All Chapters of Bound To The Lycan King : Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

"Move your feet! NOW!" the guard screams into my ear, his voice cracking like a whip across wet stone.I flinch from the sound, breaking the strange connection, but the weight stays locked onto my chest as I step into the formation. The cold hits so hard my eyes water. Around me, girls in expensive clothes stumble into place, pulling furs tighter, grabbing each other's arms for support. Some cry openly. One near the front prays quietly, her lips moving without a sound.I find my place in line and stand straight, refusing to tremble.The Palace of Lupercal is worse up close. Photographs and whispered warnings at Vivienne's dinner parties had not prepared me for its terrifying size. Black walls go up and keep going, dark stone swallowing the grey sky. Blue fire burns inside iron cages, the flames bending sideways toward the walls as if something inside the stone is actively breathing them in."Scared?" The girl directly beside me speaks without moving her lips, eyes fixed forward. She w

“Don’t move,” I whisper into the absolute darkness, my heart slamming against my ribs as heavy breathing echoes off the mirrors.“Don’t tell me what to do,” Genevieve snaps from somewhere to my left. Her voice shakes badly, but she sounds like she’d rather die than admit fear.“I’m not telling you what to do,” I say quietly. “I’m telling you that moving in a room full of mirrors in the dark is how you walk into glass and bleed out. Just stay still.”A pause follows, filled only with shallow, uneven breathing.“Fine,” she mutters.Heavy footsteps reach the top of the gallery staircase and stop.The silence that follows is worse than the sound.I stand still in the center of the circle, dust settling on my shoulders, darkness pressing in from every direction. Beside me, a girl breathes too fast, on the edge of panic. Someone else is praying under their breath.Then the torches come back to life.All at once, the flames erupt, flooding the gallery with orange light. I blink against the g

His name sat in my chest like a heavy stone all afternoon as I stared at the blackened leaf on my wooden table. Lucien. Not “the prince.” Not “your king to be.” Just Lucien. One word, and somehow it felt heavier than everything else I had learned since arriving at this palace. I did not sleep. At what I assumed was seven sharp, a guard arrived and led me down four flights of stairs. No explanation came until we reached the ground floor. The Great Refectory stretched so wide my footsteps echoed like they belonged to someone else. Long stone tables lined the hall beneath iron chandeliers burning with blue and gold fire. Girls from the sorting sat in careful clusters, speaking softly, eyes constantly moving. They looked like they were learning how to exist in a place that could break them at any moment. I spotted Mira near the middle table. She saw me at the same time, and something in her expression eased. I crossed the hall and sat across from her. “You survived the night

My wrists still hummed with strange silver light when morning finally broke through the mountain fog.I sat on the edge of my bed, listening to the palace settle after the horrors of the night. The scent of quarry oil had faded from my skin, but the feeling Lucien's mind had left inside mine remained. It lingered beneath my thoughts like the vibration of a bell long after it stopped ringing.Mira was in the infirmary. A guard delivering breakfast had mentioned it without meeting my eyes. I could only hope she was all right.I was halfway through my meal when the door opened."You are to bathe immediately," the Matron said.I looked up. Something about her was different. The usual sharpness in her expression had softened into something heavier."Why?" I asked."The Prince has requested your presence this evening. The Eve of the Tether. A private audience in his solar."I froze. "Me specifically?""Yes.""And I have a choice?"She didn't answer. She simply stepped aside and waited.The

I scramble backward until my boots strike the cold stone hearth. My hand flies to the side table, fingers locking around a heavy brass candleholder. I lift it, knuckles white, staring at the dark gap beneath the mattress."Who is there?" I whisper. "Come out. Slowly."Bloody fingers twitch against the floorboards, leaving streaks of crimson. A ragged, wet gasp echoes from the shadows, followed by a violent cough. Mira slides into the dim light. Her silk presentation gown is ribbons, and her left shoulder is soaked in dark, spreading blood."Aylin," she wheezes, lips stained red. "Please... don't call the guards."I drop the candleholder and sprint to her. On my knees, I pull her dead weight from beneath the frame. She groans, eyes rolling back."How did you get here?" I ask, my hands flying to her torn shoulder. The wound is jagged, three parallel lines ripped by something massive. "The Matron locked the doors. The bolts are thrown.""Servant tunnels," she whispers, leaning against th