The Lycan King's Substitute Wife

Prologue

In the dawn of the sixteenth hundreds, the Lycans came out of hiding and brought war upon the Humans. The Lycans were all powerful and skilled in combat, unlike the feeble Humans. They conquered the Humans and ruled over them. The Lycan King was cruel and turned each and every Human into a slave or a sex worker.

From the slaves came a man with the name Vitalis. He despised the werewolves and their rule, along with some other Humans. They learnt combat skills from watching the Lycan army train. Once they became strong, they led a war against the Lycans.

They were strong but not as strong as the Lycans. They fought well and they slayed one-fourth of the Lycans, while their numbers remained less than half. The Lycan King decided to end the war by bringing forth a proposition.

He offered a treaty for peace to reign, he wanted to form an alliance-a marital one. He wanted to marry the daughter of Vitalis who he thought was beautiful. Vitalis was reluctant but the other Humans convinced him to relent, that his sacrifice would last for generations to come.

Vitalis agreed and gave his daughter's hand in marriage to the Lycan King. Because of the bravery and sacrifice made by Vitalis, he was crowned the King of the Humans. The treaty of peace would hold so long as every hundred years, a Vitalis daughter would marry the then Lycan King.

But they could not predict what would befall them in the late eighteenth hundreds.

Chapter 1

Hope

"Light, are you ready?" I asked my twin, and her light green, siren eyes glinted in excitement and mischief as she nodded.

We both took off our robes after that, leaving our bodies bare, and we dived into the open lake, making a loud splash sound. The lake was cold but our blood were hot. Once we resurfaced, our smiles mirrored each other.

Even though we were twins, we looked nothing alike. Our only similarities were the shape of our eyes-siren-and the colors of our hair-black, and while I wore my long, Light wore hers short. That was were the similarities stopped, we even had different mannerisms.

We danced inside the lake, giggling, playing, and singing. Crows flew above us in the bright sky, making sounds. I looked up, watching them for a while before I turned my attention back to Light.

"I'm going to miss you." I said in a whisper and she smiled, sadly, then burst into a fit of laughter.

"Stop talking like I'm going away forever. I'm just getting married, it's not that huge. Besides, you can come visit me anytime you want." She said in a flippant tone, then started swimming back to shore.

I trailed after her. By the time I got back to the land, she had already worn her robe and was drying her hair. I walked out from the water and did the same.

"Really? I can come visit anytime?" I asked in an uncertain tone and she nodded, throwing the towel away.

"You can even come live with Darius and I." She suggested.

"Darius..." I repeated. The name sounded bitter in my tongue. He was the Lycan King that Light was going to marry.

I had only met him once, and that was when my family and I were invited to the Lycan Palace for Light's engagement two years ago. He was mean and looked like he wanted to kill everyone on sight.

Somehow, Light said that was just his resting face and that he was very nice-at least to her. I didn't think he was nice. I was afraid for my sister who was going to chain herself down to him.

"Yes, sister. My soon-to-be husband is the best person in the world. I can't wait to finally be with him." Light said in a lovestruck tone and I stared at her blankly.

"He doesn't look like it." I muttered as we started walking back home, to our castle. Light laughed.

"Trust me," she said, looking into my eyes. "He's harmless."

I didn't say anything after that until we got back to the castle. The time set for Light's wedding was drawing close, so I bid Light farewell for the meantime, then decided to go back to my chambers and prepare myself.

My handmaids kept on gushing about how edible the Lycans they had seen were. I couldn't care less for their beauty. I only cared about how they would treat my sister once she went away with them.

Once my maids were done dressing me, I looked at myself through my mirror. They had braided my hair with pins adorning it with a tiara at the top of my hair. My cleavage was on for show and my corset was a bit too tight. My maids said that I had to look beautiful as I would be the next to get married, and men would be watching me.

I was wearing pink-the color for waiting maidens. I didn't like being considered a maiden but I kept quiet. I turned to my maids, my light brown eyes settled on them.

"Thank you," I said to the three ladies and they bowed their heads in respect. "I have to go get Light now. I'll see you all after the wedding." I added, then walked out of my chambers and sought for Light.

Her room was down the hall, away from mine. We had been put in separate rooms because Light fought for her privacy when she was thirteen. I had no problem with whatever she wanted so I agreed with her.

Once I came face-to-face with her door, I knocked twice, then waited for her to answer. After ten seconds, I decided to knock again.

"Light? It is me, your sister. Open the door." I said as I knocked continuously but I was met with silence. I turned the handle of the door, then I realized that the door was open all along.

I let out a sigh, then walked inside the room. "Light? I've come to fetch you. Your wedding is about to start. The moon is bright, isn't it?" I walked round the room, searching for Light but I found her nowhere.

I decided to check her washroom but it was empty. Where was she? "Light? Where are you? Are you trying to trick me?" I went to her bed, pulling away the cover but she wasn't hiding underneath it.

I marched for her windows, checking the curtains to see if she hid behind them but she wasn't there as well. I started to panic, my heart raced. I clutched my chest as I raced to my parents study room. People along the way tried to tell me that running was 'unladylike' but I paid them no mind.

I only stopped running when I got to the room, not waiting to catch my breath before I started ranting off.

"Mother, father. There's a problem." I said in an uneven tone and they both looked at me with wide eyes. They were already dressed in fancy attire for Light's wedding.

They both looked panicked and quite uneasy but I shrugged it off. My mother reached out to me, as though she wanted me to calm down but I couldn't do that.

"I went to Light's room to fetch her but she wasn't there. I searched the whole chamber but I couldn't find her. I fear that she might have ran away. I don't understand. We just parted to get ready but she's not anywhere anymore!" I raised my voice gradually as I spoke and my parents paled.

"Should we send in guards to check round the castle? Maybe I'm just being paranoid and she's actually somewhere in the castle. Or did Light seriously run away? If she did, then why?" I tried to wrap my head around the entire thing.

"You tell me." A deep masculine voice said from behind me and a shiver ran down my spine.

I slowly turned around and my eyes met black onyx ones which looked devoid of emotions. His being vacuumed all the air in the room as well as the one inside my lungs. He stood tall and scary.

King Darius Moratis.

Chapter 2

Hope

King Darius looked like he was in the mood for killing. Killing me. I gulped down on my saliva as I stared up at him, not knowing what else to do.

My parents had rushed to my aid, trying to create a barrier between the King of the Lycans and I.

"King Darius, never mind Hope. Light must be somewhere around the castle, playing. You know that, don't you? That she plays a lot." My Father said in a rushed tone, then added a nervous laugh at the ending.

He sounded nothing like how a person who bore the name Vitalis, should sound. Then again, for the past few hundreds of years, the Vitalis' had not upheld the glory of the name. My Mother also let out a nervous laugh, supporting my Father.

King Darius regarded them as specks of dust and he walked right through them and stood a few paces in front of me. His red lips were pressed into a thin firm line as he looked down at my five foot six, petite figure. Compared to his six foot seven height, I looked like a child. Hells, every Human that stood next to him looked like a child.

Lycans were known for their great height and muscular buildup. King Darius seemed like the one who got all those traits perfected to a fault.

"Where is she?" he asked me in a very demanding tone. I stared at him blankly as words seemed to fail me at that moment.

He didn't look pleased at my lack of answer. His nose flared up, and with one simple stride, he was an inch away from me. He wrapped his large palm around my left forearm and gripped me tightly, evoking a pained noise from my lips.

"Do not make me repeat myself again." He said, and I suddenly felt the urge to cry but I contained myself.

"I do not know. I went in her chambers to retrieve her for the wedding but I could not find her. I ran here immediately." I said in short gasps as pain sprang up my body.

King Darius became more aggressive. "Do not lie to me, you excuse of the Vitalis name. I know you helped your sister escape from this castle. Tell me where she is now, or else..." There was no need to complete the threat because I already felt beyond threatened.

"I swear, I do not know where she is. I did not even know that she wanted to escape. She was eager to marry you. She loved you. She wouldn't have-"

"Nonsense!" he boomed, cutting me short. "What does that deceitful wench know about love?" He sneered, referring to my sister, and I could not stop the dramatic gasp that escaped from my lips after his words.

"My sister is not deceitful, nor is she a wench. She loved you. She wanted to marry you." I defended Light, seeing that King Darius was in the wrong.

He scowled at me, then flung me away, causing me to stumble till my legs met with a table, evoking a hiss sound from between my teeth. King Darius turned his attention to my parents.

"You will find your daughter this instant and bring her back to me. Not only did she run away, she took the Morati knife with her!" he yelled, my parents and I flinched at the tone used.

"My Lord, the Morati knife?" My Mother repeated in a horrified tone.

"Why would you even think Light stole the Morati knife? She would never do anything to upset you. She loves you." I croaked out, causing the Lycan King to throw a vicious glare my way.

"She had come to my room earlier in the day, demanding to get married in an instant. I declined, of course. It is of the Lycans to wed at night when the full moon is at its peak to receive special blessings from the goddess. I explained this to her, I could not change traditions for her sake.

"She was angry, threw a fit and tried to drag me to the altar but she failed. I discarded her and she ran away from my chambers. Perhaps she must have taken the knife there and then." King Darius said to himself, rather than to my parents and I as he paced all over the room.

I shook my head in disbelief, finding it hard to believe the Lycan King's words. I took small steps forward before I spoke. "Light loved you. She didn't take your Morati knife. And even if she did, what would be the use? She would have no use for it before it can be used to hurt you. And she would never want to hurt you."

King Darius tsked as he looked at me as though I was some useless child. "She would never want to me," he repeated with amusement laced in his tone. "You foolish girl, the one thing your sister wanted the most in this world was to kill me." King Darius stated and my lips parted.

"Wh-what?" I stuttered as I gazed to the ground. Light loved him. What was he talking about? She wanted to kill him? No, no, no. The only thing Light wanted was to marry him. "That is not true. Light never wanted to hurt you. She loves you!"

King Darius frowned. "You have been repeating the same words over and over again. I do not want to hear them again. All I want to hear is the location of your cunning twin." He pointed at me as he spoke.

I grimaced a little. "But I do not know where she is. I have been saying that since the beginning!" I cried out loud and his onyx eyes narrowed at my figure as he took slow, threatening steps towards me.

"You will tell me where she is right now, Little Human or I will have my guards carry you straight to Moratia's palace and throw you in the dungeon where you will rot for eternity for not telling me the truth." He threatened as he stopped walking when he was within an inch from me.

My heart palpitated as I looked up at him. My vision turned blurry as my eyes were glassy. "I swear on my life, I do not know where Light is. I-"

"Tell me the truth!" he boomed, cutting my sentence off and I choked as I broke into a sob.

I could not control myself as large drops of tear cascaded down from my eyes, and my body shivered all over. I could hear as my father sucked in a huge gulp of air through his teeth, as though he were hissing. He was disappointed in me, I knew it.

It was not like I could control myself. I hated how I always turned to crying when I got frightened or hurt in the slightest manner. I turned into a crybaby. I slowly looked up through my teary eyes to stare at the Lycan King who was looking down at me in disgust.

No one liked a crybaby.

"I d-do n-not kn-ow wh-here s-she is. I p-pro-mise." I said in between sobs.

"Do not act coy with me. Tell me where Light-"

"My Lord," my Father interrupted the Lycan King. King Darius turned slowly to face my father as I kept on crying. "I have a proposition for you." He raised a finger up.

I used the back of my palms to wipe the tears from my eyes so that I could get a good view but the tears wouldn't stop falling. I could make out King Darius nodding at my Father.

"Well, you see. It is not wise to banter over spilt milk. Even though Light is around, the wedding must go on. I suggest Hope take her place and in the meantime, I would have some of the guards round both the castle and the entire kingdom for Light." My Father proposed in a strategic voice and my tears immediately froze.

As much as my eyes hurt and had turned puffy, I could make out the desperate looks on my parents face. They wanted me to marry the Lycan King instead of Light.

They wanted me to be King Darius' substitute wife.

Chapter 3

Hope

My entire being froze up. I could not believe what my ears were hearing, and my eyes were seeing. My fingers started to fiddle on their own as my breathing turned uneven.

"I don't approve of your suggestion. This daughter of yours has nothing to offer," King Darius glanced back at me, his eyes raked across my body from my head, down to my toes, then back up to settle on my breasts. He didn't look interested in them the slightest bit, only curious.

He turned back to my Father. "I want Light and no one else. That was the deal. Find her and get her to return the Morati knife to me." King Darius said in a firm tone.

My Father trembled on the spot as he racked his brain for another suggestion. My Mother was ahead of him, she threw herself in front of the Lycan King with desperacy written all over her features.

"My Lord, Hope is a fine young lady. She will bring you no troubles. She is beautiful, well-mannered, and most important of all, quiet. She is very quiet." My Mother spoke in urgency.

The next thing I knew, I was being dragged by her to stand in front of the Lycan King. I casted my gaze to the floor as I couldn't stand looking into his dead dark eyes. My Mother just wouldn't let me be. She shook me as she spoke up.

"Hope, you're quiet. Aren't you?" she asked and I nodded slowly. She let go of me and clapped.

"You see. She's very quiet, she also has nice hips, a fertile womb as well. Marry her for the meantime, you can even bed her if you like. Once Light is found, you can return her. There's no downside." My Mother was practically selling me off to my sister's to-be husband.

I felt so used and helpless. I never wanted to marry the Lycan King, but being the second choice, the last resort, it stings bad. I felt my throat clog up as tears threatened to spill from my eyes but I swallowed them back. I just finished crying, I couldn't cry once again.

With all what my Mother said, King Darius still didn't look convinced. I didn't need to look at his face to know that. I could hear the displeased grunts he made as he continued to size me up.

"Do you want to take your sister's place?" I heard him ask and I gritted my teeth.

"Of course, she does!" Both my parents said at the same time which seemed to anger the Lycan King.

"I wasn't speaking to you two. I was asking her." I could tell that the 'her' he referred to was me because at the end of his sentence I felt a chill on my chin as he made skin-to-skin contact with me. He used two of his platinum ringed fingers to lift my chin up so that I could look into those cold, dead, onyx eyes of his.

"Do you want to take your sister's place?" He repeated his question.

I felt like dying right then. No, I didn't want to. I didn't want to take Light's place but I couldn't say that. I would be dooming not only my family's reputation, but the entire Human race, so I nodded slowly.

He scowled. "Use words."

I searched for air before I spoke. "Yes, I want to take my sister's place." I said those words without flinching and immediately. He let go of my chin instantly, causing me to stumble on my track as I sucked in a lush amount of air.

"What do you think about that, my Lord? Should I have the handmaidens put her in Light's gown and sound the alarm bells for the change?" My Father asked in an excited voice, and I felt my lungs constrict as I found it hard to breathe.

So they were going to give me away so easily, and to a beast who would do nothing but tear me apart from within and outside?

"None of that would be necessary." King Darius dismissed with the wave of his hand. My Father and my Mother were confused. So was I. Would he not me marry then?

"My Lord, what is the problem?" My Mother asked in a cautious tone, and the King's eyes narrowed down on me before he spoke.

"I would get married to her right away. I can not wait any longer. The moon shall be at its peak in a few minutes and I have no more time to waste. We shall go to the garden right away." King Darius said in an impatient tone, after which, he strolled out of the room using long strides.

My Father moved fast behind him and My Mother gripped my wrist, dragging me along with her as she took long strides, walking out of the room, and tailing after the two men.

I wanted to cry. I wanted to cry so badly. He was going to get married to me right away. He wasn't even going to give me any time to gather myself or do anything. I found it hard to breathe as my Mother kept dragging me behind her.

Once we got to the courtyard, from afar I could see that the wedding guests were already seated. Humans on one side, and Lycans on the other. Members of the Lycan army rounded the entire scenery, standing like stone statue barricades and scaring every Human.

King Darius stopped before he walked the aisle, then around and walked towards my Mother and I. As if he sent a mind message to my Mother, she let go of my hand immediately and his own cold, large ones replaced them. I sucked in a sharp breath as he touched me.

He didn't give me any time to recover as he started to yank me behind him down the aisle. Everyone watched the scene with curious and horror filled eyes. What they saw was a six foot seven beast dragging a five foot six Human who looked immeasurably close to tears.

Once we got to the altar, he stopped pulling me, though his hand was still wrapped around my wrist. I choked back on a sob as I steadied my footing on the altar. I was not going to cry. The moon was bright lit and everything about the scenery was perfect. Just not the people.

The wedding moderator started the process almost immediately as King Darius told him to. He started to spew out so many words that I couldn't understand. All I did was tried to keep myself from crying and falling to the ground.

It got to the point where he instructed someone to bring a bowl and I was confused. I had no idea when I turned to look up at Darius and spoke.

"A bowl?" I said in a questioning tone and he ignored me. My anxiety increased after that. One of the Lycans lurking around held a gold encrusted bowl in front of King Darius and I with a knife slanted across it. My heart quickened.

"You may now draw blood to seal the bond." The moderator said and I ran mad. What did that mean?

I got the answer to my question as King Darius shoved the handle of the knife into one of my palms. I stared up at him as he stretched out his palm and said, "Cut me."

My lips parted in confusion. "What?"

"Cut me so that my blood can spill and we can get the show wrapped up." He spoke in annoyance.

I started to shake my head, disagreeing to what he just told me. As he watched my move, be hissed through his teeth then his hand covered my own and he directed the knife to his free palm, running the sharp edge through his skin, and drawing blood.

I gasped at the sight immediately and he let go of me. His blackish blood poured into the bowl at a rapid rate before his skin closed right up as Lycans are known to heal rather quickly. He turned to look at me after that. I knew what those cold eyes were saying already.

"Your turn." King Darius grabbed the knife from my hand and held my palm open. I knew what he was going to do as my vision blurred.

"Don't hurt me. Please, don't hurt me." I couldn't contain myself any much longer. The tears spilled from my eyes like rainfall as he sliced my skin mercilessly.

My red blood poured into the bowl, mixing with his blackish one and the moon reflected on the mix, giving it a kind of color that I could not decipher. After it was done, King Darius flung my hand away from his clutches and turned to the moderator.

"The moon goddess is in alignment with the reunion. She blesses you both with long life and happy marriage. The future will hold many great things for the both of you." He spoke, and his words angered the Lycan King as he grunted in disdain, causing the moderator to clear his throat.

"It is done. I pronounce you husband and wife." The moderator said with a smile.

No one clapped, no one cheered. The entire place was deathly silent, but I could hear a loud voice inside my head, repeating the same words over and over again.

I'm doomed.