Chapter 814 – Why did you call me your savior?

Chapter 814: Chapter 814 – Why did you call me your savior?

Matilda let out a bitter laugh, the sound hollow and humorless as it escaped her lips, carrying years of pain and resentment, the kind of laughter that held far more grief than amusement.

"Mate? No. We female Lycans can feel the mate bond, but it has always been useless to us. They use sorcery to suppress the mate bonds of the male Lycans so they can accept whoever the elders choose for them."

Ravyn found the revelation increasingly difficult to digest, disgust and disbelief twisting together in his stomach as though a knot were tightening with every word, making it harder for him to breathe.

He knew the history of the werewolves, how their ancestors had once begged the Moon Goddess to take away the mate bond because they believed it brought them more pain than happiness, but the Lycans had taken an entirely different approach.

Rather than surrendering the bond, they used sorcery to suppress it, turning something sacred into something they could manipulate for their own purposes. It was twisted, unnatural, and so deeply disturbing that it made his blood run cold.

He looked at Matilda, his curiosity now mixed with growing concern, a cold weight settling in his chest as he considered everything she had told him.

If the Lycan leaders were capable of doing such things to their own kind, he needed to understand exactly what sort of people Mary had been born among and what kind of monsters had made her mother’s life so frightening.

"If I may ask, can you tell me about your king?"

Matilda froze at the mention of the King, her body going rigid as her eyes clouded with something old and deeply unsettling. A shadow crossed her face, and for a moment, she seemed to be struggling with memories she would rather not revisit.

"King Battal was a good king, not as corrupt as the previous kings, but his hunger for power is what makes him dangerous. We were happy when his only son, Bowen, took over, but then we were informed that he had cut ties with the kingdom and had been killed. Honestly, I don’t think anyone could have killed Bowen so easily. He was far stronger than his father."

Ravyn wasn’t particularly interested in hearing about Bowen, but the idea of a man willingly giving up a throne caught his attention. A throne that came with authority, wealth, and control over an entire kingdom was not something most people would abandon without a compelling reason.

"Why did Bowen give up the throne? Wasn’t it powerful enough?"

"There are things we don’t know, but the rumors said he found true love in a human woman after his two wives died. Apparently, one wife killed the other, and Bowen avenged her, but nobody knows what really happened."

Matilda’s voice grew quieter as she spoke, her expression suggesting that even the stories circulating among the Lycans were filled with unanswered questions.

Ravyn couldn’t help feeling judgmental when he heard that Bowen had two wives. His jaw tightened, and his fingers curled beneath the table as instinctive disapproval rose within him.

Then the reality of his own situation came rushing back, bringing with it memories of Seraphine and Daisy, the complicated arrangement he had once wanted, and all the pain he had caused because of his choices.

He had no right to judge another man for having multiple wives when his own hands were far from clean, and the guilt that accompanied the realization left an unpleasant taste in his mouth.

"So, have you heard anything about King Battal recently?" Ravyn asked, hoping Matilda might know something that would help him understand Battal’s whereabouts. He kept his voice carefully neutral, although his interest had sharpened considerably.

Unfortunately, her answer did little to satisfy his curiosity.

"I heard rumors from some close friends who escaped later that there’s been chaos at the underground fortress. We were told that our kind can no longer access the wolf lands, and King Battal hasn’t been to the fortress either."

"And do you think he’ll be replaced?"

Ravyn couldn’t help hoping that a new king would eventually take Battal’s place, preferably someone with a better understanding of peace and diplomacy, someone who might even be willing to sign a peace treaty with the werewolves and put an end to the bloodshed that had plagued both races.

Unfortunately, Matilda’s next words crushed that hope almost immediately.

She shook her head slowly, her expression growing grave as she considered how best to explain the situation.

"Not until he’s dead or his grandson comes of age. You see, Battal’s lineage comes from the female sorcerers in our clan. Their strength is both formidable and a curse. I heard that his grandson had already killed a warrior thrice his age and double his size before he turned seven."

Ravyn leaned back slightly, finding himself increasingly uncomfortable with the direction of their conversation.

No matter how much he learned about the Lycan kingdom, every new revelation seemed worse than the last.

From what Voren had told him, defeating Battal had been difficult enough, and removing his limbs had required a brutal fight that had cost them dearly.

The memory of what it had taken to bring the Lycan king down was still fresh in his mind, and now he was hearing that Battal had a grandson who had killed a grown warrior before reaching his seventh birthday.

The thought sent an unpleasant chill down his spine. If a child could possess that kind of strength at such a young age, what would happen when he grew older and inherited even more of his family’s power?

Ravyn had a feeling he wasn’t going to like the answer, but there was something else Matilda had said earlier that he still couldn’t understand. He had only met her that day, yet she had greeted him as though he had come to rescue her and Mary from some terrible fate.

"Alright, so why did you call me your savior? I hadn’t even known you until today."