The Lycan king-Chapter 16

*Leonora*

There was an uncomfortable silence around us as I continued washing the dishes. I wanted him out of the kitchen, away from me but there was nothing I could do to make him leave. His popcorn was still in the microwave.

The sound of the microwave echoed in the kitchen and I breathed out a sigh of relief. I rinsed my hands and went over to the cabinet and picked out a large bowl with a cover. I walked over to the microwave, opened it, took out the popcorn and poured it into the bowl.

"There’s this thing- "I started.

"I don’t want to hear it. Pass the bowl." He said and I nodded and quickly placed the bowl on the counter. I didn’t want to anger him any more than I have done today. My body had faced the consequences of my actions. I watched as he took out a tray, a bottle of wine, two glasses and a few more snacks. He arranged everything on the tray and lifted it. I quickly ran over to the door and held it open for him. He gave me one final look before walking out of the kitchen.

I let out a breath that I had been holding. It was already pretty late and the kitchen volunteers were most likely prepping for bed. I went over to the sink and hurriedly cleaned. I didn’t want to waste anymore time in this house.

I hated being here. There was no use denying it. I hated the way Jax made me feel. Just when I was starting to think that he might have changed a bit, he showed me that he was very much the same man from years ago. The one who made me realize that finding your mate wasn’t as glamourous everyone made it seem. It was like a side quest that wasn’t going to guarantee a happy ending. The only people who benefitted from it were people like Jax who needed it. I remembered finding out that he was my mate. I half expect some kind of fairytale moment. I expect him to swoop me in his arms, kiss me and we would mate and figure out how to probably work out a relationship. I didn’t expect me to pull me aside and tell me that I shouldn’t tell anyone. I didn’t expect him to give me rules that I had to follow.

I didn’t expect him to send me away.

It broke something inside me every single time I had to pack some things and leave for another pack for two weeks. My wolf would call and beg to mate but there was nothing I could do. We were unwanted. We weren’t worthy enough to be his Queen. To stand by his side. It hurts that I was the one who had to suffer for his hatred. I had to close my eyes and tell myself that one day it would change for the better. I was stupid to think that because a short while later, I woke up to find Beth, Jax and Claire staring down at my half naked body and Noah laying beside me.

As soon as I was done with the dishes, I picked up my food and began to eat, not bothering about the coldness. I needed to sleep and I couldn’t waste any more time in this place. I could hear laughter from outside the kitchen and I paused and listened closely. Channeling my inner wolf.

It’s a good thing to have super hearing, sometimes.

"You should have seen the way they dragged her into the place." I heard one person say while the other person giggled. "It’s like she’s trying so hard to get noticed by the King."

"The other day, she came to deliver his food to his room. Who does that? She’s literally begging for his attention." The second person said and I rolled my eyes. I was, in fact, doing the opposite but it seemed like Jax had put me on high alert but they shouldn’t worry about me for too long. I would be gone before they can even count to fifteen. I wanted nothing to do with Jax. He had been a pest on my shoulder for too long. I hurriedly ate and washed the dishes, placing them on the rack and walked out of the kitchen.

The girls were leaning on the wall facing the kitchen and their eyes lit up as I walked out. I noticed that one of them was the girl I met at Jax’s room. My wolf growled, angry that someone else got to share what should be mine. I rolled my eyes at them and continued walking out of the house. The longer I stayed, I would be setting myself up.

The walk to the staff quarters was short as I was walking as quickly as I could. As I opened my room door, I was met with silence again. I sighed and walked over to my bed that was beside Bethany’s bed.

"What happened to you?" Bethany asked me as she sat up. "What did Jax do to you?" She asked me as I shrugged and sat down on my bed. I honestly didn’t want to talk to anyone about what happened today. "Let me look at you." I lifted my chin and she assessed my neck and she sighed. "Did Jax do that to you?"

"No." I honestly didn’t know why I was covering up for him. He has hurt me, rejected me, abused me and I still couldn’t tell her. A part of it was my fault. I was careless. I didn’t think my escape through. I thought it would be easy. I thought-

I needed to stop having hope and face reality as squarely as I could. Nothing ever worked out for me and I needed to understand that. Nothing good ever happened to anyone around me. I was literally a bad luck charm and that’s why Jax wanted nothing to do with me.