Chapter 6 The Lycan's Betrothed

• Raven
• “Fianceé? This is the Serena you’ve been talking about?”
• Caleb turned to me, those steely eyes now wide with shock. Even if I hadn’t been terrified into silence by the thought of my head on a spike, I probably would have been too stunned myself to correct him.
• Neil nodded and pulled me a little closer. “Yes. This is Serena.”
• Serena… That was the fianceé that Neil kept talking about. I supposed that in Lycan country, where they were essentially still living in the Dark Ages, it was a little bit easier to get away with stealing someone’s identity.
• “Oh.” Caleb straightened, although his eyes still seemed to linger on me as if he didn’t entirely believe his brother. “I thought she wasn’t coming to the banquet.”
• Neil looked at me with a faux smile on his face. “Well, she’s here now,” he said. His eyes seemed to flash, a silent warning: go along with it. “She got held up on the road due to the conflict going on, but made it after all.”
• “I see. When did you arrive?” Caleb asked, addressing me.
• My heart began to hammer in my chest, but Neil quickly answered for me, “This afternoon. I ran into her on my patrol, and she was so tired from her journey that I took her straight here.”
• Caleb lifted an eyebrow before saying, “Funny. I thought I heard a rumor that you were seen taking a female into the cells this afternoon.”
• “Unrelated,” Neil replied with a wave of his hand. “I caught a young girl in the midst of what appeared to be breaking into a house through the window. It turns out she lived there and forgot her key.”
• “Hm,” Caleb mused, cocking his head to the side. His eyes flicked to my platinum hair first, then my long nails, which were still wrapped around Neil’s bicep. “Those are interesting.” He nodded his head toward my nails with a smirk. “I haven’t seen that style around here before.”
• Beside me, I felt Neil stiffen. I quickly placed my hand behind my back, feigning shyness.
• “She got dressed up for the banquet,” Neil said smoothly. “Apparently long nails are starting to come into fashion.”
• “Of course they are.” Caleb turned to his brother again. “Do you have a Token? Forgive me, but as head of security, I need to take some precautions when there’s an unregistered guest in the castle.”
• I felt like I might be sick by now. I’d heard of Lycan Tokens before, albeit vaguely—unique, imprinted coins that a male would present to the female he intended to marry. Of course, seeing as how his token was likely with his actual betrothed, we were…
• Well, how should I put this?
• Royally screwed.
• Or so I thought. But then Neil was nodding and reaching into his pocket and pulling out a small black coin imprinted with an ornate ‘S’ on one side and an ‘N’ on the other.
• “Here. I haven’t officially given it to her yet. Wanted it to be special.” He flicked the coin into the air, and it flipped a few times before Caleb caught it. “And for what it is worth, I was not aware that my own guest would be required to register to stay in the castle.”
• Caleb turned the coin over in his palm, studying it. His eyes flicked to me again, appraising me, and I instinctively nuzzled against Neil’s chest. Neil’s arm tightened around me, tugging me closer.
• Just playing it up, I thought to myself, my heart pounding. That’s the only reason why I’m leaning so heavily on him… Just need to make it seem like he’s telling the truth…
• “Very well.”
• I bit back the urge to let out a breath of relief as Caleb tossed the coin back to Neil, who caught it and slipped it back into his pocket with a devilish wink in my direction. I felt my cheeks heat, but told myself that he was just playing it up in the same way I had been doing.
• “So I take it you’ll be participating in the succession battle at the banquet after all,” Caleb said, folding his arms across his chest. “You’re lucky that your fianceé showed up at the right time, otherwise you would be sitting on the sidelines.”
• Neil’s face hardened in response to that, a reaction that wasn’t lost on me. Succession battle… I thought back on all of my middle school history classes and recalled hearing about battles in which Lycan princes, assuming there was more than one heir in the family, would fight to decide who would become the next Lycan King.
• Although I didn’t know if that meant the battle would be to the death or not.
• “I guess I am rather lucky,” Neil replied.
• Caleb snorted. “Luck won’t help you during the battle, you know. Are you sure you want to do this? Edrick and I aren’t pushovers, little brother.”
• Prince Edrick—that name rang a bell, too. I recalled seeing him on the news once, when a group of Lycans had taken a Werewolf who had tried to sneak onto Lycan land hostage. They’d eventually released the prisoner, although Edrick had made a formal statement that any other Werewolves who trespassed might not be treated so kindly.
• I suppressed a shudder at the thought.
• Neil’s jaw clenched, a muscle ticking just beneath the skin. “Nor am I a pushover, Caleb,” he growled in response.
• Caleb glared at Neil for several moments—and Neil didn’t break his gaze. If I squinted, I swore I could see sparks flying through the air between them.
• Please, Goddess, I thought, don’t let there be a fight in front of me… These brutes might kill me by accident if I got stuck in the crossfire!
• Thankfully, it seemed the Moon Goddess heard my plea. Caleb let out a low, rumbling chuckle and turned on his heel. “Well, then. I’ll be off. Sleep well, you too. Oh, and next time…” He glanced at me one last time, and I swore he still didn’t believe us. “Make sure you register when you arrive.”
• Once he was gone and the door was firmly shut behind him, I shoved away from Neil and grabbed my blanket off the floor, wrapping it around myself. “You could have warned me before claiming that I was your fianceé. And don’t even get me started on that ‘climaxing’ comment.”
• Neil shook his head, his earlier roguish demeanor quickly shifting back to his usual prickly grouchiness. “I had no choice. It was the only way to keep my brother from inquiring as to why you were screaming in the middle of the night.”
• My neck flushed, and I looked away as if that might hide it.
• “Well,” I said after a moment’s hesitation, “I hope you have a plan going forward. Because I doubt I look anything like your actual fianceé.”
• That word—fianceé—made my heart stutter as I said it out loud. There was that lance of jealousy shooting through my chest again, too. But I shoved it back down, telling myself once more that it was just a physical response and that I had no interest in this man.
• “I do have a plan, actually.” Neil reached into his pocket and pulled out a folded piece of parchment, which he handed it to me. “Something that could benefit both of us.”
• I frowned as I took the paper, unfolding it with one hand while the other held the blanket around my body. My eyes widened as I saw what was written.
• “A contract?” I scoffed.
• Neil nodded. “Pretend to be my fiancee until after my father’s birthday, and I will ensure that you get home safely.”