My Lycan Mate Rejection

Magnus’s POV.

“Have you considered taking a chosen mate, Magnus?” my mother inquired, making me roll my eyes. "Your age is 22. Choose a fierce she-wolf to be Luna."

I kept chopping my meat without looking at my mother.

Skol roared. He loathed the idea of selected mates. We awaited our match.

“Leave him alone, Mira,” Gabriel, my mother's new partner, urged. “He already told you he wants to wait for his fated mate.”

Gabriel received a little nod from me.

I didn’t like him. I had nothing against the guy, yet something about him never felt right with me.

My mother married him two years ago. He wasn’t a Lycan like my mother and myself. I never understood why my mother wanted to marry him, but it wasn’t my concern, so I never got involved. I tolerated Gabriel because I had to.

Some of our pack members scowled at the fact that Gabriel was only a werewolf and not a Lycan like my mother and me. Technically, that was true. What my pack members didn’t know was that Gabriel possessed Lycan DNA, but his Lycan never woke up.

It didn’t matter to me anyhow. He wouldn’t be able to become the Alpha of my pack even if he were a Lycan.

Something was wrong with Gabriel today. He appeared distant and a bit scared.

“Gabriel, honey, stop worrying,” my mother muttered as she clasped his hand in hers. “Everything is going to be okay.”

Gabriel looked up at her and grimaced.

“How can you say that?” he replied with a trace of irritation in his voice.

What the heck happened?

“What the hell is going on?” I inquired before my mother could say anything else.

My mother and Gabriel gazed at each other. Gabriel groaned, ran his fingers through his hair, and glanced down at his plate.

My mother stared at me, and I raised an eyebrow at her.

“Gabriel’s fated mate is dying,” my mother whispered, causing my eyes to widen.

I looked at Gabriel. I was so fucking bewildered.

“I thought that you didn’t find your fated mate,” I murmured, choking back a snarl.

I despised wolves that betrayed their fated mates. A partner was a gift from the Goddess. A partner was meant to be adored and treasured. What the heck was he doing here with my mother if his fated partner was out there somewhere?!

Gabriel glanced up at me and took a long breath.

“I did find her,” Gabriel murmured. “I just never marked her.”

My perplexity evolved into a surprise.

How the heck did he manage to hold back from marking his mate? I was so fucking convinced that I would sink my fangs into her neck as soon as I met her.

“I was young and stupid,” Gabriel groaned, staring back down at the table. “I thought that my Lycan would surface. I waited for it to happen. I was the only one with Lycan genes in my pack, and I imagined that once I received my Lycan, I would be able to accomplish so much more than simply be a Beta of my pack.”

Gabriel stopped talking and groaned.

“I met my mate,” Gabriel said. “I promised her that I would mark her as soon as my Lycan appeared. Except it never occurred. I grew more and more frustrated. I became so fucking mad. I spent my days intoxicated on whiskey laced with wolfsbane. I was continuously furious. She continued asking me to mark her, but I never did.”

Gabriel stopped talking and stared at my mother.

“So you don’t have a bond with her?” I questioned.

“No,” Gabriel answered as he stared at me. “I wouldn't be able to mark your mother if I did.”

Chosen mates and second mates might also mark each other. The mark wasn’t as potent as it was when it was bestowed by a fated mate, but it still possessed power.

“But you are bound to her, aren’t you, Gabriel?” my mother remarked with a tinge of bitterness in her voice.

I furrowed my eyebrows. What the hell was she talking about? How could he be linked to a lady he never marked?

“I am,” Gabriel murmured.

“How?” I questioned, narrowing my gaze at him.

“I have a child with her,” Gabriel replied, glancing at me.

My eyes expanded.

He had a child?

“I got her pregnant when I still thought that I would mark her,” Gabriel confessed. “I left her when my child was 2 years old.”

My eyes expanded even more. The little respect I had for Gabriel crashed to the ground.

“I feel so fucking guilty,” Gabriel murmured as he ran his fingers through his hair. “I haven’t seen my daughter in 15 years, and now…”

He stopped talking and took a long breath.

“You have a daughter?” I questioned, attempting to disguise my mounting wrath.

“Yes,” Gabriel nodded. “She is 17 years old. Her name is Selene.”

“And her mother is dying?” I said, straining my fists.

“Yes,” Gabriel answered. “She has cancer. She contacted me a few days ago, imploring me to take Selene in when she dies.”

“You are going to do it,” I said.

It wasn’t a question. It was a freaking order. He would do it. He wouldn't just let a 17-year-old girl alone. He had done enough harm.

“I’m not sure that’s a good idea, Magnus,” my mother remarked, making me snarl.

“Why the hell not?” I said, furious at my mother.

“Gabriel and I aren’t that young anymore,” my mother lamented. “I’m not sure that we could handle a 17-year-old girl.”

I grumbled and stared at Gabriel.

“You are not leaving your child alone again,” I replied. “What pack is she in?”

“My old pack, Riverstone,” Gabriel remarked.

I knew about that pack. I visited it five years ago with my father. It was just a few months before Dad died, and that trip was one of my best memories with him.

“Don’t make the same mistake again, Gabriel,” I murmured as I rose. “You already left your child once. Don’t do it again.”

I stepped away from the table.

I needed to get away from them.

I was so fucking angry with Gabriel.

How could he do that to his fated mate and his child?!

I would adore my fated partner more than anything else in the world. She would be so fucking adored and protected.

I would never do what Gabriel did.

Never.

Selene’s POV.

“Mom, please, you have to take the pills,” I groaned, attempting to encourage her to open her lips.

We’ve been at this for about an hour now. I was trying to convince her that she needed her medicines, and she was pushing them away and yelling at me that she didn’t want them.

She pushed my hand away, and a handful of tablets spilled all over the floor.

I groaned and got down on my knees to gather them up.

“Don’t bother, Selene,” my mom replied. “I’m not taking them.”

I looked up at her. I wanted to shout. She didn’t have to be in anguish!

She was lying in her bed, gripping her tummy, and weeping silently. She was soaked in perspiration. Her white nightgown was moist, and it was adhering to her body. She was pale and so fucking skinny. I could barely persuade her to eat anything.

She lost all of her hair months ago. It was incredibly hard for me to see her without her hair, her eyebrows, and her eyelashes. It was the first time I recognized that my mom was unwell.

I knew that she had cancer. I knew that she was unwell. But it wasn’t until she lost all of her hair that I knew that my mom was unwell. Her cancer was invisible to me previously. It was undetectable to the naked eye. Her bald head wasn’t.

When our pack doctor told us that she had cancer, I couldn’t believe it. She was a wolf! She was stronger than a regular human. She couldn’t have gotten cancer. As it turned out, I was mistaken. It was uncommon for a werewolf to acquire cancer, but my mom somehow got it. It escalated swiftly, and it was killing her. It’s been just six months since she learned about her illness, and she was already lying in bed, waiting for death.

I knew that my mom was going to die. But, just as I didn't notice she was sick until she lost all of her hair, I wouldn't realize she was gone until I woke up one day in an empty house.

I scooped up every pill on the floor. I didn’t want her to slip on one of them in case she managed to get up somehow.

I rose back up and dumped the pills in the garbage bin next to my mom’s bed.

“Mom, please,” I pleaded as I sat down on the bed next to her. “I have to go to work. I won’t be able to focus if I know that you are in pain.”

My mom glanced up at me.

Due to the continual vomiting, the veins in her eyes burst. I couldn’t even see the whites of her eyes anymore. Everything was crimson.

“Don’t worry about me, Selene,” my mom murmured, grasping my hand in hers. “Go to work.”

She attempted to squeeze my hand, but it was pointless. She didn’t have the strength to do it.

“Of course, I’m going to worry, Mom,” I groaned as I reached into the bowl on her bedside.

I grabbed the towel, wrung off the excess water, and gently wiped her forehead with it.

“I love you so much, Seli,” my mom whispered as tears flowed down the side of her face. “I’m sorry for screaming at you.”

I stopped washing her forehead and stared into her bloodied eyes. I had to gulp back the lump in my throat. I always tried so hard not to cry in front of my mom. I needed to be strong for her. I couldn’t let her see my grief. It would be tougher for her to depart gently.

“It’s okay, mom,” I murmured. “I understand. You don’t have to apologize.”

My mom wept.

“Yes, I do,” she responded as she struggled to lift her head. “You don’t deserve it.”

She was too feeble to lift her hand on its own, so I grabbed it and placed it on my face. She touched my cheek with her thumb.

“I love you, Seli,” she murmured gently.

I placed my palm over hers and offered her a tiny grin. It was hard for me to talk. The knot in my throat was big.

“I love you too, Mom,” I managed to reply.

She gave me a little grin and withdrew her hand from my cheek. Holding her hand up was tiring for her.

“Will you please take your pills now, Mom?” I questioned, grabbing the medicine bottle from her bedside.

She scowled at me. “I don’t want them!”

I took a deep breath and placed the bottle on my lap.

“Why, Mom?” I questioned. “You won’t be in so much pain.”She turned her head away and wept. My heart broke for her. I placed my hand on her head and stroked her softly.

“They numb me, Seli,” she murmured. “I can’t feel anything. I don’t know where I am. I can’t feel my wolf. I don’t know where you are. I don’t want them, Seli.”

A tear spilled on my face, and I wiped it away swiftly.

“Okay, Mom,” I murmured as I knelt and kissed her temple. “You don’t have to take them.”

I didn’t want her to be in agony. I didn’t. But I wasn’t going to compel her to take anything that would make her feel so powerless.

My mom looked back at me and gave me a little grin.

“Thank you, my Flower,” she whispered, making my heart constrict.

She hadn’t called me Flower in months.

I smiled and touched her face.

“I have to go now, Mom,” I replied. “I will see you later, okay?”

“Okay, Seli,” she murmured, turning to her side.

“Call me if you need anything,” I added as I covered her up.

I wish that we could mind-link. It would be so much easier for her to reach me. But I still didn’t have my wolf, so we had to rely on phones.

She gave me a slight nod.

I rose, stepped toward the door, and opened it. I stared at her one more time before I closed her bedroom door behind me and silently went away.

I headed to the kitchen, hoping to find something to eat before my shift at the restaurant.

Ever since my mom got sick, I have had to work many jobs just so we could afford to pay for her medicine. Our pack doctor helped us as much as he could, but the therapy was pricey and he couldn’t do much. Nevertheless, I was happy for whatever support we could obtain.

I opened the fridge and sighed. The only food I had left I had to conserve for my mother. She needed it more than I did. I got a bottle of water, closed the fridge, and proceeded to our living room.

I glanced toward my mom’s bedroom one more time. I wanted to go check on her just one more time before I went, but I didn’t have time.

I sighed, got my Jacket on, and left the house.