Chapter 176
“…You want the new Rogue King to give you their blood. You still want to be the Werewolf King,” Janet said after a long pause.
Daran didn’t say anything.
But she could see ambition dancing in his dark eyes.
“So what you said was all craps, right?”
Janet couldn’t help but raise her voice:
“You said that you only want the kingship so that you could put a stop to this war. But now the war is ending, permanently, as long as we back the right Rogue King!” “But people will change. Even if a person is a pacificist now, it doesn’t mean that they won’t change into a complete war manic in the future!”
Janet knew perfectly well about how much a person could change.
Take Daran as an example.
Look how much he had changed.
Janet’s voice was strained, “But we will find a way to keep the rogues in check. The Lycans are here to help-”
“You want to rely on the Lycan’s help?! Do you want to submit yourself to another species? Wake the fuck up, Janet! They are even worse than Lance!”
Daran grabbed Janet’s wrist and hissed into her ears:
“Do you know where Lance knew about this ritual? From an ancient text that the Lycan had kept from us. Apparently, the Werewolf King is the only one who has the power to stand up to the Lycans. For the purpose of better controlling us, Westin and his men don’t want the Werewolf King to emerge. They want to fucking rule us like a bunch of slaves!”
Janet froze on her spot.
She wanted to tell Daran that this was not true.
Westin was simply here to lend a hand, to help with their crisis.
But then she recalled what Westin said to her before in her bedroom:
…There is always a war, between the werewolves and the rogues…But this one is different.
…If someone doesn’t put a stop to this turmoil, the–order of this world will be lost, permanently…
Westin didn’t care about the previous wars.
He simply cared about this one.
Because this time, Lance got hold of the way to overthrow Lycan’s reign.
And the “order” that he talked about had nothing to do with the balance between them and the rogues.
Westin was referring to the dynamic between the werewolf and the lycan. He didn’t want that dynamic to shift.
Daran picked up on the astonishment in Janet’s eyes.
He let out a cold laugh, “Shocked? Looks like your goody two shoes isn’t exactly a saint himself, right?”
“Stop! I am trying to think-
“Once he has total control over us, do you think he will still treat you this nicely?! The Lycans think of themselves as the superiors. He will never treat you equally! Wake up to this Janet-”
“But I still won’t help you to achieve your personal goal, Daran!” Janet cried.
Her chest rose and fell rapidly in anger as she hissed:
“Stop sugarcoating it! You just want the fucking power for yourself. You are a ruthless pragmatist, taking advantage of this war! And I WILL NOT diminish myself to be your goddamn tool!!!!
Daran’s face grew cold.
He looked at Janet’s anger–filled face, chuckling icily, “You know that I get what I want no matter what, right?”
“Yeah. A ruthless pragmatist. Just like I said.”
Janet shook his hand off her wrist and stood up.
“But leave me out of your plots and schemes,” she said sternly.
She turned to walk away from him.
Then she heard his deep voice from her back:
“You don’t need to help me. Just don’t share these with the Lycans. They are not to be trusted.”
Janet said nothing and went into the forest.
Westin was talking to Edwin in a low voice, surrounded by his men.
He raised his head when he saw Janet walking close and a soft smile spread across his lips.
“You are done with him?” he asked.
Janet nodded, “It is not easy to convince him to work with you, Lycans.”
Edwin raised his eyebrow, “But what choice do you have? You can’t put an end to this yourself. You need our help.”
Janet frowned.
Maybe she was being paranoid… Yet Edwin’s words came across as condescending and it did not make her comfortable.
Was this how Westin thought of them as well?
A bunch of useless losers who depended on the Lycan’s rule and support?
“Janet.”
Westin stared at Janet with an alluring smile on his lips:
“What made Daran and Lance suddenly start fighting? Did Lance tell Daran anything?”
Janet avoided Westin’s gaze.
Daran’s words rang in her ears-
They are not to be trusted.
“…Nothing,” Janet said lowly after a while.
“Really? Lance didn’t say anything to Daran?”
“They probably have a quarrel or something. But I don’t know about the details,” Janet said elusively.
Edwin frowned and opened his mouth to say something.
But Westin stopped him and smiled:
“Forgive me for being nosey, but I just want to make sure that Lance isn’t feeding Daran any false information that will cause him to get cold feet again.”
“He won’t. His mind is made up. We all want to kill Lance,” Janet said.
“Then I trust you for it/”
Edwin stretched his shoulders, “Well, then I better go into the city and chase the rouges away. I will report back to you later, My King.”
He bowed to Westin and disappeared into the woods.
“You might want to get some shut eyes before the big fight.” Westin said gently to Janet, “Are you chilly? Do
chilly? Do you need my coat?”
“No. I am fine.”
Janet walked away a few steps and lay down under a tree.
Yet she couldn’t sleep.
Her mind was occupied by all the mess with werewolf and Lycan.
A thought flickered across her mind in the meantime:
Who did Daran want as the new Rogue King originally?
She didn’t get a chance to ask him.
A few hours had passed, and the moon moved to the center of the night sky.
Edwin came back after 12 o’clock and let them know that it was go time.
Daran had taken some time to heal. He looked much better now.
“So we will go into the city and hunt Lance down.”
Westin said to the group gathered by the woods, “He knows that he has lost his protection. He will be hiding from us. So we better divide and conquer. Janet, do you. want to come with me?”
Janet hesitated.
Daran spoke up icily, “She stays with me.”
Westin snorted, “You sure you can protect her?”
“My wounds are healed.”
“But she is still safer with a Lycan.”
The subtext of the werewolf’s inferiority made Janet frown.
I
“I don’t need anyone’s protection,” she said coldly. “But I better go with Daran, in case he needs my protection.”
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: Kidnapped and Rejected The Return of Alpha’s Luna (Janet and Daran)