Lycan King’s Captives novel Chapter 16

The night I hoped would be uneventful turns into one of my biggest nightmares as pain erupts suddenly, tearing through my body with a ferocity that leaves me gasping for breath, every nerve ending ablaze. Helplessness crashes over me like a tidal wave, and terror clutches at my heart as I struggle to understand what’s happening to me, feeling so utterly alone as the pain intensifies and grows worse, every bone aching like they are thickening and stretching, pulling from the sockets. The coldness of this place only adds to the aching of my bones.

As my body begins to contort and change, I focus on the sensations, trying to make sense of the incomprehensible. My bones crack and shift, and my muscles twist and reform beneath my skin with agonizing slowness that has me passing out only to come to with the next enduring crack. The pain is indescribable, like being ripped apart and stitched back together all at once. My vision blurs then sharpens, colors and shapes appearing more vividly than ever before, as though the world has come alive in ways I never thought possible. With new clarity, that is both mesmerizing and terrifying.

My hearing becomes more sensitive, and I can now pick up on the faintest of sounds echoing through the dungeons—the distant dripping of water, the scurrying of unseen rodents in the shadows. The scent of damp and decay is overwhelming, making me want to throw up, the stench invades my senses like a suffocating potent cloud. The stench burns my nose and throat. I can taste it.

My body grows larger, and more powerful. The horrifying realization dawns on me that I’m shifting into a Lycan. Into a monster. A monster he made me into. Panic surges through my veins, the fear of the unknown gnawing at my sanity while ripping apart my insides.

As my transformation completes, I take a shaky moment to explore my new form. My senses are heightened beyond anything I’ve ever experienced, the world around me seems both familiar and entirely alien. I have an undeniable strength coursing through me, a power I’ve never known before and it terrifies me, because I do not know what it means or what it might bring let alone how to use these new senses without hurting myself.

However, with this newfound power comes an increased sensitivity to the bond between Xandros and me; it’s like a dam wall has burst open, tidal waves of emotion so strong it steals the breath from my lungs and nearly brings me to my knees.

As I wrestle with the depression that threatens to engulf me, I can only hope one day Xandros and I will find a way to heal the rift between us and embrace the bond that fate has forged between us. Until then, I remain a prisoner—not only of these cold, unforgiving walls but of the bond we share together. I haven’t even marked him yet. My teeth ache to do so, and my bond tugs at me, too.

My fingertips graze over my teeth, razor sharp and deadly. Then my clawed hands linger on the mark on my neck, the one he gave me, a mark I’ll never be able to give him. I can feel his presence, his scent, his soul. I can practically feel the warmth of his touch, even if he’s not here with me. I can almost hear his voice, whispering in my ear, telling me everything will be alright when I know it won’t be. It is hard to fathom that without having marked him the bond could be so violently strong already.

I wipe my eyes as tears spill, the saltiness I can smell in the air, the slashes marring my face from his mother feel rough, crinkled in this form, some part of me hoped they would heal, but feeling them beneath my furry fingertips I feel the scars with so much more definition.