Chapter 6
Escaping the hospital might have been the easiest mystery for me, but now that I was out, knowing where I was going was the greatest challenge.
As I stood by the corner close to a small bush overlooking the road watching people milling to and fro from their destinations, I was lost, my heart beating fast.
I knew what would happen next. Those men will inform their King I had escaped and then he would declare me a rogue to be killed on the spot. Of course, he said it clearly, he didn’t want me in his territory.
Such hate that was reticent in his eyes. And he was supposed to be my savior. My mate.
Tears stung my eyes but I reeled them in. This was not the time for this. I had to look for how to change out of this ‘gothy’ uniform I was wearing and look for something else that couldn’t get anyone’s attention easily.
However, as much as I wanted that, I knew it couldn’t be possible. Unless I wanted to risk being caught.
I bit my lower lip, wishing I still had Julian’s car with me. As the car came to my mind, so did its owner and subsequently every other thing.
How did my life come to this? Just in a day, everything disintegrated. Was this how it happened to others or was it just me? How does one live in this life with the level of pain I felt now and still survived the day? It was simply unimaginable.
I sniffed, realizing a stubborn tear had slipped out. Perhaps, if I had my wolf I would have mind linked my parents and told them where I was. Unfortunately, I didn’t. Thank the moon goddess for that because I couldn’t bear their lying faces or to be taken back to face those treacherous people called my pack members. I will rather die here trying to win the heart of my mate. Or… nothing.
I was snatched out of my thought by the loud shrill of a bus horn and scurried farther towards the sound from where I was hiding. It was indeed a bus! A red and white trolley bus.Content bel0ngs to Nôvel(D)r/a/ma.Org.
I ran out and was waving my hands about as I jumped to catch the attention of the driver. “Please, stop, please, stop,” I pleaded, still jumping.
I thought he ignored me and drove past me until the bus suddenly lurched forward and came to a stop, releasing a large gust of air that nearly choked me.
“Harry up, wench, I have no time to waste!” The driver barked as I inched closer and climbed the rusty stairs into the bus. There was no one inside. I looked around and merely survived flying back outside as the driver pitched forward roughly without a care if I was comfortably inside.
“H-Hy, Sir,” I scooted closer to the driver’s side and tapped the divider. He didn’t say anything. I swallowed. What if he was one of the guards? Or even a serial killer out to hunt for virgins.
Jeez, get your head in one place, Gwen, I schooled myself and tried once more with a forced smile. “Hy, Sir. I am heading towards… your King’s palace. Can you take me there, please?”
There was a loud grunt and then like the first time, the bus came to an unexpected stop. The loud growl that followed made me think twice if I said the right thing and why he was acting that way.
He snapped his eyes at me, his blue eyes slowly turning ethereal. Then he sniffed the air, his mouth opening to show his large fangs. Of course, I had to meet a bloody Lycan and it had to be when I was still a bloody human! Without a wolf.
I jumped back with my hands up, suddenly panting, with my eyes scooting all over the bus as if looking for escape. “I am innocent, okay? You don’t have to be defensive. That asshole found out I was this mate and then he rejected me. Can you believe that? Who rejects their mate without even caring to know them?”
As the words gushed out of my mouth in panic I noticed he had stopped growling and was looking at me curiously. He sniffed the air again and then tilted his head to the side intently scrutinizing me and when he opened his mouth once more, it was to ask, “You, my King’s mate?”
My hair scattered in different directions as I bounced my head. “Yes, I swear it. He-he dumped me at the hospital after he found out and now I am going to meet him. You see, I know your kind hate my kind and… viceversa but I am not like the rest.” I chuckled nervously and when he didn’t say nothing, I proceeded. “I am not a betrayer and I definitely don’t lie. And most importantly, I believe in the sacred bond that mates share which is why I will forgive your King and take him back even after his wickedness to me.” I said the last part slowly and throatily, not wanting to garner his wrath further.
Then, like magic happened, the man busted out laughing. Loudly. He clapped his hands and faced the steering wheel, beating it repeatedly as his bulky form shook with mirth. Are they all that large and weird? “I will take you to him. Only because I like you. I really don’t hate werewolf, yunoo. Just been keeping the bloody tradition!” Then his bus was off, my butt hitting the ground as I totally forgot his driving style.
The drive was long, my back starting to ache and my mouth itching to ask if the King lived at the end of the earth. However, he soon made a sharp mad U-turn and faced a driveway that led to the tallest gate I had ever set my eyes on.
“That is the King’s fortress. The largest in the universe. It shows how majestic he is above every other King and the weight of his supremacy incomparable.” The man was saying, my awed eyes were skimming the length of the driveway, mesmerized beyond words with what I was seeing.
He seem to have slowed down as he approached the gates, and soon some men came into sight, looking like the biblical giants cast off the heaven.
“Those are the King guards. It will take the devil himself to subdue them. They are called Deltas. They fight to death to protect the King and his family. One of them is becoming the King’s chosen mate soon. So, I wish you luck winning the heart of the King. Because like I see, you have no idea what you are getting into_”
“Wait, what did you just say?” I snapped out of my fantasy and lurched at the divider to talk to the man. Did he just say chosen mate? My mate rejected me and now he wants to marry someone else?
“Oh, little werewolf, I see you don’t know that. Sorry.”
“No, tell me. He is getting married to another?”
“The wedding is already close. She is the strongest female Delta this Kingdom ever knew. Not a marriage of love of course, but for the interest of the Kingdom. Former Queen’s making.” He reached his head out to speak to the men outside in a language I couldn’t understand as my head swarmed with questions toppled with anxiety.
This was getting scarier than I envisaged. If he was already getting married to another bride that meant I didn’t stand a chance. One thing I knew about Lycans was how audacious they were. And their strength will be multiplied by three when compared to the strength of an average werewolf, not to mention one of the royal bloodlines.
As I looked outside of the bus, I caught the snide looks the men were giving me causing ripples of fear to spiral through me. If the King didn’t want me, who else will? And this was his people, they follow in his footsteps.
Was I jumping from frying pan to fire?
…