BETWEEN TWO LYCANS

“I, Ryder Terion, son of the Alpha of the Naville pack and Guardian of the 7 forests and 13 rivers of Naville, reject you, Elsa Sebastian, to be my mate.” Ryder declared before Elsa as her eyes widened with surprise and fear. She knew well that Ryder had never fancied her, no one in their school had nor had anyone else in the entire pack, they all called her names, and they all kept their distance from her. She was a weak, wolfless daughter of a dead omega, the weakest one of the pack, but she had never expected him to go against the moon goddess’ will. He was the Alpha’s son and next in line to lead the pack, he of all people should know better than to defy the moon goddess. Elsa felt a spear-like pain up her chest, this wasn’t from the severance of the bond. All her life she had only wanted to be loved, to be accepted by someone, she had counted the days for years, the moments before her eighteenth birthday, the day she would finally find her mate and be free from all the misery in her life. After all the abuse she had faced from the pack, from her evil uncle, all the trauma she had gotten from being called the “the ‘curse’ of her family’s death” she would finally be free with the one person who would love her for who she was, but she was wrong. All of those dreams crashed down to pieces before her as she stood before Ryder. “Now say it back and let’s get this madness over with,” Veronica said, eyeing Elsa and slowly rubbing Ryder’s chest in such a way that aggravated every fiber of Elsa’s being. If she had been even a bit stronger, she could have pounced on her but Veronica was a beta, the daughter of the King’s beta and the strongest beta in the pack. She could easily bite off Elsa’s head if she wishes. Veronica was Ryder’s girlfriend, they had been together for years and were probably waiting to be mated together only for Elsa to ruin their plans. Elsa stood still in front of the entire school, getting rejected by her mate. She could easily get it over with as Veronica had said but then what? She would have to return to her abusive uncle’s home and continue with that life of pure misery. “Hey, wolfless!” Someone shouted from the crowd, causing a roar of laughter from everyone, “Say it already and stop wasting everyone’s time.” “Yeah, the audacity to think that a weak wolfless omega’s daughter could be our future Luna!” Another mocked her. “Who knows? She might even be human!” Another joined while the crowd roared in mockery. “That’s enough!” Elsa shouted as tears ran down her cheeks. People calling her human was the one common thing she couldn’t stand. “I…, Elsa Sebastian accept your rejection, Ryder Terion.” She said in-between ragged breaths. Immediately, bouts of air escaped her lips as she fell to the ground, holding her chest in pain. Ryder staggered in pain as he struggled to keep his composure despite the bone-wrecking pain in his chest that he was feeling. “Come baby”, Veronica said as she helped him out of the field, eyeing Elsa on the way out. Elsa’s tears multiplied as she groaned in pain on the ground while everyone slowly left the field, leaving her alone to suffer. After some time, the pain seized as the mate bond severed completely. Elsa stood up and wearily made her way home, back to her captivity. *** Elsa knew her uncle worried greatly about her, not in a way that he cared very much but rather in a frightful way that he cared about what everyone else was saying about her and how it stained his name, he only saw her as a burden. When Elsa was 5, her parents had left her at home and left town for business for a few days but had never returned. After some time, their bodies were discovered, burnt without recognition, and suddenly, rumours began to spread, saying that she was the cause of their death. And after a few years had passed and she hadn’t shifted, it doubled. Suddenly, it wasn’t a rumour anymore, it was the truth. They called her human, they called her wolfless, they called her a murderer. She had been standing outside the house for a long while in nervousness and it was already very dark. She took a deep breath, summoning the courage to go inside. She walked in to meet her uncle relaxing on the couch. On sighting her, he stood immediately. “So, how did it go? Did you get your mate?” Her uncle blurted out. Elsa stood still, she didn’t know how to respond to that. “Judging by the look on your face, I can see it didn’t go well” Her uncle added fiercely. He fisted his hands as though he was about to hit her and Elsa stumbled back. It wouldn’t be the first time he was doing such, almost every day he would slap her, wrap her up in a blanket and beat her with his heavy belt or whatever he could find around because of the littlest things. “Would you speak before I slap you?!” He shouted. “I… I got it", she spoke timidly. “Oh finally! She has done something right at last!” He exclaimed for joy. “All the disgrace and shame you have caused me is over…” “But…” She looked up at him, tears filling her eyes. She knew exactly what would happen after the next thing she was about to say. “I got re… he rejected me." She completed “You little rat!” Her uncle shouted, slapping her hard across the cheeks. “I’m so sorry please, it wasn’t my fault. It was the Alpha’s son…”, she begged for mercy, crumbling to her knees in tears. “How wouldn’t he reject a disgusting disgrace like you? You’re nothing but a liability and even he can see that.” He said, landing her with another slap and pulling out his belt. “I curse the day I brought you into this house! You are nothing but a disgrace and a mistake.” He swung the belt across her rib. Elsa groaned in pain. She immediately turned, running out of the house and into the streets. After all her prayers, this was how the moon goddess saw it fit to repay her. After all these years of waiting for this day, all she had ended up with was sheer rejection. She was really good for nothing! She stopped when she spotted a notorious group of rogue wolves less than a block away from her. They were popular for destroying properties and assaulting girls by this time of the night. She looked around her, she was alone. There was not a single soul on the streets, everyone had entered into their homes and locked their doors because of these rogues. If they saw her by this time then she was f****d! As if reading her mind, they spotted her before she could run and immediately began to stride toward her. She was transfixed to her spot, she wasn’t sure whether the right thing to do at this point would be to run, they could easily outrun her and harm her even more for not submitting. “Look who we have here!" The leader of the group announced with a sneer, “Wolfless!” Her heart pounded hard against her chest. “I’m sorry… I… I lost my way. I’ll turn back immediately.” She stuttered, tears welling up in her eyes. “Tell me, what’s a pretty little thing like you doing alone by this time of the night?” He continued, ignoring her pleas. “Oh! That’s right. No one wants to be associated with you!” “What a good night to meet an outcast, right Jayden?” Another member of the group added. “So right, Andy.” He said his sneer widening. “You see wolfless, I’ve been feeling very… hmm, what’s the right word?... s*x deprived these past couple of days. I’ve been wondering what to do about it.” He ran his fingers lightly across her cheek. Elsa shivered. “It’s been keeping me up at night.” He added. “It’s been keeping us all up at night,” Andy interjected, causing a roar of agreement among the rest. Elsa was beyond terrified. Was this really happening to her? All along she had only heard about their victims, she had never imagined that it could ever happen to her. “Please moon goddess, I’m sorry about complaining about my life. It's perfect! Please don’t allow this to happen to me. It’s the least you can do for me today” She prayed inwardly as the tears began to let down her cheeks. “Why are you crying, my love?” Jayden asked. “I guess you’re a virgin right? Don’t worry, I’ll try my best to be gentle, I promise, but as for these guys…”, he gestured towards the crew, “I can’t make any promises for them.” The group roared in laughter and she suddenly remembered that she had passed by the Wolf-blood forest on her way here. It wasn’t that far. If she could run and reach there at least… Immediately, she turned and took to her heels, running like her life depended on it. Because it did. She could hear their running footsteps behind her but she didn’t care. This was one of the numerous nights when she was beyond glad that there wasn’t a full moon. They wouldn’t be able to turn and overtake her after her, she could actually make it. They were getting really closer, her heart was thumping as adrenaline pumped through her veins. She got into the entrance of the forest and they followed her. They were literally behind her now, only that they couldn’t really see her behind the tall grasses. Suddenly she was grabbed and pulled by her arm behind a huge tree, crouched down in front of a man, his strong musk scent filled her nose, his strong hands on her shoulders, his head above hers. “Where’d she go?” Jayden asked his crew. The man leaned closer to her as he tried to get a look at them and she strained her neck to get a peep of his face. “Shh,” He hushed her, “Stay still.” Leaning even closer to her as he tried to hide them away from the rogues. She could feel his warm breath behind her ear, it caused slight shivers to run through her. “Wait here”, He said, standing up behind her “No” she whispered “Don’t go”. “I’ll be back”, he replied calmly. She watched his back as he skulked away stealthily, fear creeping up her spine. Her legs were burning in her crouched-up position so she adjusted, accidentally stepping on a branch and causing a noise. They immediately spotted her. Her heart stopped for a moment. “There you are!” Jayden triumphed as he leaped up to pounce on her. Her eyes shut in fear. This was the end! Suddenly she heard a loud growl, she opened her eyes and her mouth gaped open. Something strange, it looked like a wolf… very large… in beastly form, had torn Jayden's head from his body. It was nothing like she had ever seen before. Her eyes widened, almost popping out of their sockets as she watched the thick blood flow from his lifeless, beheaded body. The rest of the group ran away in terror and she looked back up at the beast. He looked straight at her, his bright green eyes, piercing into hers as she stayed transfixed in her position and her breath seized instantly as it suddenly hit her. This wasn’t a werewolf, it was a Lycan!