The Lycan King and His Dark Temptation by Luna Nova

---- 260. THE FACE OF THE DAMNED NARRATOR "Damn it, no, no! Useless creatures!" Frederick roared as he watched his "children" being slaughtered. He hadn't been able to create many of them anyway-stealing that corrupted magic was incredibly hard, even by enslaving and controlling witches. Still, as strong as those beasts might have seemed, they had living hearts that could be ripped out. "T can't stay here..." he muttered, watching his defeat unfold, realizing that army would never die.

His eyes, burning with rage and envy, turned to Victoria. He should've captured her for himself. He got too confident, too naive, ignored the instincts, screaming that vampire was hiding her true powers. "Fucking bitch..." The resentment burned so deep it made his chest ache. ---- He looked down at the bodies of his daughter and his wife. He couldn't even go down to pick them up and give them a proper burial.

They had destroyed his family, and now he was being forced to run-but this wasn't over. Before they came for him, he turned and ran deep into the fortress. He knew every crevice like the back of his hand, and quickly disappeared into the hidden passageways, straight to his private chamber... where his ultimate weapon waited. The one he found bya stroke of luck. «Many years ago, while digging a tunnel to escape, he broke through into an unknown room.

They'd been digging for what felt like forever without finding the damn exit from that prison. Frederick looked around, uneasy. He could swear this was far ---- from the Lords' wing, so what was this room? He felt

at the box. He could be caught at any moment. But taking the risk, Frederick stepped forward, pulled by curiosity... and something much more powerful. His fingers reached out slowly, and when he opened the lid, what he found

wrinkled... tattooed runes spread across each piece of skin, linking them. The lips were cracked and sewn shut with black thread, the eyelids sealed. Still, even without knowing a thing about magic, Frederick could feel it... the immense power that pulsed from this ---- strange mask. He leaned closer and closer, until

shut the box-but those mismatched eyes screamed at him in silence. He sawit clearly in his mind... a vision of himself placing that living relic on his face after feeding it his blood. Frederick didn't know what took over him, but he did everything just like the vision had

slashed his wrist and let his blood drip over the sewn mouth. Like magic, the thick, filthy thread began to unravel, and that dark opening split wide. A disgusting tongue slipped out, desperate