Bullied Mate Of The Lycan Kings
Chapter 98

Aiden's

POV

The first thought that came to my mind as I dropped the call with Ren and kept speeding into the woods was how foolish I had been these past few months.

Fate had a twisted way of teaching lessons because why did my mate turn out to be the daughter of my parents' murderer.

Every night before I slept, I tried to remind myself that I was too young back then, that there was no way I could have saved them. That there was no way I could have prevented their deaths. I was just a child.

Now, I wished that I had reminded myself when I first saw Lily Beauregard that she was just a child back then. That blaming her for what her father had done was the most foolish thing I could have ever done in my entire life.

And now, just when I had found out that Lily was my mate and wanted to spend the rest of my life atoning for what I had done to her, I was about to lose her. Mauve...

I ground my teeth in rage.

Mauve was going to pay for this. They were all going to pay for trying to take her away from me.

Slamming the door hard as I jumped down from my car, I didn't let the negative thoughts in my head overwhelm me. I was going to find her alive. There was no other option.

The forbidden forest was designed in a way that it kept the ferals inside, bordered by enough spells that once a feral wolf was banished into these thick woods, they would never be able to come out of it but there was nothing that barred the humans from going in and out, because unless one wanted to die a gruesome painful death, they never ventured into these parts.

Hunting ferals was a sport I carried out behind my uncle's back. I couldn't take my revenge on Edgar, so his minions will have to pay for his crimes.

Little did I know that my little pastime would help me in this manner.

I inhaled slowly, letting the darkness cradle my bones as I felt my powers awaken in me. The shadows crawled out of me, melting into terrifying beast forms.

They were more than I'd ever see them appear at a time, the darkness of the forest, giving them life. I've never seen them so feral, so restless and hard to control.

Find her, I commanded them. Find her for me!

They didn't need to be told twice.

Cerberus, Azazel, Rahab, Erebus, Orion and the rest of my creatures, they took to their heels, faster than I've ever seen them go and as soon as they caught her scent, pinpointing her exact location, my response was almost instantaneous.

Bones breaking almost immediately like it had a hundred times before, each transformation less painful than the last, I changed from man into beast.

Transforming into my Lycan form was almost as easy as breathing and I took off immediately, ploughing down trees and branches in my pursuit for my mate, following the path the creatures had taken and at the sound of her cry of pain, my heart twisted in fear and agony.

No.

Stop them! I commanded them. Protect her!

The farther my beasts ran from me, the less I had a hold of them, the more they showed me that they could act without my commands.

It's good we were on the same page.

The last thing I needed to be in a den filled with vile creatures like the feral wolves who had lost all sense of rational judgment and were just pure beast was to be unfocused.

She was surrounded by what looked like the entire pack of ferals that existed in the forest and more of my creatures melted out of me to join the fight.

Not enough, I realized as I tore through the throng of beasts, my claws cutting through fur and muscle and connective tissue. I've never felt such fear at the realization. My creatures were not enough.

Covered in bruises, Lily had her back to a very large tree, her face and body covered in bruises and there was a nasty bite mark on her ankle where she was bleeding profusely.

She looked like she was going to pass out at any moment but she somehow still kept standing, waving the stick in front of her to defend herself from the ferals and if we were not in such dire circumstances, I might have beamed with pride.

She had been through so much in her life and somehow, she had not given up.

"Stand back!" She screamed at the creatures, swinging her stick in a threatening way even though her hands shook with fear and sweat pooled on her forehead.

I was too late. One of the ferals lunged at her and bit into her arm that held the stick, holding on to her as he shook her like a Rag doll.

Rage snapped something in me.

With a roar that shook the entire forest, I allowed Nyx to take control for the first time in a long time, to get the revenge that we were both in agreement was his to take and I felt him grab me and push me into the recesses of my consciousness as he took control of me, spreading to his full height and reveling in his true potential before he sprung into action, mauling the wolves to bite sized chumps, relishing the taste of their blood and gut and their screams of pain as he tore them to pieces.

By the time he was done, not one feral wolf was left standing and there was blood everywhere, none of them mine.

In a burst of energy, I returned back to my human form, my growls and snarls, giving way to breathless pants.

I was naked from my waist up, clad only in a pair of sweatpants I had been wearing before my transformation and Lily's eyes widened in surprise when she realized that it was me. She'd be grateful. Relieved. I'm here, not Ren, not Zac. Me. Surely that should count in my favour-

"No! No no no!"

My stomach dropped.

The relief that I hoped to see in her eyes at my presence was absent and I had to remind myself that I had brought that upon myself. That I was responsible for how she was reacting.

Her legs gave out and she fell to the ground but she still managed to hold her stick up in a defensive position, tears streaming down her innocent soft face.

"Stay back. Don't come any closer. I can't believe you followed me here!" She screamed, crawling back on her arms as if she would somehow be able to flee from me and I hid the hurt that appeared at her rejection, squatting in front of her, my gaze softening in a way that I hoped communicated the fact that I was not here to hurt her. There was revulsion on her face. As if she was going to be sick.

"I wish I could, but now is not the time for that. We need to get you out of here." I whispered gently and cradled her to my chest, taking a deep inhale of her hair as I lifted her up and started my walk out of the woods.

She felt so light in my arms. So fragile and breakable and yet I knew she had the will of an ox. Perhaps that was what I had pretended that I hated about her when it was what made her the most intriguing to me.

Getting to where I parked my car, I kept her gently on the floor, realising that she was already having a fever as she started to mumble incoherent words and I quickly took account of all of her injuries.

She had a gash on her forehead, her body was covered in bruises that I realized could not have been from the ferals and my heart hardened knowing that a human had inflicted this on her before chasing her into these dangerous forest but what worried me the most was the big bite mark that had been left on her right forearm by a feral wolf.

One of the reasons why feral wolves were thrown into this forest was because their bite was fatal. No one had ever survived a bite from a feral wolf before and I held her even tighter, shaking my head as I tried to stop myself from spiraling into panic. Focus, Aiden. Think.

Ren should be here by now. Where the fuck is he?!

Hospital. I need to get her to the hospital.

I licked the wound on her forehead and was about to rise to my feet and place her in the back seat of my car when bright lights nearly blinded me, the sound of a car approaching.

Ren was the first to jump out, his eyes filled with terror as he ran towards us as he kept screaming her name.

"Lily! Lily!"

Lily sparked to life in my arms.

"Ren." She whispered with relief, right before passing out and even though I held her tight to my chest, even though I was the one that saved her, I feared that this changed nothing. I feared that no matter what I did, my mate would never forgive me and accept me into her life.