Bullied Mate Of The Lycan Kings
Chapter 23

Zac's POV

I remembered the feeling I had gotten when I came down from the private jet, bodyguards marching down with me but also walking as far away from me as possible so that they don't trigger my annoyance at having to be followed everywhere like a f*****g invalid. I could see my mother waving at me from where she was standing, also heavily body guarded.

In her little black dress, stiletto and makeup, her smile so sweet and innocent, she fitted right in with the humans. You would not believe that she was a dangerous mafia heiress, capable of using all the types of guns and weapons that have been created by the humans. Or that she could turn into a gigantic wolf and chomp all of us whole but, I'm probably digressing from the point that I was trying to make.

I was back home in Shadow Cove even though every time I left, I never wanted to return. And behind my mother's smile, I could see the fear in her eyes as she welcomed me home because she knew too that one day, I might leave and never return. She had first hand experience with that kind of pain already.

Maria Talaverra cared about few things that weren't money and power. One of them was her only child. Her family, actually, but her husband could take care of himself.

When you're as deep into the underground crime world as my parents were, you attract a lot of enemies who come after what you treasure the most. For my parents, that was me.

Everyone but me was happy that I was back home and of course as I climbed on my bike as soon as I got home, I was met with the disapproving glare on mother's face.

"It's already noon, mijo and you've only just returned. Stay home today. School can wait till tomorrow."

"Encouraging truancy is a bad look on you, mum."

Her face pinched into a scowl.

I rolled my shoulders and shook out my hair before putting on my helmet.

"Why don't you take the car?" She tried again, conceding defeat.

I started the engine and tossed her a lazy grin, blowing her a kiss in answer like I always did to calm her down.

I was out of the estate in seconds.

The exhilaration I was hoping to chase by riding the bike at top speed today seemed to be lost, buried under a heap of anxiety and frustration that had been festering since I boarded the plane from Italy back here.

I was sure that it had something to do with being back in this place. It may be home to most. Shadow Cove was probably the safest place on earth for creatures like me. But to me, it was a prison, fortified with walls and defenses to keep you in. I loved traveling and even though I knew that my parents had bodyguards follow me always, no matter where I was going to, even to the ends of the earth if they could, the one thing that I always enjoyed whenever I was out of this city, this f*****g place was freedom.

I was free to meet people who could care less about who I was; a son to one of the royal families in Shadow cove and not just any royal family, the Talaverras, one of the most feared mafia families in the west with their nose in every type of pie.

I was free to try new foods, f**k whomever I wanted, whenever I pleased and most important of all, chasing after my next high in extreme sports, drugs and alcohol, trying all I could to forget about the war that my defected wolf, Azrael raged daily in my head. Coming back to Shadow cove stripped me of the one thing I desired the most in the world; freedom. And no matter what my parents said and how much I was loved, feared and respected by others because I was a Talaverra, this community, this city was nothing but a gilded cage. A beautiful one, but still a prison nonetheless.

As I took a sharp left on my bike, I could see a large jeep following me from a safe distance and a part of me wanted to try to outrun them, wanted to give them a run for their money, but what was the point?

I knew what would happen if I so much as abandoned my bodyguards. My mother would probably have a cardiac arrest if she didn't hear from them about my whereabouts every minute of the day and as much as I hated being followed, I could not blame my parents.

They had nearly lost me once to their enemies... Flashbacks of how I had been betrayed, taken and lost my humanity hit me all at once. Blood red lips. Fanged smiles. Wicked green eyes. Venom in her veins.

I increased the speed of my bike, trying to outrace the memory. Trying to shake off the demons. I sighed and shook my head when I arrived at a traffic light. Nothing good was ever going to come from allowing the darkness to suck me in.

The only bright side to being back here was seeing my friends again. I was a s**t texter but they had been strangely quiet for the past few weeks and it made me worried that something was happening. Perhaps there was something going on at the school that was taking their time.

My parents usually kept me out of the loop of things that happen in Shadow Cove, probably because I have no interest in hearing them. So if I ever needed to catch up on the latest news in town, my best friends were the ones that filled me in on all the tea. It was already time for lunch and I parked in front of the cafeteria, I removed my helmet and waited for my bodyguards to park right beside me. But as the one in the passenger's seat moved to come out, I raised a hand and shook my head, bringing out the charming smile that was my weapon.

"You don't need to come down, Savio." I said, walking over to him and resting against his car door.

He frowned at me, a vein ticking in his head.

"Your mother will not be pleased, Zac. We will not bother you. Ten feet away like always." It was Lucas who was behind the wheel that answered. He had always been the stricter of the two of them and perhaps I was barking down the wrong tree by trying to speak to Savio first instead of him so I smirked and walked over to the driver's side of the car.

"I'm not saying that you should leave, Lu." I said gently, mockingly, like I was speaking to a slow old man. "I'm just saying that you should wait here for me. The students are going to be uncomfortable seeing your big asses following me around inside and I'm not going to be leaving here without my bike so you can stay parked right beside it."

Dipping my hands into my pocket, I brought out a wad of cash and dropped it on the dashboard of the car before patting his shoulder gently. Savio was already smiling and I winked at him.

"Do not leave the school without us, do you understand me, Zac?" Lucas said, grudgingly.

"Clear as crystal." I answered and bowed dramatically before walking into the cafeteria to see that it was a chaotic mess like it always was. Well, home sweet home, right?

"Hungry." Azrael suddenly growled into my head.

"You just ate." I reminded him of the doe eyed, strawberry blonde haired air hostess we fed on just a few hours ago. She was sweet and eager. It wasn't hard finding willing walking blood bags when you had looks and pockets like mine. "Not enough. More."

"Not now, Az."

I tuned him off as I headed to the cafeteria lounge, the part of the cafeteria that had been made separate for my friends.

I was almost at the table when a prickling sense of awareness, like an itch behind my ear, Azrael's way of telling me to watch my back, made me turn around and just in time too because a girl holding a tower of snacks walked right into me. I grabbed her shoulders immediately, stopping her from falling and her scent, sweet and flowery, hit me before I could even see her face.

"Hungry!" Azrael growled again, louder this time and I wrestled with him for control before I lose it in front of a crowd of witnesses.

Turning on the charm, I spoke first.

"Are you alright?" I asked, glad that I could always choose to be this Zac whenever I wanted, hiding the real Zac away behind a mask of charm, rizz and jokes.

She struggled to keep the snacks up, moving to the side to peer up at me and the smirk fell from my face, my entire body going still when I saw her face.

No.

It couldn't be.

What the f**k was going on here? This isn't possible.

But I blinked and there she was, looking exactly like all of my nightmares in one as memories hit me like a gunshot to the chest.

Blood dripping from wine red lips, wicked green eyes and evil fanged smiles and venom in her veins.

My bones felt like they were corroding all over again. My body felt like it was dipped in acid.

I kept chanting it was impossible, trying to shake myself awake but no matter what I did, the apparition in front of me wouldn't disappear.

There she stood, still staring at me like I was the mad one. Like she hadn't just stepped out of my f*****g nightmares.

And my eyes widened in horror because it meant that she was real and not a ghost. Not a figment of my horrific imagination.

The person that I was staring at right now was wearing the face of the first life that I ever took.

She was wearing Callista's face.