Bullied Mate Of The Lycan Kings
Chapter 69

Lily's POV

He was a vision in the black and silver of the academy uniform, his curtain of charcoal dark hair falling over his avenging angel-esque profile. He was leaning into my locker, with those gloved hands of his carefully pressed on the printed pictures. His eyes shut, his nose close to the pictures as he sniffed, searching for a scent.

A bloodhound on the hunt.

Rhea and Chelsea were in their own little world and I was the first person to see him, to see the range of emotions that crossed his face. Horror, confusion, rage and finally the cold hard need for vengeance. It could have all been a lie actually.

Zac wore deceptive masks as easily as he wore those avant garde necklaces around his neck. The first few seconds I met him, he was charming, suave, smooth, ready to sweep me off my feet. The second he met my eyes, however, all of his charm fell off like molten Since then, I couldn't separate Zac's real face from those he has carefully thought out to fit a situation.

wax.

Ren told me that because he was part strigoi, he couldn't feel the way we do. He's apathetic, immoral, has no sense of emotional or mental pain like sadness, guilt or fear. He's only loyal to those he loved before he got turned, everyone else could go to blazes. Every emotion he tried to portray to make himself appear more human was simply an illusion.

Yet... something told me the horrified and vengeful look on his face was not one of his masks. I didn't understand it, this gut feeling. I'm not exactly a good judge of character, but I chose to trust it. Just this once. Maybe because I was desperate to believe him. To believe that he was on my side. Maybe because even though he was the one that was part bloodthirsty monster, he terrified me a lot less than Aiden. And I could do with one less mad man out to get me.

The posters had obviously been hung back up again because I remembered Rhea and Chelsea trying to take them down after I saw it and had a panic attack over it. Perhaps they were not successful with the mob standing there and trying to make videos of my reaction.

And then as if he could feel the prickling sensation that he was being watched, he turned to the left, eyes of pitch black that reminded me of what an abyss might feel like looking back at me and immense fear suddenly coursed through my body as I took an involuntary step back. The action finally caused Rhea and Chelsea to notice him.

The moment Rhea and Chelsea noticed Zac, they did not waste time walking to stand in front of me, trying to shield me from him and when Zac took a step forward with a menacing growl, Rhea snarled at him in a way that I had never heard before, a way that reminded me that while she was a princess, she was also a werewolf, with a raging beast living under her skin.

"What do you think I'm going to do, knife her?" Zac asked, shoving his hands in his pants pockets and tilting his head, and from where I stood, I knew for sure that Chelsea was rolling her eyes at that question but it was Rhea that answered first. "Look back at that locker, Zac. Look and tell me that we are overreacting." She said in a tone so cold, even Zac's eyes narrowed in surprise at the tone because I was certain that no one has ever heard Rhea, sweet Rhea sound like that. Chelsea folded her arms in a threatening manner and took one step forward.

"You have a lot of nerve acting like you don't know what is going on here right now, Zac. There is so much evidence that points to the fact that you are behind this whole thing and there you are, having the audacity to look shocked and confused." "That's because I am shocked and confused." He snapped at Chelsea and when Chelsea growled, Rhea held her hand, gently pulling her back from closing the distance between herself and Zac and causing drama.

"You're just putting on an act right now because it's easier than facing the reality that you are a despicable person. The evidence of your work is staring right at us." Chelsea answered, her voice dripping with venom.

"Oh for f**k sake." Zac growled and closed the distance between himself and the three of us until he was standing in front of us. In front of me.

I avoided his gaze.

Close... he was so close, I could practically taste his scent of blood orange and amberketal. I felt like a tiny insect under a microscopic lens. My cheeks felt hot and splotchy, my stomach was twisting with summersaults. I didn't know why my body was having this reaction to him just standing so close to me.

I didn't like it.

"Look at me, duchess. See if I'm lying or not."

I looked up at him, hardening my gaze, already knowing his next words before they were out of his mouth.

His gaze wouldn't leave mine, deep, dark, yawning, like an abyss, a black hole. There's no coming back out after you fall in.

"As unbelievable as it may sound, I didn't do this. Why would I? What do I stand to gain from jeopardizing my own life just to f**k with yours?" He said, looking directly at me and if I was not still sure that believing someone like Zac was like jumping into a sea of snakes, I would have believed him because he was truly sounding like he was telling the truth.

It seemed Rhea also thought he was not lying this time because she furrowed her eyebrows.

"You're sure?" She asked, her voice dropping a little.

Ignoring the way my heart skipped when his eyes left mine and softened with almost brotherly affection as he looked at her, I finally spoke. "Then, explain to yourself, Zachary!"

His gaze snapped back to me. "I have no idea how these got here, who took these pictures and who set them up."

"And I should believe you, why?"

His voice dropped to an intimate purr, "now why will I want to wreck my life just to f**k with yours, duchess?"

I took a step back, my hands suddenly clammy, my nerves suddenly jumpy. The deep look in his eyes, the calm bass of his voice, that damn nickname. He knew what he was doing. "You tell me," I said, trying to gather my wits.

"I am already living on borrowed time in Shadow cove thanks to the fact that my parents are high council members. Nobody is supposed to know what I am or the fact that someone like me could be living in Shadow cove."

Someone like him. A vampire.

When we didn't say anything, he continued, his voice dropping until it was almost inaudible and I knew then that he was really serious about the fact that no one was supposed to know what he was.

He had asked me not to tell anyone about what had happened so that was why it had made no sense to me that he was now turning around to do this.

"The rule is I can't feed on anyone here, at least anyone that could end up running their mouths to someone else. I'm careful, always have been, because I know the stakes. As long as I'm within the borders of Shadow cove, I can't be caught dead feeding on any of the locals, outcast or not."

His gaze met mine again, a faux calmness in then that hid the cold madness swirling beneath the surface. He oozed frigid intensity without even trying.

"The only people that know what I am, what I became after that incident are the council members. An incredibly small circle since there would be chaos if it was revealed that the son of one of the founding families is a..." He trailed off and let the word hang in the air, tilting his head a little so that most of his charcoal black hair flopped against the left side of his face.

I was sure we all got the point he was trying to make and what he didn't dare say.

"So, with what you have said now, you are not behind this and it's not in your best interest to do something like this because the council will be mad if they find out," Chelsea said and when Zac nodded, she cursed, "well isn't this f*****g fantastic?" Rhea sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "Your heart didn't waver once. Which means you're either a very good liar or you're telling us the truth. For old times sake, I'm going to believe the second." Rhea answered and Zac nodded, eyes on me. This time, I didn't look away, welcoming that dark, deceptively warm gaze on my body even though I could feel goosebumps sprout on my skin.

"Whoever is f*****g with Lily is probably out to get me too. They're messing with a Talaverra and now I'm making it f*****g personal."

My heart seized in fear as I thought about what this could mean. If it was not the work of the boys, then it meant that there was someone else out there that was trying to harm me, and while that was a no-brainer being the resident outcast, I was scared that it was somebody I probably didn't even know.

An unknown enemy, hiding in the shadows, documenting my every move. My mind flashed back to my vandalized room. None of the boys had stepped forward to take credit for it, which was very unlike Aiden who liked to rub his achievements in the face of others and if Zac was telling the truth, it was also not him.

Infact besides a few mean words, Zac feeding on me at that party and the blackmail blowjob with Aiden, they had pretty much left me alone. I had been certain that they were going to be my biggest problems in this school and if they're not... that there was a bigger threat out there to get me.

The fear must have been written in capital letters on my face because Zac's eyes softened as he stared at me.

"I already have people coming to clean up this mess so you don't have to worry. I'll look into it."

"Thank you, Lily's hero." Chelsea said dryly and Rhea nudged her.

He chuckled darkly. "Not a hero, Chels. I'm a villain, through and through. And when I find who did this, they're going to wish I was some cape wearing vigilante because mercy and morals are going to be the last things on my mind." The glint in his eyes. The blood thirst practically dripping from his tongue. He liked this, the dark excitement, the chase, a reason to spill blood.

Something in me purred at the realization. I should be terrified, telling him not to hurt anyone on my account. That's Lily, that's me, so who is this person that wanted the blood of her enemies poured out to her in a silver goblet?

"Sit tight, duchess, and don't worry your pretty little mind over this. I haven't had a proper chase in months, so this is going to be fun."

"You don't have to-"

"To what? Wipe the bastard trying to expose me off the face of the earth?" He scoffed. "Regardless of what you think, I'm not doing this for you. So you can sleep easy at night. I'm only getting involved because I got roped into this without my f*****g consent." Of course.

To Rhea, he said, "take her to class, make sure she's not alone and do not let her out of your sight. I've got a weasel to flay."

With that, he turned, his school coat billowing behind him like a cape of darkness.