The Lycan King's Substitute Wife

Chapter 8

DARIUS

I couldn't believe that I was married to someone who had no personality whatsoever. When I secretly went to the human lands to see who would be my bride at the age of ten, I found out that there were two princesses.

The two had sat next to their grubby parents. They were both beautiful in their own way. One had an innocent beauty to her, everything about her seemed delicate and fragile. The other was feral. She had a regal and fierce beauty. They told me that the second one was whom I was going to get married to.

I was pleased to know that my wife wouldn't be someone who shied away from the word 'lycan'. I came to regret that later on. Light was a sly thing. She knew what she wanted, and she took it with no care whatsoever.

She had been to my palace countless times beforehand. She knew everyone and everything. She dictated my people in a queen-like manner. I hated her but she had what it took to rule.

She was conniving, intelligent, and bold. She just decided to use all of that against me in the end and replaced herself with the rock of a sister she had.

Smart on her part, but cruel all the same.

Hope was much worse than her sister. Being coddled all her life, she probably thought that every single thing in my world was beneath her. The day we got married, I saw the look in her eyes. Nothing was to her taste. She made it clear with those eyes of hers.

There was nothing innocent about them. She wore her disdain for my people proud. She never used her words to belittle us, her eyes did it for her. All humans were the same in some way. They hated and feared Lycans at the same time. Hope was an embodiment of a true human.

She played her part perfectly—coy, innocent human. I bet she had a hand in her sister's plans and might just be pretending so that she could uncover the secrets of my palace much more than her sister did. I did not doubt that.

I looked at her through hooded eyes. I asked her a serious question and she gave me such a precise and practiced answer. She knew what she was doing. I waited for her to add something to her answer but she didn't. Sly.

"Is there any news about my sister?" She changed the subject as a hopeful look settled in her eyes.

My frown didn't leave my face. When she asked this same question earlier on, I ignored her. But I see that she might just be persistent and stubborn under that meek and docile cover of hers.

"My men haven't been able to pinpoint her location yet," I admitted.

I hated that we weren't able to find Light. She left no traces of what she was doing or where she was going. Something told me that with the possession of the Moratia knife, she wanted to kill me.

She was probably bidding her time and recruiting rebels so that she could prepare herself for war.

Wicked wench.

Hope's eyes glistened at my words and she looked as though she were about to cry. Hope and Light looked nothing alike except for their heights and the shape of their eyes. While Light had slightly tanned skin, Hope had pale, milky white skin.

Light had forest green eyes, Hope had light brown eyes. Light had a slender figure while Hope seemed to be curvy and petite.

I could bet that if I held her in my arms she would break at a go. Everything about me was huge. Everything about her was small. The idea of human princesses getting married to Lycan kings was ridiculous. Humans were not strong enough and they had to be transformed into Lycans before they could birth to one.

It was all a waste. But I couldn't break the tradition. Here I was with a human of my own who didn't interest me in the slightest bit.

"But have you ever thought that she could've been framed? Maybe someone stole the knife instead of her and kidnapped her all the same so it would look like she was the one who did it.

"Light could be innocent. I believe her to be innocent. She would never do such things that she is being accused of." Hope spoke with a desperate tone, and I felt blood rushing through my veins as a wave of anger bathed me.

"If you truly believe what you are saying then you do not know your sister. She was a cunning and slyish girl who went for what she wanted with no care whatsoever of who got hurt. But it seems like you do not understand that. Perhaps you are the same because I can see it written all over you, little Human." That was it. I snapped.

Hope pressed her lips tightly in an attempt to stop herself from saying her next words. Clever. I could see that was how all Vitalis women were.

"She's innocent." She still whispered, more to herself than me.

I took a good look at Hope. Tears glistened both of her eyes as she stared down into space in deep thought. Either she was a really good actor or she believed the nonsense she was spouting out about Light being innocent.

Perhaps she wasn't a part of her sister's plans. She seemed too fragile. I wondered what good she would be. She was not interesting or amusing in any way to entertain me. She wasn't going to let me bed her out of fear. I wasn't gaining anything from her, yet I was letting myself suffer.

I was wasting my time trying to be a good husband to her. There was nothing in it for me. Since we got married, I haven't been with any other woman. The day we were supposed to consummate the marriage and I told her that I was going to get myself a whore, I didn't do it. It was a foolish decision on my part. She didn't deserve my empathy.

"Human—"

"Can I return to my chambers now? I'm tired." She said, with her gaze on her fingers which fiddled on her lap. I gritted my teeth in agitation. How dare she?

I was about to decline her request when she stood up and walked away. I watched her leave with my mouth agape. She looked like she wasn't alive anymore; like she wasn't the one making her decisions.

That spited me. How dare she? With a sudden rush of anger, I tugged on the cloth of the table our meals were set in and yanked it to the floor, causing everything to fall on the ground. Both the half-eaten foods and the expensive wines. It didn't seem to be enough for me as I kicked both our chairs to the ground, growling as I did.

I felt my wolf crawling up from within me, ready to make its way out and wreak havoc but before it could do that, someone stepped into view. Orion, my second-in-command, walked over to me with a panicked expression on his face.

"Darius, what happened?" he asked with caution.

I growled, running my hand through my hair. "Lock her doors, I'm changing into my wolf." The voice that spoke those words sounded nothing like mine as my wolf was the one who spoke them for me in a deep, unhinged voice.

Unfortunately for me, he liked Hope and anytime she misbehaved, it angered him to the point where he could not be controlled. Orion nodded and as he turned to do what I instructed, I stopped him.

"I want Annalise back in this palace at first light," I ordered.

He looked like he was at a loss for words because a while back, I had instructed everyone not to let that woman back into my palace. Now, I've changed my mind.

"What about—"

"Do as you are told." I said to him, and before he could ask any further questions, I ran out into the forest to change.

My wolf needed to be free. And he could not do that with that little Human around.