Chapter three- His cute side
Only after being taken in did I fully realize the influence of Mason, the reason why his men called him king. He had forcefully taken authority over thousands of wild rogues outside many packs' territories and have them listen to his orders.
Along those many thousands of men, many were loyal to him. This was a phenomenon I didn't expect.
In Mason's hut, there were few women who resided there and praised Mason as they dressed me up.
"The king is a very kind man!"
"Yes," the other woman agreed,
"Just like you I was chased from my pack but then, I met King and he took me in. It's been three years and I'm happy living here. It's better than being like a stray dog."
"Exactly!"
"So… pretty lady, you're going to enjoy living here, just don't betray the king. As long as you don't betray him or do anything to make him angry, you'll enjoy peaceful days here and not have to worry about your life being constantly threatened. Also, you're slightly different from us, you're the king's woman…"
Being reminded of Mason calling me his woman sent chills down my spine. But not in a good way.
"Because of your title, you have to take extra steps to please the king. You must show him your loyalty and never betray him. If not, your end will be worse than others."
"Beatrice, don't scare her!" The older woman scolded.
"But it's true! There's a rumour that the king's first woman was killed by him because she tried to betray him. Her end was not pretty, he crushed her skull, just like this." Beatrice made a wild analysis with her fingers. "She was totally unrecognizable when the others found her!"
I smiled, knowing I wouldn't suffer such painful woe because of my heart disease. It'll probably kill me before Mason gets the chance to.
"Beatrice that's enough," The older woman grabbed Beatrice and led her to the exit.
"Ma'am!" She complained.
"Seriously, Just go. You're not needed here if the only thing you know how to say Is scary things."
"But it's the fact! If I don't tell her, how can she survive here?"
"You dumb little girl, you don't understand!" The older lady began to whisper to Beatrice but I clearly heard her. "The lady that the rogue king brought back is clearly from a prominent pack and hasn't seen much of the world. If you tell her the truth, she may get scared and run away. You know that is not good for girls, right? Even though we rogues are already under the king's orders, there are still many threatening strays coming out every day. If you scare the weak lady and she escapes into the clutches of a dangerous rogue, what will you do?"
"Ohh, " Beatrice nodded her head as she looked over at me, "Sorry, I'll go now. You talk to her instead." With that, Beatrice left on her own.
The elderly woman then came over to me and clipped the side of my hair with a purple hair clip.
"Lady, look at how pretty the hairpin is, it definitely suits your colour. Miss, you're so pretty."
I smiled, the older woman sure had good intentions in her heart, for a rogue. But unfortunately, it was of no use.
"No need to coddle me, ma'am, I'm not that fragile."
"Uhm…"
"I'm not going to say I've seen more blood than you have, but I have at least six years experience in training for the Beta position of my previous pack,"
A small smile tugged on my lips as the older woman was taken aback by my response.
I sensed movement outside and smelt a familiar scent. It was the rogue King. I smirked and decided to go out to take a look.
As I thought, the rogue King was standing outside in an imposing manner, scaring away those with lesser strength than his.
As much as I didn't want to go to him willingly, he still saved me. I had to acknowledge him.
"Mason!" I put on a cheerful smile as I walked over to him. He turned to face me, his initial stern look softening as he looked at me.
I had taken a bath and was dressed up in a bold red long dress with a brown fur coat around my shoulders. My hair had been properly styled back and I was wearing blush and a glistening cream that moisturized my lips.
"Mason?"
He tore his gaze from me and cleared his throat before saying, "You were bluffing, right?"
"What?"
"Earlier you said you had six years experience in training for the Beta position?"
I pretended to be shocked that he was listening to the elderly woman and I's conversation.
"So you were bluffing?" He pressed.
I smiled, "No,"
The moment I said that he turned to me, his eyes filled with shock, then indignation. "I don't believe you, prove it to me."
I stared into his wandering eyes that were staring into mine forcefully, as though it could help him pry out information from within my skull.
I simply let out a small smile, "You don't believe me, but you want me to prove to you that I have Beta's training experience?"
Mason grabbed the small of my back and pulled me towards him. A small gasp escaped my lips as I was directly staring into his raw, passionate face. The longer I stared at his face, I noticed the straight-cut line on his right cheek and instinctively reached for it.
I only briefly touched it when he pushed me away from me.
I regained my balance. Was that scar a painful memory for him?
"Anyway, I don't believe you were in training for the Beta position. I personally carried you here, you were so weak." He made to walk away but I stopped him.
"Wait!" I ran towards him, "What about we go hunting together? I'll prove it to you"
"No," he said without hesitation, "Your back…"
I smiled. So even a rogue King could remember such a petty detail about someone?
"I've even forgotten about it. After I got here it seemed to have healed."
"Well that's good," he whispered in a low tone.
"So can I go with you?"
He gave me a quick look before turning away which I took as a yes.
I mentally cheered and followed after him.
Mason may seem only sharp and bloody, but he also had a cute side to him.
Chapter four- You're the king's womanFLAPI exhaled as my arrow successfully shot an antelope in its spine causing it to fall to the ground without a struggle. Mason sped past the antelope and I got another bow ready to be engaged.Without fail, I shot down a wild pig in its neck, fatally ending its life.Closely behind us were Mason's men picking up the kills.As we entered a more open field with multiples of deers, I grabbed three arrows and shot at once. Two deers down.Mason and I continued, with me shooting down animals until I suddenly felt dizzy and fell off his back."Lyra!" He cried, and I heard the faint sound of him shifting into his human form. The last thing I saw were his light brown eyes before darkness enveloped my body.***When I woke up, I was in a dim room surrounded by dark curtains. I sat up in bed and breathed deeply.I felt tired, but I couldn't bear the stuffiness of the room. So I took the courage to stand and walk out of the room. As I moved aside the cur
I woke up early the next morning. I kept drifting in and out of sleep. I was restless. As I stood by the bank of the river close to the village watching Cara and some other females draw water for use, I couldn't help but think about what Mason had said yesterday. He had no plans to let me go anywhere any time soon. While I was grateful that he saved me from that rogue, I couldn't be kept here against my will. The Golden Arm pack was my destination. "Boo!" Someone yelled from behind me.I turned around to find Beatrice grinning at me. Seems she had a knack for scaring people because what the hell?"The other girls always scream their heads off when I do this. Yet," she leaned closer to me, her eyes narrowing, "you didn't scream.""I don't scare easily."Beatrice lifted a brow. "Really?"I nodded warily as her scrutinizing gaze turned into a broad smile. She took my hand and moved towards the ladies by the river. "I found someone to tell scary moonlight tales by the bonfire tonight!"
Mason patted my back and handed me a cup of water to drink. I took the cup and drank the water, still coughing, tears in my eyes as I looked at him and said, "w-what?" I don't know why I'm even surprised. The rogues have been calling me the king's woman or Lady with respect. I should have known and expected that he'd make it official and ask me to be his at some point. I was flattered and honoured that he'd want someone as weak as me by his side but I felt nothing for him. Not in that manner. He was a kind man, a warrior who led his people with love and discipline when needed and he had saved my life. That was all. Nothing else. As Mason rubbed the back of his neck, a bit embarrassed about having to repeat himself, I silently prayed to the goddess what he said wasn't really what I heard. I must be dreaming. There was no way he asked me that, right? I wouldn't have to refuse the rogue king and possibly end up dead or hated or something, right? "Be mine, Lyra." Suddenly I lost my
The next time I opened my eyes, it was dawn. There was a commotion outside. I stood up, my bed was soaked in my sweat and my heart ached no more. I walked outside to see guards parading about. "Seeing a beauty this early spices up the morning." I looked to my side to find Mason approaching me. I wanted to look away, run and hide, but he would find that suspicious."Hello Mason," I greeted him, trying to keep the uneasiness out of my voice as he stood in front of me and leaned in. No way would I let this guy kiss me. Hell no!I took a back. He chuckled at my reaction and reached for my forehead to wipe a sheen of sweat. "Did you sleep well?" He asked.I wondered if he was the same person I had overheard last night. " I did sleep well." A blantant lie. "What's with the rowdiness?" I gestured to the guards rushing about.Mason stood beside me. "An intruder was sighted in our territory last night. There's a search," he said with seriousness. "The person had no scent until later but it co
I opened my eyes trying to gauge my surroundings. I used my hands to feel around the place. It was really dark here with no source of light. I had never been here before. During my tour of the rogue pack, there was no place with thick iron bars as this one between my fingers. Was this a part of Mason's territory? Just as I had that thought, it all came rushing back to me. My attempt at escape and the failure that it ended up as. '...when someone told me a scary story about my Luna planning to leave...' Beatrice. Beatrice was the reason why my escape was unsuccessful. She was the one who had told Mason about me leaving. Mason had deliberately hinted at it when he mentioned a scary story. Who else was tagged with such a hobby other than Beatrice? I had never done anything wrong to her or anyone in this pack. I had no idea that she could be so ruthless. It all made sense now. Beatrice had told me right from the beginning not to betray Mason. She told me the previous girl was killed by
"Hahahahahaha."The laughter went on for a while. It was eerie and filled with amusement. It didn't sound quite right, almost like the person producing such a sound had lost his mind. I knew it was a guy from the deep bass in his voice as his laughing filled the dark space around me."So someone was here afterall," I whispered. I wanted to know if he was okay but I stopped myself from asking. The laughing stopped after a few seconds and everywhere became quiet. Rather than the peaceful silence that calmed me, it was unnerving. I waited in the silence, listening for movement and wondering what he was going to do."You listen well," he started. It was a compliment and yet, it felt like I was being mocked. "Considering this is the first time you are hearing from me, you must be quite surprised?" No. I wasn't surprised at all. His breathing had given him away long before Beatrice came in but I would not be telling him that. That last statement of his was a rhetorical question and I wasn'
MELEON'S POVI stared at Lyra's sleeping face and swallowed thickly. Just what was Mason thinking putting her in the same space as me? Was he trying to get her killed? My ears picked up her heart beat. Why was it so weak? It was weaker than normal. I groaned when the blood rushing through her veins pounded in my ears, overtaking my senses. How tempting!Shaking from the amount of energy I was exerting on self control, I shifted as far away from her as I could. It took everything within me to not rush towards Lyra and suck her dry even with the walls separating us. Smelling fresh blood so close by made my vampire half nearly go feral. When I told Lyra I was weak, I didn't mean by hierarchy or physically. I was weak from starvation. Blood starvation. Mason made sure to feed me scraps of meat but he never gave me blood. My guess was he wanted to see how long I could go before I went crazy and tried to kill anything in sight.Getting captured by Mason had been a choice. It was either that
Lyra's POVMy heartbeat had accelerated as soon I heard that bold declaration from Beatrice. If she had any idea of what she was suggesting, she wouldn't even have the thought in the first place. In the Green Arrow Pack, aiding a criminal to escape signified death and I was sure the same consequence applied to Mason. "No," I replied adamantly. This was no child's play or a random adventure story that she could tell later. If she was caught, she would be killed. I had heard the excitement and confidence that came with the declaration. Meleon probably heard it too but he didn't make any coherent sounds apart from his ragged breathing. Was he in pain?"I do not agree with your rejection, my lady." Beatrice gripped the iron bars. "You asked me to earn your forgiveness, was that a lie?""A lie? That's a waste of strength. I've never lied to any of you in this rogue pack but you know what? I've been lied to, deceived and probably made fun of," I held my chest as the influx of emotions lef