Mine At First Sight
Chapter 16 - I Feel You

▪️L E N N A▪️

Standing in front of the full-length mirror in my bedroom, I had been practicing some of my blocking techniques.

I was taking a small break, using the time to slowly observe my appearance.

I felt so much stronger since arriving in the Lycan region as with all the intense training I had been subjected to, I had begun to develop a bit more muscle. My trousers were tighter around my thighs and derriere, and I must admit that I quite liked it.

My gaze moved to my arms and I watched the white patches of skin on the back of my hands when I felt a sudden rush of energy hit me.

“Edric…” I murmured

The Lycan King was upset about something.

Grimacing, I closed my eyes and focused on blocking his energy, and I whimpered as my barrier was slowly erected, fighting against the strong pulsations that threatened to consume me.

After a few excruciating moments, I realised that I had completely surrounded my body. At first, I was dazed. Then I was suddenly filled with confidence and power as I understood that I had fully blocked Edric’s energy.

With a ragged breath, my eyes popped open.

My body was illuminated with my energy, and the magical glow increased as I stood up properly, squaring my shoulders back as I looked at my reflection. However, I was so concerned about Edric and getting to him that I quickly forgot about what was going on with my body as I dashed out of my chamber and headed towards his study.

Just as I was approaching the large wooden door, it opened, and out walked Faeda, Ghaffar, Klaus, and Eginhard, their faces surprised by my glowing appearance.

Before I could even greet them, they shocked me by bowing their heads.

Flabbergasted, I momentarily stared at them in confusion before quickly shaking my thoughts clear and bowed my head low in return, bending myself almost in half.

“He needs you,” Eginhard’s words made me immediately straighten.

Nodding, I excused myself then entered cautiously into Edric’s study and closed the door behind me. No sooner than the lock clicked, the Lycan King shouted.

“What is it now?” Edric snarled, as he turned sharply from the window, his grey-green eyes glowering. Upon seeing me, his voice lowered, “Oh, I thought it was one of the Lycans coming back to spew more shit in my ears.”

I slowly approached his desk, “Why would you mistake me for a Lycan? Did you not smell me?”

“After the ridiculous little meeting that I just had, I wanted to be left alone, so I immediately closed off my senses as soon as they left. What brings you here, is everything alright? Wait, why are you glowing?” Edric asked, seeming to just now comprehend the change in my appearance.

“Yes and no. I came here because your energy exploded into my room. I actually managed to completely block you out,” I said with a triumphant smile, “although, I still have to work on holding it. I fear the barrier will crumble soon, so I came to see if you were alright.”

Edric walked towards me, his eyes locking with mine, “You managed to block me out completely? That is fantastic! How did you do it?”

“Honestly, I don’t really know; when your energy suddenly flared, my barrier went up on reflex and before I knew it, I had done it,” I replied as my smile widened.

Sniffing the air, he commented, “Now that you mention it, I can barely smell you,” before he leaned in and pressed his nose to my neck.

“Could it be because of the block?” I exclaimed in sudden awareness.

Nuzzling the skin of my throat for a few moments longer, Edric then pulled back and replied, “It has to be. Perhaps this is how Einarr was able to elude me in the forest.”

Nodding, I furrowed my brows, as I felt my energy barrier dissipate since I was no longer able to hold it. Thankfully, Edric’s energy was not as overwhelming as it had been moments before.

Edric growled softly as I watched him bend his head again.

Inhaling deeply, he kissed my neck fervently, “There it is… I can smell you fully now.”

Momentarily closing my eyes, I enjoyed his lips on my skin, revelling in his touch for a little while before trying to pull away, forcing us to concentrate on what we were previously discussing.

“Are you alright? Eginhard said that you needed me.” I questioned.

Shaking his head as he scowled, “Of course he would say that,” he grumbled while taking my hand to pull me to sit on one of the couches next to the large bookshelf.

Biting on my bottom lip, I patiently waited for Edric to speak. He seemed conflicted as he held my right hand between both of his.

“I have not given the notion much thought, seeing that I literally just had the conversation with Klaus and the others. But the elder Lycan is of the impression that we should stop fighting our attraction for each other,” his hold on my hand tightened slightly.

Chuckling at his words, “You mean you need to stop fighting; I’ve already resigned myself to the fact that I want you.”

“Yes well, he thinks that if we were to give in to our desires and solidify an emotional connection, you will be able to perform stronger forms of magic,” Edric stated, before he went on to explain the possibility of Einarr seeking to secure such a power for himself.

“So, let me get this straight, you are willing to give in to your emotions concerning me. But basically, it would just be to help me access more of my power, which you can in turn use to beat Einarr?” I took a deep breath and pulled my hand away from his and stood up.

Brushing his fingers through his hair, Edric did not answer me right away, seemingly lost for words.

“You know, if I didn’t really know you, I would’ve assumed that you were only doing this for power,” my eyes focused on the large painting on the wall near his desk.

Getting up to stand next to me, he said, “Surely you know that is not true! I would never use you like that. You can use your powers to sense what my true intentions are.”

“Perhaps, but I don’t feel like using my powers to replace out your true goals,” I responded, not caring how peevish it sounded.

Scowling, I moved to stand directly in front of the picture that beautifully illustrated Edric and his family.

My eyes slowly traced over the late King and Queen, before moving to Einarr and Edric who stood behind them. As I watched the two older brothers, one would have never assumed that such a war between them would be taking place.

As I continued to get lost in the image before me, the painting took me away to another time, another life. One that had been forever altered the day that Caelina died.

Suddenly turning to face Edric, I asked, “Did you ever love her?”

Clearly dumbfounded by my question, “What? Who?”

“Your wife, Caelina,” I replied, with a slight purse of my lips.

After a few quiet seconds, he answered, his voice flat, “Was I supposed to?”

My eyes widened, not expecting this response and I tried to put myself in his position and thought about how I would have felt.

“I don’t know; although you can’t fault people for assuming such a thing could happen. After all, love can sometimes blossom in situations where you least expect it,” I said, having come to terms with my own feelings for him.

Scoffing, Edric shook his head, “No, Lenna, I did not love her. And even if I had intentions of trying to, it would have been hard, seeing as she was still in love with Einarr.”

“But surely with her being pregnant with your child, there was some bond between the two–” the venom in his tone abruptly interrupted me.

He snarled and lashed out, “That child was not mine!”

At Edrich’s confession, I staggered back to lean against the side of his desk, the flow of emotion that rolled off of him hitting me in small successive waves.

My heart went out to both Edric and Einarr.

Einarr had to watch the woman he loved be taken from him and given to his younger brother. While Edric was forced to take a crown he did not want, plus live with the fact that his new wife was not loyal to him.

“Did anyone else know the truth about the baby?” I dared to ask, my hands gripping the edge of the desk as I turned to face him.

“No,” he simply replied.

I took in his rigid appearance, the way his hands were tightly crossed over his chest, as well as the intense crease embossed across his brow. It was then that I really understood the dark emotions surrounding Edric, especially when his older brother Einarr was mentioned.

Realising that we had been standing in silence for some time, I finally spoke.

“I am sorry,” my voice was low as I walked up behind him.

Taking a deep breath, I bravely put my hands around his waist, resting the side of my face against his muscled back. Wanting to soothe Edric, I tried projecting my energy onto him.

I had never done this before, but finally being able to fully block Edric’s energy, I figured that now was as good a time as any. Channelling a happy memory, I closed my eyes and focused.

“What are you doing?” Edric asked, his voice slightly strained.

“Shh…” I insisted, before asking, “Do you trust me?”

Edric did not hesitate to reply, surprising me with his answer, “Explicitly.”

The unexpected knot in my throat from his response made it hard to speak, so I simply murmured my acknowledgment. I then gently began to push warm and positive emotions outwards from myself and aimed them towards him.

After a few minutes, I could feel his body begin to relax against me. His hands came to rest on top of mine, and he entwined our fingers together, holding me tighter against him.

With a soft sigh, he rested his forehead against the window, and I could sense that he had closed his eyes.

“I… I feel you…” Edric slowly spoke, his tone illustrating his confusion at the calming sensations that he was feeling.

Smiling against his back, “I am here for you, My King…”

He rumbled his gratitude while the intense yet familiar vibrations flowed through us both.

Later that night, Suvarna convinced me to come have dinner with her.

It felt so strange to be in the large dining hall after all this time. Looking around, I noticed that every human in the vicinity paused what they were doing to blatantly stare at me. They no longer looked at me with contempt, but with respect and adoration.

Sitting next to her, I said, “I missed having dinner down here with you.”

“Same! But I understand that you have been busy training. It’s truly amazing to see how strong you’ve gotten,” she squealed.

Laughing softly, I countered, “Don’t get too excited, I still haven’t mastered my powers in the way I would like to.”

Making a tsk sound with her mouth, “You are so impatient, these things take time. I mean, look how far you’ve come since you’ve been here! Don’t diminish your achievements.”

“I know, I know, it’s just that I can’t help but want to get stronger as fast as possible. Who knows when Einarr will return?” I said, keeping my voice down.

“Speaking of him, when do you think the King will let you go down to see Tharun?” she moved even closer to me, so that no one could overhear us.

“Well, I was hoping sometime next week or so. Since I can block the King’s energy now, by then I should be able to hold the barrier for even longer, so I will ask him and see what he says,” I shrugged before taking a bite from my roast.

“I have no doubt that he will say yes, plus you have a few more days to practice a bit more!” Suvarna replied before asking with a giggle, “So… Have you and the King done it yet?”

Being mid-swallow, at her question, I began choking on a juicy piece of beef.

“W-what?” I stammered while she gently patted my back.

The skin of her cheeks seemed to flush slightly while she lowered her voice even more, “Well I remember what you told me about what had happened a few weeks ago, and recently I heard Beyza saying that you and the King were together.”

“Suvarna,” I chuckled softly, “you know very well that if anything had happened, the King would have ensured that everyone knew.”

“True,” she snickered then added, “he is very possessive of you, he would want every Lycan, werewolf, and human to know that you are now officially off the market.”

I could feel the tips of my ears burning at the thought of belonging to Edric. However, I could not help but recall what he had told me concerning his meeting with Klaus and the others. I wanted Edric to want to be with me because he chose to, not because he felt obligated to.

A part of me knew that I could probably successfully transfer my magic from myself to Edric without us being intimate.

We already shared a bond, formed from our respect for each other as well as the attraction between us. Even though Edric and I were not lovers, I believed that we had a friendship, in our own unique way. He claimed to trust me, and I knew without a doubt that I trusted him in return.

The shift between slave and master had taken place long ago, and in its wake, I was unsure of what remained. For if we were to ever become an official couple, we would need to get rid of a law that had been in place for centuries.

Smiling, I continued to chat with Suvarna while we ate our dinner.

She was in the middle of telling me about one of her recent sexcapades with Ulrik involving some rope, when Edric appeared.

All the humans stood and bowed their heads to him before I could even react and join them.

Locking his gaze with mine, he stretched out his hand to me, silently calling me to his side. Slowly getting up, I quickly looked around me to see Suvarna and a few others staring at me as they covertly angled their heads.

Edric took my hand in his and led me out of the large room.

“I’m sorry to interrupt your dinner, but I was informed that your new weapon was ready and I couldn’t wait to show you,” he said with a grin.

Still a bit dazed that our fingers were still entwined, it took me a moment to replace my voice, “Is it that new crossbow that Abidan has been working on for me? Because I’ll tell you now, that isn’t much of a surprise anymore, seeing as we worked on the idea together.”

By now, we had exited the castle and were walking towards the general direction where the training grounds and stables were located.

Edric’s stride slowed, “No, not that. Though as you must know, I was not amused to learn that you have one of my top Lycan’s making weapons for you.”

“Well, I can’t just rely on my sparkly fingers, now, can I? I mean, magic is not infinite, my energy does need time to replenish. Besides, did you not say you were going to enlist the help of werewolves and humans? The humans will need something to help them stand a chance against the attacking werewolves. What better than silver-tipped arrows being launched in fast, relative succession? It would most definitely be more efficient than using a traditional bow,” I replied while leaning into him.

“The way they seek your counsel sometimes, one would swear that you were their Queen,” his voice was soft as he glanced sideways at me. “Don’t think that I haven’t heard Eginhard referring to you as such.”

I could feel my face contorting as I stopped walking, and moved in front of him, bowing low, “Please don’t be mad! I’ve asked him repeatedly not to do so.”

“Calm yourself, Lenna…” Edric’s tone was soothing as his free hand held my chin, tilting my gaze up to his.

His captivating eyes drew me in as his next words made me gasp.

“Sometimes, I too forget that you are not,” he whispered, pulling my body flush against his as he wrapped a hand around my waist.

Looking around, I noticed that we were relatively alone, in the middle of a grassy field.

“Is it because of how bossy I am?” I joked, clearly nervous about the conversation.

He let out a breathy laugh as his other hand moved to let my hair down, “There is that, yes, but if I were to be honest with myself, I think you were born to lead.”

“Are you sure that you are feeling well? Because if I did not know any better, I could’ve sworn that you just admitted that a mere human was good enough to be at your side,” I enjoyed the way his fingers felt against my scalp.

“Not a human, Lenna, just you…” Edric said, his hand moving from my hair to cup the side of my face.

I sighed as his thumb lazily stroked the skin of my cheek, leaving a tingling trail in its wake. With our gazes locked, a small smile played on my lips.

His husky voice forced me to refocus as he said, “Come then, let’s go see your surprise.”