Lycan King's Regret: Punished The Wrong Daughter

Arabella Toussaint:

For a few seconds, nothing happened. Then something began to rise out of Queen Theodora’s body. Something similar to black, dense smoke. I shot up from the bed.

Her physical body remained exactly where it was, sitting on the floor with her eyes closed, while another version of her slowly separated from it. It floated upward before turning toward the window.

What the fuck?

Was she actually going to Victor? Was she really the one getting into his dreams and scaring him every night?

Okay. I needed to follow her.

But I was in no mood to float all the way to Victor’s house. I had discovered a much faster way a few minutes ago, so I closed my eyes.

I need to be in Victor’s room. The moment I said it to myself, everything changed. When I opened my eyes again, I was standing inside a bedroom.

"Whoa," I whispered. Victor was lying on the bed.

Even in the dim light, he looked terrible. His face seemed thinner than it had earlier, and the dark circles beneath his eyes looked worse now. He was lying stiffly against the pillows instead of relaxing into them, as though even closing his eyes required effort.

A young woman sat beside him, holding his hand. Who was she? Victor’s mate?

I moved closer. The woman looked young, probably somewhere around Victor’s age, and her eyes never left his face. She stroked the back of his hand with her thumb.

"Don’t worry," she murmured. "She won’t scare you tonight, Victor. I’m right here." Victor’s eyes, which had just started to close, flew open and he jerked upright.

"Are you sure?" His fingers closed tightly around hers. "Are you sure she won’t come back, Anna?" The girl’s eyes filled with fresh tears.

"There’s no one here." She moved closer to him. "I’m with you. She can’t do anything to you. Just try to sleep, honey. You need to sleep." Victor shook his head frantically, then he started crying.

"Please." His voice broke as he held on to her hand. "Please save me, Anna. She can come anytime. You know I haven’t been able to sleep properly for years."

"I know." Anna wiped his face with her free hand. "I know, Victor... and I’m right here."

Her eyes moved toward the nightstand. I followed her gaze and found a bottle of sleeping pills sitting beside a glass of water.

"I even gave you the sleeping pills, Victor," she said softly. "Just give them some time to work, okay?"

I stood a few feet away, watching them. I didn’t know what to do. I couldn’t speak to Victor. I couldn’t tell him that I was there, and I believed him. Eventually, the pills didn’t seem to work on him.

Victor lay back, although his hand remained wrapped around Anna’s. His breathing slowly evened out, and within a few minutes, a faint snore escaped him.

The girl whose name was Anna didn’t leave. She leaned back in the chair, still holding his hand, and her swollen eyes were fixed on him.

Then something moved near the window, and I turned to look at it. A shadow seemed to be slipping silently into the room, making my entire body go still. I didn’t need to see her face to know who it was.

The bitchy Queen. Theodora Volkov.

Queen Theodora floated toward Victor, but Anna didn’t react at all. She remained slumped in the chair, looking tiredly at Victor’s sleeping face. Okay. So, she couldn’t see her.

Theodora stopped beside the bed and leaned over Victor, a wicked smile slowly spreading across her face. "Victor, sweetheart," she whispered. "I’m back, my love."

Victor’s body jerked beneath the covers as I stared at him. What was happening? Was she already inside his dream? Was that why Anna couldn’t see her or hear her?

Victor’s brows pulled together in his sleep, and his fingers twitched around Anna’s hand. Anna immediately leaned forward and tightened her grip on him. "It’s okay, Victor," she whispered. "I’m here."

I couldn’t take it anymore. What did the queen think of herself? Enough of this bullshit!

"Theodora," I called her name loudly and stepped closer, even though I knew she probably couldn’t hear me. "Move away from him."

She didn’t so much as blink. Instead, she leaned closer to Victor and continued speaking to him in that sickeningly sweet voice. "Why did you meet Arabella today, Victor? Hmm? Did you forget what I told you? Did you tell her our little secret, sweetheart?"

Victor whimpered in his sleep, and the sweetness in her voice made my skin crawl. That voice. I knew it. Three years ago, when she had appeared in my dreams to scare me, she had spoken to me the exact same way. Too sweet. Too calm.

This was enough. I couldn’t take it anymore now. I walked straight up to Theodora until there was barely any space between us and pressed my hand against her forehead.

She couldn’t feel me. There was no warmth, no actual touch, but I stayed there anyway, staring straight at her face. "Theodora, I command you to move back right now!" Her entire body jerked backward, and my eyes went wide.

Theodora looked around sharply, her eerie smile disappearing. "What is going on here?" she muttered to herself.

She couldn’t hear me, but something had definitely happened to her body. As if someone pushed her back.

Theodora looked around the room for another few seconds before turning back to Victor. The bitch wanted to attack Victor again. I quickly stepped in front of her. "No, Theodora. Don’t you understand? Move back!"

Her body jerked again, but then she floated through me and leaned toward Victor again. "Poor Victor," she cooed. "You look so tired. Haven’t you been sleeping well because of me?"

A frightened sound escaped Victor, and he started moving his head restlessly against the pillow.

"Stop it." I moved between them again and threw both hands out as if I could block her. "Get away from him, you monster!"

"Maybe you should have listened to me, sweetheart." She was talking to Victor again. "You went to see Arabella today when I specifically told you not to..." I didn’t let her finish.

"That’s enough!" I reached for her shoulders without thinking. This time, unexpectedly, my hands didn’t pass through her and landed on her.

For one stunned second, she didn’t move; then, using all my strength, I shoved her with full force.

Theodora flew backward and shot across the room, straight out of the open window. Her scream echoed through the night.

Oh, my Goddess! I rushed toward the window and leaned out. Theodora was still there, suspended in the air several feet away from the house. She looked around with a wild expression, then turned her head toward the window.

The wicked smile on her face had vanished. And her face? Goddess, she looked terrified.

"Who’s there?" she demanded, turning around again. "Who did this to me? Show yourself! I dare you to come in front of me!"