The Lycan King and His Dark Temptation Novel

---- 316. IN ENEMY TERRITORY ABIGAIL "The only possible winter woman is Hannah... my twin," | choked out, yanking the dress down in one go and throwing his shirt at him. | refused to stay here one second longer... with him. Guilt gnawed at me over what we'd done-and how badly | still wanted him deep down. "| didn't know..." he denied it. "Damn it, what a screw-up... Wait, Abigail! You can't leave like this!" He started after me when | hiked up my skirt and ran toward the cave mouth.

| didn't care how | looked, | didn't care about anything; the fire inside me was only just subsiding, | slipped back into the grotto and it was hard for him to catch me, but once | burst outside, he grabbed my arm and yanked me toward him. "Let go of me!" | planted my hand on his chest and shoved, furious. "No! You wanted the truth, so you're going to listen to me!" he ---- roared, crushing me to his chest and gripping my waist despite my useless struggling "Let me go, brute!" He caught my hair from behind and forced me to look at him, leaving me no room to flee that sharp, wolfish stare.

"| didn't seek out that woman who might be my mate... or maybe not. | didn't do anything to find out," he admitted. "But that doesn't make me the male you think | am; | don't deceive women, I'm not out there sticking my dick in any hole, if that's what you think of me." He hit the mark. "If you'd gotten close to my sister, you would've liked her; she's great, an incredible she-wolf, and |... we..." My voice strangled again with a sob fighting to escape. «Why did | have to run into you of all people?» "I don't regret what we did, Abigail and | feel...

that you belong to me too." His words made my soul lurch. Even with my wolf unconscious, | felt that bond with him too, and not just because of his power. I liked Fenrir so much, | didn't care about giving myself to him. "This is wrong... it's so wrong! | would never do that to Hannah," | ---- started shaking my head, struggling to break free again "And what if you're my mate too? Tell me! Where is your wolf, Abigail?! Let Gale feel the bond with her!" "No, no, | don't want that!" | fought harder, like a madwoman.

"If you don't want my sister, then you don't want me either, you bastard!" | burst into flames that flashed from my skin so suddenly and searingly he had to let me go. The smell of scorched skin and singed hair hit my nose right away. My power was on the edge of losing control again. His eyes stared at me from less than a meter away, wide with emotions | couldn't read. And | didn't want to read them, either. It was like a lightning bolt hit me, and | made a painful decision. "My wolf is asleep, but she'll wake soon," | said with a cold calm I'd never experienced.

"If it turns out you really are my mate, I'll grant your wish to be free; | won't be a burden to you, and I'm sure my sister won't either..." ---- "Abigail, no..." His denial came out rough, full of dominance. + He stepped toward me with his hands out, but | backed up. "I'll grant you the rejection, so when you're ready, you can find yourself a perfect she-wolf from your mighty realm, far away from this backward swamp..." | felt the tears fall uncontrollably; | saw him through a humid blur. "I'm not going to accept your shitty rejection!" he roared, making the still waters tremble.

"| know | was wrong, but you can't judge me like this for a moment of immaturity, |..." "You were going to leave us waiting for a mate who would never show up. Is that immaturity... or cruelty, lyean prince?" "Abiga..." | didn't even let him come closer; my legs shook, and | was about to collapse. | spun around and plunged into the swamp's cold mist, shielded by darkness and shadows. He might be a lycan, an experienced hunter, but | was on ground I'd known since | was born.

---- Wandering the swamp at this hour was insane, but | was confused; all | wanted was to escape the male roaring behind me and begging me to stop. | knew exactly where the plants grew that would confuse his nose, and the mazes of raised roots and dense trees that would hide me from him. My chest tore a little more with every step | put between us. There was no doubt left... Fenrir has to be my mate. | don't know how long | ran on that suicidal sprint. My boots sank into the muddy ground, my legs burned, and my breath burst from my mouth in ragged gusts.

| fell to my knees deep in the territory. I'd reached a tiny islet through one of the many secret paths that wound over the lagoons. Head down, | bit my trembling lower lip and wiped the tears from my face. "So what if he doesn't want to commit?" | huffed, pathetic more than anything. "It's his loss, and besides... | can't believe we have the same mate." ---- In my fury, | hadn't thought that part through. What kind of joke was fate playing? | couldn't see myself sharing my partner with Hannah in any universe. A shiver ran down my spine just imagining it. "In the end..

it's better this way..." | closed my eyes, exhausted and wondering where my twin might be. Suddenly, something flashed in front of me, and | lifted my lids to see fireflies rising from the grass. | reached out my fingers, trying to soothe my soul, but just as | was about to touch one, they all flew off as if something had scared them. My pupils narrowed on the thick black lines beneath my body, and my ear finally caught movement in the surrounding forest.

"What do you want from me?!" | shot to my feet, but the runes drawn in a huge black circle began to activate with the chants of the sorcerers stepping out of the shadows, surrounding me. They'd set a trap, and | walked right into it.