+CHAPTER 27+ The Return Of King Aric

Present Time

The Kingdom Of Lycans 

Aric King~

He didn't sleep very well in a long while, he didn't sleep very well since the last time he spoke to his mate.

His mind has a scary capability of being dark and deemed whenever he tried to sleep.

He was afraid of his own dreams. He was afraid of dreaming about her again only to wake up alone with no trace of her around him, Again.

It has been centuries since he has been awake, awake and tired.

After centuries of roaming foreign lands in search of Emmeline, the Rightful King was back where he truly belonged.

Aric, the king of all beasts looked around his birthplace, the same place he had abandoned in search of his mate.

He had forsaken his kind, his kingdom, and his duties. . . 

For a woman. . .

And now after centuries, he was back only because of the Oracle. She had predicted that Aric's kingdom will lead him back to his mate. Maybe the Oracle was right, maybe Emmeline will walk on a path that will lead her back to him.

He so badly wanted to believe the Oracle, he so badly wanted to believe that finally his sufferings will end and he will be at peace.

He so badly wanted to believe that the demons from his past will stop chasing him~

He wasn't ashamed to admit that he was back here not for his people but for his mate, the mate that he had lost to a witch's greed. 

The mad Oracle had predicted that she had seen Emmeline's blood on his hands but Aric knew that it was going to be the other way around.

Just like before.

Last time Emmeline was merciful enough to leave him in his own pool of blood, alive. Aric touched the silver dagger strapped to his waist, the same dagger that had been embedded into his backbone by Emmeline.

The only thing that she had left behind besides her memories~

Pretty ironic.

He had kept the dagger with him as his most prized possession, the same dagger that had nearly ended his life.

Aric wasn't angry with Emmeline because she had tried to kill him. . .
He was just upset because she never looked back. . .

Just one cursed night had overpowered their love, it took only a single night to apart two soulmates.

The Oracle had told him to reclaim his throne. She had told him that his search for Emmeline wasn't worth the pain that he was going to gain once he found her but Aric knew that the Oracle was wrong, Emmeline was worth every pain. 

She was worth losing his life for~

Without her he was dead but not allowed to die, alive but as good as dead.

His life had no meaning without her.

He was back in his kingdom but everything was changed, everything was different. The markets were vacant. No trade was going on. The markets that in his reign were loaded with trade and had thrived with his people were now abandoned as if no one had sold anything there in centuries.

The beast within him can sense an air of misery around this place. Something was wrong. This wasn't the same place he had left.

A crowd of people caught Aric's attention. Aric moved towards them but didn't step out of the shadows.

"Do you think we can still rely on the Royal family? Darach King isn't fit to lead us, Connor King is a cursed lycan who is as good as dead after his mate's death and Lucia King has the abilities to lead but she's a woman and we all know that we can't give her the throne. If she sat on the lycan throne our race will be mocked for letting a woman overpower us." A young pup declared, he was standing in the middle of the crowd. Every person around him was hanging on to his every word. Connor lost his mate? Aric was shocked by the Pup's words.

Aric's predatory gaze was locked on the pup. Looked like someone got a pretty good fan following while Aric wasn't around.

The left side of Aric's lips lifted almost in a half-smile. Seemed like the pup had declared Aric's whole bloodline insufficient to lead and the fucker didn't even mention Aric in his speech, Ouch.

That hurts. . .

The beast within him stirred upon a possible challenge to his birthright but Aric let it slip. The pup was young and mighty have born after his departure.

He can't punish him for his ignorance. The Pup's thoughts on gender equality were amusing. Emmeline would have handed him his ass in front of everyone while she gave him a lecture on women empowerment.

His mate was a fierce little thing. 

The pup was lucky that his Queen wasn't around.

"We need someone who will be able to lead us, someone who can make our kingdom great again and that someone doesn't have to be from the royal bloodline." The pup announced, this time Aric couldn't keep himself from interfering.

"And you think that someone could be a mere pup like you?" Aric mocked with laughter in his voice. The pup looked Aric in the eye but soon realized his mistake when the pup's beast offered his neck to Aric in a show of submission.

His beast has recognized his King.

"Your beast knows his place pup, you should learn your place too." Aric announced in his booming voice, drawing everyone's attention towards him.

Aric wasn't around for centuries but that didn't make him any less of a king. The beast within him had been born to lead.

Aric didn't wait for the Pup's reply, passing through the markets Aric moved towards his castle where he had resided with Emmeline centuries ago.

Gasps sounded from all around him when he walked on the streets of his kingdom.

His people had recognized their King.

Soon choir sounded from his people.

"It that Aric King?"

"My eyes must be playing tricks on me or am I really witnessing our lost king walking towards his castle?"

"Our King finally returned!" 

"The Goddess of Moon had finally listened to our prayers!!.

"Our True King is back!!" 

Astonishment and joy were dripping from everyone's tone.

Passing through the markets Aric moved towards his castle where he had resided with Emmeline centuries ago.

Ignoring the overlapping voices of his people Aric entered his home. His shoulders relaxed when the warmth of his birthplace surrounded him. He was feeling solace in the environment but still, something was missing, his mate was missing.

After centuries he was home but it didn't feel like home without Emmeline in it.

For centuries he was getting punished for something that he had no control over. . .

Under the full Moon, wrapped in her love, Aric's beast had cried for his mate. 

Emmeline's love was rooted deep in the King of Beast's soul. His heart had stopped beating without her.

Aric yearn for a taste of the love that he had lost~

"Your Highness it's you, it's really you. I hope my brain isn't playing tricks." Mathias's voice pulled Aric out of his thoughts.

"Mathias." Aric turned around to come face to face with his royal guard and old companion.

He was dressed in a white silk shirt and black pants, looking like a prince charming straight out of the Cinderella movie. While Aric was wearing ripped jeans and a plain and dirty black shirt, not looking even a bit like the king that he was.

Aric hugged his loyal friend. It's been so long since the last time he interacted with one of his kind.

Lycan lived in packs, their pack can be of four people or a whole village. It was in their blood to live and provide for each other. Lycans needed a sense of connectivity with their kind in order to survive but Aric had lost that privilege the day he abandoned his kingdom.

He had paid a very high price for a mistake, his mistake of inviting a witch in his life.

"You have a load of shit piled up that needs your immediate attention." Mathias breathed the words out.

"Not today Mathias." Aric brushed away his statement while breaking the hug and stepping away.

After seeing the fatigue on Aric's face Mathias gave in.
"Okay, not today. You should rest. Your chamber will be ready just lemme call a servant to clean it up. No one had been there after your departure. Queen Emmeline forbid anyone to enter your chamber."

"Don't, I don't want anyone there either." Aric said with an edge in his voice. His heartfelt heavy at the reminder of his mate.

After centuries Aric has heard Emmeline's name from someone else's lips. 

It was bringing back a fresh set of memories. . .

"As you wish. . . I'm glad that you returned Aric." Mathias said before he took his leave clearly sensing his king and old friend's inner emotional battle. 

Aric headed towards his chamber, it was the first time he was entering his royal chamber that he had once shared with his mate.

It was finally time for him to face his demons.

He entered his royal chamber, it was the first time he was entering his chamber after that cursed night.

A fresh wave of loneliness hit Aric like a wrecking ball. His eyes fell upon the tousled silk bed sheet, reminding him that now his mate was walking on a different path. A path where he was not with her.

The two soulmates were now distant from each other just like the night was distant from light.

A broken bond~

A part of Aric's soul cut up over something that he had no control over~


∆∆∆Flashback∆∆∆

How blessed are some people, whose lives have no fears, no dreads. To whom sleep was a blessing that came nightly bringing nothing but sweet dreams.

Aric's eyes fell upon the Fey Princess who was in a peaceful slumber, unaware of the war brimming inside Aric.

Her platinum white locks were sprawled all over her pillow. Her platinum lashes had cast shadows on her cheeks. She was there, everything was there like before but Aric felt hollow from inside.

As if someone had cast away all his feelings for Emmeline.

Something was wrong with him, something was really wrong with his beast too. He wasn't feeling the mate bond as if someone had built a wall between Aric and Emmeline. 

Even Aric's beast was distant~

It was midnight and Aric was standing at the window in his royal chamber, gazing at the dark forest.

The woods were lovely, dark and deep~

The woods were calling to his very soul, compelling him towards the dark musky abandoned forest as if someone was waiting for him in the woods.

Aric looked towards his mate who was sleeping peacefully, draped in silk. Leaving her alone in their royal chamber Aric headed towards the woods. Alone.

Towards his own doom~

The moment he stepped into the woods. He got a sense of being watched. The hair on the back of his neck raised as his ears picked on a whisper of his name. . . 

"Aric. . ."

As if having a mind of their own his legs moved towards the direction of the whisper until he reached a lake in the middle of nowhere.

Darkness there and nothing more~

At the edge of the lake was standing the least suspecting person Aric thought of encountering tonight.

Charlie~

"Aric. . ." His name rolled off her tongue as a prayer, it sounded almost like a plea.

Charlie, the only woman whom Aric had bedded more than once besides his mate.

She was more than a bed partner for him. She was a companion, a wise friend with whom he was in a compatible relationship.

Because unlike others she never asked for more and she was completely okay with the fact that Aric was only going to claim his fated mate and no one else.

She was unique and a kind soul~

A deadly combination.

And now she was standing in front of him. She never spoke another word, never made a sound but the look in her eyes told him that she was here for him.

She offered her right hand to Aric, waiting for him to hold her hand. When Aric stepped towards her, his beast growled in his head in warning, immediately stopping him in his tracks.

"Come to me Aric. . . Come to whom you truly belong. . ." A soothing voice in his mind overpowered his beast's growls.

Accepting Charlie's offered hand, Aric pulled her into his body. It was all the encouragement Charlie needed, setting her lips on his she claimed him, branding her essence on the King of Beasts.

Deep in his heart, Aric was aware of the fact that what he was going to do was wrong but at the same time it felt so right. . .

That was how Aric sealed his fate of Misery and Bloodshed. That night three lives were going to walk towards inevitable doom.

A fate worse than death~