Unwanted Mate Of The Lycan Kings (by jessica hall) novel Chapter 57

I watch each of them. Whatever Regan just said seems to have made Zeke angrier, Regan looks worried, and Lyon stares at Regan with an indecipherable expression on his face.

“Still think he isn’t trying to kill us!” Zeke sneers, but I am lost at what they figured out.

“No, this is bullshit! There is no guarantee!” Lyon snaps, stalking out of the room. Regan glances at him over his shoulder before looking at Zeke.

“Ah, what is going on?” I ask.

“Nothing! We have a date; now get up!” Zeke snaps at me.

“Zeke?” Regan snarls, but Zeke shakes his head and holds up his hand.

“No, Regan. Choose which side you’re on. Either you choose her, or you choose us! Either way, if he has found a witch to break, it means she chooses who lives out of us, so make your fucking choice, Regan, your brothers, or some human you barely fucking know,” Zeke snaps, stalking over to me.

"What?" I squeak, stepping back from Zeke. Gnash growls at Zeke, and my eyes dart to the wolf.

"Daddy dearest fucked up if he thinks we wouldn't figure it out. I am not being no damn sacrifice!"

"Figure out what?" I ask, moving out of his reach again.

"That you're not here to find our humanity. You're here to choose the two sons he's going to sacrifice to break the curse and save the other. That's why you're here. He can't fucking choose who he loves more, so you'll choose for him! Not on my watch, you won't." Zeke snarls.

He grabs my arm, hauling me to my feet, and I shriek. Gnash instantly jumps to his feet and moves to tear into him. At the last second, Regan rips him back before he can attack Zeke. I look at him, but Regan won’t even meet my gaze. Instead, he just holds Gnash in place while Zeke drags me out of his room.

“Regan?” I murmur, he just turns away from me, and Zeke shoves me out the door, sending me sprawling onto the floor in the corridor. My head bounces off the floor with a sickening crack when Zeke slams Regan’s door shut behind me. Getting to my hands and knees, I spot Lyon. Gone is his playful attitude from last night as he watches me crawl to my feet, only for Zeke to grab me by my hair. I cry out and clutch his hand, fisting my hair, and Zeke hauls me upright. However, Lyon looks at the wall as Zeke jerks my head back.

“Don’t look at them for help. They won’t. Blood is thicker than water, especially when our lives are intertwined. Did you seriously think Regan would choose you over himself? Over his brothers?” he laughs, dragging me toward my room.

He tosses me inside, and I stumble to catch myself on the end of the huge bed, my hands clutching the wood, and my scalp burns fiercely. “That old fucking fool, did he think he could get away with this just because he’s fucking dying!” Zeke screams, slamming my door shut.

My hands shake as I try to figure out what just happened and what puzzle pieces were put in place to set this all in motion. “Get dressed!” Zeke snaps, and his eyes move around the room, and he smirks.

“You old fool, don’t worry; I will play by your stupid rules. Let's see you decide then!” Zeke spits, and I glance around, trying to figure out what he’s looking for.

“I said get dressed. We have a date!” Zeke yells at me, pointing to the closet. I hurry over to it, and he follows, shoving me in. I shriek leaves my lips as I hit the huge armoire that takes up an entire wall. The mirror cracks against the crown of my head, and I rub the spot, my fingertips turning red with my blood.

“Pants, you can’t run in a fucking dress!” he snaps behind me when I reach for the first thing on a hanger. He tosses some pants at me, and I flinch.

“Where are you taking me?” I ask worriedly, and he smiles wickedly.

“Hunting!” he says, storming out of the room, and my stomach drops.

My hands shake as I remove my pajamas and pull on my pants, turning I look for a shirt when I notice my arms, all my runes have burned out, and the fluorescent blue-white they usually are has faded into pale scars, yet still, they stand out against my tanned skin. Twisting, I look at the ones that travel down my spine. The first four have turned black; the bottom three are still their normal bluey-white. Yet I can’t take my eyes off the ones that changed color. Confusion sets in. Why did they not fade and change like the others?

They now glitter like the night sky, darker, however, almost black; I try to make sense of the markings and what granny told me they were for, what the colors represent. Blue is peace and protection, the white hue surrounding it, is power essence, a blank slate. However, now they’ve faded; I know it means nothing good. The fading runes on my arms mean they’re losing their power; the energy and protection they offered are now gone. They’ve absorbed as much negativity as they could, and the energy has dispersed.

But the on the top of my spine are black. An abyss, yet they glitter like stars. Granny always said that most people fear black because they associate it with dark magic which is wrong. It's the intention behind it that makes magic a source of dark or light. It's the beholder, the one that yields it, that controls its intention.

However, black to me has always meant protection, a watchful eye. Come to think of it, my arms have been rebranded multiple times, yet my spine has never. I thought maybe because it's hardly exposed to the elements. Yet now I wonder what magick she infused in those ones.