Second Chance; Re-Mated to his Lycan Stepbrother

Chapter 4: Second Chance

~~RIYA~~

A magnetic musky scent of citrus wafted into my nostrils, causing my heart to flutter and my eyes to open in disbelief.

This was the exact scent I had when I discovered Raymond was my mate, and that meant the stranger whose shadow and hair were towering all over my face was my second chance...

Second chance mate?

Oh, My Goddess!! It was very rare for the Moon Goddess to bestow on a werewolf after rejecting a mate or getting rejected.

Though I should have been elated to receive such a rare gift from the Goddess, dejection enveloped me for many reasons.

Firstly, I had no more purpose in life. Secondly, this dark aura-exuding guy was the Lycan King. I had never seen him before, but his name sounded infamous.

Everyone in the pack always made bad utterances about him, and he was the kind of person every parent didn't want their daughters to involve themselves with.

If Dad were alive, he wouldn't want him for me either. So, this was a loss.

Thirdly, Erik Bill Jackson was, unbelievably, Raymond's stepbrother.

It was rumored that when Raymond's mum left, she got married to the then Lycan King and gave birth to Erik that year; the same year I was born.

Hence, I wouldn't want to engage myself with someone whose bloodline tallied with that scumbag's.

"I will be back soon," the word Erik said reiterated in my brain and my eyes scouted around to see if there was something I could use to take my life before he returned.

It wouldn't be honorable if he killed me.

Due to the pain surging through my veins, I couldn't move from where I was, and the moment I wanted to muster energy, my gaze landed on the Greek God coming into view.

He was straight, tall, dressed in a black shirt and black top, which reflected his cold personality and foreboding aura.

Erik was the opposite of how horrible-looking people always described him to be. He was too perfect to be a man; too perfect to walk on dirty ground.

Curled inside his left fingers was the rope of a camera dangling beside him, and he unsheathed his claws and crouched before me when he got closer.

"Tilt your head backward and make your neck visible," he instructed, hanging the rope around his neck and positioning the camera against his eyes afterward.

My eyebrows furrowed. "What are you doing?"

"I haven't captured a masterpiece where I cut off a person's head and record how blood oozes out of the person’s neck."

Before I processed his words, "Don't waste my time," he said as he clutched my ponytail, forcing me to meet his gaze.

The grip was so hurtful that I couldn't withstand the pain spiraling into my spine. "Let me go!" I shrieked.

He huffed but didn't release me. "You asked for death. So you better remain calm till I'm done taking your breath," he spat with spite playing across his lips.

"Remain calm, my foot! Leave me alone right now!" I screeched with the atom of energy I had left.

How could he even treat his mate like this? Couldn't he feel the connection between us?

Well, what did I expect? His stepbrother did more than this when I told him we were mates.

Erik suddenly let go of my hair and matched my blistering stares.

His disheveled hair which fell over his forehead also made it almost impossible to read those dark eyes that shot venom into mine.

I should have been intimidated, but I wasn't. I was only devastated at how things turned out.

But why did he retreat?

"Only weak people wish for death when it isn't yet their time," he blurted. "Don't you want revenge for what that horrible family did to you?"

He sounded as though he was holding grudges against his step-family.

"Revenge?"

"Yes. If I kill someone's father, and he does not take revenge..." he paused and lowered his camera, "I mean if he doesn't attempt to kill mine too, I'd assume he is only a weak bastard."

I wasn't hearing him right, was I?

"But Raymond didn't kill my dad. It was my stubbornness that did. He only took my pride and embarrassed me," I said, defensively.

Erik burst into a peal of laughter. The laughter was dry, scornful, mischievous, and it felt like he forced it out of his chest.

"What’s that for?" I narrowed my eyes into slits.

"Someone with the vigor of your father, which was worth emulating, will not commit suicide. That scumbag lied to you."

My heart seized and curiosity overrode the defensiveness that had consumed me earlier. "Wait a sec, how did you know my dad?"

"He used to be my father's cordial friend."

I asked, "You knew Raymond told me my dad was dead, too?"

"My eyes are everywhere, and I've been on that t**t’s tracks for many years now. Do you want to learn the truth?"

I nodded in approval, my breath hitching fast. "Yes."

"Raymond and his friends murdered your father," he spat, and my jaws slackened in terror. "The Wolfsbane bottle and knife were facade.”

Anxiety knotted my heart. “This can't be true.” I shook my head. “How-how did you know?”

“I was there. I wanted to ask your father about something when that happened. They poisoned him before stabbing him without mercy.”

For him to know this much, it simply meant he was there, and I had no idea when beads of tears gushed down my cheeks.

“Why? Why would Raymond take away my happiness?" I wailed aloud.

"You bruised his ego.”

I sniffled, “How?”

“You broke history and rejected the son of an Alpha when he had been planning to do that first. Do you know how humiliating that was?"

Oh My! So, Raymond murdered my dad because of his ego? No wonder he was quick to know he was dead.

"That letter you got, was that your dad's handwriting?"

Instantly, I removed the letter from my pocket and discovered he was right. Although I kind of noticed at first, I didn't give it much thought because Dad had many writing styles.

But piercing my eyes into this paper, I realized it wasn't Dad's at all. Dad never dots his small letter “i”.

"Raymond has caused me pain. I will f*****g kill him and everyone involved!" I cussed before breaking down completely.

“That's the spirit!"

I wiped my tears. "But I can't do it alone."

As he unfurled his spine to full height, he said, "I can help, but it won't be for free."

"I have nothing to give.”

"Well, there's something you have that's enough to pay me back."

"What's that?" My forehead furrowed, anticipating something crazy since he was.

“Give birth to my heir and I will avenge your father's death,” he uttered and my eyes widened.

"What the heck?" My head banged. "You want me to be your breeder? Are you joking?"

"Do I look like I am?" he queried, his face devoid of emotions. "And don't waste my time, you only have three seconds left to conclude."

"I..."

Before she could finish responding, she collapsed in my arms and her breathing stopped.