The Lycan's Hidden Flame

Elsa

I woke up in a place I couldn't recognize, my body stiff and aching from the exhaustion of running and falling. The room was dark, cold, and unfamiliar—stone walls that seemed to close in around me, the air thick with an oppressive silence. I had no idea how long I'd been unconscious, but the weight in my chest made it feel like hours, maybe days.

I tried to sit up, but my head spun, and I let out a quiet groan. The bed beneath me was surprisingly soft, not the kind of thing I expected from the kind of people I had apparently stumbled into. The sheets were dark, almost black, and the room smelled faintly of something earthy—wood, moss, and something… otherworldly.

A door creaked open before I could gather my bearings, and I froze.

A man stepped inside, his broad shoulders filling the doorway. He had short-cropped hair, sharp features, and a posture that screamed authority. His eyes were cold, unfeeling.

"You're awake," he said, his voice low, gravelly.

I glared at him, my heart pounding. "Where am I?"

He didn't answer right away, just took a step toward me. His eyes seemed to measure me in a way that made my skin crawl.

"Answer me!" I demanded, sitting up straighter despite the dizziness.

He smiled, though it didn't reach his eyes. "Patience, princess. We're not in a hurry."

That's when I noticed the two other men behind him, both wearing the same cold, calculating expressions. One was younger, his dark hair falling over his eyes, the other older, with a scar running down his cheek. The younger one stepped forward as if to approach me.

"Hey, where am I?" I repeated, now trembling slightly with both fear and anger.

The scarred man smirked. "Not the best place to make demands. You're lucky Kieran's decided to keep you alive."

I didn't know who this Kieran was yet, but I wasn't about to sit there and let them intimidate me. My voice was steady, though my insides were a mess. "Kieran?"

The younger man raised an eyebrow. "The Lycan King."

I froze. Lycan?

The name hit me like a punch. The stories, the rumors, the whispering about the strange, dangerous man who controlled not just wolves, but entire territories. I hadn't been part of that world—no one in my family had—but I knew enough to understand the weight of that name.

Before I could respond, another figure stepped into the room. This one… this one was different. The air itself seemed to shift when he entered.

Kieran.

The Lycan King himself.

He walked in like he owned the entire damn castle—which, by the looks of things, he did. Tall, broad-shouldered, and commanding, he exuded an aura that made the room feel smaller. His dark eyes locked onto mine with an intensity that made my heart stop. His presence was suffocating.

"Riley," Kieran said, his voice deep and smooth, like the rumble of distant thunder.

Riley—the younger man—backed away, bowing his head respectfully. "My apologies, Your Majesty. I was just questioning the prisoner."

Kieran turned his gaze to me, those dark eyes studying me with an emotion I couldn't quite place. He didn't speak at first, and the silence stretched on, heavy and uncomfortable.

"I told you not to touch her," he finally said, his tone icy but measured.

I couldn't hold it in anymore. "You've got me locked up in your castle. I'm not your prisoner. Let me go!"

Kieran's lips twitched into a small, humorless smile. "That's not how this works, princess. You're mine now. Whether you like it or not."

"Yours?" I shot back, my voice laced with disbelief and fury. "You're a monster! You're all monsters!"

His expression hardened, and the temperature in the room seemed to drop several degrees. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up as an intense, almost suffocating energy filled the air. The walls of the room seemed to close in, the shadows deepening, as though they were alive.

For a split second, I thought I might pass out again. But I refused to look away. I wasn't going to show weakness, not now.

"I'm not a monster," Kieran said, his voice dangerously soft. "I'm a king. And you're in my domain. You'll follow my rules, or you'll regret it."

I swallowed hard, but I refused to be intimidated. "Let me go. I didn't ask for this. I didn't ask for any of it."

"Didn't you?" His voice was quiet now, almost too calm. "You think you can run from the consequences of your choices? You ran into my world, into my territory. There are no second chances here."

I tried to push myself up, but my legs felt like jelly, my muscles weak from the adrenaline crash. I cursed under my breath, trying to steady myself.

Before I could say anything else, Kieran turned and nodded toward Riley and the other man. "Take her to her room. She's not going anywhere until I say so."

They both stepped forward, their hands firm as they grabbed me, guiding me out of the room.

I wanted to resist, to scream, but I knew it was futile.

I was trapped.

As they led me through the stone corridors, I couldn't help but take in my surroundings. The walls were lined with old tapestries, and the dim lighting made everything feel like it was from another time—dark and cold, like the castle itself was frozen in history. There were no windows, no signs of life outside of the handful of warriors I passed on the way. I was locked in a tomb, and my only way out seemed to be the very beast that had saved me from the cult.

When they finally pushed me into a small room, the door slammed shut behind me with a heavy thud. I was alone.

I sank onto the bed, my legs still weak beneath me. The room was minimal, the furniture sparse—just a bed, a small desk, and a single chair. But what caught my attention was the faint trace of something once vibrant.

The bed, though neat, had an old, worn quilt thrown over it, its edges frayed from use. A book lay abandoned on the nightstand, its pages yellowing. A picture frame, cracked at one corner, sat on the desk. It was a photo of a woman smiling, her arm around a young Kieran.

A family.

I stared at the photo for a long time, my mind spinning. This was no ordinary castle, no ordinary man. And I was no longer just a runaway girl in the woods.

I was stuck in a world I didn't understand, tangled in the web of a king whose power seemed limitless. And no matter how much I wished otherwise, I knew one thing for sure—I wasn't leaving anytime soon.