The Lycan King's Forbidden Craving - Chapter 114: Chapter 114

With each step, Selene's heart pounded harder. The more she closed in, the more anxiety twisted in her gut.
For some reason, she already knew where the conversation was going to lead. She simply did not believe the ouroboros bound in the cell at the end of the hall would be stupid enough to do it.
If it weren't for the fact that Beta Lucas saw the culprit himself, Selene wouldn't have believed it was one of her kind.
The large, imposing gates creaked open, the cracking sound echoing off the walls.
"Remember what I told you, Selene. Every question you must utter."
The king's words echoed in her head.
She stepped into the dimly lit space, silent except for the sounds coming from the male presence in the room, heavy breath and the approaching footsteps of Selene.
In the middle of the large cell, chains bound the silver-haired male who struggled within them. The single light of the cell was cast upon him.
Sensing a presence, the male lifted his head. "Who's there?”
Clenching her jaw, Selene slowly stepped into the light, her eyes blazing with disappointment and confusion.
“Jarik?”
“Selene,” the silver-haired male muttered in disbelief. “Selene, watcher of the Ouroboros.”
A low chuckle escaped his throat.
Selene’s nose flared in anger and she struck his face, the impact making his lips split.
Jarik spat blood to the side and glared up at her, unrepentant.
“Do you have any idea what you’ve done? The destruction you’ve caused? What in the devil possessed you to attack the Moon Realm? Have you simply lost your mind?!”
“Yes, maybe I have gone mad!” he snarled, defiant. “Call me whatever you want, Selene—I no longer care. At least I didn’t abandon my people like you did! Twenty-one years of silence while we suffered!”
“I have done all I can!” she snapped. “Do you think this is easy?”
“No, Selene. I think you gave up. You left us in the freezing dark with empty promises of a better future while you dined on palace food and wore silk! Even your name sounds like theirs. Selene!”
Her lips parted, stunned. “Is that truly what you believe?” Her voice trembled, threaded with rage and grief.
Jarik’s jaw clenched. “It’s not just what I believe—it’s what we all know. You hid here. Safe. Comfortable. While we buried our dead in the snow.”
She looked away, the weight of his words crashing down on her. For a moment, she nearly lost control—her hands twitching with the urge to end him right here.
But she didn’t.
Instead, she drew a steadying breath and forced herself to speak.
“And you think attacking the Moon Realm with rogues will save us? That taking by force will earn us respect? That they’ll listen to us if we steal what little they have left?”
“At least I tried!” Jarik shouted, his voice thick with anguish. “It was easy to unite the rogues—they’re just like us. Cast out. Forgotten. Treated like filth.”
“We are not exiles, Jarik,” Selene growled. “We are being punished—for the crimes of our ancestors, for the war they started out of greed.”
“And yet we’re the ones suffering!” he barked. “Why must we pay for their sins?!”
“You’re becoming just like them!” Selene roared, her voice shaking the cell. “You’re killing. Stealing. Destroying the innocent!”
“I had no choice!” Jarik’s voice cracked, tears finally breaking free. “They left me no choice, Selene! I couldn’t take it anymore!”
Her shoulders sagged, the fire within her slowly dimming.
“Drakora is fading,” he whispered, his voice hollow. “The power that sustained us is dying. Soon, we’ll vanish from this world. Our lands are barren. The cold is endless. Crops will not grow. Water freezes seconds after it’s drawn. Plants wither because the sun no longer touches our soil.”
He drew a trembling breath, then spoke with broken solemnity.
“Last year… my pregnant wife went out to search for food for our son. I was out hunting. She stepped on the wrong patch of ice. The ground cracked beneath her feet—” His voice broke. “I watched it happen. I ran, but I was too late. The ice swallowed her whole. My wife… my unborn child... gone.”
Selene’s fists clenched, her nails biting into her palms.
“She vanished beneath the frozen water, and I never saw her again,” Jarik whispered. “After that, I left. No one could stop me. I crossed into rogue territory. They were lost, broken... but when they saw me, I told them I was a god sent to set them free. And they believed me. They followed me.”
He laughed softly, the sound sharp and bitter.
“We raided—” Jarik shut his eyes, voice soft. “Just a few packs, their land would be enough to for our kind to start all over again” his jaw clenched, voice quieter. “I do not regret my actions Selene”
Silence settled in between them, the air thick with tension.
“Was it worth it?” Finally, she spoke, her voice devoid of emotion. “The blood you spilled. The treasure you stole… You became no savior, Jarik. You've simply turned grief into fire, exposing our existence that we had tried so hard to hide.”
Jarik's pupils dilated. Her words were reaching him.
“Do you realize your actions did not only expose us but put the rest of us in danger? They'll think we want nothing but war. They'll hunt us, and if, against all odds, some of us survive, we'll have to hide again, perhaps in a land worse than the one we are in now.”
Jarik looked away, his eyes shut.
Selene sighed. “Do you remember Drakora's child?”
Jarik was taken aback. “You mean the one born out of wedlock? The one you left with? What about her, huh? She doesn't look like us.”
“Hm. She is the king's mate,” Selene responded, and Jarik's eyes widened like that of the moon. “She carries the blood of both realms, Jarik. She is proof that the heavens haven’t given up on us. She is our sign.”
Jarik paled. His shoulders slumped. “What? That… that is not possible. How could she have blood from both realms?”
Selene remained silent, letting the male digest the news.
Soon, Jarik’s brows knitted as he met her gaze again. A hint of pity was in her eyes.
“Why are you telling me this?”
A beat of silence passed before Selene finally broke it.
“Because the moment I step out, they will torture and kill you. And I needed you to know before then… that there’s still something worth believing in.”
Jarik's eyes teared up, his head lowered in shame. “I.. I... didn't know.”
Without a word, Selene spun to leave the cell with a heavy heart.
I'm sorry, Jarik.