Changed fate

RIVENNAS POV.

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The entire hall stood silent as the new faces appeared. My eyes hadn’t left the first male who had slowly walked into the hall.

His presence alone made the whole room shudder. Every gaze was fixed on him, and the hall came to a standstill.yet his eyes were on mine.

The two males stood over six feet tall, dark-haired, and belonged to the Aralez lycan clan. They were known as one of the pure-breed lycans who had been alive since the time of dragons — the last of the pure moon beasts.

They were bestial and cruel, showing no mercy to their prey. And right now, I was their prey.

I couldn’t look away from the first male. Both were covered in robes made from bearskin. His companion wore brown, while the male I couldn’t tear my eyes from wore black bear fur. His eyes were a dark stormy grey that trapped me.

My gaze roamed over his stubble, his dark beard, his sculpted jawline, and the scar that ran down his left eye. His hair was a shaggy dark cut that fell over his forehead, shadowing his eyes. His thick brows were furrowed as he stared at me like I was a phenomenon he’d never seen before. But I knew I was nothing more than prey.

“We are the lycans from the Aralez clan,” he spoke, his deep voice warming my skin.

“And you have come to collect what we are owed, me” I whispered, resigned.as the choosing hall erupted in gasps.

“No, no, this doesn’t make sense…” Wren said as he tugged at me, finally pulling my eyes away from the first male. “Are you insane, Rivenna? The Aralez pack?! Those men will eat you alive, no doubt. So do not accept this bizarre proposal!”

I couldn’t breathe or think as my brother stepped forward. Although frail, he still cared enough to stand up for me.

“And are you the lycan king?” Ryson asked, unsure. We would have expected a whole company of lycans if he were.

I watched as the two males shared a look before the first Lycan spoke again.

“And if I am not, princeling?”

My chest tightened with real fear and confusion. How was he not a king? His presence alone commanded the entire room.

“Then this must be a joke. The proposal is to be met from a royal himself or it is not valid,” Ryson argued, clearly scared for my sake.

“Yes, he was sent from the king,” the second male said. “He is the king’s strongest warrior and right-hand man, who has been given the power to bring his bride.”

“She is mine!” Wren spoke out, his eyes blazing. His claim was so loud and shocking that even Bria’s eyes widened, anger twisting her features. Knowing their plan was going astray, she gulped roughly before rushing to my side.

“Yes, Rivenna, you must not choose this man.”

“The Aralez Lycans are barbaric in nature, and the things I have heard they do to females are horrible. You cannot!” an elder spoke.

“And he is a mere guard, not the king. Look, I know me being here has made you insecure, Rivenna, but—” Bria said.

I scoffed. They really must be desperate to try to talk me into marrying Wren.

Wren came to my side, his hands gripping my shoulders, his gaze desperate as he raged.

“I know this was a mistake. I just know you can never choose him over me, and I know your jealousy speaks loud because of Bria. Now I hear and see you. You have won these silly mind games, alright? You will be my priority, Rivenna, so choose me!” Wren snapped.

“Does she not have a choice?”

The room fell silent. Even as brutal and scary as this lycan male looked, he was giving me a choice?

The male who was supposedly the strongest warrior from the Aralez Valley clan — the strongest beasts in the realm, one that could subdue this entire room in seconds — was giving me a choice.

Was I making the right decision by inviting this beastly doom to my doorstep as a proposed mate?

I took a sharp breath and held my gown. “Do not go, Rivenna. Stay here.” Wren came to me again, holding me tightly as I tugged my hand free.

I then walked towards the two bulky Viking-like lycan beasts dressed in bear hide.

The closer I got, the more I realized how much they towered over me and how great the size difference was. They could take me by force without a doubt.

But something calm and steady urged me forward, to take the steps even the guards hadn’t dared. I swallowed a breath and spoke.

“I am Rivenna Osborn, daughter of the Alpha Chief of the Onyx Pack… and I chose the black rose,” I said with a daring tone to the males watching me.

“Rivenna,” he repeated. My name rolled off his tongue like a symphony that warmed my body. “I am Vaughn… and this is my second, Darian.” He gave no surname or anything else.

“You do not trust me,” he said without hesitation.

I watched as he reached into his coat and pulled out a scroll, which he handed to me. His hands were larger than my head. The mere touch of our fingers ignited something in me, making my legs feel weak, but I held myself upright.

I took the scroll, opened it, and my stomach dropped.

“What is it?” one of the elders asked as I gripped the scroll tightly. The walls felt like they were closing in as I turned to my brother.

I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t believe what I had just seen. My body felt like it was about to shatter into a million pieces, and my throat felt too heavy to speak.

“It’s Father,” I finally managed. “He is dead.”

“What? No, that cannot be true. He is lying. We cannot trust a glycan male from the valley! These beastly lycans must have killed him. Rivenna, listen to me,” Wren snarled.

“I fought with your father against the flame beasts at the warline for the past year,” Vaughn said. “He was a brave man who held his own to the end as the flames consumed him.”

Darian, the second lycan who had remained silent, held out a small chest. My brother stepped forward and took it. When I opened it, a gasp wracked through me at the sight of my father’s bloodied yet familiar crown and the rope bracelet I had made for him — the one he had never taken off.

An item they wouldn’t have known to bring back if he were truly dead.

I felt like I was shattering into a million pieces. In my last life, he hadn’t died in the war. He had come home.

So what has changed in this new life?

Oh holy gods… What have I done?