Chapter 9: A Fantasy.

The queen's word is like a sharp sword that stabs through Micah's heart. she did not know why she felt that way. Because she doesn't want to mate with the prince either so why did the queens words sting like this?

Does she wanna mate with a beast? No.

But what is this she feeling?

Is it because he's her fated one? That her soul intervened with his own even before she laid her eyes on him?

From the door, Severo's blue and golden eyes flicker up to Micah for a faint moment before he stares back down at the ground. But her eyes remain on him, against her will like every other time.

His eyebrows are creased together with something she assumes is a pain similar to hers. His lips are a thin line as his thumb continuously scratches the mole under his chin in a habitual manner of uncomfortability.

"I won't let our son have a mate who doesn't have the heart to see his worth." The queen throws another insult at Micah. And this time she won't fight back the words that threaten to fall.

"The only thing I know about him is that he had taken a lot of lives for his pleasure and relief. And I was ready to face my death too when I came here. This heart cannot understand a person without one. I admit." There is a fury in her voice that is born from her despise for the prince and the Queen. Yet the words leave a bitter taste in her mouth.

"He doesn't have a choice!" It is the king who defends his son this time. He stares at Micah with his golden eyes that are dull with whatever dark things he won't tell her.

"Well, that doesn't really matter, though. He's a prince; he can have whatever or whoever he wishes to have by his feet." The Queen glares at Micah as she presses the next few words that leave her mouth, "You low life don't get to say what is right or wrong. And if you really care about people's lives, then why don't you spend all of his ruts with him now that you know you're immune to his touch?"

A string of range skims under Micah's skin, she is about to open her mouth and spit all the venom she can summon at the face of the queen when a deadly growl shook the chamber.

Her head snaps to the door, where Severo stands, his eyes are glowing red again as he glares at the Queen, his fingers have a tremor with the range rippling inside him as he threads it through his hair stands.

"Get out! I don't want anyone here." Each of his words is tinged with a growl. A fear flickers through the Queen's eyes as she rushes to leave, slipping through the door before she says to Micah, "Leave before he eats you alive."

The range Severo tries hard to keep under his skin trembles the whole chamber. The King presses a hand on Severo's shoulders, whispering something under his breath that even Micah's wolf instinct can't assess.

Once Severo has his beast under control, The king turns to face Micah, "Fanney will show you the room you'll be staying in for a while. Clear your head, and come to the hall to have breakfast with us."

With that, he disappears through the doors, Severo pursuing behind. Micah stands rooted on her feet, processing what had just happened. The silence has a foreign voice in her ears as she stands there alone, lost in the rippling thoughts in the back of her mind.

A hand on Micah's elbow makes her jump out of her skin. She lets out a breath of relief when her eyes land on the maid with warm brown eyes staring right back at her. This must be Fanney.

"I didn't mean to scare you." The maid says as she retreats her hands from Micah. "I'm here to take you to your chamber." Her eyes drag down to Micah's clothes, which are torn in some places from the way Severo ripped them off from her body last night. The memories of last night stream into her mind but she swipes them away just as fast. A sudden self-consciousness sneaks onto her skin as she watches the maid's eyes evaluate her.

"I'll help you clean up." She says, guiding Micah out of the rut chamber, the scent of cherry blossoms stained with rain and pinewood fading away as they walk further away from the chamber.

Micah doesn't understand what's happening, why is she given a chamber, or why she stays here when she doesn't want anything to do with Severo. And she knows the Queen won't let her mate with Severo even though she wants it herself.

The two of them walk through the hallway of big marble walls and finally reach the chamber Fanney says is Micah's. Everything still feels like a fantasy. Micah didn't dare to step foot into this kind of luxury even in my dreams.

The chamber is larger than Ezline's whole manor. With a huge cloud like a bed in the middle. The walls were cladded with white and golden streaked marbles, and a soft beige and red-colored rug covered every inch of the floor.

The maid leads Micah straight to the bathroom. When she too enters the bathroom right after Micah, she is quick to refuse, "I will bathe myself. No need for you to be here. Thank you."

Fanney stares at her for a moment, as if she's unsure to leave Micah there alone. After some moments of debating in her head, she finally leaves her alone. Without a further word or glance toward her, Fanney slips out of the door before closing it behind her.

A sigh that had been rumbling down Micah's lungs for a while finally finds its way out of her lips as she stares at the closed door.

Yesterday, Micah was crying for her life, fighting to stay alive. Now she is standing in a palace. A luxury she didn't dare to dream of is thrown at her feet. Her mate whom she had so many dreams and expectations of turned out to be a beast.

And Erin and Ezline don't even know she is alive.

Well, Maybe Erin does...

How can this all be real?