Chapter 3 Chapter 3

LUCIEN

“Oh my goddess! Are you okay, sweetie?”

The extremely panicked voice floated down to me, but I barely registered the words. I was too busy fighting the agonizing sensation of my lungs trying to re-inflate.

Curse this goddessforsaken body.

How in the hell had I gone from being the most feared, ruthless Lycan King in the entire supernatural realm–a warrior who had brought empires to their knees–to a weak, frail, fucking seventeen-year-old boy lying flat on his back on a hospital floor?

Balki. That’s fucking how!

Centuries ago, when that arrogant bastard god of the underworld tried to conquer the four most powerful species–vampires, werewolves, dragons, and witches–he succeeded in bringing the vampires to their knees. But when he turned his sights on the wolves, I fought him with every ounce of ancient Lycan fury I possessed. I won the war, but Balki made sure I paid the ultimate price with his dying breath.

He laid a twisted curse upon my soul: until I found my one true mate, I would be trapped in the useless, stunted body of an adolescent child. Worse still, with every passing year, my life force drained bit by bit. Slowly, painfully, turning my physical form to dust.

It shouldn't be that hard to find a mate, right? That’s what anyone would think. But I had walked this earth for centuries. Centuries. And in all those long, agonizing years, I had never once felt the spark of the bond. Not once.

Finally, my diaphragm gave a sharp kick, and air rushed back into my chest. I shoved myself up off the cold floor, aggressively tossing the woman’s hands away as she tried to help me.

"It's fine, woman! Now get the hell away from me," I bit out in a tone that had my voice cracking slightly with the teenage vocal cords I thoroughly loathed.

With a gasp, she stumbled back a step. "E-Excuse me?"

I didn't even bother sparing her a glance. I just wanted to get this humiliating day over with. It was insult enough that a mere female had just knocked the breath out of me; I had no patience left for pleasantries.

If it weren't for my pack elders practically begging me on their knees, I wouldn't even be near this place. They’d convinced me to select a highly fertile surrogate from Saint Jude’s–the most renowned medical facility in the werewolf world–to secure an heir using my stored genetic material before my body completely deteriorated. I hated the idea of a test-tube legacy, but time was running out.

I took two steps toward the private clinical wing, but before I could make it past the threshold, a sharp sting erupted on the side of my head.

Someone had grabbed me firmly by the top of my ear.

"Ow! What the actual fuck?!" Gasping, my head yanked sideways. I stilled in disbelief. Who dares touch me?!

"What the heck did you just say to me,?" the woman’s voice barked right above me.

Oh, my temper went straight through the roof. "Who the fuck do you think you're–"

The words died a violent death in my throat as I spun around to tear into whoever had touched me, only for my eyes to finally take her in properly. And the entire world simply stopped spinning.

Woah.

She was stunning. Breathtaking in a way that was a smack to the face. She had lush, dark hair falling in soft waves around a round face framed by full, kissable lips and pretty green orbs filled with fire. She wasn't the bone-thin, frail females my elders kept trying to parade in front of me–she had gorgeous curves that filled out her oversized sweater in the most captivating way imaginable.

"...Are you listening to me?" she was saying, dropping her hands to her luscious hips as she scowled down at me. "Did you hear what I said?"

"Huh?" I breathed out, completely dazed.

Frustrated, she threw her hands up. "Oh, I am just so done with today! I'm already having the most horrible day of my life, and I am not going to handle some bratty teenager who has zero respect for his elders! Come on–where is your mother? She's got a whole lot to…"

I barely registered her scolding. I was too busy staring at her in awe.

Something was happening to me. Her voice, her proximity, the very air rolling off her skin... it was doing something to my system that I hadn't felt in hundreds of years.

Suddenly, the constant, agonizing thrum of pain in my spiritual realm began to ease. The ragged tear in my soul felt... cool. Smooth.

My dormant spiritual power stirred, stretching out like a beast waking from a hundred-year slumber. For the first time in a century, the fatal curse damage in my core was actually regenerating.

My eyes widening in realization watched me cut straight through her rant as I whispered the word that stunned me shitless. "Mate.”

"My mate." My voice grew stronger as the truth echoed through every drop of my blood. "You're my mate!"

All that earned me was a look that suggested she thought I was crazy. "Okay... clearly there is something wrong with your brain. Did you bump your head when I plummeted you onto the floor earlier? Which, again, I am very sorry for!"

"I am not a kid!" A growl so full of unmistakable Lycan authority pushed from my chest. "And you are my fucking mate!"

The weight of my voice was enough to make her eyes go wide as saucers and her frame go all shaky, but instead of bowing, she just shook her head rapidly.

"You know what? No. I'm not doing this.” Muttering, she backed up fast. "I am not adding a hallucinating teenager to the list of shit shows today!"

That was all she said before she flat-out bolted toward the double doors, fleeing the building.

"Wait! Stop!" I roared, taking a step to pursue her. I couldn't let her leave. She was the key to breaking my curse–my literal salvation.

Before I could sprint out the doors after her, a group of nurses came sprinting out from a corridor into the main floor, led by a visibly sweating Dr. Dan.

"Your Lordship!" Yelling, he pulled to a halt when he spotted me. He looked frantic, wiping a bead of sweat from his forehead. "Your Lordship, thank the Goddess! Did you... did you happen to see a woman pass by here? Curves, dark hair, wearing a grey sweater?"

Hold up. That was the exact description of my mate who had just run away from me.

"I did," I said. "Why? What's wrong? What did she do?"

Dr. Dan’s face went pale. He tried to force a quick, reassuring smile, but it looked more like a nervous twitch. "Oh! No, nothing at all, Your Lordship! Just... a minor administrative mistake. We just need to hand her some paperwork, that's all!"

"Do I look fucking stupid to you, Doctor?" Stepping into his pace, I used a dangerous tone that had him flinching. "You gathered a whole team of nurses to chase a woman down the hall over paperwork?"

I released a tiny flick of my buzzing Lycan energy into the corridor, and it was enough to have the doctor’s knees buckling and his breath growing erratic. "You will speak. And you will tell me the truth right now."

"I-I'm so sorry, Your Lordship!" Squeaking out, he trembled under the pressure. "It was an accident! A terrible, catastrophic mix-up! The hospital had no idea–they had the exact same name! The original woman went to quickly use the restroom right before the procedure, so when Nurse Jasmine called out for the patient in the waiting room, we didn't realize..."

Oh, for the love of all things holy… "Go straight to the fucking point, Doctor! What are you talking about?! I'm not following!"

"The... the woman who just left!" Squeezing his lids shut and shaking like a leaf, he stuttered out frantically. "The dark-haired woman in the grey sweater... she's the one who was just implanted with your child! She's carrying your baby!"

Those words had all the breath in my lungs seizing. "What?"