CHAPTER THREE: THE LYCAN KING

At this time, Durian Hathaway was the Lycan King. He possessed a youthful appearance but behaved anciently. His case, as the first-ever Lycan King to be cursed is unprecedented. He inherited the position from his late father, and ever since, he had been devoted to his affairs of protecting the werewolves, well, except for the aspect of having an heir and finding his mate.

His lineage tradition always had it that the Lycan King could only produce offspring with his fated mate that he would be irrevocably in love with. Having been cursed with the inability to love someone, he had not been able to produce an heir. Multiple times, Durian got many breeders to get offspring with but to no avail.

While chasing one of the rogues sent to spy on him, his attention suddenly got drawn away by the intoxicating scent coming from a specific location. With his incomparable speed, he made his way to where the scent had been coming from.

He observed an old woman talking to a young girl about being cursed, and he chuckled as he muttered to himself “Oh what are the odds? Another cursed being. How interesting!”

When he saw that the old woman finally disappeared, he laughed at the reaction of the girl before him. He wondered why she had been so shocked at the revelation she had heard. To him, it was no big deal being cursed since it was something that he had lived with his entire life. Seeing as the girl was still in shock, he approached her.

As Elle still shuddered from the situation that just took place right before her eyes, she noticed a figure hovering above her.

“Are you lost?” Durian asked.

She sighed in frustration and looked up to be met with an unfamiliar face.

“Now, who are you?” Elle asked him. At this point, she would not be surprised by any more encounters in the woods where she found herself.

In an attempt to have more fun, Durian changed his eye colour to one with an amber fire. This made Elle let out a terrifying scream, and this time, she fainted on the spot. Luckily, he caught her head in his hand.

“Humans are so fragile,” Durian said as he laughed hysterically, looking at the fainted girl before him. He carried her into the cave that the initial old woman had come out from and waited for her to wake up.

As he waited, he continued to sniff her body. He noticed that she was an ordinary human being, but she possessed a wolf-like scent that had him intoxicated. There was something special about her that he could not place his hands on.

At that moment, Nyx joined him in the cave. She was the messenger of the mood goddess, and she served as a sort of personal assistant for Durian as the Lycan King.

“My King!” she started. “Why did you chase off that rogue on your own?”

“I was bored. They caught him already, yes? I would have dealt with him myself but I got distracted by this human being”

Nyx looked in between unconscious Elle and Durian for a few seconds before she finally spoke up. “How did she get through the barrier?”. The barrier that Nyx was referring to signified that the territory they were on was strictly for werewolves and only with adequate permission could other creatures come into it.

Durian nodded in agreement with Nyx “My thoughts exactly. More surprisingly. I am intoxicated by her scent! Why do you think this is?”

Nyx usually had an answer for everything but for the first time, she was confused “I might have to consult with the moon goddess herself for this one. However, there’s a high possibility that she might be your mate”

Durian let out a mocking laugh. “Why would a mere human be my mate? I am Durian, the Lycan King. There would be no way that my mate would be an ordinary human girl”

The two dismissed the topic as they decided to consult the moon goddess at a later date.

Back at the camping site, everyone was in a state of panic as each person took a flashlight shouting for Elle. It was already midnight and they still had found no trace of Elle. She had been missing for hours and the security claimed to have searched the entire forest.

Saffron got an idea as she saw Oliver. She whispered to him, “Can’t you try to find her by tracing her scent or something? You vampires are good at that”

Oliver had tried to do that but to no avail due to the barrier. This barrier had been the major reason why they had not found Elle. It was a form of spiritual barrier that was not visible to the ordinary eye.

“I tried that. But it stopped working when I got closer to the barrier. Do you think she somehow got into their territory?”

Saffron suddenly got scared. She figured that maybe Elle must have found out the truth about the supernatural creatures and somehow managed to venture into the territory of the werewolves. “But Elle is only human. There is no way she would enter through the barrier. Some other thing must have come up. I’m sure of it. Because, if even you could not go through it, then how would she?”

“I have to find a way to get through it. I need to protect Elle at all costs. The Lycan King Durian is unpredictable. What if she meets the terrible fate of coming across the rogues? What if...?” Oliver continued to make too many assumptions.

Saffron interrupted him “Stop making assumptions. We need to come up with a plan to get her out of their territory if she is stuck there.”

Oliver nodded in agreement “You distract everyone while I find a way through.”

“How do you plan on doing that? I mean trespassing their territory?”

“I don’t know. But I will find a way. We need to find Elle”

“Be careful!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next morning, Elle woke up hoping that all that she had experienced earlier on had only been one of her nightmares and nothing more. To her surprise, it had already been bright outside. She remembered that she got lost right before nightfall and the memories of the old woman and the eyes with Amber fire that she came across flashed through her mind.

Unfortunately, she realised that nothing was a dream, the events took place and happened right in her presence and she was not crazy. She convinced herself that she was not losing her mind.

“I’m fine” she whispered to herself.

Engulfed in fear she scurried trying to find out what had happened to her “Where am I? I need to make my way back. Everyone must be worried” she said.

In an attempt to head back to safety, she hurriedly made her way out of the cave since she had only been a very short distance from the entrance of the cave. She was stopped by Durian. “Where do you think you are going?” He said, his voice laced with arrogance.

“Let me go! Or else.....” she said as she took multiple steps back.

“Or else what? What can you do?” he countered as he moved closer to her.

The speed rate of her heartbeat doubled up, and she could feel as though Durian could hear her heartbeat. Nevertheless, she gathered as much confidence as she could and let out “Just so you know, my father is a Sheriff, and you can get arrested once they find out that you kidnapped me!”

Once again, Durian laughed hysterically “Are you aware that no one would ever find you here? No matter how much they tried! Do you want to know why?”

Her previously gained confidence dissolved as she shook her head to answer his question.

With a wry smile on his face, he said “This is my territory”

This time around, it was Elle’s turn to laugh hysterically.

“Your territory?” She asked in between fits of laughter. “Where do you think you are? Who do you think you are? Your territory? Tell me something funnier, or preferably, something more believable.”

Durian stared at her in silence before taking in a whiff of air. He was still intoxicated and obsessed with her scent.

“I will not let you leave this place, then, will you believe that this is my territory?”

Elle scuffed at the ridiculousness of his claims and pushed him away. She pushed him away too easily only because he allowed it.

She wandered through the forest for two hours but always ended up back in the cave.

When it was the tenth time she arrived back at the same cave, she looked at Durian in frustration. “Is watching me get lost a form of entertainment for you?”

He ignored her, and she screamed over his head, “Hey you! I’m talking to you!”

“My name is Durian and of course! It's splendid to meet you, Elle! Now do you admit that this is my territory”

Elle’s eyeballs wandered up and down the man who had just introduced himself as Durian. Who was he and how did he know her name? The last person that knew her name in this forest had been an old woman who suddenly disappeared. The mere thought of that scene sent cold shivers down her spine.

Thinking back at the article she was reading about supernatural creatures, it suddenly disappeared too. Everything was happening too fast for Elle. Too fast for her to even process anything. However, to her, one thing was certain—Supernatural Creatures existed amongst them.

It was as if her thoughts were suddenly brought to life by an explosion of sound. The ground shook beneath her feet with a faint grumbling coming from somewhere deep amid the trees, nearer, and nearer still...