Mine At First Sight

▪️L E N N A▪️

“Begin!” Odun shouted, signalling the start of the challenge.

Hasso and I looked at each other, while the other humans eagerly cheered us on, shouting down from the platform.

My hands held my weapons firmly while I focused myself. I could hear Berengar’s words in the back of my mind, loud and clear, reminding me that it only required one effective hit to bring down an opponent.

He had also taught me how to anticipate an attack while using my lighter weight against a bigger opponent. As a result of this training, my reflexes were impressive, at least by human standards. I had been hit by Berengar many times, and since Hasso was human, I knew that even if he managed to strike at me, my body would be able to take the blow.

As Hasso charged towards me, I narrowed my eyes and waited, my feet grounding themselves. I could hear some people yelling at me, confused as to why I was not rushing forward as well.

Patience, I silently willed myself.

It was obvious that he was aiming to overpower me, hoping to disrupt my balance as he swung his sword down onto my shield. Without missing a beat, he quickly followed through with another swing that he no doubt hoped would strike my body.

It was more of a gaudy technique, one that would work against a less skilled opponent.

The problem with that, however, was that I was not an amateur. I had been training for years. With a werewolf, and not just any ordinary werewolf.

A Vizra’s son at that!

Hasso roared as he brought his sword down and I braced for the impact. The sound of his weapon hitting my shield rang in my ears. Concurrently, my right hand struck out of the side of my shield, purposefully striking the upper left side of his torso, cutting the skin.

I watched his red blood stain my blade.

Had this been a real battle, my sword would have gone through his heart instead.

The atmosphere suddenly got very quiet as everyone seemingly stood in shock at what they had just witnessed. Everything had happened so fast and as I straightened my posture, I wondered if I should have prolonged things, but I figured that I would rather make a statement than try to show off my moves.

My fellow humans would no longer see me as the entitled brat they thought me to be.

With the challenge clearly over, Hasso’s rounded eyes held a hint of disbelief as he looked at me. He then frowned while raising his arm to inspect the wound on his torso, and I watched as Beyza stormed towards us, her face red, ready to shout at him.

The female Lycan snarled as she looked at me, and in that moment, I could not help myself.

“I guess he really did need a shield after all,” I said civilly.

My statement was not out of arrogance, but just from simple observation. For had Hasso been allowed to use a shield, our fight would have lasted longer.

Beyza, of course, did not see things as deferentially.

She clearly saw my words as a sign of disrespect. Grabbing Hasso’s sword out of his hand, she then roared and rushed towards me, her eyes glowering, full of rage.

I knew that I would not stand a chance against her Lycan strength. Still, I held my ground. Raising my sword and shield to defend myself, I braced myself, bravely awaiting my demise.

Death, however, never came.

Edric was in front of me before I could even properly blink, protecting me from the oncoming attack.

The large fingers of his right hand wrapped tightly around Beyza’s wrist as she swung the sword in the air. As the Lycan King squeezed, she promptly dropped the weapon and shrieked in pain.

“It seems this time, it’s you who has forgotten their place!” Edric snarled down at her.

Beyza cried out, “My Lord! Did you not hear what she said to me? She mocked me!”

“Did she?” Edric asked, as he let her go, “Even if so, she is mine! You do not have the authority to punish her! If she offends you, come to me and I will deal with it!”

“Yes, Your Majesty,” she whimpered, falling to her knees while bowing her head.

Turning to address the crowd, his voice rose, “Is that clear? To harm Lenna is to go against me, your King! If you have an issue concerning her, you come to me! Is that understood?”

Everyone dropped to their knees and bowed their heads, Lycans and humans alike shouted unanimously, “Yes, Your Majesty!”

In that moment, Edric then faced me, his grey-green eyes locking with mine, “Come Lenna.”

My body shook at the raw power behind his words, afraid of the punishment that was to follow as I swiftly made my way to his side.

Edric led me back to the castle. The silence between us was unnerving.

“I’m sorry, Your Majesty, please don’t kill me!” I blurted out as I walked ahead of him and kneeled on the stone floor. I placed my hands on my thighs and bowed my head, “Please forgive me.”

Growling softly, Edric said my name, “Lenna, that is not how you beg for something.”

The tone in his voice forced me to look up at him, and I felt my heartbeat increase at the intensity with which he was staring back at me.

“Teach me…” I said, before I could stop the words from escaping.

I had no idea what possessed me to say such a thing. But I could tell that my words had greatly affected him from the way his pupils dilated as he flared his nostrils while looking down at me. It was then that I realised how sexual the exchange felt, and I found myself unable to look away from his penetrating gaze.

The next thing I knew, I was being pulled to my feet and pushed up against the nearest wall.

Leaning his face close to mine, my eyes were drawn to the scars on the left side of his face and I could not help but stare at him.

Even if I did not want to openly admit it, I could not deny that Edric was a beautiful man. The sound of his deep voice grabbed my attention, which I was thankful for, as I did not like where my train of thought was headed.

“Teach you what, Lenna? How to behave? Or perhaps I should teach you how to not rudely stare at a person’s deformities…” Edric’s words trailed off while he placed his left hand against the wall near the side of my head.

Pulling my gaze from his scars, our eyes locked as I apologised, then said, “I would not call them a deformity.”

“No? So, am I to assume that you were simply admiring them, while staring desirously at me?” Edric tone was slightly mocking, though his eyes were full of amusement.

Desirously?

The nerve of this man! I swear, the egos of men could be so maddening at times.

Unfortunately, he was right.

I had been ogling him. But in my defense, any woman with working eyes would, but I was not about to admit that to him.

As if!

Attempting to deny his presumption, “I was not… I just realised the error of my ways, forget what I said about teaching me, there’s no need. I will do better in the future. I’m still a bit flustered over everything that happened at the training grounds, I forgot myself, I am sorry, Your Majesty.”

Growling, his fingers moved and gripped my neck gently, “Even in submission, you still defy me…”

“What do you mean?” I asked, trying to ignore how my skin tingled at his touch.

“Are we not alone?” Edric questioned while his fingers seemed to massage the column of my throat.

Realising that the hallways were indeed still void of any other presence, I said, “Yes, Edric.”

I listened to the way he heavily exhaled before quickly putting some distance between us as he began walking again. This time in faster strides, as though wanting to put as much space between us as possible.

Running behind him, we turned a few more corners before entering into an even larger corridor. There were no windows and it was dimly lit, with only two massive wooden doors at the end.

Shit!

Was this one of those punishment rooms that Suvarna had told me about? But then again, those were mostly used for pleasure in the end, something I was sure the Lycan King had no plans of administering.

The palms of my hands began to sweat as Edric opened one of the doors and gestured me through.

I squinted my eyes as I entered, the sudden bright light almost blinding me. I immediately grasped that we were on a large balcony. The cool breeze hit my face as my eyes widened at the sight before me.

As he closed the door behind him, I walked further onto the terrace, admiring the various plants and flowers that littered the space.

The area was quite large, with a medium-sized round stone table with stone seating. There were also parts of the terrace that were covered, more than likely to protect the more delicate plants and flowers. There were so many different types, and my eyes were unable to focus properly while I tried to take in all the beautiful colours.

I could not fathom why he would bring me here and, in my panic, I started to jabber, “Where are we? Are you locking me outside here? Is this my punishment? Am I going to–”

“Punishment?” Edric asked inquisitively, cutting me off.

Nodding, “For my comment to Beyza.”

He let out a soft laugh, “No, there will be no punishment. You made a fitting observation. Myself and the others also wondered why she didn’t let Hasso arm himself properly. I suppose it was because she underestimated you…” Edric briefly paused, “We all did.”

Fidgeting under his gaze, I walked to the wide stone railing and looked down at the lake.

“I brought you here because I remembered that you said you missed being around nature. I figured that, on some days, you and Drengr or Klaus could bring the books up here and read. No one has used this space in years, and you are always complaining about being locked up. I thought that this environment would help with your concentration,” he said, while walking towards me.

A smile formed on my lip, acknowledging the sweetness of his gesture.

I could feel him standing behind me now and my body tensed at his nearness. All it would take was one small backward step and I would be pressed up against him.

Happy that he could not see my face, I silently scolded myself to get a grip. I did not like that I was attracted to him, and I blamed the feelings on my hormones, wanting the sensation to pass quickly.

“You surprised me, by the way,” he confessed, pulling me from my thoughts.

“What do you mean?” I asked, hating the sudden huskiness in my voice.

Slowly turning me around to face him, Edric then placed his hands on either side of me, trapping me between the railing and his hard, naked torso. With him being so close, I found myself struggling to focus.

“The way you bravely accepted her challenge,” his eyes searched mine as he continued, “that was very… Lycan of you.”

I pressed my fists against my thighs to stop myself from placing my hands on his chest like I had in the library some weeks ago, wanting to create some distance between us.

“Contrary to your beliefs, not all humans are bad,” I stated with a small smile as I held his stare.

Huffing, he replied, “So it would seem. But I must admit, your display of skills today was rather impressive. It appears that your werewolf was not completely useless after all.”

My brows slowly creased at the mention of Berengar, “I told you he was a good teacher. At least now you can accurately boast that you have the best human in the Lycan region.”

“But anything that belongs to the King is automatically the best,” he countered.

Shaking my head, I argued, “Not really. Sure, I possess magical abilities, but I have no idea how to use my powers. Many of the humans feel that I only get special treatment because of my eyes.”

“Do the other humans not like you?” Edric asked, seeming confused by my words.

I could not help the snort that escaped me, “What do you think? The King has never had a human slave before, then all of a sudden, this purple-eyed healer shows up.”

He remained silent as I rambled on.

“Not to mention that I haven’t been assigned any chores! I wear my own clothes and I have my own private chambers. So no, Edric, I’m not very well liked, especially among the females. Though I do understand their resentment…”

“I’ll deal with it,” he grated with a soft growl.

“Deal with what exactly?” I asked, taken aback by his sudden irritation.

“The other slaves. I will make sure that they respect you. As to disrespect you, is to disrespect me!”

Feeling the sudden need to want to ease his agitation, I placed my hands on his forearms, “I beg you, please, don’t do that.”

“Why not?”

I gulped at the way his eyes glanced at my hands before returning to my face.

“Because it would make me look weak. It would be like I ran to the teacher and complained that the other children did not want to play with me. If I’m to get the respect of the other humans, it would have to be because they want to, not because they were forced to. Please honour me on this…” I implored, before moving my hands back to my side.

Making a clicking sound with his mouth, “Fine! Although, I think that after today, the other humans will indeed be more receptive towards you. I mean, you did beat Hasso all.”

“Beyza’s going to kill me the minute she catches me alone…” I muttered with a frown.

Moving his fingers to gently stroke the skin of my neck, his tone was firm as he spoke, “She would never dare do such a thing! And even if some dark spirit possessed her and she tried to sneak into your room, she will not get near you.”

“Oh yes, I forgot that you have guards in the hallway, to keep me from sneaking out at night,” I sourly mentioned, though glad for the change in topic.

“No, it is customary to have guards monitor the halls of the upper levels, especially where the sleeping chambers are,” he said with a raised eyebrow. As he released my chin, he stated, “What I was going to say was that she will not get near you, as I will be moving your chambers next to mine.”

Wait, what?

I blinked at him, allowing his words to sink in before I found my voice, “What do you mean, move in next to you?”

“Well, with your recent convulsion attack, I figured that it might be safer for you if you were closer to me. This way I would be able to react faster…” Edric said before pausing briefly, “Although, with the mention of you sneaking out, I’m not sure if it would be wise to have you sleeping on the same floor with Eginhard.”

Becoming distracted by his comment, “Huh? What does that mean?”

“As in, with you sleeping on the upper levels with myself and my brothers. It would be easy for you to sneak into Eginhard’s chambers.”

“W-what? Why would I want to do something like that?”

“To have sex,” Edric replied with a straight face.

“What kind of female do you take me for?” I asked, a sudden anger slowly crept to the surface.

“To be fair, you did ask your werewolf best friend to take your virginity because you were curious about sex. Then you proceeded to have a secret sexual affair with him for over two years. I know that you and Eginhard are becoming close, so it’s only natural of me to assume that maybe you might be curious about having sex with a Lycan.”

His words did not seem like they were said with intent to offend, as he calmly continued to look at me.

Pursing my lips, I took my time as I replied, “I was not with Berengar because he was a werewolf. Yes, I was curious about sex, but like I told you during the carriage ride, I felt safe with him and it helped that I found him attractive.”

“Well, you are attracted to my brother, not so?”

I noticed that a muscle in his jaw was ticking, as though he were grinding his teeth.

“Not in that way, no,” I responded, with a slight frown.

“Good!” Edric said, seeming relieved.

Scowling up at him, “What do you mean good?”

“You should be focused on your training, Lenna, you have no time to fuck around,” he stated matter-of-factly.

“Are you being serious right now?” I could not believe the audacity of his words.

With a glower, he replied, “Yes. After today’s display of strength, you will no doubt have almost every non-committed human and Lycan male pining after you. I really don’t need you getting distracted, we have a war to prepare for.”

Narrowing my eyes, I tried to keep my temper from exploding, “I know that I’m your slave, but what I do with my body in my free time is my business!”

“I am your King!” Edric said, while bringing his hands closer, so that they were now touching my waist, “I can demand of you whatever I see fit.”

Before I could even react, I felt him lifting me into the air and onto the bannister. Instantly panicking, I screeched and immediately wrapped my arms around his neck and my legs clamped the outside of his hips.

“Wait! Please don’t throw me off the balcony!” I buried my face in his chest as I held on to him.

I felt Edric stiffen before his hands tightened around me.

“Calm yourself Lenna, I have no intention to throw you anywhere. My neck was beginning to ache from looking down at you, so I wanted to elevate you,” he said, a hint of frustration in his voice.

There was no way I could relax, knowing that with one push, I would fall to my death.

I wanted to release my hold of him, not liking how intimate the embrace was, but I was just too afraid.

Edric’s body was so hard, and the short hairs on his chest tickled the skin of my face as I continued to lean myself into him, enjoying the feel of him. My body trembled further as I felt him pull me even closer. Whether it was intentional or not, who knew.

All I knew in this moment, was that I had spent the last two weeks trying to ignore how alluring and sexy the Lycan King was. But being pressed against him like this, it was hard to disregard. Especially the way our pelvises were so close together.

Very hard to ignore indeed.

Get a grip, Lenna! I scolded myself, willing my body not to get turned on.

“I apologize for grabbing you like this,” clearing my throat, I leaned my face away so that I could look up at him.

“You know, it is dangerous to hold on to a man in such a way,” he said in a low tone.

“In my defense, you are holding on to me as well,” I retorted, feeling his hands tighten on my hips.

Edric did not reply.

He simply kept staring into my eyes, while making no move to release me. The way his fingers kept flexing against my hips, and how his nostrils kept flaring, I could not help but contemplate what was going through his mind.

Wanting to break the tension, I asked, “Can I touch your beard?”

He blinked rapidly, as though to refocus himself, “What? Why?”

“Well, seeing as we’re in such a position, and I was always curious about it, I felt like now was as good as any time to ask,” I said truthfully.

Grumbling, “Go ahead, but do not pull on it.”

“Now why would I want to do such a thing? I’m not Eckart,” I chuckled softly, while moving my hands to gently cup his face.

“You do act childish sometimes though,” Edric opposed, his eyes boring into mine.

Pouting, I resisted the urge to tug on his beard just to be spiteful. Instead, I gently ran my fingers through the strands, and watched as the green flecks in his grey eyes seemed to glow.

“It feels softer than it looks,” I remarked thoughtfully.

“What were you expecting it to feel like?”

His hands then moved from my hips to my dark curly hair just as I was about to answer him, and I found myself getting distracted by his touch.

In no time, he undid my braid, then combed his fingers through my thick tresses.

Sighing, I leaned into his touch, forgetting the question that he had asked as I voiced my own, “Why do you always take my hair out?”

“I like seeing it down.”

Slightly surprised by his answer, I simply nodded then turned my head slightly, noticing that the sun would be setting in a few minutes.

“Dinner will be served soon, we should go,” I said while removing my hands from his face to cross them over my chest, to prevent myself from touching any other part of him.

“Yes, we should go,” he agreed, as his hands moved to my knees and gently began to spread them.

I was about to protest and ask what he was doing, when I realised that he was just making space to remove himself. My blush deepened as I had not noticed that my legs were locked on to him so tightly.

“Strong grip you have there,” Edric said, before his fingers trailed off of me.

Feeling like there was some sort of double meaning to his words, I quickly glanced over my shoulders, thinking that maybe jumping to my death may not have been so bad.

Clearing my throat, I thanked him for showing me the garden, knowing that I would definitely be spending some time among the flowers, getting lost in a good book. It was such a beautiful space and I looked forward to using it.

Edric then showed me to my new room; it was much larger and more grandiose.

This section of the castle was usually reserved for those of the royal family. I could not help but feel a bit weird to be sleeping in a room right next to the King.

Usually, that was reserved for the Queen, and I was no Lycan Queen, far from it.

As though sensing my slight discomfort, he stood by my door and smirked, “Think of it this way, if I need a sandwich during the night, you’re merely a door away.”

My left eyebrow raised.

Wait, did he just try to make a joke?

Shaking the thought, I asked before he turned to leave, “Oh, Edric.”

“Yes Lenna?”

“Erm, I wanted to ask earlier, did Berengar send anything for me? I got replies from my parents and Dakini, but nothing from him as yet,” my fingers fiddled with the hem of my shirt.

With a chuckle, he said, “Oh yes! He did, thanks for reminding me, I have been meaning to give it to you, but kept forgetting due to all the things that have been going on. I will bring it for you after dinner.”

I let out a sigh of relief, happy to know that my best friend had not forgotten about me, but as Edric’s words fully registered, I gave pause.

“Wait, you forgot? How long have you had this letter?” I asked with a puckered brow.

“About a week,” he answered frankly.

My eyes widened, but before I could fire back a reply, he had already closed the door behind him.

This blasted man! I silently seethed.

“Ugh!” I grunted then stormed off to inspect my new bathroom.