The Lycan King Tenth Mate

1: Betrayal

In this part of the world, my world especially, there are rules, traditions, and cultures that are strictly followed. The most important one of them is the wolf reveal tradition. It is scary and sickening. You can't help but think about the outcome of it. The two words “ What if” will never leave your head and the possibility of being one of them will never leave your mind until you have your first shift also known as the revealing. Mutants as they call them, are regarded as taboos, half-blood and impure breeds of werewolves. Their descriptions are endless. Many consider them cursed depending on their perspectives. The tradition is unclear. I do not understand it and I doubt I will ever. If you turn out to be a mutant, your family may decide to accept you into their bloodline by doing the necessary things or send you away. The worst is to be sent away. When you are sent away, you have to find your kind, your kind that will take you in as one of them and if you can't find your kind to take you in, you end up as a prostitute or a servant trying to survive at the mercy of others. In some cases, if two or three mutants of the same couldn't find a family to take them in, they could start a family by themselves by having an apartment they will all pay for and live as one to survive.

Here I am sitting on this window, the stars fixing their gazes on me as if it is the last time they are going to see me. I drew in a sharp cold breath and my eyes closed slowly as the two words “ What if,” echoed in my head. What if I am one of them? What if I am a MUTANT? I shuddered at the thought, I felt chills on my skin and I immediately shook my head.

“ No,” I shook my head and let out a heavy sigh.

“ I have mom’s hair color, brown, and dad’s eye color grey. There is no way I will turn out to be a mutant. Silver has black hair and brown eyes, she didn't look like our parents and turned out to be a mutant. Our family is a bloodline of grey wolves. Silver turned out to be a black wolf and our parents accepted her. They didn't send her away. If I turn out to be one, I believe they won't send me away too but I know I won't be one because I have the same phenotype as my parents compared to Silver.

The familiar whistle fell on my ear and my heart skipped a beat in my chest. My lips parted and my eyes lightened under the night. I looked down and there he was. The redhead alpha son I’m head over heels in love with.

Just before I could turn around, he was leaning on the window.

“ You came,” I said, my tone filled with excitement and he entered the room, stood next to me, and tucked a strand of hair behind my ear.

“ Of course,” he mumbled and nicked my bottom lips with his mouth.

“ You will have your first reveal tomorrow,” he began, and slowly reached for my hand before asking in a caring tone. “ are you afraid?” He asked and I reluctantly shook my head.

“ I am not afraid,” I lied to him and let out a low long sigh.

“ The worst that can happen is being a mutant and being exiled,” I told him and shudder at the thought.

“Will you still want me if I happen to be a mutant?” I asked, lifting my head slowly and looking him in the eyes.

A brief awkward silence fell on us. My heart pound slowly in my chest and my eyes bore into his as they give out a blue glow. They quickly went back to normal and his lips parted as if he was about to say something.

He cleared his throat and exhaled shortly before moving his lips and letting the words out. The words that gave me hope and made my eyes glitter.

“ Whatever you are, whatever you will be… I will always want you, Larissa. You are my everything. If your family doesn’t want you, you can always come to me. I will shelter and love you. I will give you everything you want. That is how much I love you,”

I felt a ray of hope. I couldn’t explain my feelings but at that moment, I knew I loved Leo the alpha’s son. I knew my heart belonged to him and I knew he loved me as much. He won’t abandon me. No matter what. I can face tomorrow without any fear knowing that whatever the result might be, I will always have somewhere to go. Someone is willing and ready to take me in.

New Year’s Eve came so fast. Wearing the white gown my mother had given me earlier in the day.

I stood on the field, heart thumping in my heart as I felt gazes on me. I force a lump down my throat slowly and gently rub my palms together. I turned around to look at the faces who were about to witness my first reveal and my heart face dropped when I didn’t see either my sister or Leo among the faces. I didn’t expect much from Lisa, she had never cared and as for Leo, maybe he got busy with Pack’s errands.

“ Are you ready for your reveal?” One of the witnesses sent by the alpha asked in a very loud voice and I resisted the urge to shake my head. I am not ready. I was never ready for this.

I stared into space focused my attention on the cinnamon tree, and started counting the remaining minutes until midnight.

“ Ouch,” I winced at the feeling of something tearing through my shoulder like a knife. The pain was so sharp and quick that it left almost immediately.

I let out a loud groan and this time around, my knees hit the cold ground and I tumbled over as bones snapped under my skin and pierced through my skin. My lips parted and a loud shrill sound filled with agony left my mouth.

“ come on Larissa,” my mom's voice came falling faintly in my ear until it disappeared and it became eerily quiet. At that moment I knew I had died from the pain and metamorphosis. My eyes snapped open but this time around, it was different. I felt a different kind of energy and my eyes, they are like an X-ray machine, they pierced and saw the tiniest thing hidden deep in the forest ahead of me. The smell of earth and green grass filled my nose, intoxicating my senses and I felt my feet carrying me around majestically. It felt good. To be able to swoosh past trees and jump over cliffs. It felt so good and too good to be real.

My feet came to a halt and for a moment, I could swear I saw their internal organs. I shook my head to get rid of the hallucination and awaited the verdict. I looked into my parent's eyes, they were dark, and there was no glow in them. It was as if life has been sucked away from them and I knew it wasn’t good. It wasn’t a good sign. I heard a loud growl that I didn’t know emanated from me and the next thing I knew, I was on the cold feed, laying almost lifeless on it. The chills all over my body told me I was naked like the others after shifting back to their human form. I pant slowly, trying to catch my breath and regain some strength. I waited for a towel to be thrown at me but none came.

I managed to stand up and staggered in their direction. A white towel sat on my mom’s hand but it was like she was too shocked to hand it over.

“ What am I?” I demanded, my voice echoing in the distance.

“ What am I?” I asked again, my fist curling by my side and their silence made my jaw clench and at the same time ignited something weakling in my heart.

I stood there, legs trembling, my eyes searching for answers. And finally one of the witnesses spoke.

“ you are a white wolf with red patches on the head. Your eyes are amber and…”

“ Stop!” My voice cracked and trembled. It was like I’ve been poured cold water over and over.

“ your family is a bloodline of grey wolf. They will decide if they shall keep you or send you away,” the other witness said and at that moment, I knew I was something I feared to be. A mutant but how is that possible? I glanced at my parents awaiting their verdict, and their decision, and the wait felt like forever.

I could tell my mom was struggling and after a long wait, her lips parted and she let the words out.

“ We may have born and given her life but she is not one of us. Therefore, we will not keep her. She will leave,” she said and I felt her words piercing into my heart like daggers. My eyes were wide, almost popping and my head was as big as a house.

I moved my lips to say something but no words came out of them.

“ you have until 7 am to leave your home and vacate the pack,” with that said, the witnesses turned their backs to leave and I expected my parents to call them back and change their decision but it was a useless expectancy. They turned their back to leave as well and I called out to them.

“ Mom,!Dad! You cannot do this to me! I am one of you. You bore me. You raised me and I am your daughter. Please accept me” I begged. My eyes burned and I felt a very big lump in my throat. Too big to swallow it hurts.

Mom turned around and looked at me with an expression I couldn’t interpret.

“ Keeping your sister has done so much harm to us. Look at your father, he was fine until Lissa turned out to be a mutant and we accepted her. What happened after that, your father went mute, he could no longer communicate with words, and our business, one of the shops burnt down completely.” She paused and after a long silence, she continued.

“ Being a mutant is a curse. You are a curse. Accepting you will be the end of us. You are smart Larissa, you are young and beautiful. You will survive without us.”

With that said, she turned and left with my father without looking back.

I felt my face wet and I patted my face with my palms. I swallowed the lump and went after them to the house that would soon be no longer my house.

I dressed into a pair of pants and a white top grabbed my pickup truck key from the bed and drove out. Leo said he would take me in. I should let him know of my parent’s decision.

I parked the truck by the driveway and walked into the apartment. It’s a two-bedroom apartment that was gifted to him by his father. He lives alone and barely has servants around.

Curious why he would leave his door ajar so deep in the night. It’s not like someone would dare to hurt him. He is the alpha’s son and he’s untouchable. I stopped by his bedroom and slowly pushed the door open. I didn’t want to wake him in case he was sleeping. But ever since my shift, my senses have heightened. Soft groans and moans were all I could hear. My eyes pierced into the blue room and there he was, having a threesome. It felt like the world had come to an end for me and all I wanted that moment was to unleash my anger on them and tear them into pieces.

I took a step back and walked towards the front pouch absent-mindedly. My eyes squinted suddenly and my nose sniffed the air. My heart raced against my chest at the rustling sound of leaves.

I hid behind the mailbox and looked into the bushes and my soul almost left my body. Eight red eyes were staring back at me.