The Lycan King's Defiant Surrogate

Back at the house, I force Caleb to sit on a chair so that I can clean and bandage each of the wounds he dirtied by being in that river. He's surprisingly pliant, considering his usual aversion to being told what to do. But after the earth-shattering sex we've had, it seems nothing will break the air of smug satisfaction he's taken on.Original from NôvelDrama.Org.

The alcohol wipes I use to clean the wounds out must hurt him they

g even on the shallowest of cuts, and he has bullet holes. Yet he doesn't seem to care. He just keeps smirking as he looks at me, gently scenting the air.

Even though I bathed in the river before we left it, he can probably smell himself on me still, with those Alpha senses. I try to ignore that look of ownership in his eyes. Maybe I press in a little too hard on one of the ones just to get him to stop.

He winces slightly. "That doesn't seem necessary."

"It was dirty," I tell him.

He hums while giving me a suspicious look, but doesn't call me out.

"Silver wounds take a long time to heal," I say, hoping to shift the conversation.

"They do," Caleb says. His smirk fully disappearing, he suddenly seems as if he's very far away.

Watching him, I wonder where he went. "This isn't the first time you've been pierced with silver," I say, guessing

"It's not," he replies, affirming my suspicion.

He's seemed too calm about this from the start. Even on that balcony, he didn't flinch as the guns began to fire, as the bullets tore through his flesh and stayed there like shrapnel under his skin.

"It was.... impressive, the way you stood up to those bears," I say, hoping to bring him back to the present by offering compliments. It helps that those compliments are true. "You saved my life." "I'm not a hero, Harper."

"In that moment, you were to me."

"I'm the one who took you onto that balcony. You were only in danger at all because of me."

I blink a few times, curious and surprised by his words. "It's not like you to second-guess yourself."

"If you believe that, you don't know me at all." His voice is very soft in the still silence of the room:

Without realizing it, I've even stopped moving.

Caleb looks out the window, and I wonder what he sees. It can't be the grasses and the trees there, as the sun begins to lower in the sky.

Then, as quiet as a breath, he says, "I killed my brother to take the crown."

I remember, years back, the tragedy of Prince Evan's death. The older of the two brothers, Evan had been known to be outgoing and confident, with a bright smile and charm that never ran out. Caleb, in his shadow, was more known for being quiet. Stronger physically than Evan, but not near as well liked.

After Evan's death, the reigning King, Evan and Caleb's father, stepped away from the throne, gifting the crown to his only living son, Caleb.

No one has seen or heard from the old King since. Some vicious rumors say that Caleb had them sealed away. She even heard that Caleb had killed Evan, but she never thought it would be true.

TI

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7a

11:19 Mon, Nov 25 BB.

What kind of man would kill his brother? Not one fit for the crown.

It was juicy scandal and the talk around the taverns and bars. It wasn't anything plausible or real.

At least that's what she thought.

Now, in this secluded farmhouse, with the sunlight dimming, Caleb is admitting to the kingdom's most tragic unsolved crime. It means the rumors are true.

Yet he's not admitting to it in any gloating way, or with any satisfaction at all. Caleb has killed before, he's tortured, and always he's hardened, as if he's immune to it all. But right now... his face is filled with regret, and his eyes are sad. "Did you love your brother?" I ask before I can stop myself.

"Yes," he answers immediately, with no hesitation.

I want to know more, but for him to admit to even this much feels like he is showing a trust and vulnerability that I haven't earned. In time, if he wants to tell me more, he can, and I will listen. But I cannot force him to.

Caleb is not a good man, but for him to kill the brother that he loves, he had to have a good reason. I believe that, deep down to my core, even if I can't explain why.

"I'm not afraid of you," I tell him, hoping that the words offer the comfort that I want to

convey.

give but struggle with how to

He turns away from the window to look at me. His eyes refocus, coming back to the present.

"You should be," he says. "Haven't you heard? I'm a monster."

"You aren't," I say too quickly, then relent, because that's not entirely honest. gentle..."

The way he was in that river, so steady and calm.

"You can be. But you can also be kind and

The way he was with me... A man with his strength could have broken me, but even in the heat of our control enough to hurt me.

"I'm a villain, Harper," Caleb says. "You've told me that yourself

"Only when you are being unreasonable," I say. He's starting to get there now, spiking my irritation.

passion, he never lost

"I'm not the only one who is unreasonable," he replies. "You claim I'm not always a monster. You claim I can be kind and gentle. Yet still, you deny me my child."

Disappointment rises within me. After all of the ground we've covered here... After the shared vulnerability and the agreement we made that we need to work together to survive... After saving his life and his saving mine... Still, we are at this same argument. It's like talking to a wall, for how much he listens.

believe me when I tell you there is no child? After everything I've done for you? That we've done for each "Why can't you other? You honestly believe that I would keep a secret like that from you?"

Caleb narrows his eyes as he searches my face. "Yes."

The word stings, a knife to the gut, but I can't really be surprised With a heavy sigh, I shake my head. "There is no child, Caleb."

"And still you keep lying," he says. The vulnerability in him is gone now, sealed entirely away behind a wall of ice and steel. I shiver from the sudden chill.

Then, in a rush, Caleb stands. His hands grip my arms, causing flash of fear in me, but he's not looking at me. He's staring at the door instead.

"What is it?" I ask, trying to follow the length of his gaze, but I don't see anything right away.

Then, as I continue to look, I see a pair of headlights curling around the driveway.

It's not quite dark yet, but the sky is turning more purple than be.

"Who is that? Tristan?"

"No," Caleb says. "He would never be back this soon. Stay in the house, Harper. No matter what you hear."

I don't like the sound of that! "What are you going to do? If either of us can risk being spotted it's me, not you."

"And if the intruder means to kill? What will you do then?" Caleb says, his eyes slicing to me like two knife flashes in the dark. "Stay out of sight, Harper. Leave this to me."