Unwanted Mate Of The Lycan Kings (by jessica hall) novel Chapter 87

~Regan POV~

"You could have burned me," I tell her, and she raises an eyebrow at me. Yeah, she has too much control and power now for that. "Want to rephrase that? Maybe next time I will miss intentionally," she chuckles. I shake my head, wandering over to her while shedding my clothes. Reaching the bed, I growl when I see her wolves separating me from her, and they move instantly, all three jumping off the bed and wandering toward the fire.

Climbing on the bed, Zirah rolls to face me. “Tell me about your mother. How did she die?” she asks suddenly, and I pause.

The question punctures my heart. My mother’s death is a wound that has never quite healed, a constant reminder of the horrors this curse has caused us.

"She... she died not long after we realized the curse had truly worked," I start, swallowing the lump that's forming in my throat, pulling the blanket back, and lying beside her. You don't have to tell me the gritty details, Regan; I just want to know what happened surrounding her death," She adds, and I can feel her guilt at her curiosity. "It's fine, I'll tell you. You'll find out anyway."

I pull her closer, dragging her on top of me. She rests her chin on her hands, waiting for me to continue while I brush my fingers through her hair, loving how silky her hair feels slipping through my fingers. "No woman had given birth to a girl for years. Litha's curse was no longer a myth but a nightmare we were living in. Only my mother and I knew about Litha's daughter. You. Still being alive. We thought your grandmother was the oracle, never imagining it could be you. So we went looking for you both, hoping to reverse the curse.”

My chest tightens at the memory of the last few moments with my mother. “Female Lycans were hunted to near extinction. My mother was the last, hidden within the safety of the castle. When she learned I was going to look for you, she insisted she come. I couldn't refuse her. She was the only person who could help. We didn't trust my father to know; his anger back then made him irrational, he would have killed you both had he ever found you, but we were hoping to convince your grandmother to break the curse, so she came with me."

I take a breath, steeling myself for what comes next. "We were ambushed. Our own people turned on us, fueled by the belief that we had cursed them. The kingdoms were at war, and it turned everyone savage."

My voice drops to a whisper, the agony of the memory slicing through me like a sword. "They took my mother. Made me watch as they violated her, as they...” My voice cracks, and I feel a shudder wrack my body. “Then they killed her. In front of me. And all I could do was watch."

The silence that follows is heavy, a tangible weight pressing down on me.

"My brothers found us the next day," I continue after a moment, my voice barely audible. "I was barely clinging to life next to our mother's lifeless body. They blamed me, said I should've protected her, that I shouldn't have allowed her to leave the safety of the castle. But I knew better. She would've left on her own if she had to. She died trying to help me find you. Not only that, but she wasn’t just worried about my father's anger, but mine; she wanted to protect you."

"Because you're Wrath?" she whispers.

"Yes, my anger can become obsessive. She knew that. Witnessed it first hand."

The confession hangs in the air, a haunting specter that bridges the gap between my past and our present. I feel drained, like a vessel emptied of its contents.

As I look into Zirah's eyes, I see a flicker of something—understanding, maybe, or sympathy. Whatever it is, it offers a small piece of relief to see her not blame me as the rest of them do. In her, I hope to find not just my salvation but also my redemption.

A chance to be the man my mother believed I could be, the king my people need, and the protector Zirah deserves. "Did you catch her killers," she asks, and my eyes flicker at her words.

"Zeke and Lyon did, with my uncle's help," I tell her.

"They got what they deserved," comes Zeke's voice, making her jump, and I sigh, turning to look at the balcony. "You know I have a door, right? What is with you and Lyon never using it?"