The Lycan Prince’s Puppy (by C Tamika) novel Chapter 353

Violet

Everything happened all at once.

My eyes were on Nate’s back as he shifted first, his bones snapping and reforming with a loud crack before a Lycan pushed out of him with a sharp growl.

Lian followed, pushing out a Lycan with deadly eyes, and then Dylan and Trinity shifted into wolves. It was like they all knew what to do without even thinking about it.

My gaze shifted to the side, and Kylan was next. One second, his eyes were on me, and the next, his bones shifted, body lengthened, and fur tore through.

Valerius came through with a sound so deep it shook my own chest. He wasn’t just big…he was massive, towering over everyone in the circle. His fur was pitch black, and his bright, purple eyes glowed like they had been waiting to finally be unleashed.

He had been hungry for it.

He stood on two limbs, rising so high above me that for a moment I wasn’t even looking at his face, but just one thick, fur-covered leg. That was how huge he was.

He was terrifying and beautiful at the same time. Too big, too strong, too much…but still Kylan. I could feel it.

When I heard the cries of the ravens get closer, I knew it was my turn to act, and fast.

Don’t think, Violet.

Just do it…

I closed my eyes and tried to concentrate, focusing on finding that pull inside my body, but even as I squeezed my eyes tighter, nothing happened. It had been far too long.

‘Lumia,’ I tried to connect. ‘Come on!’

I heard a loud, amused chuckle within me.

‘I have been thinking,’ she hummed. ‘And I don’t think I feel like getting involved after all. I don’t know if you deserve me.’

She was rebelling. But now was definitely not the moment.

‘What? Why?’

‘You are a little miss know-it-all,’ she said. ‘You did not need me, remember?’

I opened my eyes, and my heart raced as the ravens neared closer and closer. ‘Lumia, please!’ I begged. ‘Whatever the issue, we will discuss it later, but please don’t bail on me now when I need you the most!’

She scoffed. ‘I don’t want you to say it. I want you to feel it so you know that you cannot just use me like some tool to switch on whenever things get hard.’

But why now?

Why in the middle of this?

My chest ached. ‘Lumia…please. I need you,’ I pleaded. ‘Not because I want to use you, but because you’re me, and we’re in this together. Please.’

I felt my breathing grow heavier as I waited for her answer. The ground trembled when Valerius took a single step forward.

Lumia hummed. ‘Sorry, I’m busy at the moment, but maybe later. Just use those eyes you love so much, Witchey.’

“W-What?” I spoke out loud.

Before I could think about it too much, another voice entered my head.

‘After all these centuries, my Lumia is just as stubborn.’

Valerius…

My breath caught. I couldn’t quite explain it, and maybe it was the calmness in his voice, but he sounded so warm and patient. I felt protected just by hearing him.

My heart stopped for a moment as Valerius’s huge shadow moved in front of me, blocking out everything else.

I looked up at those purple eyes. His presence should have scared me, but it didn’t. This was Valerius…my Valerius, and he would protect me.

The Lycan bent down slowly, like he had all the time in the world. I had only just now noticed the ravens flying at us from every side, but he swatted them away with one swing of his arms, watching them fall to the ground. He was not threatened in the slightest.

Valerius slid one arm under my legs and the other behind my back. Before I could even react to what he was doing, he had already lifted me from the floor, bridal style.

Suddenly, I was high in the air. As I looked up at him, all I could do was stare, and everything else faded. The roars of the others, the ravens, the shadow beast, all of it. I was too mesmerized, shocked, gone…

He was beautiful…

“Wow,” I breathed.

Those warm, caring eyes I knew so well looked down at me, only now they were purple. But the effect was the same.

‘We need your eyes, my Dove.’

Right, my eyes.

I quickly got back to my senses, pulled myself together, and let the energy flow through my body. I squeezed my eyes shut, and when I opened them again, the glow appeared.

One believed in fate, and the other in bending it.

“Baelor will send the shadow beast soon. I can feel it,” Jason called out. “He’ll use it to weaken us before the real fight. It will not be easy!”

‘My Dove?’

Valerius’s voice slipped into my mind. My head snapped back to look up at him. The sight of the thing Kylan referred to as a beast was new, strange even, yet it didn’t scare me at all. It felt almost natural, as if it had always been this way.

‘Yes?’

‘The shadow beast has three weak points. The tail, the eyes, and the horns,’ Valerius explained. ‘Do not waste time on anything else. You must go for the kill, or none of you will have the strength left to face Baelor.’

I stared at him, stunned. ‘How do you know that?’

‘I know everything, my Dove,’ he chuckled. ‘This is not the first time I faced one of Baelor’s beasts.’

My mouth parted.

What did he mean?

‘And you should never have doubted Lumia,’ he added. ‘She has more than enough experience.’

I felt a soft sigh from Lumia and felt completely lost. How was that even possible?

Before I could ask, Valerius released a roar loud enough to send shivers through me. I whipped my head forward again, snapping my eyes from the giant shadow beast to Esther, who was still waiting and smirking.

“Prepare,” Aelius said calmly.

There he goes again…

Only this time there was no countdown.

Esther lifted her hand and pointed forward, just like she had done earlier with the ravens.

The giant shadow beast let out a loud, deep rumble and moved toward us. First slow, then faster and faster, pounding the earth with each step. The whole ground shook as it charged straight for us.

Only one thing went through my mind.

Tail, eyes, horns…