Chapter 8 Eight

• My eyes fluttered open when my senses started swimming in a haze of unfamiliar scents. I blinked, the sunlight filtering through heavy curtains, casting soft golden rays over the room.
• My body felt surprisingly warm, I wasn't surprice to find it was nestled in soft sheets, like a coccoon.
• I yawned and tied my hair into a bun before sitting up and flinched when a twinge of soreness shot through my limbs.
• I was guessing that it was all I got from hours of walking in the woods last night.
• Woods...
• Last night...
• My eyes automatically roamed the quiet, unfamiliar room, it's interior was elegant but I was too occupied to even pay attention to that.
• "Where... where am I?"
• I whispered, my voice still thick with sleep. I tried to remember what had happened last night.
• But I got nothing, all I could remember was I was feeling exhausted after a long walk that when we arrived at King Marcus's kingdom last night, I immediately passed out like a light.
• And where was it?
• I think it was on his beautifully crafted, elegantly designed couch.
• I let out a soft groan before letting my own eyes roam the room once more.
• And I couldn't help but gasp to find how luxurious it was, with rich tapestries hanging on the walls, a grand fireplace burning low in the corner, and soft furs scattered across the floor. The scent in the air was strange, earthy, like the forest I had run through, but also something sharper, more regal.
• I sighed.
• It smelled like power.
• My attention automaticall turned to the door when it creaked open, just a few seconds when a tall figure stepped in, he was draped in dark, fur-lined robes that whispered against the stone floor.
• I froze.
• My heart raced as I recognized him instantly, the man she had encountered in the forest last night.
• King Marcus...
• His golden eyes gleamed with a predatory hunger, but there was something softer in them now, something almost... comforting?
• "You're awake."
• He said, his voice both smooth and commanding, like the deep rumble of thunder.
• "How do you feel?"
• My throat tightened. I shifted away from him instinctively, though the movement only left me more tangled in the silken sheets but still I managed to sit up straight, I immediately clutched the thick blanket beside me before turning back to him.
• "Why am I here?"
• I let out a silent curse when the voice that came out of my mouth was a little sharper than I ever intended.
• The man... No!
• The king, tilted his head and a slight amused smile curled at the edges of his lips.
• "You've been brought here for your protection, Foxy."
• "Do you know who I am?"
• He asked as he crossed the room with a fluid grace, sitting at the edge of the bed with a faint crackling of energy surrounding him.
• I tensed, I found his presence overwhelming, it's as if his presence alone was enough to fill the room like an ancient storm.
• I nodded an answer to his question.
• "Yo-you are Marcus... Lycan King... I- I know who you are, I already know who you are, even before our first encounter the other night..."
• I paused, trying to think whether it was wise to ever mention the night when he, the King witnessed her embarrassment.
• "The night when the new Alpha, of Shadow Walker Pack rejected you as his mate, as his Luna?"
• He said, his voice barely above a whisper.
• And for the second time, my body tensed again. I was unable to move, unable to say a word, so I slowly nodded.
• "You-you brought me here?"
• I asked, I immediately looked away, unable to meet his gaze.
• Marcus's gaze softened.
• "I did. You fell asleep in my couch. My Kingdom is safe, you are welcome here, but you can'y just fall asleep wherever you please. Though you are safe here, a young wolf like you should still watch out for yourself."
• I gulped, this time I chose to play with my hands, thinking it was enough excuse for me not to look at him.
• "I- I'm not like you... I am not a wolf..."
• I said almost a whisper, I closed my eyes shut after the pool of reality started to wash over me again.
• I maybe managed to go away, far from the pack where I thought I belong, but then I guess running away will never be enough reason so move on.
• Especially when I felt like it's not just the home I've ever known that I left behind at Shadow walker pack.
• "So I heard... That's the reason why he rejected you, you didn't shifted yet?"
• My eyes shifted to him when he talked again, I let out a soft sigh before forcing myself to smile.
• "Was it also the reason why you were wandering so close to the Dark Forest light night?"
• "I-I never intend to go there, wander... I only thought I was walking on the right path."
• I whispered through the top of my lungs before taking all the courage left in my chest to finally look at him.
• I saw how King Marcus's brow raised, his eyes fixed on mine.
• "Where do you want to go exactly? Wandering to that part of the forest, the only place you can find yourself was the Dark Forest. I am not gonna ask whether you was aware of the dangers that lurks behind its towering trees."
• He said, his voice knowing.
• "I'm leaving... I want to leave my pack, for good."
• I declared, trying to keep my own voice low and steady.
• I swallowed the lump in my throat when the room fell into silence.
• I can'y blame him. The Lycan's rules was very clear. Even my own father never fail to remind me that before.
• No one leave the pack unless it was by exile or death.
• The words rang in my ears, like giant cannon, almost enough to put me back in place.
• King Marcus leaned forward, his fingers curled over the soft sheet of the bed.
• "Leave?"
• His said, his deep voice reverberating through the stone walls of the room.
• "Explain."
• He ordered, his voice commanding, the King made sure not to take his eyes off mine.
• I clenched my fists.
• "I- I don't belong to Alaric's pack anymore... Nor I don't think I still belong yo your world."
• King Marcus's brow arched, I gulped again when I thought I saw a trace of amusement flickered in his gaze.
• "You are a child of the Moon. You carry the Lycans blood. You belong."
• "No."
• I shook my head, I forced myself to calm down a little when I felt the sudden anger and sorrow tightened my throat.
• "I was born a wolf, that is nio secret, not to the pack where I thought I was part of, but I never shifted. My kind, your kind look at me like I'm broken..."
• I whispered as my eyes flashed open.
• I forced a smile and whispered the words I tried to hide in my chest ever since the night of the blue moon and I didn't transform in my wolf form.
• "I- I feel broken..."
• His gaze darkened.
• "Your wolf may still come."
• "I don't believe it will."
• I whispered.
• "And neither does the rest of the pack. That's why they whisper behind my back. That's why my mate- Alpha Alaric..."
• My voice caught, but I forced myself to continue.
• "That's why he rejected me."
• The room tensed. The rejection of a mate was a cruel fate. I know that and I am sure, a King like Marcus knew that as well as I do.
• Marcus exhaled slowly, his expression unreadable.
• "Where do you plan to go, given that you seemed to already believe the mate who cruelly rejected you that you don't belong to this world anymore?"
• He asked again, his voice now posing danger.
• I stopped for a moment as I tried to think. It wasn't long before I answered.
• "The humans..."
• My breath hitched when his eyes dimmed with doubt and restraint.
• "You wish to abandon your kind and live among humans?"
• He asked.
• I paused for a moment, I have had spent my remaining hours in Shadow Walker Pack, thinking whether it was safe for me to go there, like Marcus had said, live among the humans.
• Or spent the night thinking whether it's where I trully belong, the humans...
• And maybe, that's where I should go, start a new life...
• "Yes."
• I lifted my chin.
• "They don't care about shifts. They don't have mates. They live freely. I want that."
• Marcus rose from the bed, his towering form casting a long shadow over me.
• He descended the steps slowly, his boots echoing with each step. When he stood in front of me, I instantly catch my owm breath, his presence was suffocating, his scent of pine and blood thick in the air.
• "You think humans will welcome you?"
• He asked, voice softer now, yet no less powerful.
• "You will always be different. Always an outsider."
• I dared to meet his gaze, determination burning in my chest.
• I again forced a smile and whispered.
• "I will be an outsider here, nothing less than I will be with the humans. So I then I ask, King Marcus... Leyt me be an outsider on my own terms."
• Marcus looked at me, as if studying me for a long moment, then scoffed.
• "Foolish girl. The human world is cruel. You won't last."
• "I'd rather take my chances there than stay in a place where I will always be nothing."
• He tilted his head, something unreadable passing through his expression that made me shiver.
• I once again looked away. Only to turn my gaze back at him when he spoke.
• The words that slipped in his mouth somehow made me feel safe, like a thousand steel no enemy could break through...
• "In Alaric's pack, you maybe nothing. But in my Kingdom, you can be my queen, Brielle Fox, of Shadow Walker Pack."