Bullied Mate Of The Lycan Kings
Chapter 150

Lily's

pov

My heart was heavy with the weight of Cade's confession that morning as I walked into the sparring room where I trained with Chelsea, Rhea and Chase these days.

"Well, you look freshly fvcked," Chelsea giggled, flipping her blue streaked ponytail over her shoulders and grinning at me as she tried to touch her toes in a sitting position.

I wasn't in the mood or maybe I was just too shameless to even afford a decent blush as I dropped my ass on the mat Rhea had provided for me.

I had infact been freshly fvcked this morning, every morning really, since the boys discovered they enjoyed it better fvcking me all at once. And I wasn't complaining, no, I loved every bit of it but all that afterglow faded during my conversation with Cade after the boys left for their assignment.

The boys had left for their regular assignment to enforce curfew around Poison Fang pack and maintain what was left of the peace and security since our borders were breached days ago, their efforts at contributing to the society that had raised them. I had wanted to have a conversation with Cade, to hear from him firsthand what really happened between us. My mates had offered to tell me but I wanted to hear it straight from the source.

At first, I had convinced myself to just let it go... But I started to get greedy. Being successfully mated to Ren, Zac and Aiden made me wonder, 'why not hear what Cade has to say? Maybe he had a good excuse for abandoning me two years ago, Since he clearly still thinks of me.'

I'm glad I did.

Rhea's body was contorted like a contortionist, her limbs twisted into dramatic loops that made me worried she wouldn't be able to unknot herself.

She didn't share my worry because she easily unwind herself, stretching into a cobra pose and grinning at me. "You have hickeys for days and you're not even trying to hide it."

"What's there to hide?" Chelsea snorted, "she bagged three of the richest, most powerful guys of our generation."

Wait until they replace out that I'm considering letting Cade into my bond family... If I can convince the others to be okay with it. After our conversation this morning... After all I've learned... Cade doesn't deserve it. He never deserved anything he got. "What's not to show off? I would if I were her. And speaking of hickeys-" Chelsea walked over to me and tugged down the sleeve of my shirt, exposing more of my neck and shoulders. "Woah, that's a lot. You sure you don't need any help, Lily?" Rhea unfolded herself from the mat and walked over to peer at me. She pointed at one. "Hmm. This one's definitely from Zac."

"I was going to say Aiden. He looks like he's most likely to maul her alive. But Ren could also surprise us. He has to let loose some of that control in bed right?"

"If we're done sizing up my boyfriends' interesting capabilities, I'd like to get back on track now. Please? Thank you."

"Boo! You're no fun." Chelsea huffed, walking back to her mat and wrapping her hands with combat bandages. "Lucky for you, you found yourself a new teacher who won't turn his lessons into a make out session with you."

Oh right.

I've been doing this behind the boys' back for the past few days. I know that they take their training and workouts seriously but I didn't want to ask them for help because I worried they'd go easy on me, even if they don't mean to. I've taught myself to run all my life, I've grown used to it, good at it.

It's time I taught myself to fight.

A war is coming. What shot did I have at surviving except my mates and Dahlia? If I have this new power... These new powers, I needed to learn to control it, to be worthy of wielding be such an offensive weapon.

I would not be weak again. I would not depend on anyone for my own survival. I would never have to suffer under the hands of my bullies, never have to endure Tate's touch because I couldn't protect myself, too helpless to know where to hit and how to make it hurt and if there are worse people out there than my bullies, I needed to be prepared for them.

"Chase is late," I noticed.

"He'll be here," Rhea said, glancing worriedly at the door. "He said he would."

"We'll start without him. Defend yourself."

That was all the warning she deigned to let me have. Chelsea might be backtalks, playful grins and sarcastic comebacks most of the time but she was a lethal killing machine here on the sparring ring.

I managed to dodge her first few punches, weaving to the right and to the left as she came at me with a lethal ferocity but she caught me in the jaw, kneed me in stomach and brought her leg down on my spine.

"And another one bites the dust," she proclaimed, dusting imaginary flint off her sparring outfit as I crashed to the mat, scraping my chin on the rough fabric.

I gasped, a sharp pain flaring through my chin.

I looked up at Chelsea and I didn't see Chelsea anymore. I saw Lana and Rhodes sneering down on me, Lana's heels digging into my spine as she forced me to eat my floor off the floor.

Weak. Stupid and pathetic.

I blew out a breath through my nostrils, I bit down hard on my pain and rose to my feet without her help. "Again." I growled.

She tilted her head to the side, dark blue eyes squinting at me in worry and then she braced her legs on the mat, her hands coming up towards her face.

I did the same, mirroring her position. My stance is practically the only thing I've perfected since I started these training exercises.

I lunged first, going for her throat. She danced around me, punching a fist into my back and I stumbled, catching myself at the last minute. She swiped her legs under my feet and I ate dust for the second time in five minutes.

Another awful memory flashed in my head and my heart constricted as I scrambled up to my feet, hair strands slipping out of my hair tie and sticking to my face because I was currently a sweaty mess.

I was panting hard, swallowing down large gulps of air.

Cade had told me everything. Everything that had happened. The vendetta at Gold Crest highschool to get me to kill myself. How he had been in on it at first, his mother's perfect little soldier.

I didn't mean to hurt you, he had told me, stumbling over his words, earnestness in his ocean blue eyes. "I never had anything against you. I did what I had to do to earn my keep at home. If I could go back and change everything, I would. I would have pushed back against my mother. I would never have waited until the last minute. I am so desperately sorry, Lily.

I thrusted a jab that caught Chelsea by surprise in her ribs and she danced out of the way, light on her feet, retaliating with punch to my kidney.

I winced, stumbling back.

Cynthia... Victor. They had made my life a living, killed my father, all for what? A twisted need for power and control.

Tate had told me he knew people that would break their own necks just to see me suffer. At the time, I had thought it was just another lie to mess with me, but I was starting to see the truth on his words. Just how many nobles in Gold Crest had their pockets lined by Cynthia?

The bullying at Gold Crest hadn't been normal. They had all been edging me towards one thing.

Do us a favour and d!e already.

Just kill yourself, freak.

Just dle so that I won't have to see your face again.

I had thought it was all mindless bullying and I had given in. Oh gods, I had given in, cracking under all that pressure.

Cade had saved me, walked in on the last minute. And what did he get for being my prince charming? Wiped memories and a broken bond.

He must be hurting. He must be hurting so bad.

My arms were starting to hurt, my knees were wobbly but no matter how many times Chelsea knocked me into the ground, I stood back up.

I owed myself that much.

It turned out that I'm good at running but pathetic at hand to hand combat. Who would have thought?

I spent the better part of the next one hour trading punches and blows (or Chelsea making me her professional punching bag) and by the time Chase walked into the sparring room, I could barely keep myself standing straight. What sent me to my knees was who he walked in with.

"Chase is here," Chelsea said, letting up. "And he brought company."

"I swear this wasn't my plan," Chase said, holding up his hands.

"You're back early!" I shrieked at the boys.

"Relax, Duchess," Zac grinned, wrapping his hands up as Ren circled him, doing the same. "We're here to train too."

"Doubt it," Chelsea mumbled under her breath.

"I'm here to watch your a*s," Aiden confessed, going for the weights.

I sighed, fighting down a blush and retied my hair, huffing a breath.

Chase, bless his soul, handed me a bottle water and a towel as Chelsea walked over to Rhea and continued sparring with her.

"You okay?" He asked, after sparing a long look at Rhea.

"Sure. Why wouldn't I be?" I shrugged, wheezing. I could barely breathe. Barely push myself to stand up straight. I couldn't even feel my legs.

"We can take a little break," he suggested, putting on his sparring pads.

"I don't see the others taking a break," I nodded at Rhea and Chelsea who were basically trying to maim and kill each other, going at it with knives and claws. They were much faster, much fiercer than Chelsea had been with me. "You're not the others."

Of course I'm not. I'm weaker. Slower. I probably look silly trying to learn from them.

My throat tightened.

"Hey, look at me," he said gently and I snapped.

I didn't want that. I didn't want his pity. His gentleness, I needed him to teach me how to fight. I needed to be better at this. I never want to be at the receiving end of bullying again and I can't do that of he handles me with kid's gloves. "We're not taking a break, Chase."

He nodded, pounding his padded fists and holding them up. "A hundred and fifty one-two punches."

I swallowed, wrapping my hands up, braced my feet on the ground, remembering my stance and punched.

One-two. One.

One-two. Two.

One-two. Three.

My punches were barely making any impact on the Silver Moon noble and it only made me angrier. More erratic.

"Make sure you're hitting on the right knuckles or it's going to hurt a lot worse. Use your pointer and middle finger. That's where your punch should connect. Side step when I swipe at you and try to defend yourself while maintaining offence." I sucked. Badly.

I don't know where these feelings came from. I could have sworn I was over these. Over all these awful memories. I was perfectly fine now, bonded to my mates, surrounded with friends that cared about me, but my conversation with Cade had opened up that can of worms and brought back my feelings of rage with a vengeance.

Maybe I'd have felt better if it was mindless bullying because of some misplaced reason. Maybe I'd have felt better if my father had really been a traitor and had been executed for that. If I had been the daughter of a traitor like they called me all my life. But no. I didn't deserve that. My father hadn't deserved what he got either. None of us did. All my life...

I let out a furious roar as my fist slammed into Chase's sparring pad. Chase stumbled back, shocked by my sudden burst of strength. My pain was a forgotten feeling now. All that was left was my rage. "Lily?"

"I'm fine!" I bit out, my shoulder and foot twisting as my fist connected with the sparring pad again.

I sidestepped, my movements fluid and smooth as if my body was finally finally getting used to this grueling routine.

My father had given his entire life for a community that betrayed him. All his life was spent perfecting his skills to better protect Shadow Cove and all our kind, and what did he get for it? What? Cynthia fvcking Corrigan. Victor Vanderbilt.

Their names were seered in my brain. This was beyond Tate, beyond Lana, Kyrie, Violet and Rhodes. Beyond all those nameless faces that caused me so much pain all my life.

I now had names to tie to the death of my father. Who knew the promise of revenge tasted so sweet.

I will carve their hearts out like a fvcking pumpkin. I'll make them pay for what they did to him, to me, to my mates.

I was sobbing through clenched teeth and gritted jaw. My heart was pounding erratically and I didn't care that our entire inner circle would think me pathetic for spontaneously breaking into tears. MY life! My family! My mate!

The greedy, fvcking b***h had taken everything from me... She would hurt her own people, hurt her own son, hurt an innocent man, an innocent child, and for what? For what?!

I didn't realize something was wrong until I let out another furious punch that sent Chase flying into a wall at the other end of the room.

It wasn't the sudden strength that made me stop.

I looked at my hands, the charred remnants of the wrappings around my hands were stained with soot and falling apart.

Fire.

I was hyperventilating.

I had burned through the wrappings. How?

I looked at Chase who was groaning on the ground, Ren already attending to him.

Oh No.

I took a step closer but terrifying darkness from nowhere slammed through the entire room, sending everyone flying backwards.

That wasn't from Aiden. It had been from... Me.

"I'm sorry," I reached out, "I didn't mean-"

"I'm alright," Chase said, helping me with a gentle smile. "It's alright."

My resolve cracked. "I hurt you."

Darkness swept in, a different type of darkness, gentle and soft as someone stood before me, calloused fingers taking my chin gently in his grasp.

I looked up and stardust eyes melted down on me.

"I really didn't mean to hurt him." I looked up at Aiden, desperate to make him understand.

"I know, princess. I understand. I know all about unintentionally hurting people, remember?"

It was meant to be a joke and I spared him a chuckle even though there was rage and pain and confusion still swirling in the pit of my stomach. "Does it always feel this horrible?"

"Most times," he confessed. "What happened?" He tilted his neck. "Tell me?"

I looked around, only to see darkness all around us. Where are we?

"In a pocket of darkness, a new perk I discovered after bonding with you. Figured if you wanted to break down, you'd need some privacy."

"I talked with Cade," I confessed, expecting him to get mad. "He told me what happened two years ago."

His eyes softened. "Lily-"

"Cynthia. She's evil. She broke my bond with Cade. Wiped his memories... She killed my dad. He died for nothing."

My shoulders dropped, a gigantic sob tearing through me. "All because of me."

That's it. That's what had been eating me up. I finally allowed myself to admit it.

That's why I've been feeling this way, because if I didn't have Dahlia, the special wolf that everyone seemed to have, my father wouldn't be dead, Cade wouldn't have suffered so much... Aiden...

Aiden wrapped me into his arms until my sobs quietened.

"I miss him so much, Aiden."

"I know," he buried his cheek in my hair. "I know, baby. I know because I felt like that everyday after I lost mine, but it's not your fault. Don't let yourself believe that for one second."

"I want to kill her."

"Understandable."

"Will it help?"

"You mean does retribution fix all that pain?" He said, reiterating my words, wiping a thumb across my cheek. "The honest answer is no. It doesn't. You either let it eat you up all the days of your life, or you learn to live with it."

I swallowed, stared at him. Understanding stared back at me. "I'm sorry about your family, Aiden."

"And I'm sorry I directed my rage and hurt at you. In my dreams and my nightmares, you still hate me. You never forgave me. Or worse, I got you killed." He said, his voice quiet, a confession that has probably been tearing him to pieces all this while. I touched his cheek and all of a sudden, my eyes drew back to the charred wrappings I had burned through.

The darkness cleared from us and the others had gone back to sparring as if nothing had happened, although I could swear that Zac and Ren's eyes were on us and eavesdropping on our conversation.

"Fire..." I mused. "That's Zac's power."

"And the darkness... that was yours." I flexed my hand, stared at it, a theory forming in my head. "My powers make yours stronger... Do you... Do you think after I bonded with all three of you, I got something in return? Like some of your powers?" Excitement made my heartbeat thump.

"Try it," he encouraged. "Try summoning some darkness."

I stared at my hands, confused. "How? Do I just think about it?"

"It can't just be created. It has to come from you. You have to come face to face with your own darkness and summon it. Weild it."

I closed my eyes and tried and tried. Searched into the deepest, darkest recesses of my soul.

Ren said I held a lot of compartmentalized rage. I tapped into that. All of my awful memories, my feelings of rage, anger and frustration...

Terrifying wind beat against my face.

"Open your eyes."

Terror. Darkness. There was howling wind around us, burning stars falling towards me with the speed of light, terrifying creatures without shape and form moved and swirled in the darkness.

I gasped, losing my grip and the darkness fell away and I was staring back at Aiden.

"W- what... how..."

His eyes twinkled with pride, he bit his lip into a grin. "You can't control Dahlia, not yet, but we'll work on helping you control our powers."

My eyes brightened, excitement making me bounce on my toes. "You'll train me?"

"We all will. You still need to work on you endurance, strength and core as well learning to work in sync with Dahlia. But, for now, complete your one-two punches," he said, raising his hands up. "Control yourself this time and do it without reducing me to smoked meat."

"f**k you, Aiden." I laughed, getting in position and holding my fists up.

"You already did, princess."