Rejected by the Alpha, Claimed by the Lycan King

Chapter 3: The Lycan King

Five hundred years.

The words hung in the air between us like smoke that wouldn't clear.

I stared up at him this man who had stepped out of the mist like he belonged to it, with his silver eyes and his scar and his voice that sounded like it came from somewhere deep underground.

"That's not possible," I said.

He tilted his head slightly, and something that might have been amusement flickered across his face. "Isn't it?"

"Wolves don't live five hundred years." My voice came out steadier than I felt. "The oldest alpha on record lived to ninety-three. You're" I gestured vaguely at him. "You're not ninety-three."

"No," he agreed. "I'm not."

He took a step closer.

Every instinct in my body screamed at me to run. But my wolf my wolf was doing the opposite. She was pushing forward inside me, whining, desperate to close the distance between us. The bond I felt pulling at my chest was stronger than anything I had felt with Damon. Stronger than anything I thought was possible.

"What are you?" I whispered.

His silver eyes locked onto mine.

"I am Kael Draven," he said. "The last Lycan King."

The world tilted.

Lycan.

Not werewolf. Lycan.

I had heard stories about Lycans when I was a child the old wolves, the first wolves, the ones who walked the earth before the packs were ever formed. They were bigger than werewolves. Stronger. Faster. They didn't age the way we did. They didn't die the way we did.

But those were just stories. Legends told around fires to scare pups into behaving.

"Lycans are extinct," I said. "They died out centuries ago."

"Most of them did." His voice was quiet. Calm. Like he was telling me the weather. "War. Betrayal. Time. The Lycan bloodline thinned and broke and scattered until there was almost nothing left." He paused. "I'm what's left."

I couldn't breathe.

"And you've been waiting for me," I said slowly. "For five hundred years."

"Yes."

"Why?"

Something shifted in his expression something old and tired and sad in a way that made my chest ache.

"Because the Moon Goddess promised me a mate," he said. "Five hundred years ago, on the night my kingdom fell and my people were slaughtered, she came to me in a vision. She told me I would not die that night. She told me I would wait. And when the time was right, she would send me the one soul in all the world that was meant to be mine."

His eyes burned into me.

"You, Aria Vale. You are that soul."

My hands were shaking. My whole body was shaking.

"I was rejected tonight," I said. My voice cracked. "Damon Alpha Damon Kane he rejected me in front of my entire pack. The bond was severed. I felt it rip. I can't I can't be your mate. I'm broken."

Kael's jaw tightened.

"You are not broken."

"You don't understand"

"I understand perfectly." His voice dropped lower, colder. "Damon Kane is a fool. He looked at the gift the Goddess gave him and threw it away because he wanted something shinier. Something easier. But the bond he rejected was never meant to last, Aria. It was a test."

I stared at him.

"A test?"

"The Goddess does not make mistakes," Kael said. "She paired you with Damon knowing he would reject you. She needed you to be free when I found you." He stepped closer again. Close enough now that I could feel the heat coming off his body, even through the cold morning air. "You were never meant to be his Luna. You were meant to be my queen."

The word hit me like a punch.

Queen.

Not Luna. Queen.

"I don't understand," I whispered. "Why me? I'm nobody. I'm the daughter of a Beta. I'm not I'm not special. I'm not"

"You carry Lycan blood."

The words stopped me cold.

"What?"

Kael crouched down in front of me, bringing himself to eye level. Up close, his face was even more devastating sharp cheekbones, a mouth that looked like it had forgotten how to smile, and those silver eyes that saw straight through me.

"Your bloodline is diluted," he said quietly. "Generations diluted. Your great-great-grandmother, perhaps, or further back. But it's there. I can smell it on you. I can feel it in the bond." He reached out slowly, giving me time to pull away.

I didn't.

His hand touched my cheek.

The bond flared so hot and bright that I gasped. It wasn't like the bond with Damon that had been warm, gentle, like sunlight. This was fire. This was lightning. This was the feeling of standing too close to something powerful and wild and barely leashed.

"There," Kael murmured. His thumb brushed across my skin. "Do you feel it?"

I nodded. I couldn't speak.

"That is a true mate bond, Aria. The kind the Moon Goddess makes once in a thousand years. The kind that does not break. The kind that does not fade." His eyes searched mine. "Damon Kane rejected you because his wolf knew, somewhere deep down, that you were never his to keep."

Tears spilled down my cheeks before I could stop them.

Kael's expression softened just barely, just enough that I could see something human underneath all that ancient cold.

"You've been hurt," he said quietly. "Betrayed. Cast out. I know what that feels like, Aria. I have carried that weight for five centuries." His hand was still on my cheek, warm and steady. "But you are not alone anymore. You are mine. And I do not abandon what is mine."

I wanted to believe him.

I wanted to believe him so badly it hurt.

But before I could say anything before I could even think a sound cut through the forest.

A howl.

Distant. But coming closer.

Kael's head snapped up, his whole body going tense. His hand dropped from my face and he rose to his full height in one smooth motion, his eyes fixed on the trees behind me.

"They're coming for you," he said.

"Who?"

"Your pack."

My heart stopped.

"Damon?"

"And others." Kael's voice was flat now. Cold. "They're hunting you, Aria. They think you're a threat. They think you'll come back and challenge your sister's claim." He looked down at me. "They're not going to let you leave peacefully."

Another howl. Closer this time.

I scrambled to my feet, my pulse hammering in my throat.

"What do I do?" I whispered.

Kael turned to face me fully. His silver eyes burned.

"You come with me."

"Where?"

"North. To what's left of my kingdom. To the place wolves do not go." He held out his hand. "Or you stay here and let them find you. Your choice, Aria Vale."

The howls were getting louder. Multiple wolves now. A hunting party.

I looked at Kael's outstretched hand.

I looked at the trees where Damon and the others were coming.

And I made my choice.

I took his hand.