Chapter 175
Janet rushed to hold Daranâs shoulder.
She could feel his body trembling under her touch. The blood dripped down from his fingertips and fell to the ground, forming a small pool of blood.
Normally, Daranâs wolf could heal his woundâ¦But this one was too severe!
Daran would bleed to death before the wolfâs healing power kicked in.
He needed medical care!
âWestin!â Janet snapped her head back and cried, âPlease, I am begging
youâ¦Daranâhe might not be your favorite person on this planet, but we are on the same side! Please save him!â
ââ¦Donâtâ¦â
Daran hissed under his breath, âDonât fucking beg himâ¦he wonât do itâ¦â
âSwallow your goddamn pride!â Janet snapped.
Westin crossed his arms in front of his chest, his face unreadable.
Edwin let out a cold laugh, âAccording to Westin, Daran tried to kill him on numerous occasions. Why would we save the life of an enemy?â
Janet clenched her fists, âHe is not your enemy!â
Edwin crinkled his nose. He apparently didnât agree.
Yet Westin raised a hand and stopped Edwin from arguing with Janet.
âSee if our men have some bandages,â he said quietly, looking at Daran. âWe should stop his bleeding first.â
Edwin rounded his eyes and blurted out, âBut my King-
Janetâs heart skipped a beat.
She couldnât hide the shock on her face.
Wait a secondâ¦King?
Westin was not only a Lycanâ¦.
He was the Lycan King?!
âGo,â Westin repeated himself.
Edwin still looked reluctant, but he followed Westinâs order and disappeared into the woods.
Westin walked up to Janet and crouched down till he met with her eye level.
âSorry that I have kept my identity from you.â he said with a faint smile, âIt must be a shock to you.â
Janet was rendered speechless with shock.
After a long pause, she finally found her tongue again, âYeahâ¦Lycan is a myth to usâ¦let alone the Lycan Kingâ¦â
Westin shrugged, âWe donât normally show ourselves in front of you. It is natural that you donât know that we exist.â
âThen what are you doing in the Grace Ruin this time?â Daran asked abruptly.
His voice was weak because of the blood loss.
Yet his tone was harsh.
Westin narrowed his eyes at Daran, âYou should learn to be more respectful now that you have known about my identity.â
Daran let out a cold laugh, âYou are Lycanâs King, not my King. The roques chose to
Daran let out a cold laugh, âYou are Lycanâs King, not my King. The rogues chose to bend their backs to you, but it doesnât mean that I will do the same. Now tell me, why did the mighty Lycan King go undercover himself? What is your goal?â
The two men stared at each other hostilely.
Tension was quickly building in the air.
Janet was looking at Westin as well.
She had the same question.
It was
still unclear as to what the Lycan was trying to accomplish here. Westin said. something about restoring the peace once before. But that was very vague.
After a few moments of silence, Westin said, âWe want to kill Lance.â
âBecause?â Daran immediately pursued.
âHe is a threat to this world. He has caused too many wars andââ
âBULLSHIT!â
Daran snarled, interrupting Westin forcefully:
âThis isnât the first time that werewolves and the rogues went to war. The Lycans never gave a shit about it. Why do you suddenly care now?â
Westinâs face grew cold.
âI donât need to explain ourselves to you, Daran.â he said icily, âThe main point is that we are trying to end Lanceâs life. Just say if you are with us or not.â
âLetâs say that I doâ¦â Daran kept his gaze fixed on Westinâs face, âDo you have a plan? Lance is immortal in his territory. We have to lure him out of this place.â
âIt is going to be hard.â
Janet joined the discussion, worried, âWe did it once already. He will be alert this time.â
âIt doesnât have to be so complicated this time.â Westin said, âYou already destroyed his palace. His subjects are all panicked. I will have Edwin go into the city and shout the message to his subjects, saying that anyone who remains in this city after midnight tonight will be executed by the Lycans. The rogues fear us. They will leave. Once this land is vacated, it will no longer be part of Rogueâs territory. Lance wonât be protected by the Rogue Kingâs immortality.â
Hence, they would be free to kill Lance right in the city.
It sounded like a workable plan.
Edwin came back with the bandage and tossed it to Daran.
âYou donât need maids to help with that, do you?â he asked mockingly.
Daran rolled his eyes.
âI will help him,â Janetâsaid.
Westin stared appraisingly at Janet, âYou are not changing your heart again, right. Janet? Remember how he hurt you before?â
Daranâs eyes were slits of rage, âStay the fuck out of our business-â
âI know what I am doing. Thank you, Westin.â Janet said in a polite yet firm voice, âNow if you donât mind, I want to have a word alone with Daran.â
Westin shrugged and stood up, âFine. I can be the bigger man here.â
He headed towards the woods but stopped again after a few steps.
âBut donât get too intimate with him, alright?â he looked back at Janet with a faint smile, ââ¦I might get jealous.â
Then he left.
Daran glared at him till his back disappeared into the woods and hissed, âWhat a condescending asshole-â
âYou are no better,â Janet snapped.
She ripped off Daranâs jacket and started wrapping his wound.
With her hands busy with the wrapping, she asked Daran in a low voice, âNow I want
you to be completely honest with me. What did you and Lance talk about before your fight?â
Daran hissed at the pain, ââ¦Why do you ask?â
âDonât fucking play dumb with me!â
Janet snapped as she continued with her work:
âWe had a chance of killing Lance before. But you got cold feet at the last second and chose to become Lanceâs buddy. So why choose to work with Westin now? What happened? How do I know if you arenât going to change your mind again?â
Daran breathed out a heavy sigh, âI needed him alive because he is the only one who knew how to make one because The King, The Werewolf King. If he died, this secret buried with him.â
âYeah, that part I am aware of. So now-â
âHe just told me the method,â Daranânodded.
âAnd? Spill it out! Why are you paranoid that I might fight for the kingship with you or something?â Janet snapped.
Daran chuckled lowly, âEasy. I am just getting there. Become the Werewolf King, requires both a strong Alpha and the Rogue King. One party should offer his blood as
a tribute to another, as a symbol of submission. Both parties must act VOLUNTARILY during the whole process.â
Janet rounded her eyes in shock.
â¦A voluntary blood tribute?/
At this very moment, so mány things started to make so much sense to her.
Like why Lance insisted on bringing them back to the Grace Ruin, despite the objections from his subjects.
And why Lance was so obsessed with being friends with Daran, even though they appeared to be enemies.
Because winning one war was never Lanceâs goal.
Lance wanted to be the Werewolf King from day one.
To do that, he needed Daran to offer him the blood. And he couldnât force Daran. He needed to win Daran over first!
âOh my godâ¦.thisâthis isâ¦â
She murmured, still overwhelmed by all the information.
âShocking? Appalling? Hard to believe? I know,â Daran agreed.
âSo earlier, you two started fighting because-â
âI offered him my blood, but the ritual didnât work. Naturally, he knew that I was never really on his side, and that I had been lying about my loyalty. He was furious.â
Janet nodded slowly.
She could imagine Lanceâs frustration.
âHey.â
Daran cupped Janetâs face and stared into her eyes, âThis will soon be over. Lance is at the end of his wits. We will kill him. But before that, I need your help with one more thing
Janet blinked, âWhat is that?â
âLance is dead. But there will be a new Rogue King. This person must be somebody we can trust, somebody who is not a war manic, somebody we can control, somebody-
Janet widened her eyes as Daran uttered the last few words:
â-who will voluntarily offer me the blood after we kill Lance.â