The Lycan King's Second Chance Mate: Rise of the Traitor's Daughter-Chapter 120: Running Away

Cassandra~

I wasn’t just running—I was escaping.

Vereth blurred behind me like a fever dream through the cab’s rain-streaked rear window. The city was a cacophony of steel and neon, a place pulsing with secrets and monsters. And I had just walked away from the only one in that city who had ever looked at me like I wasn’t one.

Sebastian.

It was 11 a.m. when I made the decision. The sun was high, mocking me through the cracked blinds of his bedroom. He was sleeping—thanks to the vial I’d hidden in my bracelet, a dose potent enough to put a vampire like him out cold. He hadn’t even stirred when I kissed his forehead and whispered sorry.

I ransacked the place. Not out of greed—out of desperation. I hadn’t brought a single thing with me to Vereth. No clothes. No food. No money. Just blood on my hands and an order to kill. That time, I had Kalmia with me, so I didn’t need any of those things. I grabbed a worn duffle bag from his closet, stuffed it with a few of his shirts, one of his leather jackets, and two pairs of jeans that hung low on my hips. In the kitchen, I snatched energy bars, bottled water, canned stuff. From his wallet, I took enough cash to keep me moving. I hated doing it. But love wasn’t going to pay for a fake ID or a bus ticket out of this hell.

Vereth wasn’t built for people like me to vanish. It was a glass-and-gunmetal city, where even the shadows had eyes and my name sent a chill through the vampire underworld. Most people feared me. A few wanted me dead. No one offered favors.

But fear has its uses. And I knew who to threaten.

In an old pawn shop tucked between a tattoo parlor and a defunct nightclub, I found a vampire named Mikhail who owed his life to my blade once upon a time but I had let him live. I didn’t ask how he got into the business of forging identities. I just watched him sweat when he saw me walk through the door. Within an hour, I had a new name, a fresh ID, and a one-way ticket to a coastal port city where nobody would look twice at a girl with blood in her past.

"Don’t come back," he said as he handed me the documents.

I didn’t plan to.

By 2 p.m., I was in a rusted-down yellow cab, headed for the border. My hood was up. My fingers clenched around the duffle like it held my entire existence. The cabbie asked where I was going.

"Somewhere no one will ever find me."

He just nodded and drove.

The streets grew quieter. Streetlights gave way to trees, then old concrete, then open road. I let myself believe I was close. That maybe—maybe—I could disappear before Kalmia found me. That I could go to where Kalmia’s influence didn’t stretch. That Sebastian could wake up alone, confused, but safe.

Then the cab jerked to a sudden stop.

"What the hell—" I started.

The radio cut to static. The engine died.

I didn’t need to ask why.

The air shifted. Heavy. Thick. Sweet smoke curling around my throat like a noose. Then the scent of the burnt roses, scorched and ruined.

The passenger door flung open on its own. Not like someone touched it.

Like it obeyed.

She stepped into view, her heels clicking like a metronome of doom. But they didn’t touch the ground. Her dress flowed like it was made of ink and storm clouds. Her hair rippled, caught in a wind only she could feel.

"Oh, little wolf," Kalmia said, all poison-laced silk. "Running away from home already?"

My breath caught. I was out of the car in seconds, stumbling backward onto the cracked road, eyes wide.

"Great mother... please."

She hovered forward, her voice like a lullaby sharpened to a blade. "You look exhausted. Life on the run not suiting you?"

"I’m not running from you," I lied.

She smiled like she could hear every lie I’d ever told. "No? Then why the forged documents? The stolen money? The disappearing act?"

"I’ll do anything," I said, voice cracking as I dropped to my knees. "Take me instead. I’ll kill whoever you want. Vampires, witches, even humans. I’ll be yours. Just... not him."

I bowed my head, feeling the sting in my chest as I let the words leave me. "Take my body, my life, my soul. But leave Sebastian alone."

The duffle bag slipped from my grip and hit the ground with a soft thud.

Kalmia crouched to my level, her fingers cool against my cheek. "Your offer is sweet. Dramatic. And very outdated."

She stood again. "I already own your body and life, Cassandra. I don’t need you killing any other vampire. I need Sebastian dead. And since you love him so much... you’re perfect for the job."

I shook my head. "No. No, I can’t—"

"Oh, and one more thing." Her voice turned cold. "Griffin. Bring me his body."

"What?" I blinked. "Griffin’s dead body?"

"I want his body," she said casually. "Your little fire spirit friend showed up and ruined my fun. I didn’t have time to retrieve the body."

"I—I don’t know what happened to it. I was unconscious—"

"I didn’t ask for excuses." Her smile faded. "I want that corpse, Cassandra. Don’t question me again."

Before I could respond, pain shot through my veins like lightning. I screamed, clutching my chest as Kalmia placed a cold, invisible brand on my soul.

"I tried to be nice to you but you defiled my orders; so, I’ve cursed you," she whispered into my ear. "From now on, every time you see Sebastian, no matter the love you feel for him, you’ll be consumed with one urge: kill him. And you’ll try. Over and over again, until one of you stops breathing."

"No! Please!" I thrashed, falling onto the pavement as the fire of her curse settled in my blood.

And then—

The world folded.

When it snapped back into place, I was in Sebastian’s bedroom again.

Familiar. Quiet.

His intoxicating scent hit me like a truck.

I stood there shaking, boots on his rug, heart in my throat, the curse already gnawing at the edges of my sanity.

He wasn’t home. But I couldn’t leave. Not with the weight of Kalmia’s command coiled around my soul like a serpent.

So I waited.

In his room. frёeweɓηovel.coɱ

On his bed.

Willing myself not to turn into the monster she’d made me.

And when that door opened—

I didn’t know if I would kiss him or kill him first.