REBORN FOR REVENGE; The Lycan’s Bride

Lena's POV “I reject you, Lena.” Ryker's words hit me like a dagger, making my hands tremble slightly. My mind refused to process what I had just heard. Did he really say that? No, there’s no way. Not today. Not in front of everyone on our announcement day. Maybe I heard him wrong. I stared at him, my vision blurring as tears threatened to spill. My heart pounded painfully in my chest. “Babe, what do you mean?” I whispered, my voice barely holding together. I reached out to touch him, desperate for reassurance, but he flinched and took a step back. “You heard me right,” he said, his voice cold and firm. “I don’t want you to be my mate anymore.” His words shattered me. My knees nearly gave out. "I didn't hear you right. This has to be a cruel joke from you. Right, babe?" I held on to hope of him actually joking but I knew that wasn't the case. "I reject you as my mate, Lena. Do with that piece of information, what you will." He said before turning his back on me. “What? How could you say that?” My voice broke, laced with both heartbreak and disbelief. “After everything we've been through together? After I left everything behind just to be with you?” Memories of my father’s palace flooded my mind, his stern voice echoing in my ears. “I will never marry the man you choose for me! You know Ryker is my mate. Why do you keep doing this? I love him, and nothing will stop me from being with him!” I had screamed, standing my ground, defying my father’s authority. His expression had been unreadable, but his words had been final. “Do whatever you want, but don’t come back crying. If you insist on marrying him, then leave my house. You are no longer my daughter!” His voice had boomed through the grand halls, and the moment his words landed, tears had spilled freely down my face. How could he say that to his only child? I had grown up with just him, my mother having passed when I was young. But he had never truly been there for me. I had always felt alone—until I met Ryker. I thought what we had was real. I thought he loved me. I gave up my home, my family, and my people for him. And this… this was how he repaid me? By rejecting me. "You are not speaking to me anymore?" I faltered. "There is nothing to speak about, Lena. I have a mate. My true one and she bears the fruit of my seed." He sounded satisfied. "You got someone else pregnant while you were with me?" Tears were streaming down my face. All the love I had been feeling up until this morning, vanished without a trace, replaced by a vortex of hatred. "It's not that deep, Lena. I'm in love but not with you." He said nonchalantly. He didn't care for the consequences of hurting me. I established this pack and helped him become Alpha. "You'll pay for everything, Ryker. I assure you." I spat. "Just moments ago, I was babe. Now it's Ryker?" He turned to face me. Taking slow deliberate steps towards me as he spoke every word. "You are so easy to predict, Lena. How am I supposed to pay when I committed no crime?" He laughed, then blew into my face. I tasted bile as I raised my hand and smacked him hard across his face. "Bastard!" I turned and ran away to my room. Seeking the warmth and comfort of my bed. I had no concept of time as I bawled my eyes out, reminiscencing on the things I had done to get Ryker to where he is now. Everything was supposed to be for our future. I left my room for the pub where I knew one of the pack's core parliament member liked to relax. I had barely left the main house when I heard someone shout. "Lena has come out!" I turned around in confusion. There was a large number of the pack members gathered, they all murmured about a disease. "You’re a plague, Lena." I froze. The illness affecting the pack especially the young pups? How? "The sickness spreading through the pack? It started with you." "No— how could you say that?" I shook my head, disbelief filling my chest. "She’s cursed!" someone else shouted. "She’s the reason my son is sick!" One woman cried out. Then, the first stone hit me causing pain to explode in my shoulder. Another big rock struck my ribs. I yelled in pain. "Why accuse me?" I asked as an egg landed on my leg. "The Alpha has told us the cause of the plague. How could you be so evil? You were supposed to be his bride!" A young man yelled before throwing another stone at me. I gasped, stumbling backward. "Stop!" I screamed, but my voice was drowned out by the growing fury of the crowd as they chanted, "Kill her!" More stones. More pain. 'Please, hear me out!' I couldn't speak anymore. The mob was closing in on me. Blood dripped from my forehead until they dropped to the ground tinting the sand red. I fell to my knees, my breath coming in ragged gasps. "Is she dying?" Someone asked from the crowd. "Take back your curse, Lena. Don't die when you have not suffered half of what our children went through!" Another angry woman cried. As my vision blurred, I caught sight of a figure watching from the crowd. He wasn’t throwing stones. He was smirking. When I saw his face, I knew it. Ryker. The man I had loved. The man I had given so much for. He orchestred this, he mouthed a few words to me. Satisfied with how things were playing out. He watched me, smiling as I bled out. Tears slid down the corner of my eyes until the darkness swallowed me whole.