The Play-Toy Of Three Lycan Kings-Chapter 392: Escape

SAGE

I didn’t think I would ever get used to it.

I stood before the mirror, unmoving, my reflection staring back at me with a calm confidence I possessed. The room was quiet, dawn creeping in slowly from the edges of the world, and still I couldn’t look away.

The wardrobe had offered me only dresses—flowing and elegant, meant for bodies like this one. I wore one now, pale and soft, the fabric clinging in places it never used to, skimming curves I hadn’t fully accepted as mine. My wig rested in my hands, familiar, grounding.

My real hair fell down my back in a long, silken cascade—white as snow, but no longer purely so. Gold threaded through it now, fine streaks catching the light whenever I moved, as though sunlight itself had decided to live there.

The same gold ringed my eyes, encircling the irises in a thin, unmistakable halo that marked me for what I was.

Ancient. Half Ancient, or thereabout.

The mark on my forehead had deepened too. It was no longer something faint, no longer easy to overlook. It glowed softly beneath my skin, an intricate sigil etched into flesh and bone alike, humming with quiet power.

My cheekbones were sharper, my face more sculpted, beauty refined into something deliberate and dangerous.

Even my body had changed.

Subtle things at first—a little more height, longer lines, grace settling into my limbs as though it had always been meant to be there. My curves were fuller, my posture instinctively straighter, elegance flowing through me without effort.

I looked...sophisticated. Lithe. Seductively powerful.

Too much beauty for one person, I thought, shaking my head slowly.

Not that I was complaining...

Lifting my hand, I summoned a whisper of magic and gathered my hair back, fingers moving automatically as I twisted it into a loose bun. Strands slipped free on purpose, framing my face just enough. When it was set, I reached for the wig and fitted it carefully over everything, anchoring it in place.

The weight of it settled my nerves.

For my eyes, I wove another spell, veiling their true color beneath the familiar shade I had worn for years. I dampened the faint glitter clinging to my skin, softened the glow until I looked...ordinary.

As ordinary as I could manage now. As ordinary as the Sage they knew... not this goddess before the mirror.

My disappearance from the pack was already enough to contend with. Questions would be asked. Stories would be told. I could already hear them forming, the whispers sliding through halls and minds alike. I would give them nothing more to work with.

I checked myself again, critical, making sure the illusion held.

Then my gaze drifted to the window.

The sky had begun to pale, night loosening its grip inch by inch. Morning was coming. And with it, a test I had been both dreading and anticipating since I woke.

If I burned, then everything changed.

If I didn’t... Then I was leaving.

I moved closer, heart beating a little faster with each step. The ancients didn’t wear the Abstenum ring—not here, not in their own home. Darius hadn’t worn one. Why would he? None of them believed they needed it.

I was counting on that arrogance. I didn’t want to be caught.

Slowly, I reached out and drew the curtain back just a fraction.

Light spilled in, soft and tentative.

I waited.

Nothing.

No searing pain. No blistering heat. No scream clawing its way out of my throat.

My breath caught.

I pulled the curtain wider, then wider still, letting the dawn flood the room. Sunlight kissed my skin, warm and gentle, settling over me like a benediction.

Still nothing.

A laugh burst from my lips, sharp and disbelieving, and then my vision blurred as tears welled up. One slipped free, trailing down my cheek—thick, dark red.

Blood.

I cursed softly and wiped it away with the back of my hand. Great. That was new.

I couldn’t cry like that in front of the werewolves. Not that I planned to cry in front of anyone ever again.

Inhaling deeply, I leaned closer to the window and scanned the grounds below. The settlement was quiet, most of it still sleeping, mist curling lazily along the paths and gardens. No guards in sight. Of course not.

Good.

I didn’t hesitate. I pushed the window open and stepped out into empty air.

The drop was two stories at least, but fear barely registered before my body shifted, instinct taking over. I dissolved into mist mid-fall, my form scattering and reforming as I drifted down and touched the ground soundlessly.

I moved fast then—too fast for eyes to follow. Mist and thought and will, all of it blending together as I slipped across the grounds, keeping to shadows, trusting my senses to guide me.

El murmured in my mind, a faint, irritated presence. Return to your bed.

I ignored her.

How could I go back when everything inside me screamed forward? When revenge still waited, unfinished? When every moment I delayed felt like betrayal—of myself, of everything I had endured?

The mountain paths twisted and turned, stone and greenery blurring together as I searched for an exit. Minutes passed. Maybe longer. The air felt different here, heavy with ancient wards and old magic, bending space in subtle, infuriating ways.

I slowed. Stopped.

I was lost.

The realization hit me like a slap. Every direction looked the same now, paths looping back into themselves, the mountain refusing to release me. Frustration flared hot in my chest.

I could breach Darius’s mind.

The thought lingered, tempting and dangerous. Our connection was there, faint but real. I could reach him, ask for directions, tear the knowledge straight from his thoughts.

But I knew better. 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

If I touched his mind like that, he would feel it. And if he felt it, the others might too. Ancients were not careless with mental bonds.

That left me with one choice.

I stepped into the center of an open clearing and looked up.

Then I shot into the sky like lightning.

The world fell away beneath me in a rush of wind and power, my body streaking upward until the settlement shrank into a pattern of light and shadow below. My vision sharpened, clarity snapping into place, and suddenly I could see.

The mountain spread out beneath me like a living map—paths, wards, energy lines glowing faintly where magic bent reality. I scanned it all in seconds, committing every detail to memory.

There.

A route leading down the far side, cutting through stone and into a dense forest that swallowed the mountain’s edge whole.

Relief surged through me. Then fear followed close behind. The forest.

My dreams flickered at the edges of my mind—soil and darkness, hands clawing upward, voices whispering from beneath the earth. For a heartbeat, panic tightened my chest.

I pushed it away. Not now.

I dropped back to the ground in a controlled burst, conserving my energy, and turned toward the path I had seen. My steps were steady now, resolve hardening with every stride.

Whatever waited in that forest, whatever waited beyond it, I would face it. I was part Ancient now.