The Lycan King and His Dark Temptation – Chapter 98

C98

“I must say, this has been the best wake-up of my life.

Now it’s my turn to show you just how much I enjoyed it,” he promised against my lips before kissing me deeply.

The delicious thrusts of his hips began again, and I didn’t resist being loved anew.

I craved this man with every fiber of my being.

The mingling scents of aged wine and dark chocolate lingered in the room for a long time.

— ALDRIC —

I was a bit nervous as I waited for Valeria to come out after we’d taken a good bath together.

I had thought long and hard about this decision, but even so, I felt anxious.

I gripped the small key in my hand tightly.

“Are you waiting for me?” she asked, and I nodded, taking my beautiful mate’s hand.

“Come, I need your help with something,” I said, leading her into the closet.

I felt her tense as she realized where we were headed.

“Aldric, you don’t have to—”

“Yes, I do. It’s time,” I interrupted gently, handing her the key to the place where I kept the last remnants of my beloved pups and my former mate—

A woman I had loved deeply but now understood no longer had space in my heart, not if I wanted to be completely honest and fair with Valeria.

She would always live in my memories, but only there.

Valeria looked at me, waiting for me to change my mind.

But then she opened the door to the narrow shelf.

“Help me pack everything into that box. We’ll take it somewhere else,” I told her.

“No, wait, Aldric, you don’t have to do this. It doesn’t bother me; I won’t come near this place again…”

“Valeria,” I said, stepping closer and taking her cheeks in my hands to hold her gaze.

“I need to let go of the past to build a future with my mate.

I’m no longer a man haunted by broken memories.

You’ve brought light and the will to live back into my life, my love.

We’re destined mates—you and I.”

“What? How…

How can you be so sure? I’m strange; I’m not even from your spe—I mean, I…

I can’t even bring out my inner wolf,” she stammered nervously, incoherent.

I pulled her into my chest and kissed her damp hair from the bath.

Goddess, I adored this woman.

I was completely in love with her.

“Love, you are. Even if you can’t feel it, Vale, you’re mine.

My wolf recognizes you.

Besides, you drink my blood without getting poisoned, even as an omega.

You go into heat with me.

You are my mate—the woman the Goddess created to bring happiness back into my life,” I said, cupping her cheeks again and looking into her nervous squirrel-like eyes.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner when I first suspected it.

Honestly, at first, I didn’t want to accept it,” I confessed, not breaking eye contact, silently praying she wouldn’t be angry.

“I was scared—so scared those bastards from the Dark Realm would hurt you.

For a moment, I even thought about letting you go so they wouldn’t associate you with me.

But I couldn’t.

I can’t, Valeria, because I love you.

I love you so much that if anything happened to you, I’d die with you.”

I hugged her again, and every word I spoke was the absolute truth.

She felt rigid in my arms, leaving me feeling a bit lost and disappointed.

I had hoped we’d confess our feelings to each other right here and now.