Lycan King's Regret: Punished The Wrong Daughter

Arabella Toussaint:

Jasmine held my face, forcing me to make eye contact with her, "Listen carefully. You can’t afford to make a mistake."

I moved back, freeing myself from her grip, "You already said that. What’s next?"

"Okay..." She whispered, her sharp eyes roaming behind me, "First, you’ll head to the Southern Gate. Don’t worry about the guards. They’ll already be distracted. A friend of mine will take care of that. Don’t stop. Don’t ask questions. Just walk out."

I swallowed, nodding my head, "What if... someone calls my name? What about Jacob, my bodyguard?"

"Your bodyguard will be handled. If you hear your name, keep walking. No one will stop you."

I wished I had even half of her confidence. She snapped her fingers in front of my face, "Be attentive, Lady Arabella. After you leave the palace grounds, take the left trail and keep walking until you reach the old oak tree."

She then reached into her pocket and pulled out a small piece of paper with a rough sketch, "You’ll find an old black Sedan parked there. Nobody will pay attention to it."

I nodded, trying to remember every detail. Just then the restroom door suddenly swung open, and a female warrior walked inside.

I tried to suppress the gasp and started fixing my hair, looking at the mirror. Without missing a beat, Jasmine pulled out her phone and leaned casually against the wall, scrolling through it as if she had been texting someone.

I tried to control my hammering heart and turned toward the sink to switch on the tap.

Come on. Act normal. Don’t be a fool!

I washed my hands and glanced at my reflection in the mirror, pretending to fix the loose strands of hair around my face. The warrior came out of the stall without paying attention to either of us. After washing her hands, she left, closing the door behind her.

Only then did I breathe I’d been holding.

Jasmine slipped her phone back into her pocket and shot me an unimpressed look.

"Why are you acting so scared?" She hissed and stepped closer, "If you panic that easily, you’ll never make it to Lucien’s room."

My stomach twisted. She was right. I needed to get a grip. In an instant she was back in her no-nonsense mode.

"So where were we?" She thought for a moment.

"The car..." I tried reminding her.

"Ah, yes. The car. So... the driver knows you’re coming. Get in, don’t ask him anything and don’t tell him anything... especially your name. No need to talk to him."

I took a slow breath, "Then?"

"He’ll drop you off at the main gate of the human city. Once you reach there, get out of the car and let him leave you. Understand?" She asked me sternly in her Head Warrior tone.

I quickly nodded my head, "After that?"

She shrugged, "After that? Disappear!"

My stomach fluttered. It sounded so simple yet so hard. What if it didn’t work?

"What if it didn’t work?" I blurted the words before I could stop them.

"Why won’t it work?" She knitted her brows as she looked at me, "The Lycans don’t have plan B, Arabella. I’ve been serving them as a Head warrior from a young age. I always made plan As. There were never plan Bs."

I sighed, trying to steady my speeding heartbeat. It was all so scary, but I wanted to do it for Maya’s sake.

"Meet me again after two days. Same time. Only for a few minutes. I’ll let you know where."

"What for?"

"I’ll give you a potion to hide your scent. We need to erase it before Lucien or his men start looking for you."

That made sense. Then another thought crossed my mind, "What about the mate mark?"

"That will be handled when we meet again," She glanced towards the restroom door, "Don’t forget. Same time but a different place. Right after two days."

I nodded slowly.

I wanted to ask her more questions, but she gave a light nudge on my shoulder, "You need to go," She lowered her voice, "Your bodyguard shouldn’t get suspicious, or he would barge in here."

With a nod, I took a step back, "See you after two days."

She gave me a tight-lipped smile, "I’ll leave after staying here for a few more minutes."

I understood and turned around to leave when she called me, "Hey, Arabella."

I didn’t turn around and looked over my shoulder, "Don’t worry. Everything will work out in your favor. Best of luck."

"Thank you, Jasmine," With that, I came out of the bathroom and found Jacob standing right outside the door with a worried face.

***

"So... can’t I even go to the bathroom in peace, Jacob?"

He tried to speak, but I held my hand up, "Didn’t I tell you to give me some space? Are you planning to stay glued to my ass twenty-four-seven?" We were standing in the garden, and I was scolding him while both my hands were on my hips.

Jacob looked completely helpless, "And who asked you to walk into the warriors’ wing and stand outside the bathroom?"

"I did." The familiar voice made me freeze for a moment before I slowly turned around and found His Highness standing right behind me.

"What?" He looked at my face before motioning for Jacob to leave.

"I asked him where you were. When he told me you’d been inside for quite a while, I had to ask him to go closer and..."

I didn’t let him finish and placed my palms on his hard chest to give him a shove, "So, now you and Jacob are going to keep track of my bathroom visits? What if I had diarrhea?" I demanded, not realizing that I had raised my voice.

He cocked up a brow, "You have diarrhea?"

"No!"

I spun around and started walking away. Goddess. I was so pissed and couldn’t wait to get out of this place.

When I didn’t hear his footsteps behind me, I glanced over my shoulder and found him rooted to the spot, grinning ear to ear.

"What’s so funny?" I asked him loudly, glaring at him before turning around and walking away.