Bullied Mate Of The Lycan Kings
Chapter 141

Lily's pov

"Where do I start from?" Cade replied to my request and I wondered if I was better off not knowing the truth, if truly ignorance was bliss like everyone else said but I knew that was probably foolish at this point.

I needed this information. Dahlia was my only key to becoming someone that can stand beside my mates and considered on their level, but I needed to know what I was getting into.

"Start from the beginning. Tell me why your mother has so much interest in me and why she would even go as far as to betray her own people for her goals."

Cade actually flinched like my words slapped him and I understood how he had to feel. After going around being tagged the daughter of a traitor, I understood quite well the stigma that came with it and the constant feeling of shame and guilt. Sighing, he sat himself down on the mattress folding his legs and gestured for us to do the same.

"It's going to be a long story," He added and I nodded in understanding, sitting on the ground across from him while Ren and Zac flanked my left and right side.

The silence was thick and tense and it felt like it was not going to break until he finally spoke.

"My mother has always been interested in history, the farther back, the better. She used to say that in order to properly navigate and control our future, we had to know our pasts. Understand it and wield it like a weapon to shape what would come afterwards."

I didn't know Cynthia Corrigan personally but she seemed like someone who liked sophisticated things so replaceing out she loved knowledge was a no brainer but Cade looked like he wished his mother was a simpleton.

"In her thirst for knowledge, she read an ancient archive once about why the royal families were so special and what separated them from the others. It was a fun discovery for her because she always thought that it was because they were the last remaining race of Lycans left. She later discovered that it wasn't just because they were lycans but because they were cursed by the goddess."

"Cursed?" I swallowed.

"You mean blessed, right?" Zac prompted.

Cade wouldn't take his eyes off off of me, not even to look at Zac to reply his question. "I know what I said, Talaverra. Our families, our ancestors before us were cursed, and it's all because of the wolf Lily possesses." Dahlia?

"Do you know the tale of the four kings?"

I turned to see that Zac shook his head but Ren replied. "I thought it was just folklore, a myth, something that was fabricated and told to children at bedtime like the humans do."

Cade shook his head and cracked his knuckles, an act that I recognized almost immediately because he used to do it all the time when we were still together. It meant he was about to do or say something very serious.

"During the dark ages, the Lycans that roamed the earth were greedy and power hungry They boasted of the goddess's favour to them and were proud and arrogant. Among the strongest were the four royal families who in their greed plunged the realm into a world of chaos and violence,

"A new set of alphas, younger and more hopeful than the ones that came before them, succeeded their fathers and put an end to the centuries old war. They unified their lands and people for a common goal of protecting their kind and there was peace and prosperity for a time because they looked after each other, causing each pack to grow exponentially. There was so much wealth and peace, until a goddess from the heavens noticed these four kings and fell in love with all four of them." Goddess?

Why did this story feel so familiar to me even though this was my first time hearing it?

"Unable to resist her desires, the goddess disguised her godhood and took a human form. She appeared as an injured maiden caught in a bear trap and one of the kings, or Alphas as they are now called, found her. He took her in, nursed her back to health, and fell in love with her along the way and it would have been a blissful relationship had the goddess not wanted more.

"The goddess was not satisfied with his love and seduced the other alphas, who also couldn't resist falling in love with her. She was beautiful in an otherworldly way, wise in a way most people weren't, witty and attractive, it wasn't hard to make them fall for her. Turns out being loved by a goddess gives you powers of your own because each of the kings manifested powers that set them apart from other lycans.

"This did not sit well with the moon goddess when she discovered what the goddess had done and in her rage, she punished them; the men, for daring to covet a maiden of the heavens, and the goddess, for relinquishing her role as a goddess for lesser creatures, and worse, blessing them with powers of the gods.

"The men burned with passion and greed for her and their love became twisted. Each of them wanted the beautiful, powerful goddess for themselves and they ruined the peace that had been established for almost five decades. They didn't want her just for her beauty anymore but for the powers she possessed. They wanted to weild her like a weapon. They believed that she was the ultimate weapon they needed to become gods themselves and each of them wanted the goddess to rule by their side.

"Before long, war broke out among the packs. The men fought a long and brutal war for her and ended up ruining their lives. The goddess wasted away from the sorrow of losing her beloveds. Angry at these kings for being unable to share her and even causing her demise, the moon goddess cursed them to never rest in peace. Because of this, the four kings are reincarnated once every few decades, searching and failing to replace the goddess they once loved. As if their punishment wasn't enough, they are reincarnated as wolves, lesser creatures, cursed to feel alone forever without their one true love. Even when they're blessed with mates, their hearts will always yearn for their original lover. My mother found out that there have been records of these wolves manipulating their hosts to replace the goddess they love dearly."

Cade stopped and I understood that he was giving us time to absorb all of this information because it was a lot.

"My mother was so invested in tracking down the reincarnations of the kings and each time, her search brought her to each of the royal families, the four bloodlines ruling Shadow Cove but she never found the goddess or the host she chose. Not until she stumbled on you, or rather the toddler you in the park one morning, taking a boy's soul for daring to steal your doll. She said it was like a movie. One minute you looked at the boy who was way older and making a mockery of you on the playground and the next, he looked like his air was being pulled out of him and he was dead."

Cold air rushed into my lungs. Of course the beautiful, greedy, powerful goddess had to be reincarnated and choose me as her host. Isn't this fantastic?

Seriously.

I couldn't deny the clear truth staring at me. The goddess that he was talking about and the one that was currently dormant in me were one and the same.

"My mother said she sent assassins disguised as babysitters, nannies, plumbers and repairmen to test her theory and each of them turned up dead, confirming her suspicions that you were the goddess's reincarnation and she became convinced that you were the weapon she needed for herself to become the victor of the war of the four kings that was as old as time.

"She believed that as long as she had your wolf, she would have the other princes in her pockets, because they would do anything for her but her biggest obstacle was your father and she was planning how to get rid of Edgar before Victor came into the picture. Victor swore loyalty to her and acted as her advisor. She had wanted to just get him assassinated and be done with him but it was Victor who had come up with the idea to orcehstrate the entire m******e and frame Edgar for it. She never planned to get Maddox, Elizabeth and Ashley killed but it worked in her favour to make sure the council were unforgivable in their verdict and with your father out of the picture and your family an outcast, it would be easy to kidnap you when it was time because no one would care what happened to the daughter of a traitor."

My chest tightened painfully. Pain and rage like I have never felt leaked out of every pore on my body.

I didn't realize I was crying until Ren passed me a handkerchief, his hand reaching out to touch my shoulder almost at the same time that Zac's reached for my other hand. I knew firsthand that Victor was cruel, but this? I had no words. I wanted to go and hug my mother and thank her for never giving up on standing on her truth that my father was innocent and I felt a bit of shame for all of the times I was pushed to doubt his integrity.

Oh my God, Aiden. If Cade had spoken to them earlier, it meant that he knew. He knew all of this! My heart hurt for him and I knew that he was somewhere beating himself up for this and feeling immense guilt for the way he treated me. That was obviously why he couldn't even look me in the eye.

"Do you think Víctor is in on the plan now since Night shade is currently under attack?" Zac asked and Cade shrugged.

"I don't know if it's real or if it's all an act but I know for certain that at some point, my mother fell in love with Victor because she overlooks certain things he does that she wouldn't take from someone else."

"You say, she wants my wolf and not me. How is that going to work out?" I deadpanned and Cade shook his head.

"The technique of extracting Lily's wolf has never been done before and even my mother doesn't know of the repercussions but she's too blinded by greed to care."

The greedy, fvcking bitch... She would hurt her own people, hurt her own son, hurt an innocent man, an innocent child, and for what? More power than she already has.

"So let me get this straight," Zac said, pressing a finger to his forehead, dark waves casting a shadow over his pale-moon face. "Our wolves, fvcking Azrael and Aira and the others are like what? Reincarnations?" "That's correct."

"And Lily's wolf is a powerful goddess?"

"Yes. The records call her by the title Death dealer, Death bringer and Soul render. I guess she was one of the darker, more powerful gods that just did her own thing. She's dormant right now because her father tried to seal her away when he thought she was getting too out of hand."

Zac scoffed, "Death bringer, skull crusher, whatever the fvck you just said, I can't believe this-"

"I do." Ren muttered, "my powers... I knew something was wrong after I killed those students when I intended to knock them out."

I whirled around. "What are you talking about?"

"Back at school. My powers usually take a while to kill a target, but for the first time since I discovered my powers, I killed not just one, but a few hunters within seconds. My powers only started acting like this after we bonded. It's like bonding with you made me even stronger, so there's some truth in what Cade's saying."

He looked at Cade who seemed too comfortable and regal even in chains and on a thin mattress.

"He's not lying and I've always sensed a deeper, untapped energy from Lily. I always thought it was her compartmentalized rage and need for vengeance from all the shit she's been through. I never would have thought..." he shook his head, hair like snowfall and stardust falling against his face as he fixed Cade with a serious gaze. "If she's as powerful as you say, we need her. Lily needs to learn to control her wolf before Cynthia, or heck, Victor gets the chance to get their hands on her. How do we break the seal?" "I know how!" I said quickly, my cheeks flaming hot and I scrambled up to my feet. "We're leaving!"

Dahlia... she tried to tell me... I never gave her a chance. She tried to warn me. Cynthia had set us up from the start. My father sealed Dahlia away, even though all my wolf has ever done was try to protect me. Those babysitters, the people my parents assumed were innocent were all sent by, and working for Cynthia fvcking Corrigan.

Dahlia needs an apology as well as the most of us here that have been hurt by that woman.

I need to replace Aiden!

I rose from the floor, straightened the hem of Zac's shirt I was wearing as Zac placed a hand around my shoulder to lead me out.

"Lily!" Cade called suddenly.

I whipped around to look at him and startled.

He was really so beautiful, even now in his chains, mussed golden hair he usually styles in soft, fashionable waves and dirty letterman jacket, he looks no less beautiful than the first day I saw him. He was the first boy that ever made my heart race. The first boy that ever made my heart ache.

"You need to know... i need you to know... it'd hurt you if you lose any of your mates. It would hurt more than a bad burn, Lily, but you'll survive our deaths. We, on the other hand, we can't live without you. We will surely die if we lose you. That's the last part of the goddess's curse."