Chapter 359: Golden mask Lady!
Damien.
My mouth refused to close the moment my eyes landed on the Lycan Prince.
For a few seconds, I could only stare.
But surprisingly, he wasn’t the reason my jaw remained slack.
No.
It was the woman standing beside him.
The woman wearing the golden mask.
My gaze immediately shifted from the prince to her, and once it did, I found it impossible to look away.
She stood there silently, her posture straight and elegant, yet there was something overwhelmingly intimidating about her presence.
She had to be the future Lycan Princess.
Who else could stand beside the Lycan Prince with such confidence?
Yet, despite coming to that conclusion, I couldn’t stop staring.
What an aura she possessed.
It wasn’t the kind that demanded attention through loud words or dramatic gestures. It was far more terrifying than that.
Her mere presence seemed to dominate the entire room.
There was something challenging about her demeanor, something that made it seem as though she feared absolutely nothing.
I swallowed hard and for some strange reason, my legs felt weak beneath me.
A chill ran down my spine as I continued looking at her.
Who exactly was she?
Why did she feel so familiar?
And more importantly...Why did I feel drawn to her?
The strange pull intensified the longer I stared. It was subtle, yet impossible to ignore, almost as though something deep within me was desperately trying to recognize her.
I immediately shook my head.
What was I even thinking?
Then another thought suddenly crossed my mind.
Could she be Maria’s twin sister?
My brows furrowed.
That was the only explanation I could come up with. After all, I still hadn’t seen Maria since arriving.
If I didn’t know any better, I would have thought the woman beneath that mask was Maria herself.
But that was impossible, because Maria would never agree to marry a Lycan Prince she barely knew.
She wasn’t the type.
At least, that’s what I believed.
Before I could think further, the Lycan Prince spoke.
"Shall we?" he asked smoothly, extending a hand toward the dining table. "You all have your seats."
His voice immediately snapped me out of my thoughts and I forced a smile onto my face.
A fake one.
Then I pulled out a chair and sat down.
One after another, the others followed suit and took their respective seats.
The Lycan Prince sat at the head of the table. Galen quickly occupied the seat on his right. Meanwhile, the masked woman settled gracefully on his left.
Even while seated, she somehow managed to command attention without saying a single word.
The atmosphere around her remained just as intimidating.
As the omegas began serving the dishes, Galen immediately started chatting with the Lycan Prince.
The two appeared surprisingly comfortable with each other but I barely paid attention as my focus kept drifting back to the masked woman.
Then suddenly, the Lycan Prince’s voice echoed through the dining hall.
"You all, meet my wife-to-be—the Lycan Princess."
I wasn’t surprised, as I had already guessed as much...still...something about it didn’t sit right with me.
My wolf had been restless from the moment I entered this place, and now its reaction was becoming even stronger.
It was almost as if it was trying to tell me something important.
I clenched my jaw. "She must be so beautiful," I said deliberately, forcing a light laugh, as my eyes remained fixed on the golden mask. "Such a shame we won’t get to see her face."
The moment the words left my mouth, the room seemed to grow strangely quiet.
And for some reason, my wolf became even more agitated.
The Lycan Prince suddenly laughed.
The sound was deep and amused, drawing everyone’s attention toward him.
I forced myself to smile politely, but my focus wasn’t on him. It was on the woman sitting beside him.
The Lycan Princess.
From the corner of my eye, I noticed her hands tighten beneath the table, her fingers curled into fists so quickly that I almost missed it.
My gaze narrowed slightly.
Was she angry?
But why?
Because I had called her beautiful?
The thought seemed ridiculous, yet I couldn’t think of any other reason for her reaction.
I had merely stated the obvious.
Even behind a mask, her presence alone was enough to make people acknowledge her beauty.
So why did she seem upset by my words?
Before I could dwell on it any longer, the Lycan Prince spoke again.
"It’s alright, Alpha Damien. Once the time is right, you will be able to see her." His smile widened as he glanced at the masked woman beside him. "But before then, we will successfully hold our wedding."
His tone carried absolute certainty, as though nothing in the world could possibly interfere with those plans.
I felt my jaw tighten and still, I forced a smile onto my face—a fake one.The kind I had perfected over the years whenever I wanted to hide what I was truly thinking.
I simply nodded.
"Of course," I replied calmly.
Yet inside, something felt terribly wrong.
The uneasiness that had been growing within me since I entered this place refused to disappear.
If anything, it was becoming stronger.
Suddenly, I felt a light tap against my lap beneath the table and I glanced sideways.
Adrein.
He kept his attention on his plate, making it appear as though nothing had happened.
Then he leaned ever so slightly toward me.
"Doesn’t all this feel strange?" he whispered, his voice barely audible.
I released a slow breath, at least I wasn’t the only one feeling it.
"It sure does," I replied quietly. My eyes briefly shifted toward the Lycan Princess before returning to my food. "I really have a bad feeling about all this."
The words left my mouth before I could stop them, because they were true. Every instinct I possessed was screaming at me that something wasn’t right.
"Same here," Adrein muttered, as he paused briefly before speaking again. "What do you say about us meeting privately with the Lycan Princess later?"
The suggestion immediately made my grip tighten around my fork. The metal nearly bent beneath the pressure.
I turned toward him sharply. "Don’t try anything rash, Adrien," I declared in a low but firm voice, as my expression hardened. "Our sole focus is rescuing Maria."
Nothing else mattered, not even the mysterious woman behind the golden mask.
Maria was the reason we were here.
"We cannot afford distractions." I added.
Adrein immediately lowered his head. "Alright."
His voice carried no argument, as he simply returned his attention to his meal and continued eating.
For a moment, silence settled between us and then suddenly, the Lycan Prince’s voice echoed across the dining table once more.
"I forgot to mention," he said casually, "my wedding with the Lycan Princess is closer than expected."
The fork in my hand froze and everything around me seemed to pause.
My heartbeat instantly accelerated, as a strange sense of dread crawled through my chest.
Something bad was definitely about to happen.
I could feel it.
The certainty settled deep within my bones.
I lowered my gaze to my plate and forced myself to breathe.
"Get a hold of yourself, Damien." I muttered inwardly. "It’s none of your business."
I repeated the words inside my head like a mantra.
"The wedding had nothing to do with me." The word echoed. "The Lycan Princess had nothing to do with me." Another came. "The sole focus is Maria," I silently reminded myself.
Yet no matter how many times I repeated those words, my racing heart refused to listen.
And all I just felt was the urge to stop this wedding.
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