002

King Alexander.

The mad king no one else has dared to cross. He's the ruler of all the werewolf community around and no other person can cross him. He's the worst king we have so far. Now, I'm his wife.

The look in his eyes is devilish enough to send me to my early grave. He has sharp features though I can hardly see much because of the dark room. However, his eyes are glowing so much and his voice sounds so demonic.

"Your...majesty..." I tried to compose myself despite the pain and fear, "My name is Lily. I am your new wife from the family you chose."

I kept my eyes on him, hoping to dodge whatever he throws my way again. To be honest, I just want to run away and not be married to him.

"You... How dare a lowly being like you be the one? You are an omega, aren't you?" He pointed accusingly at me and I'm honestly surprised.

I was told he could easily see things about someone and I thought that ability was a joke. Will he find out that I'm a substitute now?

"Your majesty... I'm going to be at your service. I'll do whatever you want." I bowed my head and continued to stay in my knees while saying that.

I couldn't hide the fact that I was trembling deep inside. How am I supposed to react when I can clearly see the danger in front of me? Besides, he already shows how much he hates me.

"I asked you a damn question and not for you to be at my service! You think I chose you because you were worthy?"

What am I supposed to say? He hates me but it doesn't change the fact that I'm here for him, does it? Even if he doesn't want to see me, I can't leave either. I don't want to be here too. It's too dangerous here.

"You're not going to say anything? Are you really testing my patience?" He growled, moving closer to me.

My legs turned on its own, ready to walk out the door as I couldn't let him just end me because I'm an Omega when it isn't even my fault.

"Your Majesty... I'm sorry... I promise I'll be out of your way and you won't even know I exist." I said to him, getting to the door.

I was happy to finally be at the door, but he shut it, ready to take my life. He got towards me faster than I could imagine, I didn't even see when he did it. I just saw him in front of me, trying to choke me to death.

I tried to get myself out of his grip but who am I kidding? I am a nobody and I can't beat him most definitely. The only thing I can do is beg for my life, which I'm not even sure if he's going to give me that courtesy. He killed all of his ex-wives too, am I just going to become an ex-wife the moment I came in.

I thought I was going to die right there.

His hand was around my throat and I couldn't breathe. I couldn't fight back either. What was I going to do against the most powerful lycan king in existence? I'm just an omega. I'm nothing compared to him.

I clawed at his hand but it was pointless. My vision was already starting to blur and my body was getting weaker. So this is how it ends. On my eighteenth birthday, in a dark room, married for less than an hour. I didn't even get to find my mate.

Then he just... stopped.

His grip didn't loosen because he decided to spare me. It was something else. I could feel it. His whole body went stiff like something hit him out of nowhere. His eyes changed, the rage was still there but there was something else in them now. Something confused.

I fell to the ground gasping, trying to get as much air back into my lungs as I could. I didn't even care how I looked. I just needed to breathe.

He stepped back from me and I looked up at him. He wasn't looking at me the same way anymore. He looked... disturbed. Like something was wrong with him and not me.

"What is this," he said, but it didn't even feel like he was talking to me.

I didn't say anything. I wasn't going to open my mouth and remind him I existed.

He started pacing and I could see the conflict on his face. Then he stopped and looked at me again with so much anger that I flinched back immediately.

"An omega." He said it like it was the most disgusting thing he'd ever heard in his life. "My mate is an omega."

My heart stopped. Mate? He just said mate. I swear I heard him.

I stared at him and I couldn't process what I was hearing. He's my mate? The mad king who just tried to kill me is my mate? I didn't even feel it. I'm an omega. My wolf doesn't talk to me so I wouldn't have known. But he knew. He felt it and that's why he stopped.

I didn't know if that was good news or the worst news of my life.

"This is a joke." He laughed but there was nothing funny about it. "Fate is mocking me. My mate is a weak, lowly omega who was sent here as a substitute."

So he knew I was a substitute too. Of course he did. He can see through so many things, he's not just the Lycan king for nothing.

I wanted to disappear into the floor. I wanted to go back home, back to the terrible house I came from, because at least there I knew what kind of suffering was waiting for me. This felt like a completely different level.

"I don't want a mate." He said it coldly, looking down at me still on the floor. "And I especially don't want you."

Before I could even think of responding he turned away from me.

"Take her," he ordered and I didn't even see when the servants came in. "She is not my queen. She will never be my queen. Give her the lowest room in this palace and she will work like every other servant here. No one is to treat her with any respect. She is nothing."

They pulled me up from the ground and started dragging me out. I was too weak to walk properly and my throat was on fire. I didn't fight it. There was nothing left to fight for right now.

As they took me down the hallway I could hear the whispers from the servants lining the walls. They weren't even trying to be quiet about it.

"She survived..."

"She's still alive... no wife has made it past the first night before."

"How is she still breathing?"

I let them drag me and just stared straight ahead. They were right. No wife had ever survived him before and I did. But I wasn't feeling lucky. Not even a little bit.

Because I knew why I was still alive.

It wasn't because he showed me mercy. It wasn't because I said the right thing or because I was special in any way. It was only because of one reason and that reason made my stomach drop.

He found out I was his mate. That's the only thing that saved my life tonight. Or maybe it didn't.

I stared at the cold stone floor passing under my feet as they took me further into the palace. He hated me. He rejected me. He humiliated me in front of everyone and made me a servant in the same palace I was brought to as a queen.

But he kept me alive.

Why? If he hated me that much, if he wanted nothing to do with me, why not just finish what he started? Why keep me here at all?

Was this worse than dying? I have a feeling I'm about to find out.