The Lycan King's Betrayal

THALIA.

“You are shaking,” my father commented and I caught myself doing just that when I looked down at our entwined hands.

“ It will turn out well, right?” I asked after he gave my hand a little squeeze.

“Of course.” The look on my father’s face told me that he could not believe that I was asking such a question. “Today is your day. Your wedding day. Why would anything go wrong?”

A deep exhale left my chest and I felt lighter. A smile formed on my lips and the little smudge of worry quickly disappeared.

“I must be silly, Dad,” I whispered to him. “I am getting married to the love of my life, of course, everything will be fine.”

A few seconds later, I was walking down the aisle with my father, my mind now trained on meeting my husband-to-be.

But, suddenly, while I tried to keep my soul calm, a collective gasp erupted from the guests. It was a concerning gasp, so I looked to my side.

My legs wobbled, I crashed into my father’s arms and watched with shock as my best friend, Paterica Stark, walked down the aisle, dressed in a blue bridal attire similar to mine. I watched with a pierced heart as my friend walked up to my husband-to-be, received his hand and stood in front of him as his bride.

Confused, I briefly looked up at my father who was still holding me firmly, he also looked surprised, so I became certain that I was not seeing things.

But, why?

Why is my best friend standing there? Why is my mate looking at her with so much love in his eyes?

“Octavius!” I screamed my mate’s name without holding back. My soul was begging for an answer and I would make sure to get it. “Octavius!” I separated myself from my father’s grip and ran towards the altar. “Paterica! Explain this right now and-!”

Someone pulled from behind. “I have to stop you here, Miss Thalia Zahara.”

I looked away from the people who were pretending not to hear me while they focused on getting married. I glared at the fool who dared to stop me. It was the Chief Guard of our beloved Night Stream Pack.

“Get your hands off me,” I growled. “Get out of my way.”

The man refused to let go of me. “The Lycan King is getting married right now. If you take a step closer, you’ll be considered a threat.”

A scoff dropped from my lips while my mind continued to fail to fully comprehend what was going on. “A threat? Listen, I am supposed to be standing there!” I pointed at the altar. “I am meant to be getting married to Octavius.” I knitted my brows with seriousness. “You know this, Chief. Everyone here knows it. He is my mate! We are supposed to be getting married!”

I screamed with all my might at the end of my words, because the more I spoke, the more the pain of seeing my mate and best friend abounded in my heart.

“Miss Thalia, please let this ceremony remain peaceful.”

“Peaceful?” I laughed like I was about to lose my mind. “Did you just say peaceful?” I laughed again, my head slightly tilted as I did that. Through my bitter laughter, I caught a glimpse of the beautiful evening sky. “Chief,” I locked eyes with the man once again, “if you keep stopping me, blood will flow. You are aware that my wolf is weak, but do you know? I am a vicious woman. I will draw blood when I need to.”

“Miss Thalia,” the man remained solid, “please, stop.”

A loud sound pierced the air. The murmuring from the crowd died down, everyone turned their attention to the altar and we all watched as the Lycan King and my best friend shared a kiss as though they were passionate lovers.

The minute they were pronounced husband and wife for all to hear, my hands began to shiver and soon, a strange type of fear wrapped my soul.

“Octavius…” My mate’s name dropped from my lips but it wasn’t loud enough. “Octavius…” Why can’t he hear me? “Octavius…”

Octavius and Paterica began to walk down the aisle, so I gathered myself and rushed to my mate.

“Octavius,” I almost cried when I met his darksome eyes. Those eyes looked at me with love yesterday but now, I see hatred in them.

“If you have something to say, say it. I don’t have all day.”

My brows jerked and I begged my soul to allow a brief control of my raging emotions. “Is that all you have to say, Octavius Storm?”

“I am your King. The Lycan King. Show some respect.”

I managed a painful smile. “And I am supposed to be your Queen. The Lycan Queen.” I moved closer and successfully ignored Paterica. “Are you trying to tell me that I am now useless? Is… Is our mate bond a joke to you?”

“What do you expect me to do?” His hands flung into mid-air. “What do you want me to say? Do you want me to confess that your friend Paterica is a better companion for me? Do you want me to say that I started to hate our mate bond way before the wedding? Do you want me to disrespect you in such a way?”

“How dare you say those stupid things?!”

“They are true.”

“Oh, right.” I laughed bitterly. “You must be elated to break my heart then. You must be very happy that you have gotten rid of me just so you can hook up with my stupid best friend!”

“Thalia, you-,” Paterica attempted speaking.

But Octavius interrupted her.

His teeth gritted with an anger I had never seen before. His feet inched closer and he warned, “This woman is now my wife. She is my mate and I will deal with you if you disrespect her.”

No matter how much I try to analyze Octavius’s reactions, I am unable to comprehend him.

My head danced from left to right and I gently asked, “Are you under some sort of spell?”

“Thalia,” he sighed, “I am trying to respect you by not saying anything.”

“Respect?”

“I don’t want to put you through the pain of breaking our mate bond. I don’t want to reject you because I am aware that it will make you weaker than you already are.”

“You think you are doing me a favor?” I scoffed and my willingness to keep my emotions in check dissolved instantly. “Octavius.” I held his hands but he jerked my touch away after a few seconds. “You just married another woman in my presence, on my wedding day. Are you respecting me by doing that? That’s even worse than a fucked up rejection! You took my best friend’s hand in my presence and got married to her!”

I didn’t hold back anymore. As I raised my voice and lost my marbles, I slapped his chest without mercy.

“You fucking rat! You should have just killed me! How do you expect me to live now?! I lived five years for you! I gave up on my desires for you! I trained to become your stupid Queen! I endured days of shitty training because of our love for each other! But what? You chose to respect me by getting married to Paterica? You fucking fucktard, man. You are a fucking coward!”

Octavius held my hand at some point to stop me from hitting him. Once I was done letting out only a fraction of what I wished to say, he said, “Beta Thalia Zahara.” That first statement turned my rage into fear. My eyes widened and he continued, “I, Lycan King Octavius Storm, reject you. As of today, we are no longer mates and we are no longer destined for each other.”

“Octavius…” His name dropped from my lips and I could sense a thick quivering in my voice.

“Accept it, Thalia. Let’s end things here.”

This time, I could not fight the tears. I ducked my head as though it would be enough to hide the pain on my face. But I was able to endure and after seconds of hiding the tears itching my eyes, I looked up at Octavius Storm and said, “I accept it. I accept your rejection, Lycan Octavius Storm.”

“I hope to never set my eyes on you,” Octavius said. And after, he used a finger to push me to the ground, the strange hatred he had for me never fading.

So, as he walked away with my best friend, I managed a smile and whispered to myself, “I accept your rejection. But watch out Octavius,” my smile widened while I wiped my wet nose, “I won’t let you get away with this. You will pay for this disrespect. You will pay for breaking my heart and wasting my time. I swear on my parents. And I swear with the goddess’s name.”

At the end of my silent declaration, my desire to fight disappeared. The shock of the confusion, betrayal, pain and sorrow that emanated from that unexpected scene gripped me hard, so I remained on the ground while my eyes slowly closed to welcome darkness.

THALIA.

Something was threatening to peel off my skin, so I woke up from my long sleep. While my chest weighed heavy, I quickly sat up to see what was going on. I was surprised to see that I was in my room, but I was more surprised to see a strange man standing in front of me with his eyes closed and he was doing that while the most vicious flame surrounded us.

“Is this an illusion?” I asked the man and at the same time, I hoped that the whole drama at my wedding was an illusion as well.

He opened his eyes to reveal very dark blues that I would have loved to swim in if I wasn’t surrounded by fire that was threatening to kill me.

“You are awake,” was all he said.

I jumped to my feet. “I don’t want to die while having small talk with you.” I didn’t bother to ask how I got to my room and why I was dressed in only a loose top and panties. “I have to leave.”

“You were left here to die,” he said.

I raced towards the entrance and jumped back when a piece of wood fell at my feet and increased the threat level.

“I have to live,” I replied to the man.

“If I help you live, you owe me a favor.”

Of course, that’s a dubious statement. But I don’t want to burn to death.

“I can return your favor as long as I am alive.” I faced him. “So help me.”

“Before I help you,” the man maintained his serious stance, he didn’t move an inch, “know that your parents are dead.”

“What?” I was still processing that sentence when he carried me bridal style and raced out of the burning building with skillful moves.

Once we were outside and at some distance away from my burning house, his words had fully settled in my mind and I opened my eyes to ask him a question.

“Where are they? Where are my-?” The man was nowhere to be seen.

“Thalia!” I recognized that to be the voice of my friend, Vistral. “Oh thank goodness, you are fine!” I looked around for the blue-eyed man who helped me out of the burning house, but I saw no trace of him. “Thalia, you are fine.”

I stood up and stared at him. “What happened?”

“After the wedding went to shit, you disappeared and while we were all looking for you, your-”

“My parents.” I could somehow tell he was about to mention them. So, I held his hand and searched his eyes. “What happened to my parents?”

“Thalia…”

“Tell me they are fine, Vistral.”

“Then,” a heavy sigh left him, “I would be lying.”

Something heavy settled in my chest. “Vistral… Did they…?” I looked at the ground. “Did my parents…? You know what?” I shuddered. “Lie to me. Just do it.”

My friend closed his eyes. “We promised never to lie to each other, Thalia.”

I stared into the greenness of my friend’s eyes and when I saw the sadness growing in them, my eyes began to tear up. “Just lie to me, Vistral.”

“Thalia.”

“Just lie to me! Just do it!”

“Your parents are…” His gaze fell to the side. “... fine. After you disappeared, they searched for you for a while and we met up and they were fine. They just… needed to rest for a while. They are fine, Thalia.”

By the time his words ended, I could no longer see his face. My tears blinded me and I finally gave in to the intense pain in my soul. And, as I wailed and crashed into Vistral’s arms, I began to wonder what was going on.

Did I offend the universe or something? Or is this some kind of game where I am expected to survive no matter what goes wrong in my life?

You know what, game maker, I can’t survive this. How can I? My family is gone. The man I love is gone. The friendship I cherished for so long is no longer there!

Life has no meaning now.

“Thalia…” Vistral made sure to hold me firmly.

And, seconds later, with little strength left in me, I closed my eyes and within my tears, I managed to say, “I want to see my parents.”

“Your parents are-”

“I should see them off, shouldn’t I? The journey ahead must be tough.”

“They are at home.”

Thankfully, my house wasn’t too far from my parents. So, with a little smile of appreciation, I said to Vistral, “Wait for me here.”

“Thalia, let me come with you.”

“I want to meet my parents alone.”

“Thalia…”

Before he could convince me to not go, I began to walk away from my perishing house. And with slow steps, I readied my mind to face my dead parents.

But, the moment I took a turn that led to the gates of my parents’ place, a tough hand gripped me from behind. I was given no chance to fight back and soon, I was knocked out.

~~

When I came to, a noise I could not filter filled my ears. So, my eyes snapped open and the sight I saw startled me so much that I jumped to my feet.

Surrounding me were men, hefty-looking men who looked desperate to suck some blood.

“Uhm…” I managed to say while my eyes hooded to avoid full eye contact with the men glaring at me. “C-C-Can I know where I am?”

Laughter that shook my soul filled the room. The men jested about how I asked the question and while I barely had the energy to scorn at their reaction, I watched with a thin line formed on my lips.

In the midst of all that, I discovered that my throat was scratchy.

So, after the deadly laughter had died down, I faced one of the men and asked, “Can I get water?” my voice was very weak and it made me wonder if I’d ever recover from the pain that had been etched in my soul.

“Water?!” A thick voice echoed from the back of the room. “Did that wench just ask for water?!”

Everybody else in the room kept mum and the next thing, the floor started to shiver as a very tall figure walked out of the dark side of the room. The man approached me and no matter the amount of scuffling I did, he caught up to me and soon, he was towering above me, his physique enough to scare me to bits. The next thing, he slapped me.

“How dare a captive ask for water?” he said, his hand gripping the back of my head seconds later.

“I…” I could barely speak, the spot he slapped kept tingling without an indication that it would be reducing soon. “I just…”

“What the heck is this wench muttering about?!” He yanked my hair and while I shut my eyes tight, my heart ripped because of the pain. “You are nothing but a thing that was sold to me. Isn’t that right?”

At the mention of selling me off, my eyes flung open and I stared at the man.

“I said,” his thunderous voice continued, “isn’t that right?!”

“Yes, sir!” The entire room chorused and I finally knew that I had indeed landed myself in hot soup.

How I got here, I don’t know. But I know that I have to leave by any means possible.

I can’t let these men sell me off to goddess knows where. I have to remain in The Night Stream pack to protect my parents' honor, I have to make Octavius and Paterica pay for what they did, I have to-

“Don’t think so much, little woman,” the man gripping me said. “You can never escape.” He inched closer. “If you try to, I will catch you. And when I do,” he inched even closer, “I will take a sharp dagger, grab your pussy and mark you as mine in a way you will never forget even after you die.”

There was joy in his eyes as he spoke. Seeing that irritated my soul. So, after some seconds passed, as he stared into my eyes, I summoned some saliva and without holding back, I spat a chunk into his eyes.

“What the fuck! You fucking wench! Hold her down!”

Before I could run, two men reached and held my hands up.

Their leader walked to me, held my chin with brute force and without holding back his hatred, he spat, “How dare you?”

“Let go of me,” I managed to say. “I don’t belong here.”

“You need to be more quiet,” he said quite calmly. “If you make noise, I’ll be forced to do worse to you.”

“What’s holding you back? Are you terrified of what will happen to you once my husband finds out what you are doing?” I know. Octavius Storm didn’t end up being my husband, but allow me to use his damn title for once. I need to make sure I escape this place.

The man laughed. “Your husband? You don’t have one, Miss Thalia. We all know what happened yesterday.” He held my chin firmer. “Let me let you in on a secret since we will never meet again.” I could sense that his grip was trying to create a crack in my jaw, so I tried to resist his force. “Do you know who sold you to us?”

“Why would anyone sell me to you?”

“Oh,” he smiled, “someone did quite alright. And thanks to him, I have a priceless jewel like you as part of my goods.”

“You are bluffing.” I am surprised I still have the strength to talk.

“Bluffing?” He laughed. “I wish I was.”

“So,” I twitched my lips while one of the men holding my hands brushed my hair to the back, “who is it? Who sold me?”

“I can’t say it out loud.” He finally let go of my chin. Then, he brought his lips to my ears. “Our great Lycan King…” My eyes widened and my heart raced while my whole body weakened even more. “... was kind enough to pay us to get rid of you and your family. And thanks to your refusal to die, I will sell you off and get even richer. Isn’t that fascinating?”

My head rang and my little strength failed me. The words the man spoke replayed in my mind and while I struggled to make sense of them, I slowly lost control of my entire body.

The next thing I knew, with my lips gapped, I felt light.

Within my daze, I was almost certain that the breeze of the night would be able to carry me away.

And, truthfully, with the crazy thing I just heard, I wish that I could remain light forever so that a very strong breeze will fly me off to a place where pain, betrayal and sorrow do not exist.