Luna's Regret: Claiming My Lycan Mate

Rejected

2: Rejected.

"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 again!

"I can't marry Alpha Raymond's daughter!"

Nolan's voice echoed from behind where she was standing. Completely shocked by his statement, Celine turned and her eyes widened when she noticed Nolan was walking towards her.

This was new.

In the past, Nolan didn't reject the arranged marriage his father had organized for him. Instead, he had accepted it without any hesitation and had listened to Ruby when she advised him to reject her before everyone.

She frowned.

As his graceful strides brought him closer to her side, she started to wonder how everything would play out if Nolan disagreed to marry Ruby and went ahead to marry her.

Will she still die a shameful death if that happened?

One thing was certain; Ruby wouldn't have a chance to hurt her like she had done in the past if she became the Luna Queen of the Lycan kingdom. She was so engrossed in my thoughts that she didn't know when Nolan stood by her side.

Confused, Ruby arched her brow and gaped at Nolan.

"What are you doing?!" She questioned him with a grimace.

Without looking at her, Nolan grabbed her hand and tightened his fingers around hers. Started, the tray in her hands fell down and she widened her eyes at him.

Will it always be this way if Nolan was more confident to defend his love for her? She didn't want to get too excited quickly, but the possibility of marrying her mate was thrilling. Bone thrilling. The kind that made her entire body shudder like she was trapped in the snow on a winter night.

Before her demise, Celine had daydreamed about how it would be if Nolan became courageous and stood out against his father for her sake. Still, she hadn't prepared herself for what was going to happen when he did that. Or what his father was going to do to her once he realized that she was not only Nolan's destined mate, but was also carrying his unborn child. Though, nobody had discovered that she was pregnant, including Nolan. She had been hiding the pregnancy for almost a month now.

Although she had been his mate for two years and was pregnant with his child, Nolan had never expressed his love for her in public so his action felt strange and pleasant at the same time.

Was the order of things changing because she had been reborn?

This made her question the future.

Will this stop me from dying at the hand of Ruby?

Nolan's eyes narrowed at Ruby who was grimacing at the sight of their entwined hands.

"Celine is my mate and I wish to marry her!" he declared boldly, his loud voice echoing in the banquet hall.

The Lycans gaped like him, all their jaws dropping to the floor. Even the guests stared at him like he had become a ghost or something.

And his father…

The Lycan king's glare was murderous!

Her breath hitched.

For someone who had just died a few hours ago, everything was too much to handle. She couldn't think. And she needed to. Ruby was manipulative. She needed to come up with a solution that would completely stop Ruby from finding a way to make Nolan marry her. At least, it was a good thing that Nolan was willing to stand by Celine.

"That's impossible!" She threw a disgusted look at Celine’s direction. "Nolan, she can't be your mate! She is nothing, but a rotten slave!"

Nolan growled.

"Talk to my mate with respect, Ruby!"

Although she was relieved that Nolan was standing up for her, she couldn't stop herself from being aware of the glances that were directed at them.

Even the man she had bumped into some minutes ago was studying her from across the entrance of the hall. His green eyes slightly glowed as he watched Nolan holding Celine’s hand.

"Enough!" The Lycan king roared, his eyes burning with a fierce displeasure.

The moment his father spoke, Nolan dropped his hand from hers and took a step backward. Noticing his withdrawal, all her hope shattered. Just when Celine thought she was changing everything, fate had a way of taking control.

King Alec walked up to his son and grabbed his collar, yanking him towards him. His eyes glaring red as he ordered. "I wouldn't let you disgrace our kingdom like this, reject that weakling and start preparing for your marriage with Ruby!"

Nolan swallowed hard, his shoulder rustling a little as he cowered before his father.

"Dad, I… I don't wish to marry Ruby," he objected, his voice barely a whisper. "I already have a mate."

"You think that slave will be able to give the empire a strong heir?!" He asked. "Nolan, As your King, I command you to reject her right now!"

Nolan's lips twitched a little. It was then Celine knew she had lost. She and Nolan would never have a chance to be together. He was definitely going to agree to marry Ruby which would seal her tragic fate.

Slowly, Nolan nodded.

He turned and looked at Celine with soft pained eyes. "I'm sorry, Celine. I have to do this," he took a quick look around the hall and sighed. "I, Prince Nolan of the Lycan kingdom, reject you, Celine, as my mate."

Ruby smirked.

She should have been prepared. Afterall, Celine knew he was eventually going to reject her. He had done so in the past. But hearing his words, her heart arched and my wolf, Topaz, whimpered in pain. Nothing in the world could prepare me for the pain she was feeling.

Lost, she searched his eyes. Had he really rejected her because his father wanted him to do so?

Then, he had told her that he had rejected her because he needed to gain Ruby's trust since her family alliance was very important to the lycan kingdom. But this time, it was worse. He had done so because the lycan king was against it.

The Lycan king. Her child's grandfather. The one whom she needed to convince that she was capable of leading the pack as Luna.

Nolan darted his gaze away from her and walked out of the hall. Celine stood in the midst of the Lycans and their guests, trying her best not to break down in tears.

It felt like a part of her had been torn away. She took a deep breath and exhaled deeply.

Suddenly, someone scoffed.

“Did you really think that the lycan prince would take a slave like you as his wife?” Ruby said with distaste. “You must be so stupid if you had thought so. Slaves are only meant to serve the royal family, they can’t become one.”

Knowing that her words had hurt Celine to the core, Ruby held her head high and walked back toward the front table.

Celine turned and slowly left the hall. She managed to walk to her bedroom.

In her tiny bedroom which she was sharing with three other slaves, Celine slumped down on her shabby bed and cuddled her knees close to her chest. She was glad that the other slaves were still busy in the banquet hall. She didn't want anyone to see me in this condition.

She rested her back on the cold wall, and blinked back the tears that were threatening to drop.

There was nothing she could do. Nolan had already agreed to marry Ruby. The only way to prevent the marriage was by letting everyone know who Ruby truly was.

How will she expose Ruby's identity when she had nothing to prove my accusation? The evidence she had was yet to happen!

Time was ticking away, she needed to come up with a solid plan.

The door creaked and Nolan walked inside. He was still wearing his royal suit, but his once smoothened brown hair was a little tousled like he had been running his hand through it all night. On a normal day, Celine used to be happy whenever Nolan sneaked into her bedroom, but this time she wasn't.

He was the last person she wanted to see.

"This might be your territory, but that didn't permit you to barge in here like this," she spat.

Avoiding her teary eyes, he squatted and gently held her hands in his.

"Celine…"

"Don't call my name!"