Claimed by the Mad Lycan King

Oliver glanced at the screen. In the original body’s memories, Oliver was friends with Jeremy, without knowing that he was a shifter. He was in the inner circle of Jeremy’s friends, which was a great choice.

”Come on, pick it up; don’t let him wait.” Olivia was so excited, even though she was not the one who was being called.

Her crush on Jeremy was well known, even though she was in a relationship with one of Jeremy’s friends too.

”What is it?” Oliver picked up the phone, and Olivia immediately put him on speakerphone so she could hear their conversation.

”Will you come to the annual party of the Blaze Company?”

”Of course.” Oliver wanted to ask whether the Lycan would come with his woman, but he held his tongue right in time. It was rather difficult to remind himself that he was no longer a shifter and had to play dumb around them.

”Great. At least I have someone that I know. We can sneak out somewhere if the party is boring,” Jeremy said with a grunt.

”Absolutely,” Oliver replied. ”Who will come? All of your family will come?”

”Yeah, of course my brother and father can’t escape it, and my mother lives for it.” And then Jeremy talked some more, but Oliver still couldn’t find a way to figure out whether Seara would be at the party or not.

But then, it didn’t matter; he could play his part slowly. It was not like he wouldn’t see her again.

***

The day of the party came, and Neriah was picked up from her apartment to be at the Blaze Residence so she could have her hair and makeup done there.

Zade specifically hired someone to help the two of them get ready, and Seara seemed to enjoy having her friend with her.

But the truth was that there was still a gnawing feeling Seara still experienced whenever Neriah was close to her. But she pushed that feeling aside. There was no reason for her to feel that way toward Neriah. Neriah was very sweet to her, and she didn’t do anything suspicious.

Neriah would be Jeremy’s plus one later for the night; thus, she would go in the car with him, while Seara was with Zade.

”What if I ruin it?” Seara asked as she ate her candy nervously. She found her favorite mint-flavored candy, and ever since then, she could find the candy box everywhere in the house.

”How could you ruin it?” Zade caressed her bare neck. Her long hair was braided in a half-up braid style. She was wearing an emerald green dress that accentuated her auburn hair, and she was also wearing jewelry of the same color.

”I don’t know, maybe suddenly I can’t speak?” Seara offered a problem to Zade.

”Well, then you don’t need to speak; let me do that part,” Zade reassured her that everything would be fine. ”You only need to stand beside me and enjoy the food, and when you are tired, we can go home.”

”What if I am tired after ten minutes being there?” Seara plopped another candy into her mouth.

”Then we will go home.”

She scrunched her nose. ”What a waste of makeup. I have dressed beautifully.”

”Well, I am happy to be your only audience.”

Seara chuckled and prayed she wouldn’t embarrass Zade or herself.

The trip to the hotel, which became the venue for the party, took an hour, and they arrived right before the main event, where Zade would introduce Seara as his fiancée.

Whatever the term was, she would always be his.

The color palette for this event was pastel, dominated by the soft color of yellow. And when Zade and the other arrived, the event had already started.

Ace and Zephyr were there, and so were Leia and Caspian, who had gone ahead, while Jeremy was in a different car with Neriah.

”Are you okay?” Zade asked as he opened the car door for Seara and stretched out his hand to help her out.

”Give me five seconds,” Seara said as she took a deep breath. Then, she took Zade’s hand and walked out of the car.

In front of her stood the majestic entrance of the Imperial Hotel, one of the most famous hotels in the city of Wvern and one of the Blaze Company’s businesses.

For a moment, Seara felt dizzy, but she held onto Zade’s arm tightly to steady herself. She took careful steps because she was wearing a long dress; she didn’t want to be tripped on the edge of it.

”You will be alright,” Zade said. He patted Seara’s hand on his arm gently.

”Okay.” Seara glanced at Neriah and Jeremy, who were walking behind her. She smiled cheekily at her and looked so happy because this was the first time she could attend such a party.

Neriah looked excited, and this gave Seara the confidence that she needed. She would be fine; Zade was right beside her.

But when the event’s door opened, she staggered back slightly to see how many people were inside. The moment their eyes fell on Zade, they fixated on him, and to an extent, their questioning look turned toward Seara too.

They wondered who the woman beside Zade Blaze was, as he had never been in any rumors to be with any woman.

Some of them murmured to one another because they didn’t know the couple who had just entered the room. However, Zade’s strong presence always drew people’s attention.

Seara could hear a loud gasp among the people when they learned who Zade was. They stared at him like a hungry wolf, wanting to get more of him.

However, amidst this overwhelming feeling, Seara felt it again, the dreadful feeling she had toward Neriah.

But this time, it didn’t come from Neriah but from someone in the crowd.

Out of instinct, Seara looked around and found a man with blond hair and a streak of brown hair staring intently at her.