Rejected By My Mate, Claimed By The Lycan king

CHAPTER 9

ZARIA'S POV

"What do you think you are doing?" Cassian’s voice sliced through the air, dangerously quiet. His eyes weren't golden anymore—they were burning a dark, feral crimson.

"Alpha!" Tanya choked out, the supernatural weight forcing her down onto one knee. Her heavy leather boot slipped away from my bleeding fingers as she struggled to draw breath. "I was only…. This outsider doesn't know her place."

"Her place?" Cassian stepped directly into the center of the yard, his presence completely freezing the air around us. "And since when do you have the authority to decide who belongs in my home, Tanya? Tell me, because I seem to have forgotten appointing you as the judge of my guests."

"She’s a human, King Cassian!" Tanya argued, her voice shaking violently but still laced with defensive arrogance. "She’s a rejected omega from a weak southern pack. She has no scent. She’s a jinx to our warriors, a parasite on our sacred territory! I was only showing her what happens to useless leeches who try to hide behind your kindness!"

"Is that what you were doing?" Cassian moved. He didn't just walk; he blurred across the gravel, appearing right in front of her in a fraction of a second. Before she could even draw another breath, his massive hand shot out and wrapped tightly around her throat. "Let me ask you a question, warrior. Who rules the Shadowpelt pack? Is it you, or is it me?"

Tanya’s hands clawed frantically at his iron fingers, her legs dangling and kicking uselessly in the air as he lifted her off the ground with a single arm. "You, Alpha! You!" she choked out, her amber eyes stretching wide with pure, primal terror.

"Then why did you deliberately disobey my direct orders?" Cassian hissed, his grip tightening until her face turned a deep, suffocating purple. "Did I not state that she was under my personal protection? Did my words fail to reach your ears, or did you simply think I wouldn't care if you broke a human's bones in my own courtyard?"

"Mercy, Alpha! Please, mercy!"

"You wanted to show this pack how we treat the weak?" Cassian whispered, his crimson eyes flashing with a violent, terrifying rage that made my own blood run cold. "Let me show everyone how I treat those who challenge my law."

With a sudden, brutal jerk, Cassian grabbed her right wrist.

*Crack.*

Tanya let out a raw, agonizing shriek that ripped through the quiet courtyard. The surrounding warriors flinched, dropping their heads lower into the dirt. Cassian didn't hesitate for a single second. He dropped her like a piece of garbage, letting her bleeding, broken body crash hard into the gravel. Tanya lay there, clutching her shattered wrist to her chest, sobbing violently as her blood mixed with the dirt.

Cassian turned his terrifying gaze to the rest of the crowd. "Look at me! Every single one of you, look at me right now!"

The warriors slowly raised their heads, trembling violently under his gaze, completely stripped of their former arrogance.

"Who else agrees with her?" Cassian demanded, his voice dropping to a dangerous whisper as he scanned the faces of the crowd. "Who else thinks they can decide who is a parasite in my territory? Speak up now. I am listening."

No one said a word. The silence was absolute.

"Let me make this entirely clear so there is no misunderstanding!" Cassian roared, his voice booming across the courtyard and echoing off the distant mountains like thunder. "Zaria Grimston is a guest of the king. Harming her is a direct challenge to my throne!"

"Anyone who touches her, anyone who whispers a single insult to her face, or anyone who dares to make her feel unsafe in this territory dies by my hand. Do you all understand my words?"

"Yes, Alpha!" the crowd shouted in unison, their voices shaking with pure terror as they pressed their faces back into the gravel.

"Get this trash out of my sight," Cassian snapped, waving a hand toward Tanya. Two high-ranking guards immediately rushed forward, grabbed Tanya by her good arm, and dragged her screaming out of the courtyard.

I tried to push myself up, but my arms were shaking too hard from the adrenaline.

"Don't move," a soft voice commanded.

I looked up, blinking back the tears of anger. Cassian was kneeling in the dirt right in front of me. The terrifying crimson in his eyes was gone, replaced once again by that familiar, piercing gold.

"I can stand," I muttered, my voice stubborn even as my knees buckled. "Leave me alone. I don't need your help."

"You can barely hold yourself up, Zaria," he said gently, his eyes scanning my scraped palms. Before I could argue, he slid one massive arm under my knees and the other behind my back, scooping me up effortlessly against his broad chest.

"Put me down, Cassian!" I hissed, my face burning as I realized the entire pack was still watching us. "Everyone is looking! You're making a scene!"

"I don't have patience for your stubbornness right now."

"You didn't have to do that," I said, keeping my arms pinned tightly against my chest, refusing to hold onto his neck. "You broke her wrist.“

"She put her boot over your hand," Cassian said, his jaw clenching tightly. "She was going to crush your fingers just to prove a point. Did you expect me to stand there and negotiate with her?"

"I could have handled it," I lied, glaring at his jawline.

"With what? You're human now, Zaria. Stop trying to fight the entire world by yourself. You don't have to bear every blow alone."

"I have to fight," I muttered, looking away from him as we reached the top of the stairs. "No one else is going to do it for me. I learned that the hard way."

"I just did," he countered smoothly.

He kicked open my bedroom doors with his boot, walking past a terrified, wide-eyed Camilla. "Out, Camilla. Now."

"Yes, Your Majesty!" she squeaked, rushing past us into the hallway and slamming the doors shut behind her.

Cassian walked over to the velvet-canopied bed and laid me down gently against the soft pillows. But he didn't step back. He leaned over me, his hands resting on either side of my head against the mattress, completely trapping me beneath his massive, powerful frame. I stared up into his golden eyes—the eyes of the monster everyone feared, the tyrant who had just broken a warrior's bones without blinking. But as I looked at him, the heavy paranoia in my chest completely vanished.

"Are you going to glare at me like that every time I save your life?" Cassian asked, a tiny, amused smirk tugging at his lips.

"I didn't ask for your protection," I whispered, my heart hammering furiously against my ribs.

"You didn't have to," he murmured, his eyes locking onto mine with an intensity that made my breath catch. "But you have it anyway, Zaria. Whether you like it or not."