-HER-

I was at dinner with the Drakkon king the next night. Both of us were in his special tent, having dinner and talking. By now, I'd dodged five attempts by him to kiss me. He was now getting more and more aggressive with his ways to kiss me and so was I with my ways to defend myself.

"Why wouldn't you let me kiss you?" He asked me once, looking very much frustrated. He was trying everything— complimenting me, showering me with gifts and everything but still, I refused to show him a hint of affection. Though I remained polite all the while, making it harder for him to say or do anything rough to me.

"I would let you kiss me when you make me your wife. In our tribe it's a sin if couples kiss before marriage and you know how seriously I take such customs," I pouted at him, giving him a very innocent look which pushed him further onto the edge.

I was aware of how his whole body was tensed beside me.

"You're not in your tribe now so you can do whatever you want,"

"As long as I'm not married to you, I will be a member of my tribe," I told him further to irritate him but he didn't say anything. Rather he kept his patience and continued to talk with me politely. Had it been Ezekiel in his place, he'd have already found ways to sleep with me.

Speaking of Ezekiel, where was the brute for all these days? Did he fell in the river and die while on his way here?

The river...

"Your Highness," I purred as I ran a finger down his chin seductively while holding his gaze, "Could you tell me what's in the river?" I asked him.

"Why? You don't know about it?" He asked me, furrowing his eyebrows. This made me contemplate for a moment if I did the right thing by asking him about the river.

"No, in our tribe only the elders know about the river and they refuse to share the knowledge with us. We're strictly advised to stay away from the river," I answered, batting my eyelashes at him, looking sad. For a moment it was hard for me to believe that I was acting like this but then again, the situation required me to do so, and well, it was fun— dressing up and scamming a king from the neighbourhood.

I should do this more often. After all, Thastonia is also a neighboring kingdom.

"I see," He spoke, "The river is dangerous. The water of the river is so dense that the light refuses to penetrate through it,"

"So that's what makes the river dangerous?" I asked him gently, running my fingertips over the scales on his arms. He was watching me pensively meanwhile. His eyes were dark and full of lust as they focused solely on my face.

"Partly," He answered, "It has more to do with who lives in the river,"

"Who lives in the river?" I asked him, drawing my hand closer and closer to his palm. He was about to hold my hand but I pulled away in time and flashed him a playful seductive smile that instantly sped up his heartbeats.

His eyes lingered on me for a long heated moment. I wanted to puke because of the way he was looking at me but I called upon every ounce of self-control that I had in myself and flashed him a flattering smile.

"I cannot say his name but it's said that he's very powerful," He told me.

"Who is it and why can't you say his name?" I asked him with anticipation. All of a sudden I noticed that the whole tent was drowned in silence. There was even no sound outside of the tent. This made me anxious for a bit. I stayed alert but at the same time, maintained my poise.

"His name should not be taken,"

"Why? What would happen if his name is taken?" I pressed.

"He will appear and you don't want that to happen,"

"Why? Who is he really and how does he hold such power? Tell me, your highness. I wish to know," I urged him, wrapping my fingers around his arm seductively while holding his gaze with a burning heat.

"He's said to be a half-monster and half diety. He ruled this land for years," He told me. I was now curious. Did I wonder who the person really could be to Ezekiel? If Ezekiel was the king now then he would have most probably defeated him, right? I wished to know more but all of a sudden there was this hesitance on the King's face.

"What happened to him?" I asked. The cat was out of the bag now. I was intrigued. I wished to find out more. Was this why Ezekiel didn't want me to get anywhere near the river.

"There was a war... a long war before a treaty was signed and then he went back into the river and he's said to rule the world that is under our feet now," He brushed it off.

"War with whom? Treaty signed with whom?" I urged. As the time passed, the king looked more and more anxious. At one moment he literally looked around the tent as if he wanted to make sure that there was no one else other than the two of us.

He looked scared for a moment. Really scared.

This made me remember Ezekiel's reaction whenever the subject of the river came up between the two of us. Although Ezekiel didn't look scared. He looked more or less concerned and anxious. I knew it had to do something with him.

"With the King of Lycans," The King confirmed my doubts. That was all I needed to know. The moment I see Ezekiel now, I'd bombard him with these questions. I am sure if I nag enough the I'd be able to get at least something out of him but now, I need to get out as much as I could from the King of Drakkons.

"What caused the war between them?" I asked him next but now a strange expression had climbed on his face. His eyes were not fervently focused on my face anymore. Instead, he was staring at a distance, lost in his thoughts.

When I asked him the question, he didn't respond at first as if he hadn't heard me at all. For a moment, it appeared that he'd forgotten that I was there in the first place. He didn't notice me until I placed my hand on his shoulder. He almost jumped before he looked at me with wide eyes.

His body seemed to have tensed for a moment but as soon as he saw me, he relaxed a bit.

"What happened?" I asked him gently, to which he shook his head and replied, "Nothing. I think you should leave now. It's quite late. I have to talk to my General about some things,"

"What do you want to talk to your General about?" I asked him batting my eyelashes at him but he already seemed to be distracted by something because my seduction wasn't working on him anymore.

"Things that will bore you," He told me before assisting me out of his tent, "I would have loved to accompany you back to your tent but I have pressing matters at hand," He told me.

"That's alright, your Highness. Thank you for the great night," I said to him before taking him by surprise when I planted a promising kiss very close to his lips without a warning, leaving him stunned.

I flashed him a smile as he watched me with a racing heart before I turned around and started walking towards my tent. Meanwhile, I also processed all the things that I got to learn from the King of Drakkons.

He seemed to have been sacred as if he'd seen a ghost from the past when I asked him about the war. It was surprising to me. Gathering the reactions that I got from Ezekiel and the king of Drakkons, all I could conclude was that the King in the river was someone very powerful to make these men so anxious.

I was definitely going to find out more about him one way or other but for now, I focused on the present. I instantly knew that I was being followed in the dark as I threaded through the camp towards my tent.

I calmly reached for the dagger hiding under my dress. I'd managed to steal it from the General of the Drakkons himself.

As I kept getting closer to my camp, I started feeling their presence more and more. This confirmed that whoever was following me wanted me to be aware of their presence. My fingers around the dagger's handle tightened even more while I kept my calm on the outside.

I was just passing a dark tent that seemed to be used for the purpose of storing medicine supplies when I felt a looming presence behind me. Before I could turn around, a strong arm wrapped around my waist while a hand calmed down on my mouth, and in the next moment, I was being dragged into the tent.

I'd have instantly gotten myself out of the hold and stabbed the person in the heart but I let them drag me into the darkness.

My wolf stirred.

"You scheming son of a bastard,"