Chapter 6

Rayne's POV

"No, no, no, no, how can this be?" I muttered under my breath as I walked out of the party hall through the back door. I just couldn't wrap my head around the fact that the man I met in the garden a while back was no other than the Lycan King.

When our eyes locked when he entered the hall, I felt a surge of emotions flood through me – longing, confusion, fear, they all intertwine. Kaiden Alvaro was the epitome of everything I wasn't supposed to want or need in my life. But now, thanks to my ill fate, I'm feeling a bond with him.

I knew I had to leave immediately, to sort through the chaos in my mind before it led to something catastrophic.

I quickly mind-linked Reynolds that I needed to use the bathroom, and as always he was furious, threatening to bring fire and brimstone if I dared move an inch, but at this point, I couldn't care less, I just couldn't afford to let my emotions and wolf spiral out of control.

As I made my way out of the hall, Reynolds kept on with his threat, and I did something I never dared to do in our three years of marriage, I shut him out of the mind link. If we weren't in public right now, I'm sure as hell Reynolds would be driving his claws into my heart, as his eyes stared daggers at me.

"Rayne, let's go back inside," Lisa said as I walked farther away from the meeting hall. "Running away won't clear this confusion, we need to face it."

"Not now Lisa," I retorted. "We can't afford to be in the same room as that man, and you know why."

"This confusion needs to be cleared," Lisa insisted, but I knew what she meant. She's a wolf, and feeling the mate bond, all she cares about is basking in her mate's scent. Even though we're not so close to him, just being in the same room as him was intoxicating.

Even though Reynolds has treated me terribly over the years and had made it clear over a million times that I would never be worth anything in his eyes, that still doesn't give me a reason to stoop to his level by jumping head first at the man who they're supposedly feeling the mate bond with.

"But Rayne–"

"Could you please just stop!" I snapped irritatedly.

Lisa whimpered softly and retreated to the back of my mind.

I released a soft breath, easing some of the pent-up emotions. “I just need you to stop whining for one moment and actually think about what all of this could mean for me—for us. And you know as well as I do, that staying in the same room as the Lycan King wasn't going to help me think," I pointed out. "Like you said Lisa, this is just some confusion. We just need to survive this meeting and by tomorrow everything will be back to normal."

The thought of me seeing my miserable life as Reynolds's wife as normal broke my heart in ways I couldn't explain. It's saddening how I've changed over the course of three years being Reynolds's wife. I can't even remember the last time I smiled genuinely from my heart.

"Reyan, I–" Lisa began but stopped mid sentence.

I tested my back on the wall, closed my eyes, and took in a deep long breath.

"Everything will be fine, Rayne," I whispered to myself. "If there is anything life has taught you, is the fact that some things no matter how good they seem, just aren't meant for you."

"Miss," a voice called out, snapping me out of my train of thought. I pushed myself away from the wall and turned in the direction of the voice.

A man who seemed like he spent all his day in the gym made his way towards me. He looked awfully familiar but I can't seem to remember where I had seen him.

As he got much closer, a shiver ran down my spine

as realization hit me, this was the same man who was hostile to me in the garden for no just cause. Different thoughts ran through my mind all at once. Had I broken some Lycan rule by leaving just as the Lycan King walked in?

“I-I’m sorry for leaving so abruptly," I stuttered a quick apology, stepping backward at the same time. "I just needed to use the restroom," I explained further, already walking away as I spoke, not waiting around to find out the consequences of my actions.

"Queen of Queens!" The man's next words made me stop in my tracks abruptly. His voice was filled with so much reverence, making me wonder if I had misheard him. Did he just call me Queen of Queens? That was the title of the Lycan King's Luna.

Turning around sharply, the next sight before me took my breath away….the man was on one knee with his head bowed in reference. A Lycan was f**king bowing to me!

"I– I think– I think there's a bit of a misunderstanding," I stuttered in confusion. "You shouldn't kneel before me," I explained, still trying to process all that's happening. "You're a Lycan, and I'm just an ordinary werewolf."

Lisa growled in my head as I referred to us as an ordinary wolf.

Shaking his head slowly and with a small smile playing on his lips, he looked at me.

"There isn't any misunderstanding," he said, his voice holding nothing but sincerity and certainty. "Your Majesty–"

"P–Please stop calling me that," I cut him off, my voice barely above a whisper, as I moved back slowly. "I'm not who you think I am, I am–"

"You're the Lycan King's mate–"

"No!" I exclaimed, trying to process how many more people had the Lycan King told about this mistake. That's what it was, A MISTAKE, a huge misunderstanding, and a cruel joke from the goddess, no doubt about that.

I sighed deeply, trying to steady my breath which was rising fast.

"This is a misunderstanding," I stated firmly, and walked away leaving the man on his knees.