Chapter 46: Chapter 46

Regan also looks at the rules and once again glares at Lyon, who stares blankly at the wall. Regan snarls, grabbing my wrist and all but dragging me out of the room. Gnash jogs beside us to keep up and the closer we get to the bedroom, the angrier Regan gets. His aura is like a beacon promising pain, and I gasp when he drags me into the bathroom before letting me go. Stumbling, I barely catch myself on the towel rack as he flings me into the bathroom.

I grit my teeth, starting to really get sick and tired of being flung around; I am about to tell him that as my temper rises only when I spin around to find his finger in my face and his eyes are pitch black; I hold my tongue. He growls at me before speaking, his tone of voice menacing.

“You don’t break any fucking rules with him tomorrow!” He warns me, and I feel his aura, and watch it darken to something sinister around him.

“Do you fucking hear me?” He screams at me. I blink at him, wondering why he’s yelling at me. It’s not like I want to go with Zeke.

“You break a single rule. He’ll use it as an excuse to fucking kill you,” Regan growls.

“Isn’t that what you want, anyway?” I spit at him and he stops. The King blinks at me, standing up, almost like he is confused by his own outburst.

“Right.” He shakes his head, turning the shower on.

“Just get in the shower with me. You’ll get wet anyway,” he says, though I can tell his mind is elsewhere. He almost looks puzzled. Confusion also overwhelms me, my head spinning at how fast his temper can change and so drastically. He motions for me to get in the shower.

“No,” I tell him, looking at it. He tenses looking at me then looking at the long sleeves of my dress. “I don’t care for any scars you have, you’ll get drenched,” Regan tells me, but I back away. I am not taking off this dress in front of him.

I glance at the bathtub. At least in there, I won’t have to get in with him. “Fine,” he switches the shower off and leans over to the taps to fill the tub. He grabs the plug, tosses it into the tub, and then starts removing his clothes. When he drops his pants and reaches for his boxers, my eyes widen and I quickly turn away.

“Can you put bubbles in it or something?” I ask, not wanting to see him naked.

“Have you never seen a naked man before?”

I purse my lips but see him lean forward beside me to grab the bottle of soap. “You haven’t, have you?”

“I’ve seen them in pictures,” I tell him.

“What about the night Malachi found you? Surely you saw one of them naked?”

“It was dark, and he knocked me out before he shifted back. He was wearing clothes when I saw him.

I’ve seen women naked, Granny never cared for nudity and I’ve seen ass and–.” I stop knowing how stupid that sounds, that I’m 19 and never seen a fully naked man in the flesh.

“Seen what?” Regan chuckles and I groan. Why did I say that?

Peeking over my shoulder, he reaches forward, shutting the water off, and I see the surface of the water is covered in bubbles.

“I’m covered, happy?” I chew the inside of my lip and nod. “So you saw ass and what?” He laughs. My face heats.

“Balls!” I rub my face, feeling the heat of my embarrassment paint my cheeks red.

“Nothing to be ashamed of. I know you’re a virgin and humans aren’t as comfortable with nudity as shifters are.” Regan states leaning back in the bath. The water covers most of his chest but not all of it.

“Just wet your hands in case Zeke intends to come to check. I’m capable of washing myself,” he tells me.

I sit on the edge of the bath and wet my hands, coating them in bubbles. “Here, hold this,” he says, offering me a washcloth. I take the wet cloth and hold it, then turn my attention to the door.

“Don’t stress about Lyon. He is a prick around Zeke, but usually, he’s harmless. He’s trying not to get on Zeke’s bad side,” Regan tells me and I look at him.

“What do you mean?”

“He gave you his wolf last night, didn’t he?” I look away.

“Lyon usually does what Zeke wants. It’s easier that way. Zeke can be difficult to deal with, especially for Lyon.”

“So, he’s just going along with what Zeke wants?” I ask him and Regans shrugs.

“Kind of, he has another agenda, he’s looking for information he needs from Zeke, he has no interest in marrying, but at the same time, both Lyon and I have the same agenda which is to keep our thrones, and make sure Zeke doesn’t get near the ruling kingdom’s throne.”

“So you and Lyon are working together to make sure he doesn’t become the ruling King?”

“No, by birthright, the throne should be mine or it’s supposed to be. Only my father decided I’m no longer suited for it and Lyon and I believe he has another agenda.”

“Why?”

“Because — it doesn’t matter, but Lyon, I get along mostly, but even he wants the throne, so we’ll work together to ensure Zeke doesn’t take it until I can break the blood ties and kill him, after that all bets are off.” I ponder his words for a second.

“Tomorrow you’re with Zeke. Behave and do as he says.”

“If he kills me, won’t that solve all your problems?” I ask him, confused.

“Yes, no. I don’t know…” he stops for a second.

“It’s nothing personal. I just don’t want to marry. I know there is no point in a marriage, anyway.”

“What about your brothers?” I ask, and he growls, looking up to glare at me.

“Just like the fucking rest of them.” He snarls.

“Wait, that is not what I meant! I was curious if they were cursed the same as you?” I ask him, and he watches me for a second before gripping my face and jerking me closer. My hand falls into the water, drenching the sleeve of my dress and splashing water all over me. My hand lands on his thigh when I feel his aura rush out and hit me. It steals my breath and my entire body tenses.

“Are you using me to get to my brothers?” He snarls, and every muscle in my body tenses more.

“No!” I blurt with no restraint.

“Do you want to be with them?” He demands.

“No, I don’t want any of you!” I snap at him and his eyes soften. His aura drops and I suck in a breath when he lets me go.

“Sorry,” he murmurs, looking at the tiled wall. I sit up, reaching for a towel to dry the sleeve of my dress, yet as I rub it, the more my arm burns. Cursing I stand, giving him my back to see what the burning sensation is to find another of my runes losing its color and is fading into a typical scar. I quickly pull it down, knowing I have to come up with something soon.

“As if I could ever want any of you when you do nothing but fucking hurt me! What the fuck is wrong with you?” I snap at him. He doesn’t answer and I turn back and find him watching me.

“How many women have used you to get to your brothers for you to be so damn insecure, especially about a woman you fucking hate, yet got butt hurt when I asked a damn question?” I yell at him as I drop back onto the edge of the bath.

“All of them,” he answers, making me look at him.

“All of them?”

“Yes, even before I was cursed. Only now the blood tie with my brothers makes it worse.”

“The blood tie, is that from the curse?” He looks away.

“No, from when she saved Zeke’s life,” Regan mutters. “Now I question if I should have let him die,if I had we wouldn’t be in this mess” he murmurs.

“Who is she?” I ask, becoming more confused.

“Litha..” my mind is reeling. Is that the same woman, Malachi, and Regan were talking about that was burned at the stake? Why would they kill her if she saved one of them?

“I don’t understand. Who is Litha?” I ask him and he looks up at me.

“She was a witch.” he speaks the words as if it's some haunting memory he wishes to forget.

My brows pinch in confusion. “But you hate witches.”

“I do now. I didn’t back then.”

“You hate witches even though Zeke was saved by one?”

“She didn’t do it to save him, she didn’t just tie me to my brothers, she knew by tying me to them I would never let harm come to them. Even if it made them hate me, even if it meant sacrificing my own desires, she made sure I would always choose them.”

I was becoming more confused by the second.

I open my mouth to ask another question but stop, not knowing what to ask exactly. Regan sighs.

“The witch that was killed wasn’t just a witch, she was changed into a Lycan. She was mates with the Lycan, King Edgar.”

“And who is he?”

“He was my father’s rival. He’s dead now. This Kingdom used to be his until ours overrun it before we became the ruling Kingdom.”

“So this place wasn’t yours first?” Regan shakes his head.

“No, King Edgar was a dictator to his people. Cruel, unjust and he did unfathomable things, stealing Litha was one of them. Yet in the end the mate bond prevailed, it ruled over her and eventually him.

Litha forgave him, she even loved him. She changed him, turned the Kingdom around but by that time, it was too late. The damage was done and he would die for his crimes, he made far too many enemies.” Regan tells me.

“That’s how the curse started?” I ask and Regan nods. I go to open my mouth to ask another when Regan tilts his head to the side trapping me in his lethal gaze.

“Why do you care?” He asks.

“Probably for the same reason you’re telling me, Regan,”

“Why am I telling you this?” He mutters to himself, a form creasing between his eyes.

“No idea, maybe the same reason I want to know because I’m as baffled as you, but it’s better than not talking right now, or I could awkwardly watch you wash in silence if you prefer?” I offer, and he chuckles.

“So your father’s rival?”

Regan grabs the soap. “Yes, he killed my great grandfather first. We turned a blind eye to it. But then my grandfather, it started long before Litha, but ended with her. That’s what started the war between them. Then when our Kingdom went to war we discovered his mate, Litha, was expecting a little girl.

This fight had been brewing for more than a century, but the curse started almost 20 years ago, when he supposedly killed my grandfather, that was when the war broke out.” My face scrunches up as I think hard about what granny has told me over the years of the great war, she always spoke like it was something that happened before her time, not something she was around for.

“So not that long ago?”

“In human years it may seem like a long time ago, time is irrelevant though when you’re immortal.”

Regan shrugs.

“How old are you?” I ask him, curiously. He chuckles and rests his head back and stares at the ceiling.

“Old, too old but not old by Lycan standards.”

“So 100?” he smirks and raises an eyebrow at me.

“200?” I ask.

“I’m 111, Zeke and Lyon are 107.” he tells me and I try to ponder what it would be like to live that long, honestly it sounds rather daunting.

“You don’t look that old,” I tell him and he chuckles.

“We stop aging in our late twenties to early thirties, physically aging I stopped at 28, Zeke he stopped aging at 26, Lyon 27 which physically makes him older than Zeke despite Zeke being 12 hours older than Lyon.” he shrugs.

“Wait, so they're twins?”

“Technically yes, but born on two separate days, 12 hours apart.” That is so confusing, I think to myself.

“I can see you trying to make sense of that, don’t, you’ll only serve to give yourself a headache.” he laughs.

“So Litha and the curse?” he nods once and adverts his gaze.

“Zeke and I were the ones who found her. We found her trying to escape through the underground tunnels.”

“You killed her?”

“No, we couldn’t do it. When we found her she was clutching a wall screaming, she was in labor…. I couldn’t do it, and neither could Zeke. So we tried to help her, Zeke delivered her daughter. But my father ordered us to bring her to him, but after that we didn’t want to, so we were going to set them free, help her escape. However, guards stormed the tunnels where she was. I tried to stop them when one shot me. I had stepped in front of her and her baby. The guard who shot me panicked and fired more shots. Zeke tackled him and took them. Zeke was hit four times in the chest. He lay there dying when a woman came rushing into the tunnels with a bucket of water and towels. I thought she was Litha’s servant at first because she was human.”

“Who was she?” I ask.

“Her sister…..I begged her to help Zeke, but she refused when Litha spoke.” He shakes his head and glares at the wall.

“What did she say?” I whisper, and he looks at me.

“She said she would save him if I let her leave with the woman and her baby,” he says.

“Then how did she die?” I ask and he clenches his jaw and looks away from me when it suddenly occurs to me.

“You didn’t let her leave, did you? You let her save him, but then let them die?” King Regan swallows.

“As I said earlier, I am the monster they claim I am. It was never my intention to kill her, we wanted to set them free but I knew we would be found soon, and if she didn’t save him, he would die. I was already walking on thin ice with my father so once they found out where we were, I had no choice but to hand all three of them over. A month later Litha was burned alive at the stake.”

“And the baby and woman?” I ask, but he says nothing. His jaw clenches and that is enough of an answer. Disappointment fills me and I look away, dropping the washcloth into the bathtub.

“He’s my brother, Zirah. They would have been killed anyway.”

“You made a deal with a witch and broke it. What did you expect to happen?” I shake my head, appalled that he would try to save her and then use her and betray her for someone like Zeke.

“Wait, Zirah?” I shake my head, not wanting to hear pathetic excuses for killing someone he made a promise to. I move to leave when the door opens and I stop in my tracks when in walks Zeke.