Contract Marriage: The Lycan Queen's Tempting Fate [GL]

[SAKURA]

She had been the worst thing that ever happened to her daughter and the saddest part was that Izanami knew it. and yet even then, she just didn't give a shit about the mess that was inbound. All she wanted was her power and her allegiance. 

It was strange seeing that she was the queen's mother and she was still dear to the crown. Sakura had let her live for so many years and yet the woman was adamant about showing the world just how much she could fuck up her very own daughter. 

She was cruel and she knew it, but Sakura was just as cruel. Her mother had started this shit and Sakura would end it. She would see to it that no one ever tried to fuck around with that was hers. 

She knew that this was going to be the most dangerous path just yet, but she had to make a choice. Her mother had taken the gloves off, and Sakura was going to remind her why she was known as the most dangerous Lycan in all of existence. 

She would remind her mother of what was negotiable and what wasn't. Her mother had tried to mess her Kiyomi of all the people, and Sakura would never forgive her that. Never.

"For someone with everything to lose, you love walking on thin ice, Izanami," Sakura said to her mother, dropping all the title and possible respect she had left for the woman. 

She had come after what Sakura loved and Sakura would give her the reminder as to why everyone was careful around Sakura Watanabe. 

The councilmen, Lola and Otaru who were watching knew that shit was about to go down, especially as Sakura shut the doors to the room with her magic, trapping them here with her mother. 

It was a sight that scared everyone in the room, but Sakura and Izanami didn't even seem bothered. If anything, this was almost like a little family reunion, which would have been good at all, but Sakura had been provoked and Izanami would know why it was a terrible idea real soon.

"You're just a kid, Sakura. And your Erasthai… that little rogue in Odanera city hospital? She will be dead soon. I will see to it myself," Izanami said with all the hate she could muster. 

Anyone would think that they had been born enemies in our lives but then this was a mother and her daughter.

Izanami was so wrong about this, but Sakura was beyond caring about it anymore.

"If anyone so much as lays a finger on Kiyomi Kimura, because of you, Izanami," Sakura said with a light laugh, one that got Izanami smirking at her daughter like this was a familiar game of chess that they had played over the years. 

Maybe Izanami just didn't understand the extent of the danger she was in, because even the blind could see that Sakura was not playing games. The fact that she hadn't even bothered to deny that Kiyomi was her Erasthai was all the warning that Izanami needed to keep her distance. 

She should have stopped. 

Instead, the woman stared at her daughter like this was the dumbest thing she had ever heard from Sakura. 

It was a dangerous cycle, one that they had gotten used to, but would Sakura relay compromise when it came to Kiyomi? Would she let her mother ruin the one good thing that she had going for her? 

Would she let Izanami come close to the one girl she couldn't even touch because she was scared of scaring her away?

"You'll what, Sakura? Tell mommy what you will do, hmm? I gave you life, and I can easily take it. You seem to be forgetting that, I am more powerful than you. You can never best me, Sakura. Now be a good girl and kill the Kimura girl before I do.

"No one will ever love you, if that is what you're hoping for. If she gets to learn that I used your people to eliminate her family, she will hate you. She will never look at you the same way— 

"—because when she does her homework, and I suppose she will, she will know that it is you who controls the Bogdan Lycans – the same people who took out her family. I wonder if she'll believe you when you tell her that you didn't give that particular order, Sakura. 

"Focus on running Doiwa well, before you piss me off. And no more entanglement with rogues. We have far more important things to deal with than your little pet in the human lands," Izanami said cruelly to her daughter. 

She was measuring her pride against her daughter's mercy and that was one thing that would make her lose. Or maybe she had finally gotten into Sakura's head because the Lycan queen faltered. 

Sakura was in denial, and it was obvious, while Izanami smirked at her daughter like this was the state that she would always be in. It was not okay, and it was a battle that Sakura knew she had to win. 

This was insanity at best and not even the midnight moon would ever consider this a form of justice. 

Izanami was clearly not fit to be a mother and as Sakura stared at everyone in the room, she knew that she had to make her choice, a better one for her people. 

She could see the confused stares on the faces in the room, and that was also how she knew that they had already spread the news about what was happening the council room. 

The bodyguards were probably on their way to take out the one thing that she loved more than she loved her life. 

For a split second, Sakura contemplated giving in to her mother's whims so her Erasthai would be spared. She considered making a better choice for the greater good. She considered letting Kiyomi go and staying in the Lycan kingdom a lonely queen surrounded by pets her entire life. 

It was a thought that scared her and it made her feel the worst of emotions. 

And as she looked at Otaru, her apologetic eyes clashed with his determined eyes, almost like he was telling her that she could do this; that she could fight back, that she had the power and not Izanami. 

It was something that scared the shit out of Sakura because the only card to pay would break Sakura's heart for a long time. It would ruin her, but she had to make the choice. Otaru was talking to her through his eyes, and not the mind links and it was also then that Sakura knew what she would do.

"You too have something to lose, mother. I will eliminate your Erasthai in the most agonizing way possible. I will murder Father dearest and hells be damned, I will give him the slowest, and most agonizing lifetime death. 

"You will lose your precious Watanabe, your kind husband, the man you gave everything up for. And I will be right there to watch. In case you forgot, Izanami, I have the power of life over death," Sakura began coldly, her stance unwavering and her rage evident. 

She had had enough of her mother's games and if this woman was that determined to screw her over then Saki would simply return the favor. It didn't matter how long it took her because she would find a way. 

She would make sure the woman paid the price for it, perhaps that was why she continued.

"If your people so much as touch a hair on my beautiful petal, if they scare her or make her feel uncomfortable, if the Bogdans lay a hand on her best friend, or even try to use her as bait for me… 

"—if the Lycans dare to keep my beautiful little rogue from me, Izanami… if they try to fight that perfect woman because of your fucked up idea of freedom, and control over me, then I promise you that you will know the devil first hand. 

"And if they make the mistake of daring to break the eternal shield I put around my sweet little doctor, I will use your lifeforce to make sure you feel every little ounce of pain and agony she feels, and your people will watch you wither and rot. 

"We both know I never lie, Izanami. So go, do your worst, but I am far more wretched than you could ever be, you know it too. I'll see you soon, Mother dearest," Queen Sakura warned and the council room went silent.

Even Izanami looked at a loss for words for the first time.