Heart Of A Lycan King
Chapter 29

*Trigger warning; First part of this chapter contains triggering contents. Readers discretion is advised.*

MATTEO.

“Strip!” I growled at the lowly Omega staring at me and licking her lips seductively.

We were in my office, a few moments after the pack meeting had ended and I had gotten a response that the Grand King had agreed to see me in two days.

I unbuckled my belt, eyes pinned on her as she dropped the sleeves of her dress. She had hair similar to Natasha’s, and that was exactly why I had chosen her. But she doesn’t have the curves, and I figured I could just imagine her that way.

“What would you like from me, Alpha?” she said in a low pitched voice as she wiggled completely out of the tight dress and cupped her breasts while she continued to lick her lips.

Hmmn, looks good.

“Get on your knees!” I commanded as I took off my shorts and began making myself ready for her mouth.

She did so without hesitation, looking too eager for my liking. But I needed to let go. It’s been three days since I last had one with Camila, and ever since, she had been avoiding me. At some point when we met during dinner, she makes the ‘psssssssssss’ sound as she pours her drink.

I needed to make her beg me to take her. To plead with me to stop when I start. But first, I needed to show her I don’t need her.

“Suck!” I commanded, she took it in her eager hands before she began bobbing her head.

I threw my head back and m****d as the tension peaked. I was close. So very close, that was a given, because I had been craving it for days.

I gripped her head and began thrusting back and forth, enjoying the choking sounds coming from her.

But just as I was about to come undone, I felt it go limp, before I found myself peeing in her mouth.

I knew I was peeing because that wasn’t how it felt when one was coming undone. For the second time in three days, I was peeing in a woman.

I pulled back, horrified! Shocked! Angry, as the Omega stared at me wide eyed, while she gagged and spit on the carpeted floor. She looked at me with disgust, shame, and confusion.

No one looks at me that way.

“You…you…” she tried to speak as she pointed to my now limp member. “Are you sick, Alpha?”

A low growl reverberated from me, as Dave howled angrily in my head. This is an embarrassing moment. The minute I allow her to leave, I’ll be a laughing stock.

So, I did the only thing that came to my mind. I grabbed her by her neck and plunged my teeth into her throat then ripped a large chunk of flesh from it.

She gasped, placed her hands quickly on her throat, and stared at me wide eyed as I wiped my mouth of her b***d. As an omega, she heals slowly, but a big gaping wound like this wouldn’t heal fast enough as she loses more b***d.

To be on the safe side, however; I grabbed the silver chain I had kept in the drawer of my desk and wrapped it around her, before sprinkling more silver dust into the new bite wound I had given her.

“How dare you look at me with disgust, you stupid piece of s.hit?! How dare you?!” I yelled, hitting her on the face as she fell to the ground. She kept hissing, trying to breathe.

I stood there, stark naked, watching her draw in her last breath before I calmed down.

‘Next time, I am taking over. What the f**k is wrong with you?!’ Dave thundered.

‘F*****g shut up!!!’ I screamed as I fell down and began to cry. Thick tears rolling down my cheeks. I was ashamed of myself. Terrified of what I was becoming. The first time might have been a mistake, although it made no sense. How about now?

What in Goddess name is f*****g wrong with me?!

NATASHA.

I shut the car door behind me. I stared at the dark cottage-like house that stood in the middle of tall trees. An eerie feeling settled within me, as the loud cries of insects filled my ears.

It was still afternoon, but this part of the kingdom, precisely this part where the cottage-like house stood, was dark, as though a cloud was hovering over it. But there wasn’t any cloud overhead.

Four men stood guard, each holding a spear. They were bare chested, and had only a yellow and red colored ankara tied on their waist that covered only their butts, it wasn’t long enough to reach their knees. Bald heads. White marks drawn on each side of their cheeks as black paint covered their foreheads. They looked identical, down to look in their eyes!

I took a step back and found myself hitting my back against the coldness of the car.

“Don’t tell me you are scared, Nala,” Aiden whispered beside me. I had no idea when he had gotten there but that is the least of my worries now.

“What? It looks scary,” I whispered back.

“Hmm, that’s weird. For someone who had seen the shadows, I didn’t know you’d be scared of the Priestess’s guards,” he teased, pulling the bridge of my nose.

I let my eyes dance over his choice of clothing for the hundredth time since he changed into them before we had left. He wore a black caftaan, his hair tied back, but today, unlike other days, he left two corkscrew locks dangling on either side of his face.

He looked…so damn hot!

“Well, that’s an entirely different case. The guards shouldn’t be too scary. This should be a place full of light and love not darkness and creepiness,” I voiced my thoughts. “Are they quadruplets?”

“Yup,” he replied, popping the ‘p’ sound before stretching his opened palms towards me. “Shall we?”

I smiled, clasping my hand over his. I loved the way my small hand fits into his large hand. I loved the feeling. The way he always held it depending on his mood. Sometimes, with so much tenderness, other times, with such raw intensity that it builds all sorts of bubbles in my stomach.

“It seems you fancy holding hands,” I commented as we began walking towards the house.

He turned to look at me, causing me an involuntary shiver. I was glad I had my hair packed into a single bun today, while leaving a few locks hanging down on my right cheek. My black and white polka dotted sleeveless ankara matched perfectly with his black caftan. But because I feel uncomfortable showing my scars, I wore a stretchy elastane white shirt with long sleeves underneath the gown. I put in extra effort because for the first time, I’m meeting Aiden’s father.

“There’s a mutual connection involved in holding hands. I want to slowly build that up. And I’d like to think it is one of my kinks,” he replied.

“Kinks?” I asked wide eyed, halting a bit in my tracks. “How many of those kinks do you have?”

“Hmn,” he raised his head as though in deep thoughts before he bent so he had his face directly facing mine. “Why don’t we replace out how many of those I have together?”

I sucked in a deep breath, different emotions swirling through his eyes as the thudding in my heart picked up pace.

‘He’s got the moves, Nat. And a swift tongue,’ Erin purred. ‘I don’t know how you resist him, but with that swift tongue right there, those intense dark eyes, I’ll be turned to a purring puddle in seconds!’ she finished, sticking her tongue out to lick her mouth.

‘Erin!’ I hissed, my cheeks flushing red as though I was the one that said it. Well, technically, I did.

‘What? Can’t a she-wolf have fantasies? I know what is going through your head. I could literally push and take over right now so I can try one of them. But you’re not ready, and I’m not a selfish b.itch so I’m waiting until you are,’ she finished.

‘I never said you shouldn’t have fantasies. But stop feeding them to me,’ I grumbled.

‘As if I was the one who started the licking fiasco. I learned from you. Now, this place gives me the creeps but I’m eager to replace out what’s up with those shadows and the mark.’

I sighed, lifting my eyes to replace Aiden’s fixed on mine. All this time I spent chit chatting with Erin, he had been looking at me.

“Uhmn, let’s get going,” I mumbled, taking two steps back from the close proximity between us.

His lips curled up slightly and his eyes twinkled a bit before we resumed walking. The more we walked towards it, the creepier it got, and the more I got scared. At some point, I ended up squeezing Aiden’s hand so tight when I heard an owl’s cry.

“Relax,” Aiden whispered as he ran his thumb soothingly on the back of my hand. “There’s nothing wrong here. This is the Priestess palace, hence why you feel this way. But the inside is nothing like the outside,” he explained.

“Have you ever been here?” I asked.

“Yes. Twice,” he smiled sadly. “Let’s do this.”

The guards bowed as we approached them, and that was when I saw that they each had a hand imprint on the left side of their chest. Like a mark of belonging.

“That’s the mark of the Priestess. Each guard carries it as it embodies them and creates a connection between them.”

I nodded, storing all the new things I was learning.

“Indaboski, Enayishi!” they all chorused at the same time as each of them raised their spears in salutation and bowed their heads again.

“You all know very well that I’m yet to understand the language of the gods, right?” Aiden said with a small smile. “Indaboski Kachiyan!” he added as he hit his chest once.

“You are picking up fast, My King,” one of the men said. “A great honor to have you visit us after all these years. Her Ladyship is waiting.” He bowed again.

“Thank you, Danu,” Aiden replied as he tapped his shoulders. However, just as we were about to move, he paused and turned back to them. “This is Natasha, my mate and the future Queen.”

Heat rose on my cheeks as he tightened his grip on my hand. This was the first time I had heard him call me by my name, and strange enough, it felt good. Although, not as good as Nala felt.

“Indaboski Enayishi,” they chorused once more, spears raised, heads bowed.

I didn’t know how to reply since I had no idea what language they were speaking. So, I simply smiled and waved my hand.

As we walked through the door and into a long winding corridor, I began to see changes. There were crystals above that sparkled and lit the entire hallway. Different markings I couldn’t make out on either side of the wall.

“What language was that?” I finally asked.

“The Zambelian language,” Aiden replied. “It is the language of the capital, however, since we all have a single official language, and it being English, it’s hardly spoken much around. But some of the packs maintain their languages.”

“So, this is the Capital’s language?”

“Yes, mostly referred to as the Language of the Gods. Baba speaks the language smoothly. I love to speak Mama’s language so I never bothered to learn this one past the greeting stage,” he chuckled.

I smiled, and looked at our locked hands as we rounded a corner. We came to a large living room, with more blinding lights than those from the hallway. There was a single three settee sofa in the room, a big clay post sat beside it and I wondered what was in it. Far ahead, above three steps that stood at the foot of the building, sat two other clay pots on either side of a fountain.

Water dripped into a small bowl kept at the foot, and a large skeletal skull of what seems to be the head of a wolf stood above, with black and white feathers stuck to it. A fire burned from behind, and a single woman, clad in only a white thin cloth with a chain around her waist stood beside the fountain. She wore nothing underneath, and had long straight black hair.

Before I could ask the questions bugging me, however, an elderly woman strolled in holding a staff that had the same head of the wolf, only smaller on top of it. However, instead of a white thin material, she was dressed in a black material. Her lips were painted black, as were her brows. Her eyes are completely white as though covered by a fog. On top of her hair laid a crown, with glittery red jewels shaped like the crescent moon adorning it.

“Welcome!” she said, her voice high pitched.

“Inna Laniya,” Aiden greeted with a bow, and I did the same.

“Nonsense!” I heard her say, so close that the sound of her voice close to me caused me to jump back a little. She had a wide smile that appeared to be like a wolf grinning, her kola nut stained teeth visible. “I told you never to bow again. You are our king,” she said, patting Aiden on his shoulders before she turned her gaze to me. “A half cast,” she murmured, tipping my head up.

I found myself looking straight into her fog-like eyes, trembling under her touch before she smiled again. For a moment, I thought her eyes cleared, but that may be my imagination. Erin whined and tucked her head into her paws when the woman kept staring. After a while, she dropped her hand and chuckled before she shook her head.

“Well, welcome to you both. Sit, please,” she gestured to the sofa and walked up to where her chair sat above the stairs.

“How have you been, Inna?” Aiden asked as he guided me to the sofa. We sat, hands still interlocked and faced the old woman with grey hair.

“An old woman knows no peace. I just wish to be called back home to my ancestors,” she replied. “What brings you here? There has to be something urgent for you to drive all the way here, My King.”

Aiden shifted to the edge of the seat, cleared his throat before he began speaking.

“What can you tell me about the Shadows in Fiko forest, Inna? Besides what we already know about them, of course.”

“Why do you want to know about them?” she asked, her expression suddenly changing.

“I’ve dreamt about them three days in a row. And then, I got a mark in my dream and woke up to it. My mate didn’t dream about them, but she did see it on the wall,” Aiden explained and I nodded in confirmation.

“Show me the mark,” she said, her tone curt and clipped.

Aiden stood up, pulled the shirt of his caftaan up to reveal the tattoo of the wolf head.

Inna stood up from her seat and walked up to where Aiden stood. She stopped before him, stared at the mark and then back at me.

“That’s strange,” she murmured, still staring at the mark. Then quite suddenly, she trailed the tip of her fingers over the mark like I did this morning, and a sharp pain gripped me.

“Ugh!”

“Ow!” Both Aiden and I winced at the same time.

“Interesting,” Inna murmured again, before pulling her hand away.

Then she shut her eyes and began humming. My head began to pound. I stood up and placed both hands on either side of my head. The more she hums, the more the pounding increases.

“Argh!” I cried, falling to the floor as I clutched my head tightly.

“Nala!” Aiden’s distressed voice called to me before I felt his arms around me as he held me to his chest. “What is going on?” he snapped as soon Inna stopped humming.

The pounding had stopped, but I could still feel its effects.

“That is a mark of the shadows on your abdomen, My King. A mark of one of them,” she said after a moment.

“What?” Both Aiden and I asked at the same time.

“Katimena!” she screamed, hitting her staff to the ground. “Jiyani! Handakariya!!!” With each strange word she said, my body trembled, and Aiden hissed, clearly in pain. She repeated the same words thrice, while the young woman we had seen after coming in here danced to it, the chain on her waist dangling and making weird sounds as she moved around. Inna soon joined her, as I watched in awe, despite my fear the way her waist moved, her dark caramel skin shining underneath the light from the crystals.

Then everything stopped, even my body stopped trembling.

“And she is one of them,” Inna pointed her staff at me, her eyes glowing, as the crystals died and we were engulfed in darkness.