Betrayed By My Mate, Claimed By His Lycan King Uncle
Chapter 162: Please get off me.

Chapter 162: Please get off me.

"I love you, Sorayah," Dimitri repeated, his voice low but firm, his emerald eyes never straying from hers.

Sorayah remained froze.

She stared at him, her lips slightly parted, shock flickering across her face. Her heartbeat thundered in her chest as she met his gaze, eyes that were usually laced with arrogance now filled with a seriousness she didn’t want to believe.

"You can’t just say something like that casually, Your Highness," she said finally, swallowing hard as she struggled to collect herself. Her voice was steady, but there was a tremor beneath it. "Please get off me. I still have duties to attend to within the harem."

Dimitri raised an eyebrow, letting out a scoff as he remained right where he was. "You think I’m saying this casually?" he asked, his voice laced with disbelief. "I meant what I said, Sorayah. Every word. And if you want me to prove it to you, then I will."

"I don’t need you to prove anything to me, Your Highness," Sorayah replied sharply, her tone rising with restrained anger. "You’re not thinking straight. You’ll regret saying this. Don’t worry, I won’t hold it against you. I know how words flow too easily when one’s mind is clouded. You’re probably under the influence of whatever drink you had before I arrived."

"You really think this is about alcohol?" Dimitri’s voice turned grave. "I’m sober, Sorayah. Sober and very aware of what I’m saying. I am confessing my love to you. That’s all there is to it."

Her fists clenched by her side.

’Oh, of course,’ she thought bitterly. ’Just say it. Love me, charm me, confuse me... then use me. Is it my blood you want? Or is it the dragon scale that is said might cure your curse?’

Her lips curved into a bitter smile as she whispered coldly, "You’re telling me you love me, and you expect me to believe that? What do you take me for? A fool?"

She took a deep breath and looked away. "Please... get off me." Her voice this time was heavy with steel. "I came here to deliver information about the harem. Since you already know, I’ll take my leave. Let’s not make this any more humiliating than it already is."

Dimitri didn’t move. A smirk ghosted over his lips as he leaned in slightly, eyes gleaming with challenge.

"And what if I don’t?" he asked, the edge in his voice unmistakable. "Will you stab me with the dagger hidden beneath your robes? Or would you rather wait for me to punish Draven, Empress Luna, and Mira before you decide it’s finally time to slit my throat? I know you, Sorayah. I know how much you hate all werewolves and I don’t blame you. I’m only asking for a chance to prove to you that not all werewolves are cruel."

Sorayah’s eyes narrowed. The rage she kept buried deep inside surged to the surface.

"And you don’t hate humans?" she spat, her voice cracking. "Will you keep lying to yourself forever? Hiding behind your title and power? Will you keep hiding the truth....that you were once imprisoned in the human kingdom? That the humans made your life a living hell? That you hate them with every fiber of your being? And that’s why... " she stepped closer, her voice lowering into a harsh whisper, "....that’s why you get so excited whenever humans are taken as sex slaves or palace servants, isn’t it?"

Dimitri’s face hardened.

"There’s nothing to say about that," he said quietly. "Yes, I was imprisoned. Tortured. Humiliated. That’s all you need to know. Knowing more... would only be dangerous for you."

After a long pause, he finally stood up and stepped away from her. With deliberate calmness, he reached for his robe and began getting dressed.

"You can leave now," he muttered, his tone clipped. "As for my confession... I won’t force you to accept it. I’ll prove it with time."

Sorayah let out a sharp laugh, the sound brittle. "Oh, so noble," she said mockingly. "But I see through it, Your Highness."

Her voice grew colder. "You’re keeping me alive for one reason....either you’re still trying to confirm if my blood or dragon scales can break your curse... or you already know they can and you’re just buying time. Charming me, manipulating me. Hoping I fall for you before you strike the final blow. But let me make this clear...." she stepped forward, her chin raised defiantly, "....you’ve underestimated me. I’m not the broken, helpless girl you thought I was. And yes, you’re right....I do hate all werewolves. Every single one of your kind and there’s nothing you can do to change my mind."

Dimitri’s eyes flared with something unreadable.

"We agreed to be partners, nothing more," Sorayah continued coldly. "We agreed to bring down Lupien and the others. That’s it. Forget about curing your curse as it’s either one of us die which I don’t want to believe. You already have your throne, your power. That should be enough."

Her voice softened slightly, but the venom remained. "Let me take down the ones who destroyed me. Release my people when the deal is done, and I’ll leave without trouble. The humans you hate so much have already suffered....they’ve been slaughtered, enslaved, and broken over the years. If you still want to punish what’s left of them, then you’re no different from the monsters who wronged me."

A tense silence fell between them.

Dimitri stood still, his hands clenched at his sides, the mask he wore slowly sliding back over his face but he kept it in place. His eyes....those haunted, angry, aching eyes remained on her.

"You really think that just because I’m the Alpha Emperor, I no longer need to break my curse?" Dimitri raised a brow, his voice laced with quiet disbelief.

Sorayah met his gaze, nodding in silence, her expression unreadable.

Dimitri let out a dry, humorless chuckle. "Well, you’re wrong, Sorayah. Dead wrong." His voice grew colder as he took a step closer to her. "And yes, I know you’re aware that using your blood or dragon scales to save me would likely kill you. But that’s just a theory....one I refuse to accept without proof."

He paused, his emerald eyes narrowing. "Maybe... maybe once, I wanted you only for those things. For your blood. Your scales. For a cure. But not anymore. I mean it now when I say I like you for you."

Sorayah’s expression remained still, unreadable.

Dimitri’s voice dropped, low and firm. "Besides... if I can’t break my curse, I’ll never be able to father a child."

There was no visible change in Sorayah’s expression, but the slight tightening of her jaw told him she already knew.

"Oh. So you knew that already?" Dimitri let out a breath, not surprised. "Well, that’s fine. Another Alpha can rise after me....someone from my own pack, not from this rotten empire of secrets and betrayal. Once I’ve punished everyone who ever wronged me, I’ll step down. I’ll leave the throne behind, and I’ll go live quietly with you."

He looked at her with piercing intensity, waiting for a reaction. But instead of softness, Sorayah raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms with a smirk.

"Just what exactly did the humans do to you, Dimitri?" she asked, tilting her head. "You and I both know they never would’ve been able to capture you unless a spy had been planted in your midst. And you... you’re Lupien’s uncle. That makes no sense. Some pieces of your story don’t connect. Why do you want to destroy this park, the one that raised you? Isn’t it your home?"

Her smirk faded slowly as her voice became laced with curiosity and suspicion. "And the day we attacked another park, I saw you... You saved some children. Who were they? Who are they to you?"

Dimitri said nothing, his silence loud in the room.

Sorayah took a step closer, her eyes fixed on his. "I’m not asking because of your so-called love confession. I’m asking because we’re supposed to be partners. And since you seem to know almost everything about me, it’s only fair that I know about you too. I may have gathered some information, but there are still gaps....gaps I deserve to fill."

Dimitri’s jaw clenched.

He turned his back on her, staring at the floor as if haunted by ghosts that wouldn’t stay buried.

Then, after a long, tense pause, he spoke.

"The werewolves from this park," he began, his voice gravelly, strained, "they attacked my pack. My people. They slaughtered everyone. The survivors... were sold off like livestock."

He swallowed hard, voice thick with bitterness. "I was among those sold. And during the brief moments of rest at the human kingdom, their hatred for werewolves became my curse."

His fists clenched as rage flickered in his eyes. "They hated werewolves. And seeing me...a young, helpless one among them gave them pleasure. It made them feel powerful. They inflicted pain on me to ease their own broken pride."

Dimitri let out a shaky breath, his body trembling with fury.

"They attacked a boy." His voice was barely above a whisper now, trembling with barely-contained emotion. "A child. They beat him. Burned him with iron. Pressed hot metal against his body, violated him just to prove a point to show me what their people had suffered at the hands of werewolves."

He turned back toward Sorayah then, and his eyes... his eyes looked like something had shattered deep within them. "They let the powerful werewolves go, but came for an innocent, broken boy. Me."

He let out a dark, bitter laugh that sent a chill through the room. "And yet... the emperor before Lupien.....Lupien’s father....gave the order to bring me back. And to everyone’s shock, when I returned..."

His laughter deepened, twisting into something unholy, something that curled in Sorayah’s gut like ice.

"He proclaimed me his son." Dimitri’s lips curled into a cruel smirk as his laughter echoed off the walls, the sound filled with torment, madness, and pain.