The Lycan King's Broken Omega: A Suppressed Crown

CHAPTER 1: Awakening Nyra's POV “It’s working! I can feel it!” I screamed with my voice shaking with excitement as my heart pounded loudly. My hands were trembling and I barely dared to breathe, afraid that if I did, the moment would vanish. I could feel… something stirring inside me, something I had spent nineteen long years waiting for. Something that had always been missing. My wolf! I had finally felt her. My wolf. And suddenly, I knew. I knew exactly to whom I was mated. My chest swelled with joy and disbelief. It was Aldric freaking Thornfell! Aldric Thornfell! The son of the Alpha of Stoneclaw Pack. My mate.. my one true mate! A laugh escaped me before I could stop it. “It’s really him… it’s really Aldric!” I whispered with my eyes shining. My cheeks burned not with embarrassment but with the thrill of finally being chosen, finally being seen. This night... the night of my nineteenth birthday... was the night of the Moon Goddess’ blessing, the night that all girls who had just turned nineteen would feel the stirring of their fated mate and all life, all suffering, all waiting had led to this night on the sacred hill before the entire pack. I glanced around at the other girls, nervous and excited, all of them waiting for their turn. My stomach twisted with nerves but a sense of pride filled me too. For the first time in my life, I felt… important, wanted and chosen. The priestess stepped forward with her silver robes catching the moonlight. “Moon Goddess, we call upon you tonight,” she started with her voice echoing across the hill. “Bless these daughters of our pack and reveal their fated mates.” I could barely focus as my eyes were locked on Aldric. His golden-brown hair glimmered in the moonlight, his amber eyes narrowed in a way that always made me shiver. He looked every bit the Alpha in training, commanding attention without trying. Muscles tense under his tunic, shoulders squared, jaw sharp… he was perfect and yet… my heart beat at the thought of him choosing me. “Nyra Vale,” the priestess said with her voice rising above the murmurs of the crowd, “your fated mate is Aldric Thornfell.” My knees almost gave out and I laughed again, unable to hold back the joy. “It’s true… it’s really him!” I whispered, more to myself than anyone else. A warmth spread through my chest, spilling into my limbs and I felt the stirrings of my wolf stir through me, small and delicate at first, then wild and alive. I could feel her, my wolf, trying to stretch her legs for the first time. I felt… free. Finally!! Aldric’s lips twitched. At first, I thought he was smiling but then he scoffed. “Let’s not get over our heads,” he said with his voice low and smooth but edged with irritation. I blinked and my excitement faltered. “What?” I asked with my voice higher than I intended. My wolf hissed inside me, confused and asking questions I couldn’t answer yet. He stepped closer and my heart twisted at the heat radiating off him. His amber eyes held amusement... or maybe disdain. “I… can’t accept you as my mate,” he said coldly. I froze with my joy draining away instantly. My wolf whimpered, confused and frightened. “But… but the priestess… the bond… it’s supposed to… to...” I stumbled over my words. A laugh rose from the crowd behind me, cruelly and I turned to see faces I had known my whole life, grinning at my humiliation. “Weak little omega, finally exposed,” someone sneered. Others whispered loudly, words dripping with scorn. “She was never meant to matter,” “Cursed,” “A joke of the Moon Goddess,” I heard. The sound of it made my stomach twist and made my wolf curl in pain with her fire dimming at the edges. The priestess’ voice rang out, trying to cut through the murmurs. “Aldric Thornfell, you know the consequences of rejecting a mate chosen by the Moon Goddess. You cannot simply…” He spat on the ground at my feet before she could finish and my stomach lurched. “You’re weak, broken and not fit to stand beside me.” His amber eyes, normally so warm, were cold and as hard as stone. “Do you understand me, Nyra Vale? You are f*****g nothing!” The world tilted and I felt the wolf inside me shriek in horror then curl back into shadows as if shamed. The fire I had finally felt was being snuffed out and crushed by his arrogance and cruelty. “But… you… you can’t...” I gasped, stepping toward him with my voice shaking and desperation clawing through me. “I said I can’t!” His voice rose sharply and commandingly, cutting me off. He took a step closer, dangerously tall and threatening and then he did the unthinkable. He reached for Seris Wynne! Seris! My best friend! Her dark auburn hair caught the moonlight as she looked startled with her green eyes wide with her perfect lips parting in a small unsure smile. Aldric pulled her close and my chest felt as if it had been struck by lightning. “I… I choose you,” Aldric said with his voice almost tender though it made my chest ache. “You, Seris, will stand beside me. You will be my mate. Not her.” My wolf screamed, clawing at her chains, trying to reach out, to fight, to roar... but she went silent again. Pain rolled through my body like fire and my knees buckled. I sank to the ground, unable to process the betrayal. “Nyra!” I heard Maelis’ voice call out behind me. My guardian, my savior but I couldn’t stop. I couldn’t look and I couldn’t breathe. Aldric’s eyes flicked to me with cruel amusement curling his lips. “Say the words. Accept it or I’ll make sure you regret the choice.” The wolf inside me twisted and struggled, my throat burned and my heart felt like it had been smashed to pieces. Tears streaked my cheeks and the crowd laughed louder. “I… I… I accept…” I choked out with my voice breaking. “I accept…” The wolf inside me screamed and then fell silent once more. The bond that should have been mine, that I had dreamed about was now a painful wound! My breath came in ragged gasps. Aldric turned fully to Seris, brushing a lock of auburn hair from her face and kissed her long, deep and passionately. And I… I couldn’t breathe and I couldn’t watch as my tears fell freely as the finality of it hit me. I bolted. Through the crowd, past the whispers, past the stifled laughs and cruel smirks. Maelis called my name again with her voice full of panic and worry. “Nyra! Stop!” I didn’t. I couldn’t. I ran until the sacred hill was nothing but a silver smudge behind me and the forest swallowed me whole. Branches tore at my clothes, thorns scratched my arms but I barely felt it. The pain inside me and the wolf crushed into silence burned far more painful than any wound outside. Somewhere deep in the forest, I tripped over a root and fell onto the damp earth. I screamed with a pure pain spilling from my throat. Sobbing, I curled into myself, crying for the years of scorn, the endless loneliness and the life that had always been against me. I could taste the moonlight on my tears, feel the dampness of the earth beneath me and hear my own heart thumping like a war drum in my ears. My wolf stirred, small and frightened, still trapped inside and trembling weakly like a candle going out. Then I felt it..! A tingling at the back of my neck.. slowly.. darkly and watching. A presence I couldn’t see but that made the hair on my arms stand on end…!