CHAPTER 6

MAYA

Damien came rushing toward me with his arms open like he expected me to run into them. Like nothing had happened. Like he had not destroyed my entire world.

I held up my hand before he could touch me and he stopped in his tracks.

"You should leave. You are disrupting the peace of this pack" I said. My voice was steady even though my insides were shaking.

He frowned like my words confused him. "I heard the Lycan King bought you. Do not worry I will buy you back okay? We can..."

"I am not going back with you. I would rather stay here so please leave" I said and turned to walk away.

He grabbed my wrist before I could take a single step.

"Maya you..."

A gunshot cracked through the air and Damien released me instantly. The bullet missed his head by less than an inch. His eyes went wide and his men behind him reached for their weapons.

I looked over my shoulder and my breath caught in my throat. The Lycan King was standing behind me with a gun still raised and smoke curling from the barrel. His face showed absolutely nothing. No anger. No concern. Just cold emptiness.

Our eyes met and he held my gaze as he walked toward me with slow deliberate steps. The ground seemed to tremble under his presence and I could feel every wolf nearby shrinking back from his aura.

"Who is this?" he asked once he was close enough. His voice was low and calm which somehow made it even more terrifying.

"No one" I muttered quickly.

"Maya I am in no mood for games. Come on let us go home" Damien said from behind me. His voice was strained like he was trying to hold himself together.

I whipped around to face him and something inside me finally snapped.

"Home?! I have no home thanks to you! You really think I will follow you back and sit quietly while you roll around in bed with another woman?!" I was screaming now and I hated how the tears started pouring down my cheeks without permission.

Damien's expression softened and he reached for my hand again but the Lycan King stepped between us. He pushed me behind him gently before staring down at Damien who was noticeably shorter.

"You dare look me in the eye?" the Lycan King growled and the power behind his voice shook the air itself.

Damien and every single one of his men dropped to their knees instantly. Their wolves forced them down whether they wanted to or not. That was the difference between a Lycan and a regular wolf. There was no fighting it.

"I am sorry Lycan King. Forgive my ignorance. But I need to speak with my mate and take her home" Damien said. Even on his knees he had the nerve to turn to me with pleading eyes.

"Maya baby please. Let us go home. We will talk about everything on the way. I promise I will explain."

His voice was dripping with desperation and I hated that a small part of me still wanted to believe him. Four years of love did not just disappear overnight no matter how fake it turned out to be.

"Reject him."

The Lycan King's voice cut through the noise like a blade. I stared at the back of his head in shock.

"What? You cannot make her do that. It is against the law!" Damien shouted. I could hear the panic cracking through his voice now.

The Lycan King turned to me and waited. His silver eyes locked onto mine and I could feel the weight of his expectation pressing down on me.

My mind went to war with itself. If I rejected Damien the pain would be unbearable. My body was already weak and my wolf was barely hanging on. A rejection could be the final blow that silenced her forever.

What if I never heard from her again? What if I lost that part of myself completely?

"I do not think I can" I whispered and the Lycan King's jaw tightened slightly. It was the first real expression I had seen on his face.

Damien immediately perked up and a grin spread across his face. "Yes baby that is right. Come on. We can work this out in the car. Just come with me."

I narrowed my eyes at him. Even now he thought he had won. Even now he thought his words could control me.

"Reject him and I will accept your proposal" the Lycan King said suddenly.

My jaw dropped.

"I will marry you."

The entire world went silent. Nobody moved. Nobody breathed. Every single person standing in that yard stared at us in complete and utter shock.

"What marriage? What are you talking about?!" Damien yelled as the panic in his voice reached a new level.

"Maya baby please do not do this. You love me and I love you. We made promises to each other remember? You said you would never leave me. We swore to each other and..."

"You broke that promise" I said quietly. My eyes were still locked on the Lycan King.

"And rejecting you is something I should have done a long time ago."

"You cannot make her reject me!" Damien shouted as he turned to the Lycan King. "Her body and her wolf are too weak. She might not survive the pain. You could be killing her!"

For a moment I thought I saw something flicker in the Lycan King's eyes. Concern maybe. Or curiosity. But it vanished before I could be sure.

He looked at me and spoke in a voice that was firm but somehow gentle at the same time. "Prove to me that you are strong enough."

This was my chance. My one and only chance. I could not waste it.

"Maya please look at me. My love. Maya please" Damien was begging now and I could hear his voice breaking but I blocked it out.

I focused only on the Lycan King. On those silver eyes that felt like they could see right through me.

"Do it" he urged.

I nodded slowly then turned to Damien. He was still on his knees and his eyes were red and wet. Memories of us flashed through my mind. The first time he smiled at me. The first time he told me he loved me. The first time he held my hand.

Tears rolled down my cheeks but I did not stop.

"I Maya Stone daughter of Alpha Richard Stone reject Alpha Damien of the Crescent Moon pack as my mate."

The last word barely left my lips before a pain unlike anything I had ever felt ripped through my entire body. It felt like every bone was breaking at once. My legs gave out and I began falling toward the ground.

But the Lycan King caught me before I hit the floor. His arms were strong and warm and I instinctively buried my face into his chest.

"Maya no!" Damien screamed. I could hear him struggling against Ethan who was holding him back.

"I will not accept your rejection! No matter what you will always be mine! I will chase you to the ends of the earth to get you back!" Damien yelled.

I let out a shaky breath as the last thread of the mate bond began to snap. The pain was fading now. Everything was fading.

"Do not worry. You will get your revenge and more" the Lycan King murmured as he turned and carried me toward the pack house.

"I will make you the first Alpha Queen."

The bond shattered completely and darkness swallowed me whole.