Claimed by the Mad Lycan King

”Can... Neriah come here?” Seara asked Zade, who had just come out of the bathroom with water dripping from his black hair. His electric-blue eyes were bright, and Seara loved staring at them.

”Sure, if you want.” Zade came over, and Seara helped him dry his hair, returning the favor as he helped Seara dry hers. It was easy for Seara, since Zade had very short hair, while Zade would take half an hour to do the job. ”But don’t take her to the forest; the wild wolves don’t react well to strangers.”

It was not Neriah that Zade worried about, but his mate. To be honest, he didn’t even care if the wild wolves attacked Neriah, but as he understood Seara, she could get hurt if she tried to help her friend.

”Okay.” Seara knew the reason why.

”You can go to the garden or the conservatory.” Zade ran his fingers gently on Seara’s stomach. ”Or do you want to go out?”

Zade had to leave today because there were a few businesses that he had to handle personally, and they required his presence. Most of the time, Ace would handle the business part, while Zephyr handled the territory part.

That was why, for humans, only a handful of people knew about Zade, while every businessman and person in their field would know who Ace was. Even so, they knew Ace was working for someone else, someone above him, though they couldn’t tell who that was.

Zade didn’t really need the business, since another perk of having a long lifespan was that you amassed wealth that no one could imagine. Despite that, Zade still needed the relations and the power behind the businesses, as well as the connection to the right people, since their existence as shifters was not known to humans.

”No...” Seara shook her head; she was still uncomfortable going out, but then she remembered something. ”But I want to go to a movie with you if you are not busy.”

Seara lowered the towel and wiped the water from Zade’s forehead. He looked fresh and smelled so good.

”Do you want to go now?”

Ace would have a heart attack if Zade canceled at the last minute, especially when it had never happened before, but if his mate wanted him to stay, he wouldn’t care about missing a meeting or two.

Let Ace clean up the mess.

”No...” Seara furrowed her brows. ”Ace has been waiting for you. I want to show Neriah this place.” Seara still felt uneasy with her, but she didn’t have any reason for that, so she thought it would be better if she tried to get used to her again.

Probably, she felt that way because they had not yet met for a long time. She missed her friend too.

”Sure, next time then.” Zade kissed Seara’s palm. He then stood up to change his clothes. ”I will be home before dinner.”

Zade hugged her tightly because it was the first time he had left her alone to attend to some business matters. Those meetings were such a waste of time.

However, Jane had been nagging him not to spend all his time orbiting around Seara. It wasn’t good for her because she was becoming too dependent on him, though Zade didn’t see the problem with that.

Jane created a problem that was not there.

***

Neriah came to the residence in the afternoon, and they had lunch together. Neriah talked about her new job as a receptionist at one of the companies in this city. She talked about how she could live in a nice apartment without paying anything so she could save money for herself.

”Thank you, thank you so much, Seara! I am really happy!” Neriah hugged Seara tightly. She kissed her cheek, like she used to do when they were teenagers.

Yet, when Neriah did that, Seara felt a chill run down her spine. She bit her lip and clenched her fists, holding back the urge to push her away. She couldn’t do that.

”You are my friend. I am happy if you are happy.” Seara wriggled away from Neriah’s arms. ”I want to show you the garden. Do you want to see it?”

”Yes, of course.” Neriah was excited.

An hour later, they were strolling through a garden filled with yellow roses. Zade had taken her to this garden the next day after they visited the forest and then to the conservatory the day after.

Even then, there were still a few places in the residence’s area that they had not visited yet. Zade wanted to take her to the main building and introduce her to the other high-ranking people like Ace’s parents, but Seara was not ready for that.

”What place is that?” Neriah was distracted when she talked about her first day of work and how the people there treated her. She had to interact with humans most of the time because they dominated the business district.

”What?” Seara followed Neriah’s line of sight, but she didn’t see anything that could catch Neriah’s attention. It was only tall hedges.

”Over there. I see like a tall building.” Neriah jumped up and down, and Seara followed her; only then could she see the top of a building in the distance.

”I don’t know.”

”Can we go there and check what that is?”

”Uhm. I am not sure; Zade had not yet taken me to that place,” Seara replied, but when Neriah insisted, she relented and went there.

However, the moment they stepped out of the garden and walked toward the building on the opposite side of the way they came in, two warriors stopped them.

”I am sorry, Miss, but you can’t enter this area. This is a forbidden area for you. This is the king’s order,” one of them said.

”Oh, okay...” Seara didn’t want to defy Zade; she didn’t have the urgency to go there either.

But when she looked at Neriah, she saw longing in her eyes.