Chapter 4 Faint Flicker

Coriander’s Point of View

“Hey! I said let me go!” I kept struggling, trying to pull my hand free from his tight grip.

I noticed the guards and servants staring at us, but no one dared to interfere. They even stepped aside along the hallway to clear a path for us.

“Stop resisting. I won’t bite you, Omega,” he replied.

“Then stop dragging me! I can walk on my own!” I complained, feeling like my wrist was about to snap from how tightly he was holding it.

He suddenly stopped walking, so I stopped too. He turned to face me and finally let go of my wrist. I winced and rubbed the reddened skin.

“You talk too much,” he commented.

“And you grab too much! Do you see this?” I raised my reddened wrist. “I almost lost a hand because of you!”

“You’re still talking, which means it’s not broken,” he said.

“Wow, thank you very much for your concern,” I replied sarcastically.

He turned and started walking again. I had no intention of following him anymore, but just as I was about to turn back toward the hall, he spoke once more.

“Try going back inside. Let’s see if you come out alive,” he warned.

Is he threatening me?

I grimaced. I wasn’t exactly scared, but just the thought of being attacked by multiple packs allied with the Silverpine Pack made my skin crawl.

There was no doubt they were far stronger than me. I could fight, but I couldn’t guarantee I would win.

I glanced at the king not far from me. He was the King of the Lycans and from Alpha Donald’s reaction earlier alone, it was clear he wasn’t someone to be taken lightly.

If I left now and went back inside, I wasn’t even sure I would make it out alive after everything that happened. But if I went with him, survival still wasn’t guaranteed either—but at least I trusted him more than Alpha Donald, who looked like he was born out of pure resentment.

I rolled my eyes. “Fine, I’m coming!”

After I said that, he turned away and walked ahead as if he didn’t have anyone with him. When we stepped outside, a luxurious black car was waiting in the garage—something I couldn’t even identify.

A man with dark green hair stood beside it and handed King Mavros the keys.

“You can go now, Beta Lief. Make sure to monitor every pack inside my territory. Give me updates from time to time,” King Mavros ordered.

“As you command, King.”

I bit my lower lip to stop myself from laughing.

Dark green hair for Lief? Perfect combo!

“What are you still standing there for? Get in,” King Mavros said flatly from the driver’s seat.

I just rolled my eyes and got into the passenger seat. Of course I couldn’t sit in the backseat—it would only annoy him more and make him feel like I was treating him like a driver.

He sped off quickly, and I grabbed onto the side of my seat since I wasn’t wearing a seatbelt because I didn’t even know how!

“Slow down! If you’re planning to kill me, just say it so I can jump out now!” I scolded, which made him slow the car down.

He frowned and shot me an irritated glance. “Why didn’t you put on your seatbelt? Idiot.”

“Wow, sorry, okay? I’m just a lowly Omega who carries water and bathes horses. I have no idea how things like this work!” I shot back sarcastically.

I’m not usually this loud. In fact, I hate talking too much. But I don’t know—there’s something about this man that makes me keep talking and at the same time, he annoys the hell out of me.

“Stupid!” he said.

He pulled the car over, then roughly strapped the seatbelt across me. I thought he’d go back to driving right away, but I froze when he suddenly grabbed my hand like he was searching for something.

“What are you doing?!” I snapped, pulling my hand away from his grip.

He looked at me, brows furrowed. “Are you really an Omega?”

I frowned back at him. “Obviously. If I weren’t, I wouldn’t be bathing horses in the Silverpine Pack.”

“Then why did you heal so fast?” he asked, like it was the most impossible thing he had ever encountered.

I took a deep breath and scratched my brow. “Maybe because I’m a she-wolf? Just in case you’re not aware.”

He leaned back slightly, unimpressed. “Don’t be naive, woman. You know very well that Omegas like you don’t heal that quickly. And based on what I can sense, you haven’t even had your first shift yet. So how do you explain that?”

I fell silent and looked away. Of course, I knew what he meant. He was right. Omegas like me aren’t supposed to heal that fast. But in my case, I could—which is why I was still alive after receiving twenty-five lashes yesterday.

I even noticed earlier while changing that the wounds on my back had already turned into faint scars, and those usually disappeared quickly too—as if I had never been whipped at all.

“I don’t know,” I admitted.

At first, I thought it was normal. But as time passed, I became more and more convinced that something about me was different—and I couldn’t explain it.

He started the car again, but this time he drove much slower than before. He didn’t speak anymore, so I stayed silent too.

I leaned my head back against the seat and focused inward, trying to feel myself again.

I tried to reach my wolf once more, concentrating deeply within me.

At first, it was nothing. Just the same silence I always felt whenever I tried to reach out to Pip.

That familiar emptiness inside my chest tightened slightly, like it always did whenever I tried and failed.

I was about to give up and try again tomorrow when I suddenly froze—there was a flicker. A faint flicker that I almost thought I imagined.

My breath hitched. “Pip?” I said in my mind.

It wasn’t a voice, but it felt like warmth. Something shifted inside me, like something long asleep had finally stirred.

My fingers slowly curled against my lap. I tried to reach deeper, forcing my consciousness inward, afraid that if I moved too much, it would disappear.

I could feel her. Not strongly. Not clearly. But I could feel her—stronger than I had in years.

My breath trembled. My heart was racing, and my whole body felt warm despite the air-conditioning inside the car.

Then suddenly, just as quickly as it came—it faded.

No matter how hard I reached, no matter how deeply I searched, it slipped away like smoke between my fingers.

My chest tightened when I could no longer feel Pip again. My mind went silent once more. The emptiness returned, as if nothing had ever happened.

Slowly, I opened my eyes and stared blankly ahead.

My heartbeat was still fast, and my fingers were slightly trembling.

I knew that wasn’t just my imagination.

I turned my head slightly, staring at the man beside me. He was focused on the road, as if he hadn’t noticed anything.

I took a deep breath and looked away.

What the hell was that? Did Pip hit her head and decide to finally show herself?

Still… for the first time in five years, I didn’t feel completely empty anymore.

Not long after, I noticed that all we were passing through was endless wilderness. In the distance, a fortress silhouette appeared behind a forest.

“That’s your fortress?” I asked in disbelief, but he didn’t answer me.

I couldn’t believe a place like this even existed in Florida! So creepy.

“Hold on tight,” he ordered.

I thought we would have to get out and walk into the forest, but I was wrong. Suddenly, a road opened near the edge of the woods, and King Mavros drove straight down without hesitation.

We were now inside a bright tunnel leading to somewhere I had no idea existed.

I kept cursing in shock.

“Goddess of the Moon, please, guide me. I don’t want to die yet,” I prayed with my eyes shut tightly, gripping my seat as hard as I could.

What kind of place is this?!

It took about a minute before the car finally came to a stop. It felt like I had been thrown into some amusement ride without warning.

“Open your eyes. We’re here,” he ordered before stepping out of the car without hesitation.

“Hey, you psycho! After what you just did, you’re just going to leave me here—wait, how do I remove this seatbelt?!” I blurted out while struggling to unbuckle myself.

I thought he had completely left me, but I froze when the passenger door suddenly opened, and he personally unbuckled it for me.

“Stupid. Hurry up. Get out,” he ordered again.

“You’re really going too far! Why did you even drag me here in the first place?! Take me back home!” I complained as I got out of the car and slammed the door shut.

I expected him to react because of what I did to his car, but he didn’t seem bothered at all.

“Where else would I take you home? Back to Silverpine? You’ve been rejected, remember? Your only choice now is to stay here and follow my orders. That’s your payment for me taking in someone like you,” he said.

I looked at him sarcastically. “Then I’d rather be a rogue than follow the orders of you, King-fucking-Mavros!” I snapped.

I expected him to roar, to shift, to throw me out. Instead, he just tilted his head, a shadow of a smile playing on his lips that didn’t reach his icy eyes.

“You really have guts, huh?” he muttered, amusedly.