The Lycan King's Rejected Hybrid

Chapter 3: The Lycan's Touch

I didn’t see him move. I didn’t even hear the sound of flesh tearing.

Thud. Thud. Thud. In the blink of an eye, the six Rogues that had been about to feast on me exploded into a mist of blood and gore, crushed by an invisible, horrifying force.

Through the thick rain of blood, a towering figure stepped out of the abyss, crushing the severed limbs beneath his boots like a Greek god of war descending into the mortal realm.

He was impossibly huge. A tailored, pitch-black trench coat draped over shoulders so broad they blocked out the night sky. The pale moonlight hit his face—a face so devastatingly handsome it bordered on demonic, yet etched with absolute, terrifying cruelty. And his eyes... they were bottomless pools of emerald fire.

Suddenly, the heavy scent of gunpowder mixed with rain-soaked pine flooded my senses.

Boom—!

The second he stepped closer, every cell in my body, every drop of my newly awakened blood, began to scream.

The pull—a thousand, ten thousand times stronger than what I had felt at the gala—crashed over me like a tsunami.

My soul trembled, and my mind could only formulate one impossible, absurd thought: Second Chance Mate!

And this was no ordinary Alpha. The sheer aura radiating off him, making my knees ache with the urge to bow, could only belong to one man. The mythical tyrant who ruled the entire underworld, the ruthless beast who had torn apart armies with his bare hands—Kaelen, the Lycan King.

Rumor had it he despised the touch of women. Any female who dared approach him had her neck snapped instantly.

I lay paralyzed in the freezing mud, staring in despair as those emerald eyes stalked closer. Had I escaped the wolf’s den just to fall into the Devil’s hands?

Kaelen stopped right in front of me and dropped to one knee. To my absolute shock, he didn’t flinch at the mud or the stench of blood coating me. Instead, he reached out with long, calloused fingers, lifting my chin with a touch that bordered on obsessive reverence.

"So this is the scent..." The lethal violence in his eyes melted away, replaced by a spine-chilling, feverish possessiveness. He dipped his head, his straight nose brushing against the skin of my neck as he closed his eyes and inhaled deeply, taking in the bizarre, bloody fragrance of my awakened lineage.

A jolt of electricity shot from his fingertips straight into my core! It was an awakening on a soul-deep level. To my utter shame, my body melted into a puddle, instinctively leaning into the scorching, massive heat of his palm.

Kaelen’s breathing hitched. The emerald fire in his eyes flared into an inferno as his Adam's apple bobbed heavily.

"Do you have any idea how much I want to crush you into my bones right now, looking at me like that, covered in blood?" he rasped, his voice dripping with an absolute, undeniable dominion. A thick, muscular arm swept under my knees, effortlessly lifting my body and pressing me flush against his rock-hard chest.

"From this second on, your life, your breath, every drop of blood you bleed... belongs to me."

As he made his vow, massive, sky-blotting black wings erupted from his back, whipping up a gale as he prepared to take to the skies.

"Put her down!"

A furious, desperate roar echoed from the edge of the forest. It was Kane, leading a massive battalion of elite Dark Moon warriors.

When Kane saw me—tucked obediently into a stranger’s arms, a flush creeping up my neck—something violently stung his chest. His eyes turned bloodshot with instantaneous, rabid jealousy.

Kaelen slowly turned his head. The emerald eyes that had just looked at me with burning lust were now filled with the cold, dead emptiness of a Reaper looking at a corpse.

He didn't speak. He just sent a single, condescending glare over the crowd.

Thud—! Thud—! Dozens of elite warriors behind Kane couldn't withstand the terrifying bloodline suppression. They crashed to their knees in unison, trembling violently. Even Kane himself was sweating profusely, his jaw clenched so hard his teeth nearly cracked just to keep from bowing.

"You want to take my Queen from my arms?" The Lycan King let out a dark, mocking chuckle, his voice ringing through the forest like a death knell.

"Come and try, little pup."