The Lycan King and his Dark Temptation novel Chapter 182

CELINE

"Where are we going?" I asked my trouble-seeking mate after scolding him for the uncomfortable situation from earlier.

"I don’t like that Aldric kept you on the sidelines for so many years," he hissed, not letting go of my hand as we walked down the hallway.

"He had his reasons to hate the Dark Realm. I hated it too," I sighed, wanting to leave the past behind.

"I understand, but that doesn’t mean I have to like it." He stopped in front of me, his cold hand caressing my cheek.

The intensity of his emotions always wrapped around my soul.

"You wanted to know where I was taking you? Come, I have a surprise I had brought here for you," he said before opening a door to a massive library.

I stared in awe at the towering bookshelves, stretching from floor to ceiling, forming what looked like a labyrinth.

Hanging lamps cast soft, shifting shadows, and though the heavy curtains were drawn, pale sunlight filtered in through an enormous terrace.

Standing there, his back to us, was a man.

His noble clothing was tattered and stained, darkened by dried blood.

Something about him instantly put me on edge.

"My beloved Celine, allow me to introduce you to your new servant. He will do anything you ask, endure everything you desire. He is my wedding gift to you. Greet your mistress!" Zarek commanded with cruelty, and my heart nearly stopped when the man turned around.

Chestnut hair, brown eyes—his features struck me as eerily familiar, despite the stiffness and unnatural pallor in them.

I had seen those same features many times before… in my own reflection.

"He’s the one who gave life to my form," Camilla hissed with venom. She didn’t seem happy to see him. Neither of us was.

"Princess Celine, I am your slave, here to serve your will," he bowed respectfully, his gaze fixed on the floor—submissive, obedient.

But that only enraged me further.

Without thinking, I strode forward, unsheathing my claws in pure hatred, and ripped half of his face apart.

I kicked him to the ground, hearing the sickening crack of his bones breaking, and from the boot I always carried, I pulled out my hidden dagger.

Then, like a madwoman, I stabbed him—again and again—finally releasing all the hatred, all the resentment that had been festering inside me.

Even after accepting my vampire side, I couldn’t let this go.

This was the man who had violated my mother… and sealed my fate forever.

My erratic eyes saw nothing but a bloodied, pulpy mess beneath me. My trembling hand still gripped the dagger, its blade soaked in crimson.

I didn’t even know how he still bled—if I had understood correctly, Zarek had turned him into nothing more than a puppet.

"He died recently. My men hunted him down. But I can assure you, he is feeling every ounce of the pain you’re giving him," Zarek murmured, gripping my tense shoulders, pulling me up from the gore-stained floor, my body splattered with the blood that had created mine.

The heavy weight pressing against my chest had lightened—just a little.

I spat on his mutilated body, disgusted, but with a dark sense of satisfaction, knowing that I had, at least in part, avenged my mother.

"Get up, you miserable bastard!" I commanded, and I watched as he struggled to rise.

His legs were fractured, his arms broken, one eye completely destroyed. He couldn't even use the railing for support, yet he still tried to stand.

"Go downstairs. I don’t want to see your horrid face," I snarled, and for a fleeting moment, his dull eyes met mine.

For an instant, I saw something in their depths—a flicker of life.

I didn’t know what forbidden magic my mate had used, but keeping someone alive even in death, forcing them into servitude under another’s will, was the most cruel and inhuman thing I had ever witnessed.

Dragging his broken body, he began to crawl, disappearing into the castle’s shadows as he descended the stairs.

"Who told you that you could walk down like a being with dignity?" I stepped closer to him.

Seeing him like this awakened every murderous instinct he had passed down into my very genes.