The Lycan King's Forbidden Craving - Chapter 172: Chapter 172

{CITEDAL}
Getting back, Duncan was greeted with a message Lucas had left behind, and he read each word, his aura shifted.
“Since when did he leave?” he asked the guard who delivered it.
“Since noon, Your Majesty.”
Arianna bit down on her lip torturously. She hadn’t completely understood the situation, but it caused a hard knot in her stomach.
After the guard left, she asked.
“What happened?”
Duncan explained it all to her. Valoreth’s plan to perform a forbidden ritual, how the poison had to be made, and its effects.
“Oh my God,” she muttered in shock.
The thought of anyone ready to offer the hearts of three people they loved for the poison made her stomach churn.
So Valoreth was going to sacrifice his children just to bring her down? Are they that desperate?
“The ancient male’s mate has to be the one to deliver the poison to him for it to work. Just the slightest brush of the tongue on it takes effect and makes the male fall into a slow unconscious death. Some kill the ancient male afterward, stabbing the heart or burning the body,” Duncan explained.
“What about the mate who offers the poison to him?” Panic rose in her tone.
“She has to die as well. That way the male won’t be able to revive,” Duncan replied, and Arianna’s heart dropped.
So not only does Valoreth want to kill the other Lords, he plans to kill their mates too?
“It’s almost impossible to pull off. It has been tried and confirmed only once. The brutality is what made the Lycans find out, since then, the Moon Realm forbade dark magics,” Duncan said through gritted teeth. He badly wanted to tear Valoreth apart.
He had already filed an arrest for the two Lords involved.
This act proved they were not worthy of their position, he’d punish them in the most brutal way—but that’s if what Mearina said was true.
“I’m glad Lady Mearina exposed him in time. Things could have gotten worse,” Arianna said, but the king shook his head.
“No,” Duncan drew in a deep breath, raising his head to look at her. “Something doesn’t add up, Ari.”
He took another look at Lucas’s message and straightened up from the desk he was resting on.
“He says Mearina admitted that Valoreth abuses her, and that sounds odd. They loved each other, even before the mate bond between her and Lucas was discovered."
“Lord Valoreth loves Lady Mearina?” The words felt impossible on her tongue. "Then why is he planning to use his children for the ritual?”
“That’s why I said, it doesn’t make sense. Could he go that far? Offering his children?” He wasn’t having it. There was something missing, and he couldn’t figure it out.
Duncan had seen signs Mearina was in love with Valoreth and vice versa. Lucas noticed that as well but didn’t let himself believe it since he loved her.
And when that bond came, she didn’t hesitate to reject Lucas. She didn’t have genuine feelings for him and had wished they remained friends instead of mates.
“D…does that mean Lucas might be in trouble?”
Hearing the panic in her voice, Duncan hugged her, patting her head.
“He’ll be fine. He had to take the risk and go see Mearina. I believe he knows what he’s doing,” Duncan muttered.
Someone else heard his words by the door. Arianna and Duncan sensed her presence and turned toward it.
“Uhm… welcome back, Your Highness,” Lylah bowed.
Heading back to the chamber, Arianna took a walk with Lylah.
“Don’t think too much about it,” Arianna said.
“I’m not. How was the mission?” Lylah asked, and Arianna nodded in reply.
“I’ll explain better tomorrow after the gathering,” she said.
Silence stretched between them for a long while before Arianna broke it.
“I’ll be fine,” she assured, and Lylah hugged her without a word. It lasted for a minute, both sisters feeding on each other’s warmth.
"I love you Aria," Lylah muttered against her chest.
"I love you, little bear."
•
While Arianna prepared for bed, she reached for her beeswax and found it empty. Nyra wasn’t around; she had left to visit the Seer but promised to be back tomorrow.
As she stood to order a maid to get her some, Selene walked in.
“My lady has returned,” Selene walked in with her herbs.
The head maid asked about her journey, and Arianna promised she’d explain tomorrow.
“Your beeswax had finished, so I bought you a new one for your dry lips. I made it out of hearts,” Selene offered.
“Thank you, Selene, that is very sweet of you.”
“Goodnight, my lady, and good luck tomorrow,” Selene bowed and left the room.
•
The night felt chilly and silent, the air shrouded with a heavy blanket of stillness. Tomorrow's gathering pressed close like a storm about to break.
With Lucas dismounting his horse with his guards, sighting Lady Mearina who approached to give him a hug, causing him to still…
With sleepless Lylah seated and hugging her folded knees while gazing at the night sky through her window. The thought of Lord Lucas with her ex-mate at the moment, and the sense of foreboding of her sister's gathering tomorrow troubling her…
With Brigid stuck in a room, isolated ever since the full moon, deprived from seeing Toran. She didn’t even know if he was dead or alive, all she knew was they were planning to head to the gathering tomorrow…
With Duncan sharpening his plan for the next day. Nothing would harm Arianna under his watch…
And finally, Arianna staring at her reflection while applying beeswax on her dry lips, then pressing them into a thin line…
Dropping it, her hand reached to caress her belly.
Tomorrow is the day.
One that'll determine her triumph or…
Her doom.