Luna's Regret: Claiming My Lycan Mate

Celine stood in the midst of gallons of exotic wines and empty jars, trying to understand everything that was happening. No doubt, this was the night her life had taken a bad turn around. It was hard to forget everything that had happened. It was Nolan's twentieth birthday and his father had organized a feast for him, inviting all the werewolves, Lycans and Nobles from across the continent. Nolan was her mate, but nobody in the pack knew about that. This was because she was a slave and Nolan wished to keep the mate bond a secret because he believed the pack would be against it. Especially his father, the Lycan king. "Celine!" Behind me, a voice yelled her name. She could recognize that voice anytime. That was Miss Gracie who was the event planner of Nolan's birthday feast. She was also one of the supervisors of the slaves in the Lycans empire. Miss Gracie was one of the Lycans she feared the most in the past. She hated weak werewolves like me. Due to this, she had been ordering me to do different hectic tasks since the preparation of the feast. Suddenly, she appeared before Celine and smacked her face heavily. Then, a barrage of insults followed the slap. "Are you dumb?! Didn't I tell you to go to the banquet hall and serve those wines to the guests?! Don't act so stupid, go and refill those jars right now!" She shoved her pointed finger toward the gallon of wines that was arranged in the cellar. Her cheek stung due to the heavy impact of the slap, but she dared not grimace or whimper because that would cost her another aching slap. She was just an orphaned slave in the Lycan empire and slaves like Celine were taught to stay within their boundary. It was forbidden to make eye contact with the Lycans so she bowed. "I'm sorry, Miss Gracie," she apologized. "I got carried away for a second." She knew Miss Gracie was about to slap her again so she quickly dashed away from her. She filled the jars with wine and steadied some on a tray. Then, she rushed out of the cellar. The Lycan king was addressing the guests when she entered the banquet hall. Trying not to meet the menacing eyes of the Lycans, she slightly bent my head and searched the crowd for her mate, Nolan. She could remember it clearly. He was sitting at the front table with his father when everything had happened. She walked toward the royal table, her eyes searching for Nolan. Where was he? Still thinking deeply, she bumped into someone, her shoulders slightly brushing his. The wine on her tray splashed a little into her dirty brown dress. She quickly turned to look at the person she had bumped into. Her gaze met a dark green eye staring right back at her. The man she bumped into looked to be in his late twenties. The man looked elegant in every way. He was wearing a refined suit and his hair was well trimmed and combed as it slicked to the back. He was handsome, that was something Celine noticed the moment she saw him. He had well toned olive skin and a well built muscular body that clarified that he used to spend quality time in the gym. But there was something about the way he looked at her that she still quite didn’t understand how to explain it. His gaze was intense and calculating. Who was he? Judging by the expensive suit he was wearing, he was definitely going to be the son of a noble. He had a domineering aura around him. Who knows, he could even be the son of a king. Many royals and nobles had been invited to Nolan’s birthday feast so it was not a surprise if this man she was standing before was a prince. Remembering how it was forbidden to look at the face of a royal or a noble, Celine stepped back and bent slightly. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to bump into you.” His calm and collected facial expression didn’t change as he spoke. “Just watch where you are going next time.” “Your majesty! Where have you been?!” A slender man hurried toward him, looking out of breath. He stood in their midst and exhaled deeply. “I know you hate all this politics stuffs, but you were sent here to represent the king and as the king, you are meant to be sitting at the front table right now!” The slender man cautioned the other man, his attention completely focused on him. This baffled Celine. If that man was indeed a king, why was his subject talking to him so loosely? It took the slender man a minute to notice that Celine was also standing there behind him. He shook his head when he noticed Celine. “Your majesty, don’t tell me you were busy fooling around with a slave when you were meant to be acting your duty.” The other man didn’t say anything to the slender man’s accusation and started walking out of the hall. Fuming and still looking out of breath, the slender man barely managed to catch up with him. “Your majesty, where are you going?” He hollered. “You are meant to give your present to the lycan prince so as to show our alliance with his kingdom!” The slender man continued talking as he followed the other man. So, she was right. He was actually the son of a king who was in the lycan kingdom to represent his father. That didn’t matter to her. She had other things to think about. There was no time to waste, she must change the order of things before it was too late. Ignoring the hunger cries of the guests beckoning me to stop at their table to serve them wines, she approached the front table where the royals were sitting. Strange. Nolan wasn't sitting at the front table this time. Where was he? Trying not to be distracted by Nolan's disappearance, she ducked and started refilling the Lycan king's empty cup. Suddenly, someone spoke and she froze. "Why is a worthless slave serving wine at the Royal's table?" She tightened my hands around the tray she was carrying. She didn't need to look up to confirm who the person was. Ruby. Although this was the first time we were meeting in this life, she hated Ruby with passion. Confused, she frowned. Why would the moon goddess take her back to the exact moment in her life when her life had changed for the worse? The moment that had led to her death. It wasn't even up to an hour that she had been left in that scary forest, dying in the pool of her own blood. Her eyes fluttered as she watched the blur vision of a slender lady walking away from her. The knife in the lady's hand was still glinting with her crimson blood. It trickled down slowly from the knife. With shaky hands, she raised my hand and reached for my bleeding stomach. Her pup. Her unborn child wouldn't have a chance to live because their mother had made the mistake of trusting the wrong person. And she was going to die as a traitor at the hand of the woman her mate had married. Suddenly, the woman turned. The gloomy glow of the moon shone on Ruby's face. She noticed that Ruby was smiling brightly at her downfall. "Why?" She swallowed hard, trying not to sound too pathetic. She found it hard to understand why Ruby wanted her dead. If only she knew this was Ruby's intention all along, she would have made things right. She would have fought for Nolan's love and made him accept her pregnancy. But it was too late. She was going to die as a traitor! "Why do you want me and my unborn child dead?" She asked bitterly. Celine hadn't stopped Ruby from taking everything away from her, but still she wanted to seize the very thing that was important to her. Her life and that of my unborn child. Ruby held up the blood stained knife to her face and said. "I don't understand why he likes you so much," she complained. "You are just a lowlife slave who is carrying an unwanted bastard child." Celine was already losing her consciousness, but she whispered. "I will make you pay for this, Ruby." Ruby scoffed and squatted before me. "Just die, you wretch!" She yelled and shoved the knife deeply into Celine’s beating heart. Sweating profusely, Celine had found herself in that cellar a second after her death. She placed the jar of wine on the tray and turned away from Ruby. This wasn't the time to exchange words with Ruby for what she had done to her in her past life. Right now, she needed to focus on what was more important. And that was preventing Nolan from marrying Ruby. She started walking away from the front table, but Ruby stopped me. "Slave, I'm talking to you!" Ruby stood up and walked to Celine’s front. "You dare to ignore me?" "I need to go, I'm busy." Celine said and was about to leave the banquet hall when she heard the Lycan king's announcement. "In order to maintain the peace between the werewolves and the Lycans, my son, Nolan, will be marrying Alpha Raymond's daughter, Ruby." Worried, she bit my lips. This was bad. Very bad. Terribly bad. This shouldn't be happening! She was reliving the past!