The Lycan King and his Dark Temptation novel Chapter 71

VALERIA

I close the bathroom door and hear Aldric sighing in frustration outside.

Eventually, he leaves and lets me be alone.

He entered the room on the second floor, climbing through the window from the forest in his lycan form.

I hear him searching for clothes and changing.

The door to the room opens and closes.

He's going to settle matters with the Alpha's family, who will no longer be the Alpha of this pack.

I begin removing my wet clothes, processing everything that happened.

I swallow the knot in my throat at the thought of Edward and close my eyes in pain, holding his memory deep in my chest.

My hands reach into the inner pocket of my dress, and this is the main reason I pushed Aldric away.

I felt the power of the relic the moment I opened my eyes again and hid it from him. I didn't remember things clearly enough to explain if he asked.

My mind is full of blanks, just like every time I woke up from those strange episodes, but now there was a witness—Celine.

Fear gripped me. Fear of what I was becoming, fear of knowing the truth.

Would that Alpha now blackmail me? Would she be my enemy or my ally?

I got my answer soon enough.

When I stepped out of the bathroom, now in dry clothes, I found her slipping through the window as well, completely naked.

She had shifted back from her she-wolf form.

“Celine…”

“Valeria, I’m so glad you’re okay,” she said, breathing with relief as she lingered on the window ledge.

“I don’t have much time. I don't want His Highness to sense me here. The relic... do you still have it? I hid it…”

“I know where you hid it. Here.” I took it from the pocket of my new dress and placed it in her hand.

“Thank the Goddess. If I haven't died of a heart attack today, I don't think I ever will,” she said, exhaling heavily.

“Valeria, we need to talk later. You can't tell the King the truth, even if he interrogates you. The bodies disappeared—there's no evidence you did it. I'll die claiming it was me.”

“I don’t remember anything from that moment,” I interrupted her, not even surprised anymore to know I had killed again without even being conscious.

“I see… It’s better that way. If he asks, you’ll say you reached the basement because the boy tricked you. I was nearby, and when you called out that you’d found an altar, I came closer. You fainted from fear of the enemies, and you don't remember much. Play dumb, everything will be fine. I’ll handle the rest,” she added seriously, and I nodded.

She started to leave, but I grabbed her arm firmly.

“Celine… thank you. Thank you for everything,” I said sincerely, never expecting to owe my life to this tough woman.

“Don’t thank me yet. I’m not doing this as selflessly as you think,” she replied, her eyes complicated.

“I don’t care what you want in return, as long as you don’t force me into any evil or betrayal. I’ll help you,” I replied, and so began my friendship with Alpha Celine, a woman hard on the outside and soft within.

*****

I lean down and place some flowers on the freshly turned earth on this beautiful, sunlit hill.

It cradles the small body of a child who, since birth, was marked by illness and the contempt of everyone around him.

No matter what, this world is mercilessly cruel to the weak.