Lycan King’s Claim, chapter two

Xandros The meetings with the Council to see if there was any way out of the arrangement were boring. I learned nothing I didn’t already know. Either Carina agrees to the divorce, or Sienna challenges her.

So I am back to square one, hounding Carina to sign the paperwork or declare war. Carina has the week. If not, I am declaring war on her kingdom and breaching the treaty arrangement on the wedding day by refusing publicly.

I sigh, annoyed, as I make my way to Sienna’s room. I am eager to see her; I’d done nothing but think about her the entire meeting and the entire drive back home. She seems to be in a good mood, from what I can tell through the bond.

Almost excited about something. As I enter Sienna’s room, my heart is pounding with anticipation. The room is dark, with only moonlight and the glow of the television illuminating its interior.

The bed is perfectly made, without a wrinkle in the sheets. To my dismay, she’s not there. “Anna?”

I call out to her. I’m met with silence. Sniffing the air, her scent is faint.

Moving about the room, I find Javier passed out on the couch. I grip his shoulder, and he jolts awake. “Where’s Sienna?”

I ask him, and he jerks upright, wiping the drool from his face. “Over… ” he glances around frantically.

“She was right there. We were watching movies,” he says, sitting upright.

He clutches his head in his hands while I check the bathroom. “Ah, my head, what the hell,” he groans as I push the door open to the bathroom to find it too empty.

“Maybe Carina called for her?”

Javier tells me as he checks the walk-in closet. I nod once, leaving the room, hearing him call out behind me that he’ll call the staff room. Panic rises within me as I search the other rooms, asking the staff if they’ve seen her.

The castle feels empty, void of her presence. My mind races, trying to piece together where she could be. Just as desperation starts to consume me, Javier’s urgent call reaches my ears, and I make my way to the security room.

We gather around the screens, watching the surveillance footage intently. Tyra, one of the handmaidens, acts suspiciously before covering the cameras in the laundry room with a tea towel. My eyes narrow, and anger courses through me as I wonder what she is doing.

Seconds later, Sienna moves into the corridor on the next screen leading toward the laundry, and my heart sinks into my stomach. “Javier, bring Tyra to my office immediately,”

I demand, my voice laced with fury. I need answers, and I won’t tolerate deception within my own castle. With a growl, I stalk off toward my office down the hall.

Javier does as I command, dragging Tyra into my office, kicking and screaming. Carina, her face filled with concern and also a hint of rage, follows closely behind. “Do you want to explain to me why you just dragged her off? She was helping me with the seating arrangements!”

Carina demands to know. I silence her with a stern look before turning my attention to Tyra as Javier dumps her into a chair. She immediately tries to jump up.

Javier is quick to shove her back down and holds her shoulders. I approach the fireplace and grab the steel poker, holding it close to the flames. The heat radiates against my hand, matching the intensity of my anger.

The roar of the fire fills the room, and the crackling of the burning wood is as loud. I stare at Tyra; fury etched in my gaze. “Where is Sienna?”

I can feel the heat of her anger and defiance. It radiates from her like the flames from the fireplace. Carina’s brows furrowed.

“I promise, Xandros, Tyra has done nothing to Sienna; she’s been with me for hours,”

Carina defends. Her cheeks are flushed, and she is trying hard to stifle her shock, though her eyes are filled with fury and fear. The fine, tiny lines around her eyes are the only sign of age on her face.

“Fine, then.”

I snap, turning my gaze to Carina. “She is your handmaiden. Why is Tyra helping you and not Sienna?”

Carina’s eyes dart between Tyra and me; confusion etched on her face. “Tyra said she’s sick,”

Carina adds, her voice now filled with uncertainty. I move closer to Tyra, pressing the hot poker against her cheek. The smell of burning flesh fills the room, and Tyra winces and grits her teeth in pain.

“Sienna isn’t sick, is she, Tyra?”

I growl, my tone filled with menace. The acrid smell of burning flesh is overpowering and Tyra’s scent now is that of a woman filled with fear and pain. “Xandros!”

Carina shrieks. Her eyes narrow at me, pressing her lips together; she looks at me with the same concern a mother would a child. “Shut it unless you want to swap places with her!”

I growl at Carina. Turning my attention back to Tyra, her hands are shaking, and a bead of sweat rolls down her temple across her jawline. Tyra remains defiant; her lips sealed shut.

Her hair is smeared with blood, long strands tangled across her face. I push the poker into her stomach, searing her flesh. A cry of agony escapes her lips, and I demand to know where Sienna is.

“Tell me, Tyra!”

I roar, my patience wearing thin. Tyra’s skin is red with burns the poker has left behind. A trickle of blood from the corner of her mouth and whiteness to her lips betray the severity of the pain she’s in.

“Damn it, Tyra. Just tell him!”

Carina snaps at her as I jam the poker between her ribs. In a moment of desperation, Tyra screams. Her scream echoes in my ears a thousand times as if I’m trapped in an echo chamber.

“She’s with Toby! She’s with Toby!”

The words hit me like a punch to the gut, and I feel a surge of anger rising within me, along with the air being knocked out of me. The words come out of Tyra’s mouth like a torrent, and Carina’s eyes widen. “You said she was… Wait,” her voice trembling as she asks, “Who’s Toby?”

I give her a cold stare, my eyes shifting to Tyra. She’s trembling now, her body shaking as if she were a leaf in the wind. My grip on the poker tightens as I push it further into her side, drawing more blood and eliciting another cry of pain from Tyra.

I’m done playing games and want answers. “Where did they go?”

I ask her, Carina seems to be grappling for answers. “Hello! Who is Toby?”

With a heavy sigh, I answer, “Sienna’s old boss.”

Carina gasps in disbelief, the realization dawning on her, while I turn my gaze back to Tyra. “What? Why? Where did they go?”

Carina stammers out, barely able to get the words out of her mouth. “Well, that is what I am trying to get out of her, if you’ll stop interrupting me!”

I snarl. Tyra had to know she’d get caught, eventually. She’d have to of known she would be punished for such actions.

“I’m not telling you anything else, just kill me and get it over with!” she spits at me, and I growl.

“Why would you help her get to Toby?”

I demand, my voice filled with confusion. Tyra laughs manically, a bitter sound that reverberates in the room. “Why wouldn’t I, when it means hurting the man who killed my mate?” she spits at my feet.

My confusion deepens as I tilt my head, searching for any sliver of memory of this woman before me having a mate. I’m not usually one to pry into anyone’s personal life. I look at Javier, who shrugs, also not knowing, yet he would surely have peered into her background like he has done all the staff here.

“And who is your mate?”

I inquire, my voice laced with curiosity. Tyra scoffs and shakes her head. “You fucking prick, you don’t even have the decency to remember those you killed recently!”

I try to rack my brain for an answer besides the few at the club that night that were too slow to get out of my way when I was chasing after Sienna. Tyra’s eyes burn with fury as she spits. “Mal! I hope he marks her, just so you know the feeling of what it’s like to feel the pain of a mate bond dying.”

Her words strike a nerve, but I know they’re words spoken in her grief. I did her a favor! No doubt Mal would have eventually rejected her or pimped her out since he hadn’t marked her, and her neck remains scar free.

“Find her! Fucking find my mate! But leave Toby for me,”

I roar at my guards and Javier. My voice echoes through the corridors. Fury fuels my every step as I make my way toward the door when Tyra speaks again.

“You’ll never find her in time. If he isn’t balls deep in her by now, then he’s definitely teeth deep!”

I freeze, and Carina moves toward me. “Ignore her. Let your father deal with her,”

Carina pleads with me, urging me to reconsider. I grip her arms, shoving her out the door and shutting the door in her face, shutting out the world. Minutes later, I burst out of my office, my hands dripping with the lifeblood of Tyra.

Carina stares past me, her eyes widening in horror at the gruesome sight of her severed head, before she gasps in shock as her eyes fall upon Tyra’s pale, headless corpse, now lifeless on the ground. A chill ripples through her frame. I press forward undeterred, burning with a single-minded intensity to find Sienna.

Carina scurries to keep up, desperation and fear ringing out in every step. When we reach the entrance, Javier silently awaits us with a car. Carina gasps.

“Where are you going?”

With my heart pounding, I move toward the driver’s side door, nudging Javier aside. “To fucking find her,”

I reply sharply, my eyes burning with determination. Carina curses under her breath before dashing to the other side before Javier can get in and slide into the seat beside me. I glance at her, her presence an unexpected addition.

“For fuck’s sake, I didn’t realize this was a game of musical chairs!”

Javier snaps, jumping in the back seat. I blink at Carina, wondering what the heck she is doing. “Well, let’s go!” she folds her arms across her chest.

“What are you doing? Get out!”

She raises an eyebrow at me. I take a deep breath; her being in the car with me is not a good idea; her scent will only serve to anger me more because she is not Sienna. “You’re wasting time. If you’re going, I am coming, too. Besides, I don’t want you to kill her,”

Carina adds, her voice filled with genuine concern. Her words catch me off guard. Is this the same woman who hated Sienna a few weeks ago?

Or is it now that she had a taste of my mate, she’s realized how sweet she is? With a growl, I push the key into the ignition and start the car, the engine roaring. I raise an eyebrow, surprised by her candor.

“What, she’s growing on me. She’s cute,”

Carina shrugs as if that alone should be reason enough to spare Sienna’s life. I remain silent, contemplating her words as I head down the long, windy driveway. Nearing the front gates, Javier’s phone rings.

He answers quickly, his voice is urgent as I try to listen to him while watching the road. After a few seconds, he hangs up. He looks at me, my face set into a mask of rage.

“Found them. They’re on the outskirts of the city, in a hotel by the tunnels.”

I feel a surge of adrenaline course through me as I grip the steering wheel tightly. Sienna is out there with him! If she thinks I will let her little boyfriend live after this, she is sadly mistaken.

I step on the gas and take off. My mind is reeling with thoughts of Sienna as I drive through the night, searching for any sign of her. As we speed toward the outskirts of the city, my vision blurs, and I struggle to see the road ahead.

My grip on the steering wheel tightens, it’s not enough to prevent me from swerving, narrowly missing an oncoming car. Javier’s voice cuts through the haze, urging me to pull over. I comply, my heart racing with both the urgency to find Sienna and the overwhelming disorientation.

The thumping in my chest soon overtakes my hearing, as the pulse of it is all I can hear. Pain rattles through me and I jerk the car to the side; the screech of tires fills the air as I hit a guardrail, the impact jarring my senses as the crunch of metal echoes through the car. “Woah, wait,”

Carina tries to grab me as I reach for the door handle. I shake her off and shove my door open. I stumble out of the car, my legs weak and unsteady.

My skin feels like it is on fire and I claw at my clothes, needing them off. Needing the pain to stop. I can feel his hands on her, feel his lips tainting hers.

The world spins around me, and I clutch my head, trying to regain focus as my canines elongate, and fur spreads across my arms and chest. Nausea rises within me, and I double over, retching violently by the roadside. Carina jumps out of the car, concern etched on her face as she races over to me.

As I struggle to catch my breath, a wave of searing heat hits me, intensifying the pain coursing through my veins. Agony grips my body, and I collapse to my knees, my strength fading. Carina and Javier rush to my side; their voices filled with worry and confusion.

“Xandros, what’s wrong?”

Carina asks, her voice laced with concern. Yet I can’t seem to catch my breath, like the air is gone. Briefly, the pain ebbs away and anger burns through me.

Through the haze of pain, I can sense it—the touch, the desire, the betrayal. Toby’s hands on Sienna, igniting a fire within her that should belong to me alone. The realization fuels my rage, intensifying the torment, while also blinding me to the physical pain.

“I’m gonna kill him. I’ll fucking kill him,”

I snarl, my voice dripping with fury. I shake off Carina’s hand, clutching my knees as I try to stand. Gasping and groaning, I struggle to get back on my feet, however, my determination to reach Sienna overrides the weakness in my body.

Javier grabs my arm, but my fury overtakes me, and with a primal roar, I shift into my Lycan form, knowing without it, I won’t get to her before he marks her. Carina gasps, stepping back in awe and fear as I tower over her, my claws scratching and slashing against the side of the car. The glass shatters under the weight of my anger as I deliver a powerful punch.

“Calm down, Xandros,”

Javier implores, his voice tinged with urgency and concern as he, too, steps back from me. I snap my head toward him, my eyes glowing with feral rage. “You can’t go to her like this, Xandros, think about it. Let the guards find her,”

Javier tries to argue. Grabbing him by the scruff of his neck, I lift him from the ground, my grip firm and unyielding. Doesn’t he understand?

She is hurting my bond; she’s allowing him to taint what’s mine! “He’s touching what’s mine,”

I snarl, my voice laced with possessiveness and sheer rabid anger. “You’ve lost control. Don’t be what everyone fears, Xandros. You’ve tried hard for decades to contain it.”

I snarl at him in response, uncaring. Let them talk, let them come for my kingdom. I don’t care, all I care about is finding my mate, and destroying the man who dares touch her.

“Xandros!”

Carina shrieks. “He can’t breathe.”

She grabs my arm. One growl forces her to step back. I may have my mate now, but I spent far too long trying to keep the mad king at bay, trying to hide the side effects of the humanity I was losing, and feeling her with him is shredding the last of it.

“You go on a rampage, they’ll find out. The Council will find out, think of what will happen to her! They’ll kill her along with you,”

Javier’s words cut through the haze of my fury, reminding me of the consequences of losing control. I release my grip on him, watching as he falls back to the ground. The gravity of his words sinks in, and I take a deep breath, attempting to regain control.

“Think calmly, Xandros. You need to keep your head. You don’t want to hurt Sienna,”

Javier advises, his voice steady and composed. Carina steps forward, her gaze pleading with me. “No one needs to find out about this. I won’t tell my father, let the guards and Javier handle it,”

Carina pleads. “She betrayed me!”

I roar, my anger still simmering beneath the surface. The pain and betrayal surge within me, threatening to consume my every thought. So I let the bond takeover, let it lead me to her.

To them. Without another word, I turn and run toward the forest, my Lycan form propelling me with unimaginable speed. The trees blur past me as I navigate the terrain, my mind consumed with thoughts of vengeance and retribution.

The deafening roar of my own growl fills the air as my instincts take over, driving me forward in a desperate hunt. A hunt for my mate. Yet the further I go, the more rabid I become.

Anger is the pulse that gives life to the beast within. The only balm is her, and she betrayed me, betrayed our bond. Lights come into my line of vision as I come to a road across from the hotel she’s holed up in.

I scan the building and parking lot. Sienna is my mate, my possession, and no one will take her away from me without facing the full wrath of my fury.