Lycan King’s Nemesis

**THIRD POV**

(GWEN’s FORMER PACK)

There was a steady knock at the front door causing Salome to pause from stirring the flour on the bowl, trying to listen. Was it her ear or someone was at the door? She wondered.

Her husband couldn’t possibly have forgotten something, did he? He merely left five minutes ago, to get the carpenter for a dent she made in the cabinet this morning during their quarrel.

She caught a scent. An unfamiliar scent.

“Who is there?” She called out, dropping the spatula and dusting her hand on the apron. “I’m coming.”

Theresa had long moved out into the Alpha’s house to be with her mate, leaving her and Kent the only occupant of the house. Unless they are coming for a visit as they usually do every three days.

She reached the door and twisted the key to the left the door opened. And a stranger stood there.

“Hello,” Salome greeted, trying to recall where she had met the man before. Nothing came to mind.

“Hello, is this number 25?” He asked, looking around the balcony. He was a very tall and large man with black matted hair and sharp gazelle eyes. He reminded her of their Lycan neighbours and of course that was an insane thought as no Lycan would dare cross the border to their own end owing to their lifelong disagreement.

“Yes,” She agreed. “How may I help you?” She secretly sniffed him in, her senses clouded with confusion as to why his scent was obscured.

“May I come in? I have some important information you would like to hear.”

Salome’s first instinct was to become suspicious of him mostly because he didn’t smell like one of them. He might be an enemy and at this period of the year when the full moon was ripe at them, enemies are known to go rogue.

“I’m sorry, I can’t let you into the house.” She closed the door and stood outside it, ready to attack if he tried anything stupid. Her mate might not be home and if this man thought she was weak and defenceless then she was bound to shock him. “Who did you say you are again?”

He grinned. “I understand your scepticism about me but how about I tell you that I am here because of your daughter?”

Salome took in a sharp breath, her hands twitching by her side. “What happened to Theresa? And who do you think you_”

“I’m talking about your other daughter. Gwendolyn.”

Abruptly, tears gathered in Salome’s eyes. Finally, they are going to destroy what was left of her heart by telling her her daughter was dead, she thought. She was ready for it. After waiting, searching, crying and praying for three months, she had made up her mind that whenever the pack police came with bad news she would be ready to hear it.

No wonder he smelled different. The pack police were known to mask their scent.

“Please, do come in,” She opened the door, inviting him in. “Sorry, I was just being cautious.” She directed him to a couch in the living room. “What may I get you?”

“I am not here to stay for long. I have other errands to run.” He looked at his wristwatch before he grazed her another smile that made Salome’s stomach churn. If he was here to break her heart he should just get it over with for goodness sake. What was with the senile smiles?

“Have you found my daughter? I-is she still alive?” Her voice cracked, tears clogging there. She didn’t know she could be this broken until she lost her daughter.

She could remember that very day. It was like yesterday when the goddess decided to turn her back on them by first depriving Gwen of the one gift granted to every child at Eighteen. They knew the impact would be great, but they never expected her to take things that tough.

They had made up their mind to go through the process of siding with their darling child, praying and hoping that a miracle would happen. Of course, they didn’t expect it to be easy. There were bound to be several segregations from others; foul eyes, foul mouth and to top it all off, heartbreak for their child particularly when the sister had to be mated to the love of her life.

They had tried to talk Theresa out of marrying Julian which proved abortive. It appeared their younger daughter had a thing for Julian and was overjoyed with the outcome.

They are even expecting their first child.

“The Queen is alive and good.”

“The Queen?” Salome went to sit down opposite him, her interest piqued. “What do you mean by that?”

“Mrs Gwendolyn Mcgregor, mated to King Ashton Mcgregor is now the Queen of the Chronicles, home to the most powerful Lycans in the world.”

Salome’s jaw dropped. Her daughter was mated? To a King? A Lycan? How? “Do you mean…” She stood and went to pluck a frame containing a picture of Gwen smiling brightly during her graduation. “My child. Gwendolyn?”

“Very well. Of course, Ma’am.”

And now it all made sense, Salome thought. This man was not one of them. He was not a werewolf but a Lycan. Her daughter is now a Queen in the Lycan Kingdom? Tears filled her eyes and dropped down her face.

Why did she not care to inform them? Did they mean so little to her that she didn’t care about them? She didn’t care about how much they will miss her. Of how her abrupt missing would affect them.

Her marriage to Kent had suffered a great slop since Gwen went missing. Salome couldn’t help but blame her husband for what happened. If only they stayed back to bring her home. If only they did this or did that. The blame went on and on, meanwhile, their child was in an enemy territory, living her best life.

“Ma’am, I was thinking this would be news of happiness to you,” The man said at seeing the tears pouring down her face.

“Did she put you up to this?” Salome asked, standing up with the picture clutched to her chest. “Did she send you to us?”

“No,” the man stood. “She has absolutely no knowledge of my presence here.”

“How could she? How could she do this to us?!”

“I’m sorry, Ma’am, I am only a messenger sent to inform you that your daughter was in good hands. Perhaps, when you meet her someday you can ask her yourself.”

“I can’t believe this,” Salon cried out, falling to her knees her body shook. She had lost weight crying every night, missing her baby girl and praying her eyes out for the goddess to make her see her one day. She even gave up, starting to despise the goddess for taking her away.

And now, only to realize that she was alive and had hidden from them. She did this intentionally! But why?

“Salome?” A voice asked from the entrance foyer, followed by a loud growl. “Who are you and what are you doing here? What did you do to my mate?” Kent charged forward but at the speed of light, Salome stood and blocked her husband.

“She’s alive,” Was the first statement she made.

“W-what? Who’s alive?” He asked her, eyeing the man suspiciously. Kent’s eyes flicked to the picture in her hand, his heart twisting inside.

His wife would never forgive him. She pretended to see him, but the disappearance of their little girl left a huge dent in their lives that only a miracle could correct.

“H-he said she’s alive.” She laughed through her tears. “Can you believe that? Our girl is a Queen now.”

“Queen? Of where?”

“The Lycans.” She broke into a derisive laughter. “Do you believe him? Our girl left us to become a Queen to our enemies. She hates us. What did we do to deserve that.”

“You have to leave now,” Kent said to the man, taking his trembling wife by the shoulders to drop on the nearby settee. “I don’t know who you are or what gave you nerves to come here and feed us such unscrupulous news, but you have to leave or I will call the pack guards.”Nôvel/Dr(a)ma.Org - Content owner.

“Fine, I will leave.” The man stood and made his way to the table to drop a card. “Call me whenever you are ready to meet your daughter.”

Salome rushed forward and grabbed the card, but her husband was fast to snatch it from her. “Sal, look at me. He’s bluffing. We are going to find her, you hear me? I’m going to do everything in my power to bring back our little girl.”

“He might be right. She might be there.”

“She would have been shredded apart the moment she set her leg there. It can’t be her.”

“Still, can’t we just hope?”She sobbed, holding his two hands. Kent felt bad that his once bubbly wife had to look this way. And he hated the goddess the more for taking their girl away from them.

Once he managed to soothe and lay her in bed, he returned back to finish the food she was making and while at it, he paused in thought, brought out the card to peruse, pondering intensely.

What if…

…