The Lycan King's Forbidden Craving - Chapter 143: Chapter 143

Lucas’ brows creased at the sight of the guards riding to the east with him. Something didn’t feel right, especially with the soldier who came to deliver the scroll from Valoreth.
There were so many soldiers in the Citedal—it was normal not to know each and every one of them. However, these ones riding with him… he recognized none.
They wore red badges, the ones for the palace, but something still felt off.
Lucas stopped riding, his face darkening. Was he being lured out of the Citadel? That was definitely something Valoreth could do.
“My Lord... is everything alright?” the one who delivered the scroll asked, stopping as the others did the same.
Lucas scoffed, raising his gaze to the one who spoke. “I can't believe you all almost got me.”
The guard's breath hitched; his expression gave Lucas all the answers he needed.
“There’s no one captured in the east, is there?” His fangs flashed, anger burning in his eyes.
They immediately became alert, the dangerous aura rolling off Lucas sending chills through their bones.
Falcon sped through the forest. He didn’t bother using a horse, knowing it would slow him down—his Alpha wolf was faster.
He halted abruptly, dry leaves and dust shooting through the air at the impact. He sighed at the scene before him:
Lord Lucas standing amidst dead guards.
When Flacon had arrived with Arianna, thanks to his sharp senses, he had heard strange sounds from a room. Upon opening it, he found a group of the palace’s new guards tied up and gagged.
He questioned them, and they confessed—their badges had been stolen by strange brute guards.
He immediately went to look for the Beta, only to hear that the male had left for the east.
He knew something was wrong. Lord Lucas wouldn’t have left unless it was important, so he came here to look for him and inform him about Arianna’s arrival.
But the male seemed to have already known her was been lured out... and handled everything.
•••••••••••••••••••
Arianna didn't flinch, her gaze fixed on the male exuding an aura of excitement and menace. She didn’t waver, even though deep within her stirred a storm of fear and confusion.
How did this male find out about her bloodline?
Most especially, why was Lylah involved?
She had known a day like this would come—a day when her bloodline would be exposed—but she had hoped it would happen after she became Queen.
That way, she would have proven she wasn't a threat and revealed it to the inner court without causing so much uproar.
That had been her plan. And now, it was crushed.
“You are bold, I'll give you that,” Valoreth spoke, his thick voice sharper than the edge of a sword. “But that can't save you, Arianna Greystone. You bear the blood of the enemies of this realm, and for that, you are to come with us for questioning.”
Questioning? No. That sounded like torturing if the male got his hands on her.
Some of the soldiers had stepped in to quench the fire on the ones she had attacked, but none had come close... Yet.
Lylah and Nyra stood beside her, alert.
“Question?” Arianna asked, her voice calm. “Invading my privacy by disguising your men as assassins doesn’t show you’re here just to question.” Her eyes squinted. “And if so… then go ahead and ask whatever you want. I'll give you your answer. Right here, right now.”
Valoreth scoffed. “Perhaps you are right. I'm not really here to question you.” His eyes darkened. “Now that you have your answers—”
He stepped further in, now standing in front of his soldiers. “I'm here to take you in. Alive, preferably. Dead, if necessary.”
Lylah seethed beside Arianna, her fist clenching. Nyra, who had just finished healing herself, prepared to use the little combat she had once learned.
“The head maid shall come with us as well,” he continued, his arms still behind him. “She is a suspect.”
“I’m not going anywhere with you, for I have done nothing,” Arianna uttered, her aura still calm—but those silver eyes showed she was not.
Valoreth let out a low, dark chuckle. “Just because you’re the King’s little favorite thing doesn’t mean you won’t face what your bloodline signifies.” His face grew even colder as he raised a hand, ready to order his soldiers to take her with force. “You’re an enemy. And as the Lord of the Emissaries from the South, I shall capture you—dead or alive.”
Arianna's fist clenched. The fire in the fireplace crackled in response.
Then just as he was about to give signal for his guards...
“She will go nowhere.”
A deep voice sounded from behind. Footsteps echoed as Lucas approached with a group of brute soldiers, including Falcon.
Valoreth’s eyes squinted as he glanced over a shoulder. He didn’t look too surprised.
“Since the King’s woman returned through the Western region, you deceived me into going east so we wouldn't cross paths. However—” Lucas’ brows furrowed deeply, his eyes spitting fire. “Did you really think your plan would work?”
Valoreth glanced down at Lucas’ blood-stained sword. He must have killed his men.
What a smart little punk.
“I found an enemy, just like I said. Perhaps I made a mistake with the direction, Beta Lucas,” Valoreth said with a smirk.
“Step away from the King's woman,” Lucas warned, and the soldiers behind him drew their swords from their sheaths, the hissing sound piercing through the air.
Tension hung in the air like thick fog as both males stared at each other like death itself.
"You don't want this to end up into a bloodshed, do you, Lord Valoreth?"