Reborn for the Lycan king

Diana

The bridal suite was too damn hot, my corset was crushing my ribs, and my groom was nowhere to be found.

Twenty minutes. That was how long I had been sitting on this sofa with my veil tangled in my lap while the wedding coordinator ran around like a headless chicken. Jax was supposed to be standing at the end of the aisle waiting for me. We were supposed to be sealing our pack union in front of three hundred guests. Instead, his phone was ringing straight to voicemail, and his best man looked like he wanted to dig a hole and crawl into it.

“Just sit tight, Diana,” the coordinator pleaded, dabbing sweat off her forehead. “I’m sure he just stepped out for some fresh air.”

“Right. Fresh air.” I rolled my eyes, kicking off my silk heels. “Because taking a stroll twenty minutes before your own ceremony makes total sense.”

I wasn’t the kind of girl who sat around waiting for a man to show up. I hitched up the skirts of my lace gown, shoved past the frantic bridesmaids, and marched out into the east corridor.

The hallway was quiet. I was about to check the private lounge when a sound stopped me dead. A high-pitched, breathy giggle.

Ivy.

My stepsister’s laugh was unmistakable. Hearing it coming from the VIP dressing suite at the end of the hall made an ugly knot twist in my stomach.

I walked toward the door. It wasn’t even fully shut. Through the gap the sounds became sickeningly clear. The creak of leather. Soft, desperate moans.

“Hurry up, Jax,” Ivy’s voice purred. “Your little bride is going to start crying if you leave her waiting at the altar any longer.”

“Let her wait,” Jax grunted. “She’s not going anywhere.”

My entire body went numb.

I kicked the door wide open.

The scene inside burned straight into my brain. Jax was leaning against the vanity table with his tux jacket on the floor, shirt unbuttoned. Ivy was straddling his lap with her bridesmaid dress bunched up around her hips. Her hands were tangled in his hair, her neck flushed with fresh bite marks.

They both froze.

I waited for Jax to scramble back. I waited for the frantic lie.

He didn’t do any of that.

He slowly pushed Ivy off his lap, zipped his trousers, and buttoned his cuffs without a single ounce of shame.

“Diana,” he said, sounding more annoyed than guilty. “You shouldn’t be wandering around back here.”

“Are you serious right now?” My voice shook. “Five minutes before our wedding, Jax? With my stepsister?”

Ivy hopped off the vanity, smoothing down her skirt with a slow, wicked grin. She didn’t even try to hide the bruises on her collarbone.

“Oh, please, Diana, wipe that pathetic look off your face,” she laughed. “Did you honestly think he wanted you? Jax and I have been fucking for months. Every time he told you he was working late on pack territory disputes, he was in my bed.”

Months.

I looked at Jax, my heart hammering against my ribs. “Jax… tell me she’s lying.”

Jax let out a dry sigh, raking a hand through his hair. “The wedding is cancelled, Diana. Honestly, you should be relieved. I never loved you. I never even liked you. You’re boring, you’re uptight, and frankly, I was sick to death of pretending you were interesting.”

The words hit me like a slap. “Then why did you propose? Why drag it out to the altar?”

“Because of your daddy’s money, sweetie,” Ivy chimed in, sliding her arm through his. “You remember those development permits you signed yesterday morning? The ones Jax said were for the western border security?”

My stomach dropped. “What did you do?”

“You signed the full estate transfer,” Jax said, smirking. “Every acre of your father’s land, every business contract, every cent in the family trust. You handed it all over to me. I don’t need to marry you to get your family’s empire anymore, Diana. It’s already mine. You have nothing left.”

“You lying bastard!”

I lunged forward, but Jax caught my wrists and shoved me backward into the corridor.

“Get lost, Diana,” he sneered. “Go pack your cheap bags and get off my land.”

He turned his back on me.

Something inside my chest snapped. The hurt burned away into fury. They thought they could rob me blind and throw me in the dirt?

Not a chance in hell.

I yanked off my lace veil, ripped it down the middle, and threw the shreds on the floor. I didn’t care that my hair was a mess or that my dress was torn.

I turned and marched straight toward the main wedding hall.

The massive double doors swung open. The music cut off the second my bare feet hit the aisle. Three hundred pack members turned, gasping at the sight of the bride stomping down the carpet looking like she’d crawled out of a brawl.

“Listen to me!” My voice rang off the high ceilings. “There is no wedding! Jax is a thief and a fraud! He’s been sleeping with Ivy behind my back for months, and they forged my signature to steal my father’s entire estate!”

The crowd erupted into chaotic shouts.

Footsteps rushed up behind me.

“Diana, please, calm down!” Ivy’s voice suddenly wailed, cracking with theatrical tears. She rushed to the front of the altar, clutching her hands to her chest. “You’re not well! The stress of the mating ceremony… it’s too much for you!”

Jax walked up beside her, wearing an expression of heartbreaking concern.

“Everyone, please,” Jax announced, raising his hands. “Diana has been suffering from severe hallucinations all week. The pressure of taking over her father’s estate broke her mind. She ran into our dressing room screaming, making up insane stories about Ivy and me. She needs medical help immediately.”

“He’s lying!” I screamed, turning toward the high council of elders. “Look at her neck! He literally just had her against the table!”

Elder Thomas stood up, his face carved into deep, disappointed stone. “Enough of this disgraceful spectacle, Diana. Jax has served this pack faithfully. For you to throw wild accusations at your own groom and your sister on your wedding day proves your mind is unstable. Guards, restrain her and bring her to the healing ward.”

“No!” I backed away as two armored guards stepped toward me. “Don’t touch me! Ivy, tell them the truth, you sick bitch!”

Ivy walked toward me, tears streaming down her face, holding her arms open like she wanted to comfort me. “It’s okay, sister. Just let the healers help you. I forgive you for what you said.”

“Get your filthy hands off me!” I snarled, slapping her reaching arm away.

Ivy’s weeping expression vanished in a split second, replaced by cold, venomous triumph.

From the folds of her peach bridesmaid gown, silver caught the chandelier light.

A jagged silver dagger appeared in her hand. Before anyone could register the movement, Ivy drove the blade straight into my stomach.

Pain exploded through my midsection, white-hot and blinding.

I gasped, my knees giving out.

Ivy leaned down into my ear as I collapsed, whispering with a sickening smile, “Nobody is going to miss a crazy orphan, Diana.”

She pulled the silver out. Hot blood poured down the front of my white lace dress. I hit the floor hard, clutching my stomach, gasping for air that wouldn’t come. I looked up through the red haze, looking for Jax.

He was just standing there. Hands in his pockets, watching me bleed out on the carpet like I was a stray dog that had finally been put down.

Screams broke out in the hall. People scrambled, but nobody stepped forward to help me. The poison in the silver was already creeping into my veins, freezing my limbs, dragging my consciousness into the dark.

This is how it ends, I thought bitterly. Betrayed, robbed, and murdered on my own wedding day.

BOOM.

The massive iron-reinforced palace doors exploded inward with a deafening roar. Splintered wood and twisted metal flew across the foyer as a suffocating, monstrous Alpha aura slammed down on the entire room.

Every single wolf in the hall—the guards, the guests, the proud elders, even Jax—collapsed instantly to their knees, paralyzed by ancient power.

I struggled to keep my eyes open, my chin resting in a pool of my own blood.

Through the dust and smoke, boots clicked against the stone floor.

A towering silhouette moved through the wreckage. Broad shoulders. Midnight coat. Eyes that glowed like twin supernovas, burning with a fury that could incinerate the world.

Zach Hamilton.

The Alpha King. The untouchable monster of the northern territories.

Why was he here? He never left his throne. He had spent my entire life avoiding my father’s pack, treating my existence with a cold silence that made me believe he despised the very ground I walked on.

Zach ignored the three hundred wolves bowing in terror. He walked straight past Jax, who was shaking violently on the carpet, and dropped to his knees right beside my mangled body.

He didn’t care about the blood ruining his clothes. His large, trembling hands pulled me gently into his lap, cradling my head against his chest.

“Diana…” he whispered, his voice cracking into a ragged, broken sob.

He said my name like I was the only thing that had ever mattered in his entire life.

I looked up into his face with the last bit of strength I had left. Tears were streaming down his pale cheeks, dripping onto my forehead as he pressed his hand over the wound in my stomach, desperately trying to push his own golden life-magic into my torn flesh.

My chest ached with a horrifying, confusing shock.

The most ruthless killer in the realm… the man I was certain hated me… was weeping over my dying body.

He opened his mouth to say something, his eyes wild with desperate agony, but the darkness finally rushed in, swallowing his voice whole, and my heart gave its final, quiet beat.