The Lycan King and His Dark Temptation

 I started patting down my clothesthis couldnt be happening.

I couldnt have lost it during the fight, or worse, when I recklessly chased after those vampires.

Ilooked around the ground in desperation, and then I sawit, a few feet away from where I stood.

The heart no longer had the shape of a ruby; it had melted into a dark pool, the same color as the lagoonconcentrated, powerful blood.

Ipushed myself up with trembling legs, battered and on the brink of collapse, holding on purely through adrenaline and the will to survive.

I knelt before that blood and beggedsomething I had never done before watching my mate fight like a beast against our enemy, trying to keep him from reaching us.

"Please, my ancestors, I beg you, Juno, mother, please.

Gabrielle, I summon you, powerful Selenia, help me in this moment of need, help me!" The words poured from my heart as tears and drops of my blood fell onto the small pool forming before me.

The calm surface began to bubble, as if simmering over low heat.

"I summon you here, Selenia Gabrielle, I call you, in this hour of need.

Mother, your daughter Valeria needs you...

I need you now, Gabrielle, now!" At some point, I switched languages, speaking in the ancient tongue of the altars, the words flowing into my mind like a trance.

---- Iclosed my eyes and recited the ancestral chantmy prayers, over and overtears cascading down my cheeks.

Kneeling there, it was all Ihad left, and I clung to hope with tooth and claw.

Topened my tear-filled eyes when I felt warmth above my head.

I looked up in awe to see what had formed from the heart of the Selenias.

It was the shape of a woman, sculpted from the blood, as if that vital liquid was solidifying into a human form.

She gazed at me intensely, gently caressing my head.

I felt strange, her features unrecognizable.

M-Mom? I dared to ask, anda smile appeared on those crimson lips.

She then walked toward the fight, leaving me there, stunned.

Ilooked down at the ground before menothing remained.

No puddle, no blood, not even the heart of the Selenias.

Everything had compacted into that figure, now walking barefoot, leaving crimson footprints behind.

sek ALDRIC I was ready to fight to the death for my family.

I wouldnt let them be taken from me againnot right in front of my eyes.

So Iunleashed all the rage and hatred I had for this bastard who had abused and humiliated my mate.

Azarot was in full war mode, enhancing every ounce of my lycan beast's power.

My muscles strained to their limits, my claws sharper and deadlier than ever, and my powerful legs propelled me as I dodged and struck.

Retreat and attackagain and againsearching for his weak points.

But he struck back with equal ferocity.

At this point, I could admit he was the most formidable enemy I had ever faced.

We were at another standstill, and as I watched all the severe wounds I had inflicted heal in the blink of an eye, I knew I was at a disadvantage.

The stolen power of a demigoddesshow could I compete with that? Because to me, these Selenias were just a step below the Moon Goddess, incomparable to us wolves, vampires, and witches.

Aclaw sank into my shoulder, but instead of dodging, I seized his hand, using his closeness to strike directly at his throat.

No matter what dirty tricks he used, I couldnt afford to lose.

However, he reacted quickly, kneeing me in the stomach and shifting to my right flank.

I felt the danger too late and had to pull back to avoid a hit to my ribs.

But it was already too late.

He struck me with a closed fist, making me growl in pain and knocking the air from my lungs.

I fought to get away, but now it was him holding me, his long nails digging into my torso, right in the vulnerable spot beneath my ribs.

"Grrr, damn it!" I groaned in my mind, closing my bond with Valeria to shield her from the agony coursing through my battered body.

Azarot howled and snarled in fury, my fangs fully bared, channeling all his strength, trying to dominate the enemy with his superior lycan aura.

---- "Stop sacrificing your body, son of the Goddess.

My Valeria wouldn't forgive me if anything happened to you.

Leave him to metrust in my strength.

Go protect her, protect them." Avoice suddenly poured into my mind, powerful and commanding.

In the middle of my struggle with the Vampire King, who was trying to rip through me, I lifted my headand for a second, I froze.

Awoman was approaching with determined steps.

Her body seemed to ooze a trail of blood that transformed into a strange dresslike pulsating veins and tissue.

Within all that crimson, human features began to emerge.

Long black hair cascaded over skin as white as Valerias, her features eerily similar to my mate'sonly more mature.

Piercing blue eyes looked at me without fear, and when they shifted to the Vampire King, who still had his back to her...

Those mesmerizing eyes seemed to hold all the world's resentment and hatred.

"Leave him to me.

Don't deny me this vengeance as a mother, I beg you...

please." "Aaaagegerr!" AZAROT, NOW! Without a second thought, I roared at my wolf, unleashing everything I had been holding back for a long fight.

The veins in my enormous arms bulged as I dug my long black claws into that bastard, lifting him into the air, catching him off guard, and throwing him straight toward her.

---- Amother's vengeance is far worse than a husband's.