The Claiming
1043 Words
Lizzy's POV
There’s a kind of numbness that comes after too much pain.
Not peace.Not quiet.Just... static buzzing in your blood.
That’s where I was, standing in my father’s office, staring at three men who talked about my life like I was a car being sold at auction.
The morning sun did nothing to warm the stone walls.
Or my heart.
Tristan slouched in the leather chair like he had somewhere better to be.Alpha Henrick stood behind him, smug and polished.
And my father—My father didn’t even look up when he spoke.
“You’ll leave with the Southern Ridge pack this afternoon.”
I blinked.“Excuse me?”
“It’s arranged. You’ll stay at their estate. Tristan will begin the bonding process before the next full moon.”
My stomach twisted.“No. You can’t—”
“You will,” he said, sharp and final.No room to argue. No room to breathe.
“This match secures blood ties. Strengthens alliances. Salvages your reputation.”
Tristan didn’t even bother pretending to be interested. He was scrolling through his phone like this was some inconvenience he had to survive.
I looked at Alpha Henrick.At my father.At the walls.Nowhere to run.
“What about what I want?” I asked, voice breaking.
“You’ve had time,” my father said coldly. “The bond never came. This is the best we can do.”
I didn’t remember walking back to my room.
I remembered the suitcase.Folding clothes I didn’t care about.Packing away a life I didn’t recognize anymore.
I remembered touching my mother’s locket and wondering how the hell it had come to this.
I remembered how empty my reflection looked when I passed the mirror.
Like someone had already erased me.
I should’ve just gone straight to the front gates.
But something made me wander.
Through the courtyard.
Past the old rose arch.
Into the cold morning air that stung worse than the bruises Sabrina had left.
That’s when I heard them.
“…few months at most,” Tristan was saying, voice lazy and cruel.
I froze, hidden by the vines.
“She’s pretty enough,” he added. “Boring. But once I’ve marked her, who cares? Get a pup out of her, then reject and move on.”
Henrick chuckled.
“You’ll get an heir. That’s all that matters. Ava knows to be patient. Just don’t get caught before the bond’s official.”
Tristan laughed.
Casual. Easy. Like this wasn’t my life they were talking about.
I didn’t feel my feet move.
I only knew I was slamming the door to my father’s office open a second later.
“They’re lying,” I snapped. “They’re using me. Tristan already has a chosen mate!”
Henrick stood slowly, smoothing invisible wrinkles from his sleeves.
“You must be mistaken.”
“I heard you,” I hissed. “In the courtyard.”
Tristan shrugged. “You’re delusional.”
I turned to my father. My last hope.
He didn’t even flinch.
“You’re hysterical,” he said.
“I’m telling the truth.”
“You are an embarrassment.”
The words hit harder than a slap.
But the slap still came.
Fast. Brutal.
My head snapped sideways, my lip splitting under the force.
Tears burned hot in my eyes.
Not from the pain.
From the final, snapping realization that I was truly alone.
“My apologies, Alpha Henrick,” my father said smoothly. “She’ll be corrected.”
I tasted blood.
I tasted betrayal.
Then the air shifted.
Not the breeze. Not the windows.
The world.
The house shuddered. The torches in the halls hissed out. Cold rolled in like a warning.
Alpha Henrick froze.
My father turned toward the window.
And I—
I smelled it.
Smoke. Ash. Thunder. Rain.
The scent from the woods. From my dreams.
My knees almost gave.
Nyra exploded awake inside me, feral and free for the first time.
Mate.
Boots skidded in the hall. Shouts. A scream.
Then—
Silence.
He stepped into the courtyard like the mist had been holding him back.
Seven feet tall. Built like war. Chest bare, inked in black runes. Eyes silver and glowing with a light that didn’t belong to this world.
His presence bent the room.
The pressure of him—raw, ancient—filled the space like gravity.
I couldn’t breathe.
My body knew before my mind caught up.
Our eyes locked.
And the bond hit.
Like a car crash.
Pain and fire and heat shot through my body. I stumbled back, choking on a gasp.
My necklace snapped clean off my neck. The chain hit the ground with a delicate ping—like fate cutting the cord.
The bond surged again—
Nyra roared inside me.
Mate.
The word tore from my lips, raw and undeniable.
“Mate.”
Gasps echoed around the room.
Silence followed.
Then a whisper: “Lycān.”
The word traveled like a shockwave.
Wolves who had looked down on me, mocked me, sneered behind my back—they all dropped.
One by one.
To their knees.
Heads bowed. Necks bared.
The room trembled under the weight of his presence.
Even Alpha Henrick knelt, hands pressed to the floor.
Even my father.
The same man who had slapped me.
Who had called me an embarrassment.
He knelt.
And I—
I was still standing.
My eyes locked on the creature in the mist.
The man. The monster. The myth.
My mate.
He didn’t speak.
He didn’t need to.
His eyes said everything.
Mine.
I felt Nyra shift beneath my skin, golden and glowing. My eyes burned with the bond—brilliant light pushing from within.
And then—
A collective realization.
This wasn’t just a rogue.
This wasn’t just a mate.
He was Lycān.
Not extinct.
Not myth.
And I was his.
Someone sobbed. Someone whispered a prayer. Someone ran.
A Beta at the back of the room fainted.
Still, he didn’t move.
Didn’t blink.
Didn’t break eye contact.
The world felt too still, too loud, too sharp.
Like the earth itself was waiting for my response.
And I knew—
The second I stepped toward him, everything I knew would be gone.
And I wasn’t sure I wanted it back.
- Writer
