Defying the Lycan King-Chapter 19: Sweet But Psycho

(Music: Sweet but Psycho by Ava Max)

"’Oh, she’s sweet but a psycho, a little bit psycho, at night, she’s screaming, "I’m-ma-ma-ma out of my mind,’" Kira belted out at full volume, singing and bouncing along to whatever was blasting through her headphones. Hair loose, and completely lost in her chaos.

Derek stood in the doorway, watching her in stunned disbelief while his mind reeled. She truly was a psycho, completely out of her mind, he thought. How could one person contain this much disorder?

Kira didn’t notice him until he was right beside the bed. He reached out, seized her wrist, and spun her around. Startled, she gasped, lost her balance, and tumbled straight into him. Her free hand latched onto his shoulder for balance. His arm came up instinctively to steady her, wrapping firmly around her waist. Suddenly, they were chest-to-chest, faces mere inches apart. Her eyes flew wide.

Too close.

Derek’s body locked rigid. For one suspended moment, they remained like that, breaths mingling, lips almost brushing. Her jasmine scent flooded him, sweet and dizzying, and his beast, Leo, stirred restlessly beneath his skin. Kira’s heart hammered so loudly it drowned out the music still pulsing in her ears, his citrus warmth teasing her senses until her head spun.

He recovered first. With a sharp shudder, he shoved her away as though she had scorched him. She landed on the mattress with a bounce, glaring up at him as she yanked off the headphones and flung them aside.

"I see your little chat with your father didn’t just leave you emotional," he said coldly. "It seems to have fried your brain as well."

Kira’s eyes narrowed into slits. "Why sneak up on me like that?"

"Do you always act like an escaped mental patient when left alone, or is this a special performance for my benefit?"

Kira scrambled back on the bed, her cheeks flaming bright red, partly from the dancing, mostly from how close they had just been. "It’s called de-stressing, Your Grace," she shot back. "Some people use music. You should try it sometime. Might help with that permanent stick you have up your ars—"

"Watch your tongue," he snapped, his voice dropping low and dangerous. "I’ve had a long day. The last thing I need is to come home to a woman howling like a stray dog in the royal wing."

"Well, you got what you deserve," she muttered.

He scowled. "Did you say something?"

Kira met his eyes. "I said you look stressed."

His scowl deepened, making it clear he had heard her the first time, and she exhaled sharply. "I mean, you took my phone away and banned me from going to school. It’s boring here."

"It is not boring," Derek ground out. "It is orderly."

"Orderly is boring, Your Grace." She pouted without even realising it.

His gaze lingered on her rosy lips for half a second too long before he blinked and looked away, sighing deeply. "I won’t tolerate any form of disorder in my space. Don’t provoke me."

Unwilling to back down, Kira shot back. "Well, I share this space now, and you have to put up with me."

He glared at her, nostrils flaring at her boldness, but she held his stare defiantly. She had a smart mouth and this bubbly energy that grated on his damn nerves like nothing else. She had given him more lip than most men ever dared, and it fascinated him most because she actually thought she could get away with it. He had executed men for far less.

Wasn’t she the same girl who had been crying her eyes out yesterday after talking to her father? How had she bounced back so fast to cause this kind of chaos? Soon enough, she would learn no one spoke to him like that. But right now, he needed to freshen up and get to work. As he turned to leave, Kira’s voice stopped him.

"Where are you going? When am I getting my phone back? And when am I going back to school?"

"When I decide," he replied curtly.

Kira jumped down from the bed. "What do you mean by ’when you decide’? The contract says you won’t restrict my education or my personal life."

He turned to face her, eyes blazing. "I know exactly what the contract says," Derek said. "And I also know I can’t trust you or your father yet. You get your life back when I’m sure you’re not a risk to this pack."

Then he turned and walked out.

Kira stood there, staring at the closed door, stunned and furious all at once. What exactly had she married into? She turned, fanning her face with her palm.

"Why is it so hot in here?"

***

Kira lay in bed, staring at the ceiling as sleep refused to come, her anger still simmering like a pot left too long on the stove. She had been tossing and turning for half an hour now, and every time she closed her eyes, Derek’s words replayed in her head.

’You get your life back when I’m sure you’re not a risk to this pack.’

She scoffed quietly into the darkness and rolled onto her side. Who did he think he was, talking to her like that? Her life was not some file he could lock away until he felt generous. She wasn’t about to sit quietly while he boxed her in, just like her father had done for years. She could do nothing by force, but she can frustrate him into giving her back her damn life. She was going to frustrate the hell out of him.

After a few more hours of restless flipping and flopping, she gave up on sleep altogether and decided a cup of tea might help, maybe even a bit of reading to calm her mind. As she padded into the hallway, Derek’s deep voice drifted towards her from his private study, sharp and commanding as he barked orders into the phone.

Curious despite herself, Kira followed the sound, wondering if the man ever slept or took a moment to rest. She wrapped her robe tighter around her and crept towards the study door. When she pushed it open, she found him standing by the window with his back to her, dressed only in black sweatpants and bare-chested, his phone pressed to his ear while his other hand held a glass of amber liquid.

For a moment, Kira just froze in the doorway. She had seen him shirtless once before, but that night she had been too shaken to really take it in. Now, though, she couldn’t help but gape, words failing her as she took in the sight. Why did he have to wander around half-naked in a house she was living in? She watched, transfixed, as his muscles shifted and flexed when he raised the glass and downed the contents in one smooth motion. She was so caught up that she didn’t even notice him ending the call.

"Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten how to walk," Derek said, turning to face her with that familiar cold edge in his voice.

Kira bit her lower lip, heat rushing to her cheeks as she realised she had been caught staring. 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

"If you’re quite finished gawking," he continued, strolling back to his desk and reaching for the bottle to pour himself another measure, "perhaps you could manage to cross the threshold without turning this into another performance."

Kira blinked, her face burning even hotter as she forced her eyes anywhere but on him, struggling not to stutter like a fool.

"What do you want, Miss Thornclaw?" Derek asked, snatching a dark robe from the back of his chair. He shrugged it on, tied the belt, and lowered himself into his seat with that effortless grace that somehow made him look even more kingly.

Kira finally found her feet and marched further into the office, shrugging as casually as she could. "Nothing. I couldn’t sleep."

"I fail to see how that’s any of my business."

"It is, because I’m your wife now and I’m bored out of my mind."

His eyes lifted to hers. "Did you forget the terms of the contract?"

"No," she said quickly. "We agreed to live separate lives when alone, respect privacy and blah, blah, blah. But you already crossed that line."

Derek gave her a quizzical look but stayed silent.

"My phone is my digital best friend," Kira continued, ignoring his scowl. "My actual friends are on campus. You took those away from me and locked me inside this mansion, so I figured you would have a better plan for keeping me company."

For a moment, Derek just stared at her without a word. Kira folded her arms across her chest and met his gaze head-on, refusing to back down.

"Get out of my office," he finally said, turning his attention back to his laptop.