The Lycan King and His Dark Temptation – Chapter 75

Chapter 75

— VALERIA

“Really?! How lucky!” Dave grabbed her shoulders, leaning in cheerfully.

“Do it for me. I love personalized things! No, wait, even better—you’ll be my maid from now on!”

“What?” Juliette raised her eyes for a second to look at him, and I saw something in her expression I had never noticed before.

She always teased the other lycans, but now that I thought about it, she had never said anything about Dave.

So this was her weakness, I thought maliciously, already plotting how to pay her back for all her teasing.

“I’ll be waiting for you in my room then, maid… What’s your name?”

“Ju… Juliette, sir…”

“Good, July. You’re mine from today,” he nodded, deciding for himself—typical lycan behavior.

“But I—”

“Hey, Valeria! We’re going on a run through the woods this afternoon. Meet us by the lake, we’re one person short. I think His Majesty will be there too—you have to be on my team!” he added before dashing down the hallway like the hurricane of energy he always was.

“So… Guardian Dave, huh?”

“If you say one more word, I’ll spill the truth about the shirt…”

“Your Highness, the Queen…” she threatened, speaking fast before practically running off down the opposite end of the hallway.

“Watch out for complications!” I called after her, laughing, though honestly couldn’t imagine those two as a couple.

Then I remembered how promiscuous Dave was and worried about Juliette’s poor heart.

Well, look who’s suddenly worried about someone else’s heartbreak—the mistress of Lord Orgies himself.

“I’m sorry, Lady Valeria. You are not permitted to enter the servants quarters or perform heavy domestic tasks.”

That afternoon, bored out of my mind, I decided to help with some laundry, but the housekeeper stopped me, unyielding.

“But… Housekeeper, I—”

“I’m sorry, ma’am. His Majesty gave explicit orders. You must discuss it with him,” she replied with her usual stern but respectful tone, even addressing me as Lady.

Truthfully, I felt a bit embarrassed, especially with the other maids watching from behind her, their faces filled with all kinds of expressions. Astonishment, surprise, mockery—but mostly, envy.

“Fine, I’ll speak with His Highness,” I replied, turning to leave.

I carried a storm of emotions in my chest.

Of course, I loved being treated so specially, feeling on top of the world, so cherished by the man I desired.

And yet, that was exactly the problem. I was terrified of falling from those heights and hurting myself worse than I’d already been hurt.

Sighing and grumbling, unaccustomed to having so much free time, I decided to walk around the castle grounds.

The magnificent lake was stunning and ethereal at sunset.

I strolled along the shore, letting the cool waters kiss my bare feet, when I heard a commotion in the distance and spotted a gathering near a clearing between the forest and the lake.

It was all the guardians, talking animatedly, clearly planning something.

To my surprise, Juliette was there too, sitting timidly on a fallen tree trunk.

Even Aldric was among them, though it seemed like he was preparing to leave.

Dave spotted me first, waving enthusiastically.

His Majesty turned as well, fixing me with that possessive gaze that made every cell in my body tremble.

There he stood, against the dimming sunlight, dressed in his usual dark attire—imposing, fierce, yet the most protective presence of all.

“See, sir? I told you Valeria would come to play,” I heard Dave’s voice.

Apparently, they were trying to convince Aldric to join this… whatever it was, and of course, they were using me as bait.

“Fine. Then I guess I’ll stay a bit longer,” Aldric replied, never taking his eyes off me.

I approached the group of towering men a bit shyly. I still wasn’t used to this overwhelming amount of testosterone.

Celine stood nearby, with Quinn close to her.

“I propose the two females pick their team members and act as captains,” Erik, the handsome, laid-back lycan with long black hair, suggested.

“No, I think we should be together. That way, I can support her. Valeria doesn’t know how to run the course,” Celine suddenly said.

“Why would you need to support her? Valeria will be on my team. She’s going with me,” Aldric declared with absolute confidence.

I had no idea what made him so sure.

I also had no clue what this game was about, but suddenly it seemed pretty interesting.

Some sort of competition between two teams.

Somehow, I ended up as the captain of one team… and Dave the other.

Each of us had to pick our players.

And some, like a certain king, were way too sure about which side they’d be on.