Chapter 111: Lycan Queen's Prey Chapter 38

~Zirah~

His voice is filled with a seductive promise, his fingers tracing the Rune with an agonizing slowness that lights a fire within me—my heart pounds in my chest, a wild drum echoing in the silence. My body betrays me as heat spreads through me, an undeniable desire rising in response to his proximity.

As if sensing the escalating tension, the bathroom door swings open. Hunter and Shadow bound in, their tails wagging with mischief. Hunter barrels into Zeke with a playful growl, knocking us off balance.

With a yelp, I tumble backward into the shower, taking Zeke with me as he tries to catch me. But the momentum sends us both sprawling into the shower, the sudden blast of cold water drenching us. I land on top of him.

I glance up at Hunter, who’s wagging his tail in apparent satisfaction. “I think we were just set up by our wolves,” I say accusingly, glaring at him. Zeke laughs, the sound deep and hearty, echoing in the bathroom.

I sit up, suddenly realizing that I’m straddling him. The sudden change in position has Zeke’s laughter dying in his throat. His gaze darkens, a predatory look in his eyes as his hands fall on my hips, my hands push off his chest quickly, but his grip on me tightens, his teeth clenching. A strange look crosses his features, one I’ve seen on Regan’s face before, one I’ve also seen on Zeke’s when he hunted me through the forest.

Desire but also the challenge of a chase. I barely moved, but my initial need to get off him and the fierceness with which my hands slammed against his chest seemed to set something off within him. So many emotions flit across his face while I remain frozen. It would be easy to defend myself now that I have magic, have true power, yet I don’t want to hurt him, especially when I can see he is so desperately trying to hold on to the control he has not to hurt me.

“I’m not running, Zeke.” He glances up at me. “I know, but knee-jerk reaction,” he tells me, and I chew my lip. “Does it not affect you?” he asks, and my eyes meet his. His flicker sinisterly. But I’m a little lost at his words.

“Feel what?” I ask. The desire to inflict pain on another?

“The curse?” he tells me, and my brows pinch in confusion. He lets out a breath. “Of course you don’t,”

he murmurs, looking away. I test his grip, wriggling my hips to see if I can lift them.

“You can’t do that,” he whispers, so I remain seated on him. My teeth chatter from the freezing water. “

Can I turn the heat on, at least?” I tell him.

“He turns his head up, looking up, then at me. He tilts his head to the side. “I’m surprised you haven’t used your powers on me,” he tells me. My teeth chatter again, the icy water seeming to grow colder by the second. I lift my hand, reaching for the tap. He watches me as I lean forward. When I hear him growl, I quickly twist the heat on more, only to feel one hand move up my side and caress my ribs before his thumb brushes over my hardened nipple.

“I don’t want to hurt you, Zeke.”

“You’d be well within your right, too,” he answers, his voice sounding off, almost trancelike. Leaning back, my back hits his bent knees. Yet his hand lingers and then moves to my chest, eyes following his hand as it moves lower, between my breast, tracing the runes.

“Did Regan tell you about the women before you?” he asks.

“How did you all kill them by accident?” Zeke’s eyes dart to mine, but he nods.

“Then yes, he did,” I answer him.

“So you know why they didn’t last long?” I nod my head.

“Regan killed them out of anger. He couldn’t control it,” I answer.

“Yes, and you know my sins.” I nod again.

“We can’t control what triggers it, much like I can’t control the bond to you now that I feel it,” he answers, and I struggle to see his point.

“Regan controlled it, but it was all a facade,” I answer sadly.

“No, it wasn’t. Regan.... could only control himself with you because you didn’t fear him. You pulled a side out of him that he couldn’t control, yet around you, he felt in control of it. Regan is all about control, walking that thin line between control and losing it. But it’s the same with Lyon, greed, and pride. Like the night he walked out. He knew his greed would get the better of him if he stayed. He doesn’t like sharing, but he has forced himself to in every aspect of his life and kingdom. Yet for you, he walked away. He could have shared you, but he’d rather not push you despite you being made for him because he wants to earn his place with you.”

“But you didn’t,” Zeke nods slowly, his fingers tracing the next ruin. “You challenge me. It makes me want you more, you ignore me, it makes me crave your attention, push me away, and it draws me nearer. In a sense, they both mastered something from their curse, but I never did.”

“I would hardly call what Regan has done, mastering his sin, more like he embraced it.” Zeke shakes his head. “Did he, though?” I chew my lip.

“You saving them doesn’t make up for what he planned on doing to them?”

“Regan has never once been to my kingdom, Zirah.”

“So?”

“Because he knew what he’d find. He oversees the kingdoms. Do you truly think a man, burdened with Wrath and Lust, yet harboring such control and compulsions, didn’t notice my kingdom growing every month while his kingdom shrank? That my supplies went up every month?”

“You believe he knew you were taking them?”

“Yes. But as long as he never checked, he could pretend he punished them, pretend I wasn’t taking them. Seeing is believing in him. That’s why he never comes to my kingdom; he knows if he finds his people there, his Wrath will overrule him, and his need for control will kick in. So he simply didn’t check;

he turned a blind eye to my kingdom.”