My Step-brother My Second Chance Mate

Chapter 4: The Forced Acceptance

Alice POV

The bird took flight slowly past me, then moved straight to Ella's seat.

I could see Margaret’s face lit up with excitement, though she tried to conceal her obvious joy as the bird floated across her daughter's seat. Though Ella didn’t fully understand what was happening, she felt happy because she saw her mother’s gleaming face. In her heart, she believed she had been chosen.

Within a twinkle of an eye the bird left her table then proceeded to Clara's table. It hovered around her table for a few seconds then kept fluttering around the corners of the hall until it finally landed above my head.

Many of the people in the hall were shocked seeing the bird around me but they hoped the bird would leave just as it left Ella and Clara. However, it didn't. I took the bird with my two hands then took it to the podium where the three elders and the Lycan King were.

Then the three elders immediately bowed to me. “Long live Luna Alice” they said at the same time.

“What?” Harry shouted. “This is impossible!" She's never my mate! I can't marry her!”

Within a few seconds, he grabbed the microphone to address the seemingly confused audience.

“I, Alpha Harry, the future Lycan King of the Dark Shadows Pack, hereby reject—” Harry began, but his words were suddenly cut short.

“You dare not, Harry!” a voice boomed from the crowd, stopping him cold.

Silence swept over the crowd of more than 250 people. Their surprised expressions revealed their growing curiosity about what was happening.

Harry froze, recognizing the voice. He turned toward the source of the echo, his eyes locked onto the figure—it was his father, the Lycan King.

Seeing his father, his knees grew weak.

"Father... Why?" he whispered, his voice trembling as quiet sobs escaped him.

“You must be joking, Harry! Is this the legacy you want to start your kingdom with? Over my dead body!” Alpha James snarled.

“If you reject your destined mate now, what would be the fate of your mate?”

“What would be the fate of your pack and other packs who are looking up to you?”

“What would happen to our tradition and culture?”

“Do you want to legalize rejection of mates in this kingdom? It will not happen. "Not when I'm alive, Harry!” Alpha James uttered, with vexation.

“But Alpha… I hate her!” Harry retorted.

Hearing him say this feels like a knife twisting in my gut. My heart shatters, and I can feel the weight of his words pressing down on me. I don’t know whether to scream, cry, or run away. A deep sense of rejection swallows me whole, and I’m left standing there, unable to process the devastation that’s flooding through me.

The audience were shocked, and the hall was filled with quiet whispers from several mini-groups as they watched Alpha James and his heir, Harry, exchange words.

“Whether you like her or not, Alice is your mate, and you're to embrace and love her”, the Lycan King snapped back.

“Father, do you want me to get married to someone I don't love?”

“Love is more than just a feeling; it is a deliberate choice. "Make that choice to love her” Alpha James affirmed.

“I don't want her!” Harry said, hitting the podium in front of him.

“It’s simple, you either take up the responsibility of accepting her or lose your chance to be the Lycan King. "The ball is in your court.” Alpha James replied, unflinching.

“I know what to do, father”, Harry dashed into one of the inner rooms in the hall.

Then he headed back to the hall after a few minutes.

He came back now with a forced and obviously shallow smile. He stepped on the podium, then declared:

“I, Alpha Harry, the future Lycan King of the Dark Shadow Kingdom, hereby accept you, Alice Smith, as my mate,” he declared with a straight face.

His words didn’t feel genuine, as if there was more to his intentions than he let on. The tone of his acceptance left my heart in turmoil, caught between excitement and fear.

“Will my life of misery never end, or is there still hope for happiness to return?” I wondered.

Margaret, my stepmother, and her daughter Ella were left utterly stunned by Harry's decision to accept me. The shock on their faces was evident, and I could almost feel the weight of their hurt and disbelief as they processed what was unfolding before them.

I couldn’t help but think that the years of their deceit and mistreatment towards me were finally catching up with them. The fear in their eyes was unmistakable, a silent acknowledgment that my acceptance was not just a personal victory, but a looming threat to everything they had done to me.

I knew they must be terrified of the consequences when I took my rightful place as the Luna of the most powerful pack in the territory. Every cruel act, every insult, every betrayal—everything they had done to break me was about to be brought to light. I could almost hear the whispers of fear swirling around them, their minds racing with what I might do now that I would have the authority to expose them.

Clara, Harry's fiancée, stood frozen as the realization of his betrayal sank in. Her chest tightened, and a wave of dizziness swept over her. Unable to withstand the emotional blow, her legs gave way, and she collapsed to the floor.

Harry left the podium immediately to save Clara, but he was stopped by his father.

“Where are you going?” Alpha James asked.

“Father, please let me go,” Harry pleaded.

“No, you can't”

“My Luna is dying, and you asked me to stop. "I won't allow this Alpha James!” Harry replied to his father defiantly.

Hearing this sends shivers down my throat. This man just accepted me as his Luna, yet he's calling his supposed estranged girlfriend his Luna. Is he out of his mind? Perhaps this is a confirmation to the unsettled emotions I had towards his acceptance earlier?

Within a twinkle of an eye, he pushed his aged father away from the road just to go and see Clara.

However, the people around her table had lifted her up quickly, then took her to a nearby hospital.

After a while, I went to the hospital to check on Harry. I asked the nurse about the Lycan King and I was told that he's with the doctor.

As I approached the doctor's office, I heard the following conversation.

“Alpha Harry, it's sad to reveal this to you. "However, I have to say it… Sorry we lost the baby, " the doctor said.

“Nooo!!!” Harry's voice shook the foundation of the hospital. “How? This is not possible!”

“I'm really sorry, Alpha,” the doctor said and departed into one of the wards.

I quickly left the door entrance to the reception.

Harry opened the door fiercely, as though he was on a revenge mission.

Our eyes locked.

With a voice shaking with fury, Harry roared, “You… you killed my baby,” he said, his voice thick with emotion.

I stood frozen, shaking with fear and confusion, my mind racing—why did he think I had anything to do with this?

Harry stared at me with desperation.

“I, Alpha Harry, the Lycan King of Rieles, hereby reject you Alice Smith as my mate and I banish you from this pack” he declared.

I felt some uneasiness in my spirit.

“Wait! Don't let her go like that. Give her 100 lashes before she leaves,” Alpha Harry added.

My scream was lost in the wind as the guards seized me, dragging me to the place of torture.

I was beaten severely with bruises on every part of my skin and thrown into the forest.

That was the last thing I remembered.