The Lycan Princess and the Temptation of Sin novel Chapter 57

ROYCE.

The alarm goes off. Hitting snooze, I place my arm over my eyes. For once, I didn’t want to get out of bed.

It had been a long night…

A dull ache from overthinking has formed at the front of my head, but I still had no answers.

We had gotten back late. I was able to get Charlotte to her room without anyone stopping us and told her to shower, so no one’s scent remained on us.

I couldn’t risk Dad finding out who we had run into. After showering, I had tested Skyla’s blood before turning in. Something about the entire thing has me on edge and that had ended up taking far longer than I had thought it would.

The Arden’s have a variety of unique drugs at our disposal, mainly created by Dad, and several don’t even show in the blood if tested, and the only way to bring these out was if we used specific antigens that work against the initial drug.

After three hours of testing and scrutinising her blood, I was almost ready to give up and put it down to my paranoia. Then I tried for Solara XI 5, something that Aleric had been working on a few years back.

It’s the only Arden drug I didn’t test it for. I didn’t have the latest formula, but I knew enough of the components since I had helped him with it, and to my surprise, it had shown positive.

Why Aleric would give Skyla this drug baffled me. The Solara XI 5 was harmless and held no real reasoning. Aleric was adamant that it will help open the doors to so much more in the future, but it did nothing.

Nothing that I know of anyway, and it had just been a last resort just to ease my mind, but I had not expected it to show positive.

It was a project that I had thought he had scrapped, but for him to still be working on it…

What exactly is the purpose of it and by giving it to her, what was he trying to achieve? It does nothing, aside from the slight side-effect of feeling tired. You don’t forget anything, and you stay aware, so there is nothing…

So, what exactly is he up to, or does the drug serve a purpose I don’t know of?

I need to see if I can get a hand on the new version of the serum. Does it now have another purpose?

Aleric wouldn’t do something for no reason… but the fact it was in her system showed he was up to something.

The beeping of the alarm going off again makes me growl.

“Alright, I’m up!” I sigh as I reach over and slam it off.

Groaning, I swing my legs onto the floor and rest my elbows on my knees, running my hand through my hair.

Never has waking up felt so hard… I glance at the time. It’s 7:05 AM.

No wonder… forty minutes is far from enough.

I’ll take the day off today and I’ll stop by to visit Sky too…

The memory of that kiss we shared returns and a wave of pleasure rushes through me as I replay it in my mind. I want a taste of that again, of her…

And then there’s her dad, whose decision I would wait on.

Standing up, I head over to my wardrobe and take out black pants, a white T-shirt, and a long black cardigan. I wash up and get dressed quickly, tying my hair back in a pony and putting on two necklaces and black boots.

Pushing the sleeves of my cardigan up, I look in the mirror at my reflection for a second before I grab my phone, keys and wallet. I’ll check up on Charlotte before I head to the shop to pick up a few items for Skyla.

I look down at my phone, unlocking it, I go into my settings and change the wallpaper to my unlock screen, smiling faintly as I admire the sizzling image. An image I had removed shortly after finding out who she was…

The picture of her covering her breasts as she posed on the bed, showing off her sexy tattoo. Damn, she was an entirely next level of sizzling hot. The doll knows how to turn the heat up…

My eyes rake over the curve of her waist and hips before I lock the phone and slip it into my pocket.

Leaving my room, I walk down the hall to Charlotte’s room, knocking on the door that is half open, and poke my head inside.

“Morning,” I say, spotting Charlotte still in bed, her arms crossed as she lies in bed in her pink satin pyjamas, her eye mask is on her forehead as Mom sits at the edge of the bed, caressing her hair.

She’s clearly upset about something.

Charlotte doesn’t reply as Mom smiles at me.

“Good morning Royce!” She responds, looking back at Charlotte.

I walk over to the bed, kissing Mom’s forehead before planting a kiss on top of Charlotte’s head.

“So what’s the cause behind you acting like a diva?” I ask, raising my eyebrows at her.

“Dad grounded me.” She says bitterly, “He took away my phone, and my internet.”

For what?

My mock amusement fades as I frown and look at Mom. “Did you try to speak to him? It was I who took Charlotte out. If he has a problem, he should take it up with me.” I say coldly.

She frowns. “I did try to talk to him, Royce. You know how he gets.”

“Then try harder, Mom.” I say quietly, feeling dreadful for saying that, but for someone who lives with him day and night, does she not see when he’s in the wrong?

“Royce…” Mom sounds hurt and shocked.

“I’m sorry, but he does get away with doing whatever he wants all the bloody time, and frankly, I have had enough.” I say. “I’m heading out, I’ll pick up some books for you.” I add to Charlotte.

If things get worse, I’m going to have to do something.

She liked reading. Although Dad prefers her to read nonfiction and educational books, she is a fan of fantasy novels.

“Perfect!” She says.

My eyes meet Mom’s, and she smiles slightly, but she’s trying to hide the fact that my words hurt her and as much as I wanted to walk out of these places for good, I can’t. Because Mom and Charlotte need me.

I crouch down beside the bed and take Mom’s hands in mine, caressing her knuckles gently as I look up into her beautiful eyes.

‘I’m tired of living under his dictatorship Mom, I’m tired of the way he treats Charlotte… and… deep down you know that things do need to change around here…’ I say through the mind link.

‘Royce, your father loves you. He can be a little harsh when it comes to etiquette and rules, but try to not be so hard on him.’ She says, trying to make me understand.