Beauty in the beast world-Chapter 293: The disaster

Xavier felt his breath hitch when Lyra neared him. His hand on her waist unconsciously tightened. He couldn’t help but clench his jaw.....she looked so tiny compared to him. Her palm on his other hand felt so soft and delicate. Like she would crumble with the lightest of his strength. Yet she appeared strong as she led him around in a slow motion.

She hummed softly while guiding him to take steps. To dance. To move to the music that she sang. Her flowy golden hair swayed due to their movement and her face lit up with a smile. She looked up at him giving him an appreciative nod as he promptly followed her instructions. Oh, how lovely she looked gazing up at him with those gleaming blue eyes. The same eyes that seemed like an abyss that could trap him for an eternity.

Xavier felt his heart clench painfully. He was breathless because she took his breath away. From the moment he laid his eyes on her, he had never been the same. The proud Beastman who cared for no one was long gone. What had this pretty being done to him? He didn’t know...he really didn’t know.

He wanted to ask her to be her mate. To demand her. But....she already had those males beside her. Xavier hated them, he loathed those beastman that had her. She should belong to only him.....he is strong, a king can command an entire tribe, and he can provide her with anything she wishes.

But then again, some of her current mates were kings too. They could give everything that he would be able to and more. His status meant nothing as of now. He needed more.....he thought of something more that only he could give her. However, nothing of that sort came to his mind. She already has everything and there was nothing Xavier could do. He wanted to have her, he wanted to be the only one in her life...how could he make it happen? It sounded absurd even thinking about it. But before he could think more, he was brought out of it by the one in front of him.

"You are surprisingly good at this, Your Majesty," Lyra said as she glanced up at him. She looked clearly amazed by the Fox king, "I never expected you to be this good at dancing, you don’t seem like....." the one that would ever know about this. She kept those last words to herself because they sounded somewhat offensive? And the last thing she wanted to do was offend a King that was attending their banquet. She said ’no’ to trouble.

Xavier didn’t know what to say. He was too lost in her eyes to reply. Her soothing voice, smiling face, and bird-like chattering overwhelmed him.

"I....." he parted his lips bringing out whatever courage he could gather. He wanted to speak, to ask her to be his but his words never left his mouth because of the sudden commotion happening outside the castle.

It was very loud. Lyra stopped in her place and distanced herself from Xavier as something else caught her attention. Roars and howls were rampant which made Lyra’s ears ring.

She gathered up her flowy dress before rushing towards the castle’s entrance. Xavier followed suit and strode behind her. Something was happening....he could feel it from the sound of Beasts roaring. Something bad.

Lyra was breathless when she reached the place of commotion. But what she saw there made her eyes wide. Her heart raced and her fingers shivered. She almost skipped her steps and fell to the ground until someone held her from behind supporting her.

"Careful...." She heard someone say and turned back to see the Fox King looking at her with a worried face. Nonetheless, she was worried about someone else. As she turned back to the crowd, her eyes fell on the lone person. Her mate, Noah stood frozen stiff in his place while facing his father’s bloodied corpse on the ground. The Lion Queen’s screams and sobs sounded heart-wrenching.

The entire Lion tribe looked restless and in deep sorrow as they saw their beloved king dead. Lucas’ father seemed beaten, he looked like someone who was facing his worst nightmare. Her two cubs were howling bitterly while lying next to their grandfather.

Lyra felt tears gather in her eyes. She took deep breaths trying to calm her erratically beating heart before walking towards her mate. And as soon as she reached him, her hands clasped around his neck while she hugged him tightly.

Only then did Noah react. He strugglingly opened his mouth before saying, "Baby dove...."

"I’m here" Lyra was quick to answer. She tightened her grip around him as though trying to forcefully take away the negative emotions he was feeling to herself. She wanted to comfort him in any way possible, "I’m here, sweetheart"

Noah felt his throat tighten and his eyes water. He returned his mate’s hug and buried his face in her neck. Right after that, Lyra felt something damp on her neck which only made her hug him even more fervently. He was crying. Her loving and strong mate was sobbing like a cub. A small and vulnerable cub that had just lost his father.

Lyra’s tears flowed down her cheeks. Her heart ached for her mate. How could her mate ever recover from this? His father was lying cold and anyone with eyes could see that he was murdered. It was not a natural death. He didn’t die of old age or some kind of disease but someone had killed him deliberately.

Her thoughts turned out to be true as she heard the gatherers say, "It looks like he was ambushed"

"The attackers have not shown any mercy, such monsters"

"Who in their right mind would even attack a King? And that too the King of one of the strongest tribes in the city?"

"That is what makes him prone to an attack. His strength and position had made him enemies to many"

"But this is King Leonard we are talking about, he was well respected.....who would even dare!?"

Many things like these were heard all over but the only thing that caught Lyra’s ears was, "From the injuries, it is clear that he was attacked by a bird clan...by Eagles at that"

Lyra felt like she was hearing things. She pulled away from her mate before looking at the one that just talked.

"What were you just saying? Can you repeat that?" Her choked-up voice made the Beastman flinch. The latter looked like a guard.....she had seen him before. He was one of Victor’s guards. A Vulture beastman.

Victor who was now standing on the sidelines with Lyra’s other mates stepped forward while asking his guard, "Do you know the implications of your words!? Don’t talk unnecessarily"

"No Victor don’t scold him" but his words were stopped by his mate. She looked at him as she said, "Let him talk"

Victor’s brows came together as he clenched his fists. He wanted to take his mate away from this place. She would blame herself if this continued further. The moment he saw Noah’s father, Victor figured out the culprits just as his tribesmen did. The vultures quickly realized the situation but held back from making any comment. They wanted their king’s permission before speaking the truth but well, it seemed like one of their tribesmen thought otherwise.

As soon as he received their Queen’s approval, words flowed out of his mouth, "It is certain that he was attacked by the Eagle beastmen, Your Majesty. They seemed to have planned it beforehand, the king had no chance..."

"Enough!" Victor’s booming voice made the crowd silent. He glared at the guard before shifting his attention to his mate. An anguished sigh left his mouth as he saw his mate’s crumbling face.

Victor turned to Blake asking the latter to do something. He knew that only the latter could truly console their mate. As on cue, the snake rushed towards his sweet girl before holding her.

"Lilly, breathe...." he heard the snake say trying to calm their mate down. Those Eagle bastards were going to pay for this.