The Lycan King's Forbidden Craving - Chapter 23: Chapter 23

The fight began. Lylah watched with blurry vision as the Lycans effortlessly tore through the rogues, even in their half-shifted form.
The scariest one grabbed one of the wolves and tore him in two. He was the most brutal, strongest, and fastest. The second was swift and calculating, just like the warriors.
Lylah couldn't keep her eyes open anymore. She let herself slowly slip into darkness.
But soon, arms carried her, his strange scent hitting her nose, so strong it almost choked her, but her eyes stayed closed.
"Is she one of them?" a powerful voice beside her said, the tone sending a chill down her spine.
"No," vibrated through the chest of the one holding her. "She has a faint scent of them, barely. I don’t think she’s part of them."
A low growl rumbled through the other one's chest. "I'll keep hunting. She'll be under your care, Lucas..."
Lylah couldn't keep her consciousness any longer. Her head fell further to his hard chest, and she fell into darkness.
•••••••••••
ARIANNA
Exhausted.
No, that word doesn't suit her state at the moment.
Every ounce of strength in her felt as though it had been drained. Her bones barely moved, her eyes drowsy, barely able to focus on her work.
The headache made things worse. It felt as though her head was about to split in two.
Every fiber in her being wanted to give in to rest. She badly missed the small bed in her chamber, all she wanted to do was collapse on it and fall into a deep sleep.
But that wasn't possible. The slave master had warned her that if she didn’t finish her work, she'd receive strokes the next day.
She had tasted that pain before after she hit Valkyrie. The pain was excruciating, even though she had tried her best to endure without giving Valkyrie the satisfaction she wanted.
It was painful. Too painful, especially when her inner wolf was still lost in the dark.
She didn’t want to experience that again, but the ache in her body told her it was a bad idea. A terrible idea to even consider.
It was the first hour of the night. Arianna was the only slave still in the tavern, along with a few soldiers on the night watch outside.
She had no idea why they had asked her to clean here after finishing her work in the vineyard.
It felt surreal and suspicious, especially because the garden slave master looked as though he had something up his sleeve.
She couldn't complain. There was no one to turn to. Even if she considered asking the king for help, which seemed like an utter death wish, the male was said to have gone for a midnight hunt.
Was this all part of Valkyrie’s plan to challenge her?
That bitch was so relentless!
An hour passed, and Arianna finally finished all the work, on the brink of losing her mind.
"Darn those slave masters," she muttered under her breath as her stomach growled in hunger.
When was the last time she had proper food?
Arianna took a deep breath, summoning every bit of strength left in her, and started towards her chamber.
She passed a few soldiers, who cast looks at her that made her skin crawl. They looked pretty hungry... Lust, maybe.
Brigid had mentioned soldiers secretly taking slaves against their will and then casting them aside.
Some even had their personal slaves. The thought made Arianna's throat go dry.
It was so dark, and any of them could pounce on her. So, she did her best to keep her head high, making her aura a bit intimidating and avoiding their gazes, as that wouldn't make them interested in taking her.
Turning a corner, she was relieved to find the next turn empty. Arianna’s knees almost gave out, so she held the wall for support.
Almost there.
But just as she reached the end of the corridor, she bumped into a broad chest, stumbling and nearly losing her balance.
It was the master, Orion, staring down at her, lust clear in his dark eyes.
"Hello, slave. I see you’re done with all your work. I never expected you to finish so... determinedly," he smirked, his voice edged with venom.
"Yes, Ser Orion... If I must, I shall return to my chamber." Arianna wondered how she managed to keep her voice neutral despite the panic swirling inside her.
She gave him a light bow and began to leave, but his strong hand yanked her jagged hair back.
He slammed her against the wall and pressed his lips to her neck.
"Let go!" she yelled, struggling.
He inhaled deeply, savoring her scent. "Low, but damn good. Intoxicating. Utterly beautiful. No wonder the king chose you as his slave."
He gripped her face, locking eyes with her. "Every inch of you makes me so damn hard, slave."
Arianna spat directly into his eyes. Orion cursed under his breath, and she seized the moment to kick him in the groin.
His hold loosened, and she bolted.
She knew the slave master would catch her in no time—she lacked the strength, and her wolf was absent.
But her chamber was close. If she could just get inside and lock the door…
Luck wasn’t on her side. Another tall figure blocked her path, pressing a cloth over her nose and lips.
A scent hit her, and she instinctively held her breath, but it was too late.
The little she inhaled was enough to mess with her senses.
The cellar slave master, Ser Zephyr, slapped her.
Arianna fell to the floor, her lips splitting, and she desperately tried to crawl away.
"Quite a feisty slave, aren’t ya?" Orion stepped forward and struck her again.
Arianna saw stars for a moment before the drug took full effect. Her vision blurred.
Through the haze, she saw Master Zephyr crouch beside her, his words drifting through the fog in her mind.
"We’re going to have a lot of fun, King’s slave. So much fun... you won’t be able to use your legs or speak for a whole goddamn week..."