Offering Myself To The Lycan King.

RHEYA’S POV. I started hating my father on the very day that he sold me to a high born lycan as a slave. I may not be a slave anymore, but I have not stopped hating him, not even after he killed himself in his room. After his death, the lycans came for my family. They tore down the pack looking for us, we were branded traitors, all because of my father's greed. “I'm hungry.” Elis, my sister, whined, curling up to my mother. “So am I.” Her twin, Taren, sighed deeply. I bit my lip, fighting back the tears that threatened to trail down my face, then I looked around at the dirty cottage we now called home before rising to my feet. “I'll go into town and get us something to eat.” My mother's eyes widened, her face draining of color, and she jumped to her feet, shaking her head like I had just uttered some kind of abomination. “No! Rheya, I cannot let you do that! It is far too dangerous, and the moon is already in the sky.” She continued to shake her head, but my mind was already made up. “So what do I do? Sit here and watch you and the twins starve to death?” Clutching what was left of her brown, ruffle dress, she walked over to me, blocking my path to the door, eyes glistening with tears while rage tore through me. “It is far too dangerous for you, Rheya. Where will you even find food? The villagers don't want us anywhere close to the markets, and your scent..” she sniffed. “How will you hide from the lycans?” I reached for my wool bag, slinging it over my shoulder and ignoring whatever she had just said. I was not going to let us die because of my father. “I will mask my scent, mother, and I will find us some food in the fields, I'm sure the farmers have leftovers.” My eyes moved from my mother's scared form to the twins curled up next to each other. We couldn't even leave the cottage because we were afraid of being seen. When the lycans started destroying the pack, the villagers kicked us out to protect themselves and I do not even blame them. “Let me go then.” Mother sniffed, wiping her eyes with the back of her palm. I let out a bitter laugh before taking my mother's hand. “You are sick, mother. Your heart will give out before you even make it to the fields. I will be back, I promise.” Gently tugging her out of the way, I grabbed the cloak off the barely standing rack and threw it on. Mother had used her last bit of strength to put a spell on the cloak, it could mask the scent of anyone who had it on. I took one look at them before swinging the door open and making my way into the moon lit night. Winter was almost here, the cold was beginning to roll in, good thing I had a cloak. Making my way into the forest path, I clung tightly to my bag and my cloak, tucking my hair behind my ears. The cold was getting worse, and my lips were beginning to quiver, so I hurried my steps, desperate to get something to eat before the weather could get any worse. The forest path was eerily silent that night, and it caused a shiver to run up my spine. Something was off, I could feel it, so I hugged the cloak tighter. A crack in the bushes made me gasp, and I paused, listening for another sound, but all I could hear was the sound of my own heart beating in my ears. Gulping, I continued walking, hastening my steps, sweat trickling down my back despite the cold. For a while, I heard nothing, but my heart dropped into my stomach when something moved in the bushes beside me. It was so fast that I could barely see it. Breathing through my mouth, I made a run for it. Perhaps it was the villagers. What if they had tracked us down and wanted to sell us off to the lycans? I couldn't let that happen, not after all the months we had spent building a life for ourselves in these thick woods. I did not stop running until I reached the open fields. I spotted some orange light in the distance, probably from lanterns, and that was when relief washed over me. My racing heart finally stilled, and I bent over, hands on my knees. “That was close,” I said, breathless. “What was that?” I stood up straight and walked towards the cornfield. Just like I had suspected, a few ears of corn were left, and they would surely be enough for mother, the twins and me for a couple of weeks. I picked as much as I could, stuffing them all into my bag and escaped into the forest again when I heard farmers approaching. With a wide grin on my face, I pranced through the forest, completely oblivious to the bushes moving around me. I thought it was the wind at first, until I scented something. I stopped, my blood running cold on the spot. That scent… I knew that scent, but I shook my head desperately, dismissing every possibility. I felt eyes on me, then some movement behind me. Turning with a tiny, almost inaudible gasp, I came face to face with the one creature that had hunted my dreams and my reality— a lycan. The mighty beast stood several feet tall, eyes glowing, and teeth exposed in pure, feral rage. My lips parted, quivering, and my feet refused to move. “P… please do not hurt me.” That was all I could say, but the beast let out a growl, his canines exposed and gleaming under the moon. “Please.” He leaned in, his growl getting deeper and leaving me shaking under the cloak. I shut my eyes when he brought his snout to my neck, holding my breath until I felt my own heart stopping. Then, he pulled back and let out a deep, loud howl. I knew what that meant. He was summoning the others. I fled. The bag of corn fell from my shoulder, scattering all over the path, but I kept my eyes up, lifting the cloak and sprinting through the forest. I wanted to shift, I needed to shift, but it just wouldn't happen. The goddess was simply not on my side tonight. I never saw my size as anything to worry about, but now, as I pranced through the forest with barely any breath left in me, I wished I was thinner. “No, no, no!” Tears poured down my face as I continued to run, but his footsteps were heavy behind me, and I could tell that it wasn't just one lycan anymore. Just as I made to take a turn, my foot slammed into a rock, and I fell face first, my forehead almost shattering on a bigger rock. Letting out a loud groan, I struggled to get up, my vision already blurred. Warm liquid ran down my face, right into my eyes, blurring my vision even more. I tried to keep running, but I fell again, my back against the leaf covered path. Then, I saw it, a blurry face staring down at me, and the glint of a silver sword raised to the moon, ready to strike. Was this the end? A tear slid down my cheek, right before everything went dark.