The Lycan King's Forbidden Craving - Chapter 204: Chapter 204

{Arianna’s short narration}
It was all still fresh, as if it had happened just yesterday. The lifeless body of my mate. The betrayal. The blood. The chant of the realm wanting me gone. The fight. The smirks on the faces of those who tore me apart—everything was still fresh.
But there was more. A happy part. Fast, yet so long I could swear it had lasted for years.
I remembered getting shot from behind while Eryndor tried to help me escape. I had taken that as my end, especially when Eryndor took his last breath in the sky.
But when my eyes slipped shut, I was shoved into the void space where my terrifying inner dragon awaited.
Unlike the last time, when the dragon terrified me, this was different. I couldn’t feel a thing—I just stared at it. It was my end, after all.
But then familiarity hit me.
Lily.
Lily was the dragon. When I called her name, for the first time, the beast purred—as though she had been waiting a long time for me to recognize her. To see she had been there the whole time.
It had taken me so long to realize she never left. She had always been here. Waiting. Hurting.
She drew closer as I stretched out a hand to touch her. The spark ignited, and the connection rushed in like adrenaline.
All the while, time seemed to slow down, and I found myself placed in a world I knew I didn’t belong in.
It was peaceful. Everything was in place.
Duncan, my sister, and the others were there. All happy. Blissful. Everything I had ever wanted.
I tried to remind myself of the real world—where everyone had turned against me.
I tried to remind myself that everything unfolding before me was just an illusion I’d created for myself to believe in.
That the Duncan who kissed me every morning wasn’t real. That the child growing in my stomach didn’t exist. That Selene, who visited to take care of me, was gone. That my little sister probably didn’t have that bright smile on her face anymore. That Lord Lucas wasn’t suddenly falling in love with Lylah.
It felt like the afterlife. Until pains forced my reality back.
A voice, faint, mingling with my own painful scream.
‘The child is coming!… Quick, bring more water!’
There were hands gripping me, coaxing me, telling me I’d be alright. It was dark and so painful.
Everything hurt and I wouldn’t stop screaming from the intense agony that struck every nerves in me.
I wanted to go back!
Take me back!
And then it suddenly, silence.
For a fleeting moment, a tiny cry of a baby slipped through my hearing before I drifted back into the illusion’s darkness.
Again, it was calm. A bit cold. But beautiful—for what felt like a long time—until...
Lylah’s voice broke through and reached me, begging me to wake up. Everyone was waiting.
My son. Duncan. The realm.
She reminded me of the reality. Reminded me I didn’t belong here.
I hesitated. The illusion Duncan and the others stared at me, not wanting me to leave.
But there was a little child who watched me from time to time. The child had no face and no known gender. They stood at a far distance like a shadow, watching and waiting.
Lylah’s cries from the outside blended with mine inside the illusion.
Selfish. That should have been my second name. I shouldn’t have been born. If I hadn’t, maybe everything would have been alright. Wouldn’t it?
An outcast. A devil. Everyone around me gets hurt and broken. Fighting hasn’t done any good. It only keeps breaking things over and over until there was no piece left.
I am not strong, even though I try to act like it. I am just weak, vulnerable. An outcast who only tears things down.
'You’re the bravest woman I’ve known, little flame.'
Duncan’s voice pierced through my memories. Soft and powerful as always.
The illusion tempted me to stay longer. I badly wanted to. But would it change anything?
Cracks of smiles appeared. Not from the people I loved, but from those who destroyed them. They reminded me of everything they had done. Would they really sit and drink as if nothing happened?
Many out there still needed me. The ones I swore to protect.
They don’t get to sit and smile as if they have won.
I won’t give them that pleasure.
Not after what they’ve done.
My fist clenched inside the illusion. Every nerve in my body burned like fire.
I will destroy them in a slow, painful way. I will rain terror and savor their screams.
They will know no peace.
They will gnash their teeth in fear and tremble at the sound of my name.
I will rip off every mask. Expose every lie.
They called me chaos. They called me devil. And that is what I will become to them.
They will fear my return. All of them.
I am done hiding. This is only the beginning.
Just like that, the glass that held me began to crack, shattering into pieces until nothing remained.
But what I did not expect was to wake up in the middle of a war already raging between the two realms, and thousands of arrows shot at me to kill.
Really?
This was never going to end, was it?
The fire. The screams of the thousands of men who first faced my wrath...
Were utterly satisfying.
•••••••••
The moment Arianna stepped down from her dragon, Lylah bolted, her feet slamming hard and fast against the ground until she finally slammed unto her older sister's arms.
Tears burst from her eyes, her body shaking as Arianna hugged her back.
“Little bear.”
Lylah cried harder in her arms. “By the gods, I thought I lost you forever, Aria… I was so scared… Fuck, I never thought I would be able to hold you and hear your voice again.”
“I’m sorry,” Arianna whispered, tears burning in her eyes too.
Her sister had grown taller, more feminine, and stronger as well.
How long had she been trapped in that illusion?
She looked ahead, sighting the Ouroboros. It wasn’t hard to tell who was Drakora among them, those face that looked like hers but older. Even Falcon—all fit and alive.
So many questions flooded her mind, and it all overwhelmed her, especially the power now surging through her veins.
She broke the hug and gently wiped her sister’s tears with her trembling fingers.
“I’ve missed you a lot,” Lylah said, trying to control her tearful breathing.
“Me too,” Arianna whispered. The nervousness washed over her. Everything was too confusing.
“How long has it been?”
“Almost seven years.”
Shock rippled through Arianna. Her throat tightened, emotions tangled and jumbled inside her.
“Seven...?" Her voice shook. "I’m going to need some time alone. I’ll be at the mountain.”
•
Hours later
The open field was full of ashes and bones.
Sylra wiped her tears, then walked over to join the others in mourning. They stood in silence, staring at several stone-etched altars where fires burned the corpse of the warriors they had lost in the war—including Zav.
A great loss that left the air shrouded in deep sorrow.
Since the fire of their souls had gone out, their bodies had melted away with the physical flames.
Zav had died while Arianna was destroying the enemy. His last words to Sylra were:
“It’s over, Vireth (Mine). The pain and suffering will be over. I love you, and if there is another life, I’ll choose these people, this world… and I’ll choose you, Sylra Veyrion.”
Cal clung to the hem of Sylra’s dress, his tears soaking the fabric. Drakora—Sylra’s older sister with seven children—and their younger brother, the last few dark-skinned Ouroboros like her, all gathered to console her.
“Rest well, Vraekhar (Brother),” Eryz muttered before leaving to join the recruits in securing the surviving wolves, who were now locked away in the dungeon.
Lylah stood with Rheal beside her, the little boy’s face etched with sadness, still struggling to believe Zav was truly gone.
They all were.
After Zav’s ashes were buried with the ancestors, Lylah had wanted to see Falcon and ask about Lucas, but he was busy helping guard the surviving wolves. The dragon stood with them as a silent threat in case any of the survivors tried to flee, but they were too traumatized and most of them severely injured.
So Lylah went to see Arianna instead.
It took a long while to reach the top, but eventually she found her sister curled up at the peak of the mountain, staring at the sun as it began to set.