The Lycan King and His Dark Temptation Novel

---- The scent of iron flooded the alley as the dying soldier collapsed into the filthy sewer below But before | could even take a step back, the kids jumped on him. They drank him dry, wild and frenzied, not leaving a single drop. The man's muffled groans were lost in the sound of their ravenous gulps. | dropped the whip and stepped back. Rarely had | seen something so heartbreaking. They looked like tiny animals drinking from a savage kill.

"More guards are coming!" Suddenly, Rousse's rough voice echoed in my mind as he kept watch nearby. "We need to get out of here and not cause more trouble," he added tensely, and | heard his footsteps approaching. | knew this would bring problems-! shouldn't have acted on impulse. No matter how strong | was, | couldn't fight an entire wolf guard. ---- And | wasn't even sure | could summon my father's army here. | doubted it would work.

While | wasted time thinking of options, those kids ran past me, blood still fresh on their mouths, not even glancing my way. | wasn't expecting thanks, but | was left standing over a half- devoured corpse, no time to clean up the mess. "| smell her over here!" The shadows were already closing in on us. "Rousse, get up on the roof!" | shouted, but the walls here were tall. | could float like mist, but Rousse couldn't.

"Try going underground!" "| already did, | can't-something's blocking the spells." "What?!" | immediately tried turning into mist. A basic vampire power. And it didn't work! What curse was placed on this place? "I'll push you up to the roof. Step into my hands." He crouched, cupping his palms together. "No! I'm not leaving you-we fight together!" ---- "Miss, don't be stubbom!

If something happens to you, your father will kill me!" He gave me one of those hard glares that used to intimidate me as a pup-but not anymore. No matter what he said, this was all my fault and | wasn't going to leave him behind. He sighed, knowing I was impossible to deal with. But | also knew, if things got ugly, Rousse would toss me onto that rooftop whether | liked it or not. Just as we squared our shoulders, ready to fight our way out, a rumbling sound came from behind me.

| turned quickly and saw, barely a meter above my head, a hole opening in a brick wall. "Hurry, get in!" A hand reached out from the shadows. A blond man with anxious red eyes was offering us an escape tunnel. | didn't know him. What if this was another trap? "Trust me or die here." He said urgently, and | didn't think twice. | reached out, grabbed his hand, and he yanked me into the ---- passage. Rousse followed with a single leap, never taking his eyes off me.

The hollow wall's mechanism sealed shut behind him quickly. While crawling through the narrow space, | stared at the man leading us. My nose caught the scent of his blood-he was a vampire, one of my own kind. And for the first time, | felt like I'd found a safe harbor in this world full of oppression. That's how | met Marius, a man who would dazzle me with his ideals... and his lies.