagerly dug in.

He provided a bottle seemingly out of nowhere and kept it beside me. I looked up at him confused,stopping my chewing. “It's a potion,” he motioned to my legs that were matted with dried blood. Ihad multiple cuts there. “To help you heal. I noticed you weren't healing.”

I nodded and swallowed. “You can take it now or after you're done eating, either is okay.”

I picked it but stopped before drowning the contents, Aiden nodded in encouragement and I closedmy eyes before throwing the whole thing in my mouth. It honestly tasted like shit and I gaggedwhich made Aiden snicker.

“It has a foul taste but you'll feel better.” I grimaced, the after taste still in my mouth. I tore anotherpiece of the meat and put it in my mouth, hoping it would overpower the first one.

I ate some more, loving the well cooked texture of the meat. I would honestly replace anythingdelicious with the way I was starving.

I felt more relaxed the more I ate.

“See, it's already working.” Aiden said with a smile and I nodded, giving him one of mine.

The effect of the potion was really good, I could feel my head clear, and my energy began to return."Thank you,” I said looking up at Aiden who had kept himself busy with watching the engravings onthe wall. "I feel much better now."

"You're welcome, Princess," he replied with a smile. I didn't say anything at the nickname, since Ididn't tell him my name, I guess I couldn't complain. "Now, if you'll excuse me. I'll allow you to rest.When you feel stronger we can talk about getting you out of here.”

I nodded, feeling too tired to open my mouth and talk. Almost immediately, the tension in mymuscles melted away, and I found myself drifting off into a peaceful sleep.

I felt someone picking me up but I was already too sleepy to even understand what was happening,panic started settling in my bones but I felt too weak to do anything but let the sleep take over. Myeyes closed before I could really make out what was happening.