The Lycan King's Substitute Wife

Chapter 1

HOPE

"Light, are you ready?" I asked my twin, and her light green, siren eyes glinted in excitement and mischief as she nodded.

We both took off our robes, leaving our bodies bare, and then we dove into the open lake, making loud splash sounds. The lake was warm, and once we resurfaced, our smiles mirrored each other.

Even though we were twins, we looked nothing alike. Our only similarities were the shape of our eyes—siren—and the colors of our hair—jet black, and while I wore my long, Light wore hers short. That was where the similarities stopped, we even had different mannerisms.

We danced inside the lake, giggling, playing, and singing. Crows flew above us in the bright sky, making sounds. I looked up, watching them for a while before I turned my attention back to Light.

"I'm going to miss you," I said in a whisper, and she smiled sadly, then burst into a fit of laughter.

"Stop talking like I'm going away forever. I'm just getting married, it's not that huge. Besides, you can come visit me anytime you want." She said with a flippant tone, then started swimming back to shore.

I chased after her. By the time I got to land, she had already worn her robe and was drying her hair. I walked out of the water and did the same.

"Really? I can come visit anytime?" I asked with an uncertain tone, and she nodded, throwing the towel away.

"You can even come live with Darius and me." She suggested.

"Darius…" I repeated. The name sounded bitter in my tongue. He was the Lycan King that Light was going to marry.

I had only met him once, and that was when my family and I were invited to the Lycan Palace for Light's engagement two years ago. He was mean and looked like he wanted to kill everyone on sight.

Somehow, Light said that was just his resting face, and that he was very nice—at least to her. I didn't think he was nice. I was afraid for my sister who was going to chain herself down to him.

"Yes, sister. My soon-to-be husband is the best person in the world. I can't wait to finally be with him." Light said with a lovestruck tone, and I stared at her blankly.

"He doesn't look like it," I muttered as we started walking back home, to our castle. Light laughed.

"Trust me," she said, looking into my eyes. "He's harmless."

I didn't say anything after that until we got back to the castle. The time set for Light's wedding was drawing close, so I bid Light farewell in the meantime, then decided to go back to my chambers and prepare myself.

My handmaids kept on gushing about how beautiful the Lycans they had seen were. I couldn't care less for their beauty. I only cared about how they would treat my sister once she went away with them.

Once my maids were done preparing me, I looked at myself through my dressing mirror. They had braided my hair with pins adorning each side, then planted a tiara at the top of my head. My cleavage was on for show and my corset was a bit too tight. My maids said that I had to look beautiful as I would be the next to get married, and men would be watching me.

I was wearing pink—the color for waiting maidens. I didn't like being considered a maiden but I kept quiet. I turned to my maids, my light brown eyes settled on them.

"Thank you," I said to the three ladies, and they bowed their heads in respect. "I have to go get Light now. I'll see you all after the wedding." I added, then walked out of my chambers and sought for Light.

Her room was down the hall, away from mine. We had been put in separate rooms because Light fought for her privacy when she was thirteen. I had no problem with whatever she wanted so I agreed with her.

Once I came face-to-face with her door, I knocked twice, then waited for her to answer. After ten seconds, I decided to knock again.

"Light? It is me, your sister. Open the door." I said as I knocked continuously but I was met with silence. I turned the handle of the door, then I realized that the door was open all along.

I let out a sigh, then walked inside the room. "Light? I've come to fetch you. Your wedding is about to start. The moon is bright, isn't it?" I walked around the room, searching for Light, but I found her nowhere.

I decided to check her washroom but it was empty. Where was she?

"Light? Where are you? Are you trying to trick me?" I went to her bed, pulling away the cover but she wasn't hiding underneath it.

I marched for her windows, checking the curtains to see if she hid behind them but she wasn't there as well. I started to panic, and my heart raced. I clutched my chest as I raced to my parents' study room. People along the way tried to tell me that running was 'unladylike' but I paid them no mind.

I only stopped running when I got to the room, not waiting to catch my breath before I started ranting off.

"Mother, father. There's a problem." I said with an uneven tone, and they both looked at me with wide eyes. They were already dressed in fancy attires for Light's wedding.

They both looked panicked and quite uneasy but I shrugged it off. My mother reached out to me, as though she wanted me to calm down but I couldn't do that.

"I went to Light's room to fetch her but she wasn't there. I searched the whole chamber but I couldn't find her. I fear that she might have run away. I don't understand. We just parted to get ready but she's not anywhere anymore!" I raised my voice gradually as I spoke, and my parents paled.

"Should we send in guards to check round the castle? Maybe I'm just being paranoid and she's somewhere in the castle. Or did Light seriously run away? If she did, then why?" I tried to wrap my head around the entire thing.

"You tell me." A deep masculine voice said from behind me, and a shiver ran down my spine.

I slowly turned around, and my eyes met black onyx ones that looked devoid of emotions. His being vacuumed all the air in the room as well as the one inside my lungs. He stood tall and dark.

King Darius Moratis.