Curse of the Lycan King

LUCIAN

~“Beta…she’s been in here. I can smell her.”~

~“Who, my king?”~

~“My mate. She’s been in here. Her scent…oh, her scent. It’s everywhere.”~

~I stuff the pillow into my face, breathing her in deeply. Oh, that smell, it’s like lavender and honey. Oh, holy fuck.~

~“Find her.”~

~“My king?”~

~“Take this! And you find her! No one is to lay a finger on her. Be sure to bring her straight to me!” The shiver of her scent still runs through my body like the blood in my veins.~

~“Yes, sir.”~

~I’ve waited so long, believing my curse would deny me the mate I crave. But she’s been here, in this very room. She is real. She exists.~

~I will find her and I will have her.~

Slamming down the phone into the cradle, I growl and start pacing my office as I count my steps.

~One, two, three, four~…

I hate these celebrations. They’re the worst part about being what I am. The bright lights make it harder to see; everything is moved around and nothing is where I remember it to be. And that damned phone call. I don’t need the added pressure from the council right now.

…~five, six, seven, eight~.

All the scents of wolves and lycans become so overpowering when they’re crammed into one room. It’s almost suffocating—and now they want me to do a lineup?! A fucking lineup!

~One,~ ~two, three, four~…

Everything is made worse by the fact I cannot show my weakness. It’s added stress that I do not need along with the heavy weight of responsibility crushing down on me. These fucking balls. Bringing all the packs together for the spring equinox. Drives me fucking insane.

…~five, six, seven, eight.~

I have done everything possible to try and please the council by searching for her over the years—the one meant for me. The one whose touch I live for. The one who may bring me the slightest reprieve from the hell I live in. The only thing I really need—my mate.

And now they want me to take just anybody, as long as she is fertile. Tick tock, the bastard told me. Time is running out.

Damn those ancient laws. And damn the way lycanthrope fertility works. You’d never know, looking at me, that I have fewer than ten good years left to produce a healthy pup. After that, even though I’ll go on living for centuries, seemingly healthy and strong, my sperm will be defective.

Bad things happen when lycans leave breeding until too late. Like blindness.

My expiration date is coming up fast. Ten years go by in a snap in our world. And that’s why our law states that a lycan king must produce an heir by the time he is three hundred, or risk being deposed.

I don’t need the damn council to tell me I’m living on borrowed time. I will be 307 come November.

~One,~ ~two, three, four…~

The knock on the door that I knew was coming brings me back to the present.

“Enter,” I call.

“My king.” I recognize the voice of Kia, my beta. He is the only person aside from my family who is aware of my affliction. With Kia directing my every move through the link, I manage to pass as normal when I am in crowds and meetings.

My eyes are not cloudy but the brightest of blue, or so I’ve been told. I’ve seen them slightly when I stand very close to a mirror. Kia has kept my secret all these years. No one else can ever know about my blindness. The risk would be too great. I would be deemed “unfit” to lead.

Pft, load of shit. I have ruled better than any full-sighted king before me and will continue to do so until I die in the next couple hundred years.

“Are you ready?” he asks, and I chuckle, shaking my head.

“Am I ever ready for such gatherings, Kia?”

“It’s only once a year, Your Majesty,” he teases, and I laugh.

“Don’t fucking call me that, you know I hate formality.” I can see him nod and the white of his teeth as he smiles. From his fuzzy outline, I know he’s tall, although not as tall as I am. I can just about make out the dark hair on his head and his short beard. He’s broad and, from brief moments of contact, I know he’s muscular too. He met his mate not long ago. The man has turned soft since.

I nod back, following him out of the room and counting my steps. I know my way around my own home well enough, but it’s when I get to that ballroom I will have issues. All the tables and chairs just blur into one big blob, and I can’t tell which direction to head in. Turns into a nightmare. I sigh and try to distract myself.

“How is the lovely Charlotte?” I ask and feel the happiness radiating off him. He starts to ramble, and I tune him out. It’s unbearable to listen to him when he goes on about Char like this.

I want what he has. It’s the one thing I’ve always wanted. The one thing I will never have.

A mate.

I was clearly cursed at birth to live in suffering, so why the Goddess would ever grant me such a gift, I don’t know. Happiness is impossible for me. I know it will never happen.

I am three hundred six. If it hasn’t happened by now, then I doubt it ever will.

But still, I can dream. Would she be a curved goddess, soft and supple? Or slender and petite? Or full and delicious? Oh, how the mind wonders. Curvier the better in my opinion. I’m not all that interested in the slim, athletic type. Skinny women don’t appeal to me as much as having someone nice and thick to grab onto. The more flesh, the better. All the more to love.

The thought makes my mouth water.

Would my dream goddess accept me? Blindness and all?

I have my kingdom. I have my beta and a healthy, strong pack of mighty warriors, both male and female. I never discriminate—if they are strong, they belong in my pack.

But even they can’t fill the empty void within me. Nothing but my mate ever will.

“Sir?”

I snap back to reality, realizing we’ve stopped walking and are standing by the doors that lead into the vast ballroom.

“Mate?” he questions and I nod. He knows where my mind goes. “I shall arrange some company for you this evening—if you would like, sir?”

I nod again. It fills a small part of me to bed someone, especially at stressful times like this, but it will never be enough. And tonight I have to get through the lineup, with the council expecting me to choose my queen. It’s ironic that they have this much power over me, but the law is the law, and even a king must obey it.

I have to give them an heir, and damn soon, or they will replace me.

“You just have to get through the evening, sir.”

“Thank you, Kia.” I sigh and straighten myself up as he checks over my clothing to ensure I have dressed myself properly. “Guide me.”

“Always.”

The doors open, the mingled scent of wolves and lycans already an assault on my senses. I hear the chatter stop and know all eyes move to me as I take my first step into the ballroom.

Kia must stay behind me when we enter such events as that is his place, but he guides me, nonetheless.

~“Left. Ten steps. Thirty degrees right. Twenty degrees left. Five steps. Up four and turn.”~ He speaks directly into my mind through the link, and I follow his directions flawlessly. We have done this for a long time and move as a well-oiled machine by this point.

I make the same speech as always, welcoming all the packs into the palace, and then they are free to start the meal and the celebration.

I can use my senses to eat and you’d think I could see perfectly unless you knew the truth, because I never miss a beat. The deception has been flawlessly executed for many a year, and you would never guess there was anything wrong by looking at me. Although my act can be made harder by the surrounding scents, I manage effortlessly.

“My king.”

A strong masculine voice interrupts my thoughts and I turn my head to the sound in front of me.

~“Alpha Lyle,”~ Kia links me.

“Alpha Lyle, good to see you.” My own words almost make me laugh.

“My king, the honor is all mine. Thank you for the invitation.” I nod once and he continues, “I don’t believe you have met my luna, Ashley, and my heir, Theo.”

I detect a bow from the two other shapes standing beside him.

~“Wife is ugly. Son looks strong,”~ Kia informs me through the link.

Somehow, I manage to hold a straight face. “A pleasure,” I respond politely and he heads off with his family.

Alpha Lyle is one of our closest pack allies. Although only a wolf, he has his uses, his main talent being to find lost or rogued wolves and lycans. Ones who have been hidden away from our world in hopes they may never turn—but, of course, they always do. Pack or not. Blood is blood and they will always come home. I once used his skills to try and hunt down my mate—but how do you find someone you have never met?

~“Oh, fuck…”~

~“What?”~

~“Stand. Alpha Zayne is approaching.”~

~“I will not stand for him,”~ I say with a laugh. Alpha Zayne is too arrogant already. He’s one of my strongest alphas with a large, healthy pack—so we have to keep him happy. But I’ve never been a big fan of his. He and I have had our clashes over the years, and although he shows respect when he’s in front of me, I don’t think he likes bowing to a ruler.

~“You would for the she-wolf he came in with,”~ Kia says.

Well, Kia knows my type. I stand as he suggested, and Alpha Zayne approaches my throne and takes a knee.

“My king, I thank you for the honor,” he says in his old alpha voice. He must be getting on now.

“Alpha Zayne. Thank you for joining us.”

“Of course, Your Majesty.” I wince slightly at the title. ~Your Majesty~ is my father, even though he’s been dead for years. “I was hoping to introduce my daughter, Liana, but unfortunately, she seems to have slipped my net.”

~Liana~. The mere sound of the name makes me shiver involuntarily. Interesting…

“It is not a problem. Although I do hope you find her in time for the lineup,” I say quietly and feel Kia looking at me. I haven’t told him yet.

“M—my king?” Alpha Zayne stutters.

“All unmated and unmarried females are to be presented before the shift this evening.”

I don’t divulge any more. He doesn’t need the details.

“O—of course. Your Majesty. I will ensure she is there.”

I nod once and dismiss him as he darts off into the crowd, no doubt in search of his wayward daughter.

~“A lineup?”~ Kia’s voice enters my head as I sit back down with a sigh.

~“Yes, Kia. A lineup. Of all single females from the packs. Tonight I am to choose one to bear my heir.”~

I can sense his unease and he’s not the only one feeling that way.

Goddess, let this night end quickly.