Enslaved By The Lycan King

Chapter 10: Scarlett

My hands were sweaty and each second that passed without Asher in the room, felt like the world was crumbling outside. I paced in the room, reevaluating my decision over and over.

"I should tell Axel," I whispered as I stopped. But then I shook my head.

Telling Axel would be a disaster and if there was one thing Asher was right about, it was the fact that we couldn't stand his forces. They would win and our kingdom would become theirs.

But even greater than that, such a scandal would mean forever creating a sea between us. There wouldn't ever be a hope for us; for our love.

"Oh Scarlett," I winced as I slapped a hand to my forehead. I was being delusional.

Asher was sick and he never loved me. He said it himself, yet somehow, even my subconscious continued to defend him at the cost of my kingdom.

My heart hardened and I decided to put an end to this. I would tell my brother and together, we would think of the best way to deal with Asher.

As my mind made up, I turned to the door and pulled it open, but I came face to face with Asher; with Nathan's gruff voice echoing behind him.

"King Asher... is everything okay?" He asked again and from the look on Asher's face, I knew that his reply could get him caught, if I didn't do anything.

Before my brain could even process what I could do, I took Asher's hands in mine.

"Babe, did you find it? Goddess, please, I am dying..." I groaned, faking a weak expression.

His angered eyes understood what I was doing and in a matter of seconds, he fell into character as well. "I couldn't find any of the maids to help me... I am afraid we will have to wait till morning... can you manage?"

Nathan had gotten close to us at this point, and I saw his brows move in confusion. "Is everything okay?"

"Oh, no. Actually, I was looking around for the maids. Scarlett has a terrible cramp and I... I just didn't know what to do and I didn't want to wake Violet..." Asher lied, and I feigned pain, clutching his hands as my life depended on it.

Nathan's confused state, quickly turned into concern as he took my free hand and checked my body temperature. "I should call the doctor. How bad is it?" he gently as he checked my eyes.

Then he turned to Asher, "The maids are all off duty. You should have called me... Let's get her to the clinic-"

"No, that won't be necessary!" Asher and I exclaimed at the same time, earning a strange glare from Nathan.

"I mean... I don't need a doctor. It's quite late. If I can get something hot... I should make it in the morning. It's not so bad." I quickly added, hoping to clear the awkward air our chorused answer had created.

Nathan took a minute to move his eyes over us, before finally nodding to me, then he gave Asher a bow. "If you are sure that's all you need, then I'll send someone to get it to you in a couple of minutes."

"Thank you so much," Asher whispered, his voice flooded with such relief, that I was certain whatever doubt Nathan could have had got washed away.

"Sure," Nathan replied, and Asher helped me into the room.

He purposefully left the door open, knowing that Nathan would probably still be watching. Asher gently placed me on the bed and pulled the blanket up to my chest, then his eyes paused over my face.

His stare was so intent, that my heart skipped a beat. I wanted to be strong.

I kept singing in my head that this was all a game, but my wolf couldn't tell the difference as I felt goosebumps appear on my skin when his fingers brushed away stray strands of hair from my face.

His eyes looked so sincere, so innocent, it was hard convincing my wolf that this was all a lie. That the man we were forever tied to, was a man driven by a sickening thirst for revenge on misplaced reasons.

I was still lost in my thoughts when the door abruptly closed, and his sweet face morphed into darkness. He peeled his fingers away from my face and growled.

"You did well, princess. Continue like this and maybe, your dear brother might get an easier punishment."

Irritated, I wanted to move away from him, but his large arms kept me pinned on the bed.

"You have nowhere to run, princess. Remember, you belong to me now..."

Tears of anger pricked the corners of my eyes and I wanted to scream at him. I wanted to tell him that I didn't belong to him and that I would ruin his plans, but I also knew that saying all that would be useless.

My chaotic thoughts came to a sudden end, as a knock echoed on our door. Asher got away from the bed and pulled it open.

The guard bowed. "My lord Nathan asked that I had this to Princess Scarlett," he said, and Asher took it from him.

"You have done well... I will handle it from here. Thank you."

The man bowed again, and I could only guess what was going on in his head. Asher was so good at pretending that no one would even imagine him as a monster with such a beaming smile.

Yet as soon as the door closed, his true color showed. He practically dumped the tray carelessly on the drawer and pulled out his phone, before disappearing to the balcony to probably speak to his people.

It wasn't long before the emergency alarm rang out. The guards must have discovered the rebels dead, and I could only hope that Nathan wouldn't connect any of it to Asher.

I was going to ignore everything and force myself to sleep but the alarm only grew louder. I got off the bed and walked to the windows, only to see the firefighters rolling out hoses.

A frown settled on my face as I realized that a part of the castle was on fire.

Fear and panic flooded my system and without thinking, I grabbed my robe, tied it around myself, and ran out of the room.

"Scarlett?" I heard Asher yell behind me, but I wasn't about to stay on a comfortable bed when innocent people might be in trouble because of me.

I ran out of the building, watching wide-eyed at the flames that licked the lower sides.

"Oh, dear goddess," I whimpered, with my hand clamped against my mouth.

This was all my fault. I directed Asher to the dungeon, thinking he only wanted to kill the rebels, but he had other wicked intentions, even to innocent people.

My breathing started coming in fast as I took in the scene. The men ran around to put out the fire and the others tried to save whatever they could from it. Wounded slaves cried as the men helped them out of the flames. I could even see a few lifeless bodies and my heart broke totally.

I did this... I could have stopped it, but I didn't. I let my stupid emotions interfere and Asher had his way.

Anger, pain, guilt, remorse; everything rolled out of me, and my initial determination returned. I had to put an end to this. 

I moved my eyes around the scene and luckily, I saw my brother and Uncle Greg, instructing the men on the side and my heart cracked. I had to tell them. I couldn't keep hiding this.

I began to run in their direction, ready to tell them everything I knew and let the consequences deal with itself. At least I would forgive myself for putting so many people through pain.

My heart rammed as I ran breathlessly towards them, but I barely got close when I crashed into Asher's massive chest.

"Where do you think you are going?" He hissed into my face as he grabbed me roughly by the arm.

My heart tore in anger and I pushed him away -Or tried to but he gripped me even tighter and pulled me away from the chaos to a corner, slapping my back to the wall as his large frame caged me.

"Let me go, Asher. Hmm... Get away from me. You are a monster. How could you do this?" I whimpered as my helplessness shook me like the rumble of a shattered house under a second wave of an earthquake.

"Don't be silly, Scarlett. Was I supposed to get permission from you? Huh?"

His eyes burned with emotions so evil, I couldn't even look through them. His presence disgusted me. I couldn't believe that his quest would drive him this far.

"Why did you burn it? Why didn't you just kill your rebels and leave the rest of the building alone?"

His grin spread and he leaned closer to me, his scent overshadowing my senses. "I own this entire place, Scarlett. Whatever I decide to do to them is none of your business, is that clear?"

"I hate you, Asher. I hate you with every cell in my body!" I seethed through my teeth, but his grin only grew wider.

"We both know that you are lying..." His fingers moved to my chest, slowly making their way over my breasts, searching for my nipple. "Your whole body can't survive without me."