The Lycan King Rejected Mate

Tara’S POV 

“Run, Tara! Run and don’t look back!”

Those were my mother’s last words before she was brutally killed by lycan wolves. Unfortunately, a foolish child like me didn’t obey her. The sounds of her pain-filled cries reached my little ears and I turned to see the dread that was being inflicted upon her.

Biggest mistake of my life.

The image was like a parasite etched to my memory, feeding off me, pushing me into that dark space in the bottomless pit of my mind.

I could still picture it:

Chaos reigned. Huts were on fire; people screamed, and blood flowed on the rocky pathway like an endless river. My whole body froze in shock. Not even the people running past me could jolt me back to reality. There was no way I could wake up, not when I was witnessing my mother’s golden hair being smashed against a rock with such violence.

Tears trickled down my chin as I screamed her name. My voice echoed, causing a wave I never expected as pure energy coursed through my veins. It was like being inside a thunderstorm, only that I was the thundercloud.

I kept screaming on top of my lungs even when my eyes started to ache, even when blood slid down my cheeks like tears. I continued screaming, and those around me were greatly affected. The lycans attacking my small village fell to the ground, their hands fruitlessly shielding their ears from my screeching, but it wasn’t enough. Just like me, they started bleeding, but from their ears. Not even the innocent villagers fleeing were spared; everyone was getting their own fair share of the torture, with the humans being more affected by it.

Suddenly, a man—no, a demon—emerged from within the smoke and debris, walking towards me, completely unaffected by my powerful screams.

My fickle mind paid no heed to him, a decision I soon regretted.

If I had only looked closely, I would have known that the demon was none other than the Lycan King and Alpha, Ethan Ace, the most brutal lycan king to ever walk the earth. He was a god that everyone, including myself, feared, although few had ever seen him.

He was half-shifted; his lower body was lycan, while his upper body was human. His piercing emerald green eyes locked onto mine, trapping me in a trance-like state with no escape. I was still screaming, but it felt like my head was underwater. Ethan kept approaching me until he was standing directly before me. Then, he pressed his thumb on my forehead, and the rest was a blur.

It was pure darkness after that.

I don’t remember what happened afterwards, but when I woke up, I was blind and captured. I was imprisoned in a dungeon owned by the Lycan King, and from then onwards, I was made a slave, the most maltreated of all…

All these happened eight years ago. At that time, I was ten; but today, I turn eighteen.

Nothing had changed; I was still blind, I was still a slave to Ethan.

And I now knew something that could potentially bring my death.

“He is the one, I am sure of it,” my wolf insisted repeatedly.

I swallowed hard, pushing down the fear rising to my throat. My wolf had been with me since I turned fifteen, and in all those years, she had never disturbed me like she did this year.

I kept her existence a secret from my captors; they believed I was a cursed were-witch who could neither shift nor perform magic. To them, I was a useless, disabled slave that their king was keeping for some reason best known to him.

They were wrong. I was not a were-witch; I was a were-dragon, and the only person who knew this was my mate, Alpha King Ethan Ace. Yes, my captor was my mate. The goddess couldn’t have been crueler.

I had known for a year now, but I kept it to myself since it seemed as if the Lycan King didn’t know. I didn’t want the drama that might come with the revelation, but that came at my own peril. My wolf wouldn’t have it. Like a shameless slut, she had been acting irrationally, especially when we were in Ethan’s presence. I had to fight her many times to suppress the primal instinct to claim Ethan as mine. And this proved to be the most difficult task of all because I was Ethan’s royal food taster. I was always by his side on every meal.

Today, like the others before it, I entered the grand dining area where lycans of all ages were gathered, laughing and cheering like barbarians. I had a cane in my hands, which I used as a guide, but the truth was that I could see all of them. Well, no, I couldn’t see their faces, but I could see anything that had a heat signature. I guess that was the perk of being a breathless dragon.

The crowd parted like the Red Sea as I walked toward the high table, a feeling of dread settling in my stomach. This had never happened before. My heart pounded in my chest as I took calculated strides, each step resonating with the unsettling silence that had fallen over the room.

Ethan, his bare chest adorned with a crisscross battle scar, sat on his throne, legs spread apart, radiating an aura of danger that sent shivers down my spine. His icy green eyes, usually filled with indifference, were now fixated on me with unnerving intensity.

My wolf stirred, her primal desire for our mate intensifying with every passing moment. I battled to keep her under control, but it felt like a losing fight. The scent of wolfsbane, pine,and a blend of spices emanating from Ethan was intoxicating, driving me towards like a moth to flame.

“Let me out! I want him,” my wolf shrieked in our shared mind space.

I gritted my teeth, trying to ignore her. “Control yourself! You are going to get us killed.”

“Mate!” she roared, her voice echoed in my mind.

“MATE!” I followed suit. The word escaped my lips without warning, the realization hit me like a ton of bricks. I covered my mouth with my hands, head bowed in shame.

“ Forgive me sire, Sire,” I stammered, my voice barely audible.

Silence reigned, thick and suffocating . Then, Ethan voice cut through the tension , a low growl that sent shivers down my spine. “How long?”

I remained silent, my mind racing, searching for the right words .

“How long have you known?” he repeated, his voice laced with a dangerous edge.

I swallowed as my throat became dry. “I…I found out a year ago,” I mumbled with a bowed head, unable to meet his gaze.

He stood up abruptly, his chair crashing to the floor. The room erupted in chaos as the other lycans rose to their feet, their faces contorted in anger and confusion.

I knelt before him, hands clasped in a desperate plea. “Forgive me, sire. It’s my fault. I’ll instantly reject you. I, Tara Morgan, slave of Alpha King Ethan, hereby reject you, Supreme Alpha King Ethan, as my mate—”

Before I could finish, a forceful hand slammed against my cheek, leaving my head spinning, ears ringing, and vision blurred. Ethan struck me.

“How dare you reject me, you foolish creature!” he growled. Another stinging slap landed on my face, forcing me onto the hard stone floor. “How does a lowly nobody like you dare to reject me?!”

At that moment, everything became muffled, and I couldn’t hear or see clearly. The violent onslaught increased my existing disability. Ethan continued his madness, but his words were lost on me as I writhed on the floor like a wounded creature. Desperately, I tried to crawl away from him, but my attempts only fueled his anger.

A crushing blow landed against my ribs, and I screamed as the sound of snapping bones echoed. Another merciless kick followed, causing blood to gush from my nose and mouth. I struggled to crawl away from the looming threat beside my head.

However, Ethan was far from finished. He crouched down, seizing a handful of my hair, twisting and pulling it to force my gaze into his eyes. “Revoke your rejection now, or I will make you yearn for death.”