Chapter 11
You aren’t scared, but you aren’t jealous either. You’re neutral, which is strange for a Tyran King’s Erasthai” King Minnlay said as he looked at her like this wasn’t supposed to happen. She felt nothing and that strangely got Miroslav looking at her differently, like they would understand each other regardless of what happened to them.
“I don’t know what you expect of me, Your Highness,” Ralphine said earnestly
“Come with me, Ralph,” Miroslav said as he held his hand out to her.
“Okay, Your Highness,” Ralphine said, only for Miroslav to stop her.
“Miro. Call me Miro, the King said and his Erasthai looked at him, unsure if that was vormething she would use. That was reserved for the people who were close to him, not a rogue who wasn’t sure where her position was, and honestly, that worried her. She didn’t want to be comfortable here. She didn’t want to have hope when this King could easily take her out and no one would ask a question.
“I am not your friend, your highness. Your friends call you Miro. I would hate to intrude Ralphine said, making the King len out a lone laugh. He had never thought of it like that, but this woman was giving him plenty of ideas. Perhaps there would come a time when things would be alright between the two of them, right?
“Ibrahimovich then. No one calls me with that, the King said, his voice filled with so much hope that for a moment, Ralphine wasn’t sure what the man was playing at. She wouldn’t ask him but could only hope that whatever he was planning for her wasn’t as cruel.
“Ibrahim,” Ralphine said and the King nodded in approval. He didn’t mind.
“Come, let’s go sit somewhere. I believe it’s time you and I talk, don’t you think?” Miro asked and Ralphine didn’t hesitate. She let herself hold his hands, ignoring the obvious burst of energy that they both felt when their hands connected. It was more than obvious they were mates.
However, Ralphine knew that the Lycan King, just like beta Drescher, had the final say in this. She wouldn’t try to make things favor her in any way. It was either the King wanted her or didn’t want her. There was no in–between there, and she was ready for whatever came for her. No matter what the universe sent her way, she was ready to face it all, and the numbness in her heart was shattering.
“Here,” the Lycan King said when they reached one of the openings in the south of the kingdom. He had brought her here so she would see what the kingdom was like, give her a tour in the process, and more than anything. let her know that none of this mattered if she wasn’t with him. He could only hope that she got his message.
Then again, a girl who never dared to hope, Ralphine needed to hear him say it, as she wasn’t going to make any assumptions for herself. She had already lost too much even without assumptions. She couldn’t let herself hope in the dark.
“It’s beautiful, thank you,” Ralphine said as she sat on the ground next to Miroslav. This was new to her, but it seemed like she would be experiencing a lot of new things.
“I didn’t want you to worry about the Lycans. No one can find us here, not even my nosy friends,” the King said with a chuckle as he looked at her softly. She looked prettier up–close and Miroslav was once again glad he had been out there to look for her subconsciously. Of course, along the way, Miroslav had wiped Polina’s lipstick off of him and hadn’t said a word about it.
“Thank you,” Ralphine said again, not sure what she could say.
“What happened the night I found you beaten and bruised? Who hurt you?” Miroslav asked, his voice getting angrier with every word, but he had to remember to be calm because this was his Erasthai he was talking about. He couldn’t just pretend that things were alright while he was looking for answers.
Granted, he had already sent his men to seek more information, but he needed to hear it from her.
“Nothing. I was too busy running away from Koslov and the pain to even realize I had scratched myself one too many times along the way. It wasn’t as terrible as it looked. Besides, I’m a wolf, I healed myself well,” Ralphine said, adding the last bit slowly, even though she knew that she hadn’t healed on her own.
Her wolf hadn’t talked to her since the day she had let herself be beaten by Beta Drescher and even to this day, she wasn’t doing anything. It hurt, but Ralphine couldn’t hurry her wolf. She knew that her wolf was angry and she had refused to defend herself, but even if she did, what good could that have done to her? She would have probably ended up in the Koslow
dunge…
“You be. Ralph King Miroslav said as he turned to her, so he was facing her. He wanted to see the truth in her eyes but even without looking at her, he could already feel she was protecting something. Granted, he wasn’t exactly the person people ran to for hugs and kisses, but he just wanted to be there for his mate.
“I do not, Ibrahim. The pressure from what had happened to my parents was too much for me to handle and I ran, like a coward out of Koslov. That is the truth. I didn’t look at where I was headed and stumbled to the ground. That much is true. Ralphine said and the King stared at her softly.
“Who are you protecting. Ralph? I will find out what happened to the woman meant for me. I am already looking, love. You might as well tell me before they come back with their findings,” Miroslav said and Ralphine stared at him in confusion. He senously couldn’t mean that he had sent out an actual team to find out what had happened to her, right?
It just didn’t make any sense. It wasn’t rational and this King was making half–assed decisions. He would trigger a war, just because of his adamance and Ralphine couldn’t be the reason the Lycans went to war, not even if they were the reason her parents had been murdered in cold blood and the entire Koslov had watched.
“No one. I told you what happened to me… Can I ask a question, Ibrahim?” Ralphine asked, knowing so well that she had lied to the King. But a part of her knew the King could probably go after Drescher, not because he cared for her, but because he wanted to send a message out there to remind everyone that she was his for some sick twisted reason.
*What do you want with me? Why am I, a rogue, really here!” Ralphine asked and this time, she looked into the King’s eyes, like she wanted to see for herself what truth this man would feed her. She didn’t mind being a captive, she just watched to know where she stood.
“I have been here for a week, from what I have heard so far. You have been welcoming of a rogue, despite knowing it could trigger a revolution. You have kept me out of sight, and I don’t blame you for that. It is what any King would do. But I just need to know what my role here is. You keep saying I am your Erasthai, but we both know I am not fit to be a queen.
“Polina, on the other hand, looks like the perfect woman for you. She reeks of power and is determined to get what she wants. Unlike me, who doesn’t even know if I deserve to be alive after everything” Ralphine said, and once again, Miroslav wasn’t sure what to say. This woman seemed to be catching him off–guard one too many times and it wasn’t pretty, not for him.
“Is that what you think you are? Just a disposable slave for me to throw away after a few fucks? Or someone unworthy of the bond?” Miroslav asked as he tried to understand, but would he see where Ralphine was coming from, or was this just going to be inconveniencing him!
“Honestly, yes,” Ralphine responded in a whisper. She didn’t want to look at the King anymore because she wasn’t sure what she would see.
“Someone broke your heart, Ralph. Someone rejected you, that is the only way you could think this of yourself. Someone ruined your trust and hurt you in the process, isn’t it? That’s why even when I kissed Polina for your attention, you just sat there watching in silence like it didn’t mean anything, huh?
“That’s why you didn’t smell like a regular rogue when I found you,” Miroslav asked frustratedly, the reality hitting him 50 hard. He had never been one for mates, but realizing what had happened to the beautiful woman before him made him want to spill more than just blood. It made him want to burn generations to the ground. It made him want to be a feral King, the monster that had all thought of him as.
Someone had been the reason she was so broken and she wasn’t about to say the name? Was that why she was so calm about everything? Miroslav felt his heart shatter, and it hurt so bad that he had to calm himself by holding Ralphine’s face so close to his and breathing her in. It was so sudden that Ralphine wasn’t sure what this would mean.
“Who was he, Ralphine? Give me a name, my love. Tell me who did this to you, and I will make them take back their words and whatever they did to you. Tell me, and I will give them a punishment worse than death,” Miroslav said with conviction, the truth so evident in his voice and even how he was staring at her. She could feel the stare and the change in the atmosphere.
“It doesn’t matter now. You haven’t told me what you expect of me, here with you, now that it seems you won’t let me go,” Ralphine said and Miroslav ran a frustrated hand through his hair. He never thought this would ever happen, but slowly, he understood that he needed to use his power to defend her and be there for her. The only problem was whether she would let
him.
“Ralph.. Be my girlfriend, please,” the King said softly, the warmth in his voice so appealing, that Ralphine choked on air. This man was high on something.
Cher 1
In one she had seen more than two versions of this King and now he was showing her another any chance was the King bipolar or maybe King Minosday had dissociative identity disorder?
“What Ralphine asked in disbeliet. She knew the king was the most dangerous man, but this man before her was nothing like the man he had seen earlier, or even the one who had been staring at her when she woke up. Hell, he was nothing like the
“Well, that, or I go to Nosley and and the bastard who hurt you. I can’t promise he’ll be alive, though, Miroslav shrugged, and Kalpline looked at him like he wasn’t serious. Then agam, with the history she knew about him, it wasn’t really pleasant.
Tm the Iven King, sweetheart. I can do whatever I want and no one will say no to me. Miroslav said casually like it wasn’t that much of a gamble for him.
“Please
“Give me a name then. Miroslav said in a singsong voice and Ralphine was finally convinced her second–chance–mate had a lot of screws in his head.
“Ughh I’ll be your girlfriend, your Royal Highness-
“Nu–uh,
stickat did we say about names?” Miroslav said as he waved his fingers in her face as if to tell her that they had a deal to
Tll be your girlfriend, Ibrahim.
“Not good enough,” King Miroslav said and Ralphine stared at him blankly, carefully moving his hands that were on her face. She needed to figure out which part of this was real or if she was trapped in som illusion.
Fine. What do you want me to be“
“My queen–in–waiting.
“Fine” Ralphine said, before adding, “What?” She looked at the lycan king as if to try and take back what she had just agreed to. “You’re my Erasthai. Ralph. You seriously don’t expect me to treat you like some lowly rogue when your seat is right beside me at the table, do you?” King Miroslav asked his voice, going back to the man he always was.
“But Miro-
You don’t want to give me a name, Ralph. I won’t press on. But I must let you know, I will find that name myself. However, until I do, no one will hurt you again. No one.” Miroslav said as he pulled a shocked Ralphine into a hug.
As much as she wanted to deny it, this was the first time Ralphine Belyaeva felt safe.
