Lycan Queen''s Prey Chapter 38


    ~Zirah~


    His voice is filled with a seductive promise, his fingers tracing the Rune with an agonizing slowness that


    lights a fire within me—my heart pounds in my chest, a wild drum echoing in the silence. My body


    betrays me as heat spreads through me, an undeniable desire rising in response to his proximity.


    As if sensing the escting tension, the bathroom door swings open. Hunter and Shadow bound in,


    their tails wagging with mischief. Hunter barrels into Zeke with a yful growl, knocking us off bnce.


    With a yelp, I tumble backward into the shower, taking Zeke with me as he tries to catch me. But the


    momentum sends us both sprawling into the shower, the sudden st of cold water drenching us. I


    I nce up at Hunter, who’s wagging his tail in apparent satisfaction. “I think we were just set up by our


    wolves,” I say usingly, ring at him. Zekeughs, the sound deep and hearty, echoing in the


    bathroom.


    I sit up, suddenly realizing that I’m straddling him. The sudden change in position has Zeke’sughter


    dying in his throat. His gaze darkens, a predatory look in his eyes as his hands fall on my hips, my


    hands push off his chest quickly, but his grip on me tightens, his teeth clenching. A strange look


    crosses his features, one I’ve seen on Regan’s face before, one I’ve also seen on Zeke’s when he


    hunted me through the forest.


    Desire but also the challenge of a chase. I barely moved, but my initial need to get off him and the


    fierceness with which my hands mmed against his chest seemed to set something off within him. So


    many emotions flit across his face while I remain frozen. It would be easy to defend myself now that I


    have magic, have true power, yet I don’t want to hurt him, especially when I can see he is so


    desperately trying to hold on to the control he has not to hurt me.


    “I’m not running, Zeke.” He nces up at me. “I know, but knee-jerk reaction,” he tells me, and I chew


    my lip. “Does it not affect you?” he asks, and my eyes meet his. His flicker sinisterly. But I’m a little lost


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    at his words.


    “Feel what?” I ask. The desire to inflict pain on another?


    “The curse?” he tells me, and my brows pinch in confusion. He lets out a breath. “Of course you don’t,”


    he murmurs, looking away. I test his grip, wriggling my hips to see if I can lift them.


    “You can’t do that,” he whispers, so I remain seated on him. My teeth chatter from the freezing water. “


    Can I turn the heat on, at least?” I tell him.


    “He turns his head up, looking up, then at me. He tilts his head to the side. “I’m surprised you haven’t


    used your powers on me,” he tells me. My teeth chatter again, the icy water seeming to grow colder by


    the second. I lift my hand, reaching for the tap. He watches me as I lean forward. When I hear him


    growl, I quickly twist the heat on more, only to feel one hand move up my side and caress my ribs


    before his thumb brushes over my hardened nipple.


    “I don’t want to hurt you, Zeke.”


    “You’d be well within your right, too,” he answers, his voice sounding off, almost trancelike. Leaning


    back, my back hits his bent knees. Yet his hand lingers and then moves to my chest, eyes following his


    hand as it moves lower, between my breast, tracing the runes.


    “Did Regan tell you about the women before you?” he asks.


    “How did you all kill them by ident?” Zeke’s eyes dart to mine, but he nods.


    “Then yes, he did,” I answer him.


    “So you know why they didn’tst long?” I nod my head.


    “Regan killed them out of anger. He couldn’t control it,” I answer.


    “Yes, and you know my sins.” I nod again.


    “We can’t control what triggers it, much like I can’t control the bond to you now that I feel it,” he


    answers, and I struggle to see his point.


    “Regan controlled it, but it was all a facade,” I answer sadly.


    “No, it wasn’t. Regan.... could only control himself with you because you didn’t fear him. You pulled a


    side out of him that he couldn’t control, yet around you, he felt in control of it. Regan is all about control,


    walking that thin line between control and losing it. But it’s the same with Lyon, greed, and pride. Like


    the night he walked out. He knew his greed would get the better of him if he stayed. He doesn’t like


    sharing, but he has forced himself to in every aspect of his life and kingdom. Yet for you, he walked


    away. He could have shared you, but he’d rather not push you despite you being made for him


    because he wants to earn his ce with you.”


    “But you didn’t,” Zeke nods slowly, his fingers tracing the next ruin. “You challenge me. It makes me


    want you more, you ignore me, it makes me crave your attention, push me away, and it draws me


    nearer. In a sense, they both mastered something from their curse, but I never did.”


    “I would hardly call what Regan has done, mastering his sin, more like he embraced it.” Zeke shakes


    his head. “Did he, though?” I chew my lip.


    “You saving them doesn’t make up for what he nned on doing to them?”


    “Regan has never once been to my kingdom, Zirah.”


    “So?”


    “Because he knew what he’d find. He oversees the kingdoms. Do you truly think a man, burdened with


    Wrath and Lust, yet harboring such control andpulsions, didn’t notice my kingdom growing every


    month while his kingdom shrank? That my supplies went up every month?”


    “You believe he knew you were taking them?”


    “Yes. But as long as he never checked, he could pretend he punished them, pretend I wasn’t taking


    them. Seeing is believing in him. That’s why he neveres to my kingdom; he knows if he finds his


    people there, his Wrath will overrule him, and his need for control will kick in. So he simply didn’t check;


    he turned a blind eye to my kingdom.”