All Chapters of Bound To The Cursed Lycan : Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

THEODOSA.Ten years.I drew back from the bars, the weight of those two words crushing down on me like a boulder.Ten years locked in this cell? Ten possible years waiting for a king who believed I was his twice-over betrayer. Ten years hoping he'd shift back into a man who wanted me dead anyway?What the fuck?It wasn't just a prison sentence. It was a slow, cold death.The woman turned toward the heavy wooden door, her footsteps already carrying her away.Panic clawed up my throat."Wait!" The word tore out of me, desperate and raw.She stopped. I watched her shoulders tense, saw the reluctance in the way she held herself.When she turned back, her expression was guarded. Annoyed, even.I swallowed my pride. After everything I'd been through, pride was a luxury I couldn't afford."Please," I whispered, softer this time. My voice cracked. "Don't leave me here alone."For a split second—barely a heartbeat—something shifted in her face. The cold indifference melted just enough for me t

XAHEN.I opened the cell door and stepped inside.Every step toward her was torture.My muscles rippled beneath my skin, and it wasn't from exertion. It was awareness. Every single cell in my body knew it was drawing closer to every single cell of hers, and they were all screaming about it.The mate bond pulled between us like a rope stretched too tight.And then I felt it.That sharp prickle of awareness. The one I always got when my wolf was prowling just beneath the surface, waiting for a crack in my control to slip through.I tensed immediately, every muscle locking down, bracing myself to shove him back like I always did.But the feeling was... weak.Not even half as strong as it usually was. Not a quarter.That should have been a relief.It wasn't.I stood there, frozen and tense, slowly letting my eyes adjust to the darkness I'd created. She couldn't see me through the shadows, but I could see her perfectly.And fuck, I wished I couldn't.She was pressed against the far wall lik

THEODOSA The heavy door to the dungeon clicked shut, and the silence that followed felt heavy, like a physical weight pressing against my chest. I was back in my cell. Nala had brought me here moments after coming back into her cabin and telling me Xahen was gone. Now she was gone too. The only thing she left behind was the faint, lingering scent of herbs and a fear so cold it made my teeth ache. I didn't have a bed. I didn't even have a pile of dry straw. I sank onto the floor, my skin flinching as it met the freezing, damp stone. I pulled the silk robe tightly around me, but it did nothing to block the chill seeping up from the ground. My fingers trembled as I let the fabric slip just enough to graze my side. The wound from Xahen’s wolf was closing, the edges puckered and red. I traced the line in the dark. It would surely leave a scar. I’d carry a jagged reminder of the night the beast chose to let me live instead of killing me. With nothing but the dar

THEODOSA.The guard's hands were rough as he clamped the silver chains around my wrists.The burn was immediate and vicious, like he'd pressed hot iron directly to my skin. I bit down hard on the inside of my cheek, tasting copper, refusing to give him the satisfaction of hearing me cry out.He yanked me to my feet and shoved me toward the cell door.My heart was pounding so hard I could feel it in my throat, but I tried to hold on to one small, desperate fact: I'd seen Xahen three times now, and he hadn't killed me yet.The guard had said I was being moved, not executed.Although, I wasn't stupid enough to think the guards here would be above lying to me. This kingdom seemed way too depraved to worry about the mental state of their prisoners.I couldn't stop thinking about those men in the forest. The way Xahen had rounded them up and sent his wolf to slaughter every single one of them like they were nothing more than meat.In Duskmire, criminals were hung at worst. Maybe shot. Death

XAHEN. Of course they fucking noticed. I turned away from them, walked to the window overlooking the dark forest. My forest. Once upon a time, I was grossly unaware of the name they’d given this Kingdom. Obsidian. I liked it. It had a nice ring to it. But I never named my territory that. I stared down at my black shadows dancing around the edges of the forrest, understanding why it got that name. People associated me with darkness. I loved it. With my back to my nosy council, I asked, “What do you want me to say? That she’s innocent? That I might be wrong?” I gripped the windowsill. “I can’t afford to be wrong.” Not again. And I’d rather be wrong that she was lying than trust her and have my heart nearly torn in two again. in the quite literal sense. There was silence behind me, until Draven’s voice came out quietly, “And what if you can’t afford to be right?” I didn’t turn around. “What do you want from me?” I asked finally, wondering how