The return of the rejected Luna

The claim

"You're mine."

The words didn't make sense, my breath caught while my mind was trying to catch up on what he meant

What….? I shook my head, trying to pull away from his grip

"You don't even know me.

He tilted his head slightly with his eyes boring into mine, his warm and rough hand was still on my chin, "I know enough."

No…., my voice cracked as I tried to push his hands away. You don't…. you don't know anything about me, we literally just met .

Just let me go.

"No." He said as he tightened his grip on my chin.

"Please." Tears were still streaming down my face, my chest aching from the bond breaking. "I can't do this right now."

Something flickered in his eyes. Understanding or even pity.

He released my chin and stepped back.

I stumbled backward, putting distance between us even though my legs felt ready to give out.

"What are you?" I asked.

"What do you think I am?"

"Not a wolf." Wolves didn't have eyes that glowed like molten metal. " but something else."

"Lycan," he said simply.

My heart stopped.

Lycan.

Everyone knew about Lycans. They were the monsters that lived in the Forbidden Forest, the reason no wolf crossed into their territory. They're bigger stronger, faster, and more brutal than wolves

"You're going to kill me," I breathed.

He let out a rumbling chuckle, "If I wanted you dead, little wolf, you'd already be dead."

Little wolf. He kept calling me that.

"Then what do you want?"

"I already told you." He took a step closer. "You're my mate."

"That's not possible." Panic clawed at my throat. "I already had a mate. And he rejected me, and broke the bond between us. You can't have two mates."

"For wolves maybe." His eyes tracked my every movement. "Lycans are different."

"Different how?"

"We don't wait for the Moon Goddess to choose. We know our mates when we find them." He breathed in deeply. "Your scent. The way my blood recognized you the second I caught it. That's all I need."

This was insane. Him, this conversation, the way my body responded despite every thought screaming at me to run.

"I don't believe you."

"You will."

"Why me?" The question came out smaller than I intended. "I'm nothing. I'm weak, I can't even shift. I'm broken."

His expression darkened. "Who said that?"

"Everyone, my whole pack including my Alpha."

"Then your pack is full of fools."

The conviction in his voice actually made me believe he meant it.

"You don't understand. I really am broken. I've never shifted, not even once."

"Or something right that they're too blind to see."

Before I could ask what he meant, voices cut through the night. Distant but getting closer.

"Abital!"

It was Marcus, one of Damon's enforcers.

"She can't have gone far!"

"Find her! It's Alpha's orders!"

My blood went cold.

Uriel's entire demeanor changed. The curiosity vanished, replaced by something lethal and dangerous. His body tensed, muscles coiling.

"They're looking for you," he said, his voice dropping to a growl.

"I know." Fear spiked through me. "Damon sent them."

"He rejected you," Uriel said slowly. "Yet he still sends warriors to hunt you down?"

"I'm still his responsibility, his property."

When I said that immediately Uriel's expression turned murderous.

"You," he said softly and dangerously at the same time, "belong to no one but yourself."

The voices got louder. I could hear branches snapping, familiar scents in the wind.

"Abital, come out!" Selena's voice, sweet and mocking. "We just want to talk."

Liar.

"I have to hide," I said, looking around frantically. "If they find me..."

"They won't touch you."

"There are too many of them."

"They'll what?" He smiled and it was terrifying. "Try to take you from me?"

"I'm not yours."

"You are." He took a step toward me. "The moment I caught your scent, you became mine. That bond your Alpha broke? It was nothing compared to this."

The voices were too close now. I could see torchlight flickering through trees.

"Just please. If they catch me..."

He moved faster than anything I'd ever seen, closing the distance. His hand cupped the back of my neck, tilting my face up.

"Listen very carefully, little wolf," he said, his voice low and intense. "I am Uriel Draven, King of the Bloodstone Lycans. I have killed more enemies than your pack members. I bow to no one."

King.

He was a king.

"Those wolves coming through my forest?" His thumb brushed my jaw. "They're already dead. They just don't know it yet."

"You can't kill them all. That would start a war."

"Let it."

He meant it. He would slaughter my former pack just to keep them from taking me back.

"Why do you care? You don't even know me."

"I know you're mine. That's all I need you to know"

The torchlight was closer.

"Make a choice, Abital." His eyes locked onto mine. "Go with them, let them drag you back to a pack that calls you broken. Live whatever life they allow."

"Or?"

His smile turned sharp. "Or trust me. Come with me to my kingdom. Let me show you what you really are."

"What I really am?"

"Not broken, never broken. Powerful beyond anything they could imagine."

The voices were right on top of us. Ten seconds before they found us.

"I need an answer," Uriel said.

My mind raced. Go back to Silverwood where everyone hated me? Where Damon had humiliated me?

Or trust this stranger who claimed I was his mate?

"If I go with you and you're lying..."

"I won't hurt you."

"You can't promise that."

"I can. I will protect you with my life. I will kill anyone who tries to harm you but you have to choose now."

Footsteps crashed through underbrush. I saw Marcus's torch breaking through trees.

"There!" he shouted. "I found her!"

Uriel's eyes never left mine. "Choose."

My body shook. This was madness, I told myself.

But staying was certain death, certain misery.

Going with him was unknown but unknown felt better than pain.

"Okay," I breathed. "I'll go with you."

His smile was fierce. "Smart girl."

He swept me up like I weighed nothing. I gasped and grabbed his shoulders, feeling hard muscle beneath his shirt.

"Hold tight," he said.

Uriel moved like lightning, carrying me through the forest so fast the trees became a blur. Wind whipped my hair back and forth as I buried my face against his chest.

Behind us Marcus shouted, wolves gave chase, Selena screamed something I couldn't make out.

"They're following us!" I yelled.

"Let them try."

We burst through thick forest and suddenly the ground disappeared. We were falling, dropping over a cliff edge and I let out a scream.

Uriel laughed.

We hit the ground hard but he absorbed the impact, landing in a crouch. Then he was running again, impossibly fast.

"Where are we going?"

"Home."

The forest changed. Trees grew thicker, older, and darker. The air smelled different, heavy with power.

We'd crossed into Lycan territory.

No going back now.

Uriel finally slowed, barely labored despite running miles carrying me. He set me down carefully, steadying me when my legs wobbled.

"We're safe here. They won't follow past the boundary."

I looked back. In the distance I could hear wolves howling.

Damon's voice rose above the others. "Abital! Come back right now! That's an order!"

An order as if he hadn't just destroyed me.

I turned away and looked at Uriel instead. This dangerous stranger who'd saved me.

"What happens now?"

His golden eyes gleamed. "Now, little wolf, you learn what you really are."

Before I could ask what that meant, a new sound cut through the night. It wasn't wolves howling but something else.

Something that made every hair on my body stand on end.

Uriel tensed, his entire body going still.

"What is that?" I whispered.

He pulled me behind him, positioning himself between me and whatever was making that sound. "We have company."

From the shadows ahead, more glowing eyes appeared. Not gold like Uriel's. These were silver eyes looking like hungry predators

A dozen of them even more.

"Uriel?" My voice shook. "What's happening?"

He didn't answer, just growled low in his throat like an animal.

"Well, well," a new voice said from the darkness. It was a dangerously looking female "What do we have here? The Lycan King himself, protecting a little wolf."

A woman stepped into view, tall and beautiful and radiating power. Her silver eyes locked onto me with interest that made my skin crawl.

"She smells delicious," the woman said, smiling to show her sharp teeth. "Can we keep her?”