Chapter 321: Lycan Princess.
Maria.
"What’s wrong with you, Maria?" Galen asked sharply after finally recovering from the shock of the slap.
Her hand remained pressed against her cheek, her eyes burning furiously as she stared at me in disbelief.
"Many things, Galen!" I blurted out immediately before I could stop myself.
The words came out filled with anger and frustration.
The moment my words settled in the air, Galen’s expression darkened instantly.
Without warning, she raised her hand, clearly intending to return the slap.
But unfortunately for her, her hand never reached my face.
The second her palm moved toward me, my reflexes reacted faster. I grabbed her wrist firmly midair and twisted it harshly.
"Ouchhh!" Galen winced painfully, her face twisting as she tried pulling away from my grip.
Her eyes shot toward me immediately, bloodshot with rage and humiliation.
For a moment, the both of us remained locked in place.
Neither willing to back down.
"I have always thought you were too kind and naive," she spat bitterly through clenched teeth. "But I guess you aren’t!"
I stared directly at her without blinking.
Maybe she was right.
Maybe the old me would have stood there quietly and accepted everything.
Maybe the old me would have swallowed the pain and pretended to understand her ridiculous excuses.
But that version of me no longer existed.
Not after everything.
Not after the betrayal, the manipulation, and the countless times my life had been treated like it meant nothing.
Before either of us could say another word, Vincent suddenly stepped forward.
His presence instantly made my body tense, as his hands rested firmly against my waist as he tried to separate the situation.
"Maria, calm down!" he said firmly.
The moment his hands touched me, disgust instantly crawled through my skin. It felt suffocating and ucomfortable.
I immediately released Galen’s wrist, but not because Vincent had asked me to.
No.
I released her because his hands were on me and I hated it. Without hesitation, I shoved his hands away from my waist instantly before shooting him a deadly glare.
A glare filled with warning.
A glare that silently screamed for him not to touch me again.
For a brief moment, Vincent simply stared at me quietly.
Meanwhile, Galen slowly flexed her wrist, still glaring at me with obvious fury.
"Maria, I will only let this act of yours slide because you once showed me kindness," she said coldly.
Her voice carried both warning and pride.
Then her gaze shifted toward Vincent briefly before returning to me again.
"Next time, I won’t show you mercy," she added sharply before turning around and storming out of the room.
The atmosphere remained heavy even after she left.
I scoffed quietly under my breath, completely unimpressed by her threat.
Mercy?
As though she had ever shown me any in the first place.
Vincent sighed softly before signaling to the other man who had remained standing silently the entire time.
The man immediately lowered his head respectfully and walked out of the room without saying a word, leaving only Vincent and me behind.
Silence instantly filled the space.
An uncomfortable silence.
"Maria," Vincent called softly after a while.
I didn’t answer him.
"I know everything happening is not what you expected," he continued carefully, his voice noticeably calmer now. "But I won’t ever hurt you again."
His words lingered in the air between us.
"You are hurting me already, Vincent!" I said firmly, my voice cutting through the tension in the room. My chest tightened as I held his gaze. "Why did you stop my wedding?" I demanded sternly, my tone sharper this time.
Vincent’s expression shifted almost immediately. For a brief moment, he didn’t respond. Instead, he looked away from me, as though my question carried more weight than he wanted to admit.
"Because that wedding isn’t for you," he finally said.
His voice was calm, almost disturbingly calm.
He paused, then continued, each word carefully chosen as if he had rehearsed them in his mind a thousand times.
"You deserve the best, Maria...the title of Luna of Moonfal Pack is far inferior for you."
I frowned slightly, confusion and irritation twisting inside me as I tried to understand what he was even saying.
He turned away and took a slow step toward the window, as though putting distance between us would make his words sound more reasonable.
"Only you deserve the title of Lycan Princess," he said, now facing the outside world instead of me.
A soft smile formed on his lips as if he genuinely believed every word he was saying.
"You would become a woman feared by all," he continued, his tone growing more intense. "All other Lunas would have to bow to you."
His voice carried an unsettling certainty.
Then he turned back toward me, slowly and deliberately as though he was presenting a future he had already decided for me.
He closed the distance between us and took my hands in his, holding them firmly at first before gently loosening his grip, almost as if he was trying to appear tender.
"What do you think, Maria?" His smile deepened as his eyes studied my reaction closely. "Having your revenge on those who once trampled on you would be easier...with me by your side."
The moment those words left his mouth, something inside me snapped.
I had been silent all this while, listening to his nonsense, forcing myself to understand whatever twisted logic he was trying to present.
But that last sentence...that one made me scoff loudly.
A sharp, humorless sound.
"You are crazy, Vincent!" I said, immediately pulling my hands away from his grip as though his touch had suddenly burned me.
I stepped back slightly, putting distance between us.
But Vincent only laughed. A low, amused laugh that made my skin crawl.
"Yes, Maria," he said softly, his eyes still fixed on me. "I am crazy...when it comes to you."
His confession did nothing to calm the storm rising inside me. In fact, it only made everything worse.
I didn’t have time for any more of his nonsense—Not his fantasies, not his delusions and not whatever twisted world he had created in his head involving me.
"I’m leaving, Vincent," I said firmly, already turning my body away from him. "Instruct someone to show me the directions."
My decision was final.
Or at least, it should have been.
"No way, Maria!" Vincent suddenly declared, his voice dropping, deeper and darker than before.
I froze slightly.
My heart skipped.
Slowly, I turned back toward him.
His eyes had darkened completely now, stripping away every trace of the earlier softness.
The air between us changed instantly.
"You are my Lycan Princess," he said, each word heavy with possession. "You belong here."
What?
When did I agree to be his Lycan Princess?
