Luna's Regret: Claiming My Lycan Mate

Goodnight, Celine

“Celine…"

"Don't call my name!"

Her words sounded more spiteful than she intended. Maybe, it was because she was feeling uncomfortable with him seeing her in a defeated situation. She shouldn't be feeling this sad. The rejection shouldn’t be hurting this bad. She knew he would reject me. He had done so in her past life, but nothing could prepare for that feeling. This time he had done it in Ruby's presence. Not only did she have to endure the rejection, she had to withstand Ruby mockery.

This life, she was going to do everything in her power to have Ruby out of Nolan’s life.

She wasn't trying to get rid of Ruby because she wanted Nolan to accept her as his mate. She was doing this because she wanted to have a better life than her previous.

Nolan wasn't bold enough to stand against his father for her sake. Then, fine. So be it.

But she was going to claim back everything that was meant to be hers, including Nolan.

The question was how.

"Celine, I didn't want to reject you," he started. I knew what he was going to say after this. He was going to use those familiar excuses which were meant to make him look pitiful. "I have to do it for the sake of the kingdom. Ruby is the daughter of the wealthiest alpha in Tails Kingdom, I will need her alliance once I become the Lycan king."

She raised her head and gave him a look. Was he seriously expecting to believe that bullshit again? The Lycan were stronger and more powerful than the werewolves so there was no way the Lycans needed Ruby support or anything. They had the most slaves in the continent and had many natural resources that earned them a fortune.

Did Nolan think I was too dumb to know all these things?

Noticing the distrust in her eyes, he added. "Listen, this won't last for long. Once I become the king, I will divorce Ruby and marry you."

Another lie.

He didn't divorce Ruby even when he became the new Lycan king. Turned out, he was too dutiful and fearful of his father to stand his ground on his decision. Slowly Ruby started having the final say in everything until he became her puppet, leaving her to corrupt his mind and change everything he believed in.

Nolan was the weakling, not Celine.

He was a child who wasn't ready to grow out of his father's reach.

Celine sniffed and used the back of her hand to wipe the tears that had pooled around her eyes. She had been neglected by her mate, she shouldn’t also neglect herself by letting down her guard and revealing her weakness to Nolan.

He didn't deserve it.

Not right now.

Perhaps when he learnt to be more confident in himself and the irresistible bond between us, she could finally let him know everything that she had been trying so hard to hide.

Everything about her past life. What Ruby was going to do to the lycan Kingdom. And my death.

But right now, he wasn't going to believe anything she said. In the past, she had tried too hard to alarm him about Ruby's hidden motive in marrying him, but he had assumed Celine was only making everything up because she was jealous of Ruby. Yeah, she was jealous of how easy Ruby was getting away with everything she was doing. After discovering who Ruby was, did rather remain a slave than become a bloodlust bitter b***h like Ruby.

"I don't need your empty promises, Nolan," I said sharply. "If you want me to believe everything you just said, then prove it to me. Cancel the wedding and send Ruby back to her kingdom."

Although my voice was calm, there was a sharpness at the edge of every words I had uttered. If only Nolan was confident enough to prevent everything from happening, then I wouldn't have died.

He was the crowned prince and had the privilege to have anything he wanted, but he had been far too entangled in his father's web to break free.

"Cel, you know it is not that easy to defy my father. I will be stripped of my title if I do that."

Ridiculous.

Nolan was the Lycan king's only son so it was impossible for him to get stripped of his title. He was just too much of a coward to realize that.

"Then, leave," Celine said and turned away from him. "There is no point in you talking to me when it would change anything."

He took another step closer to my direction.

"But Celine—"

"Nolan, please leave," she said and rested my back on the wall whose faded yellow paint was already shredding, leaving the pungent scent of mildew and wet ground. "I'm tired, I want to rest."

She didn't lie. Her entire body ached and her spine pricked her back badly. All night, she had been carrying heavy jars of wine around the banquet hall trying to satisfy the Lycan's guests. And to make it worse, her mate had to reject me in the midst of everyone like she had meant nothing to him. Like the mate bond was a mistake that should have never happened. Like it was my fault that the moon goddess had chosen him as her mate.

For many years, she had hated herself for being a mere slave who had nothing to her name, but that self-sabotage had to come to an end. This time, she was going to turn all my weakness to my strength.

In the past, Ruby hadn't held me in high regard and she was going to use that to my advantage. One by one, she promised, she was going to make everyone that was involved in my demise pay for what they had done to m

Her.

Especially Ruby.

She was the one whom Celine badly wanted to ruin. But she just needed to find a way to do that.

"Alright," Nolan whispered, looking defeated.

It was funny to see him look like this when he was the one who had rejected me. His eyes lingered on her lips and a flicker of light flashed through his gaze. No way. He definitely wasn't thinking she was going to allow him to kiss her after what he had done. He curled his hands like it was his way of restricting himself from reaching for Celine and nodded.

"Goodnight, Celine."

He walked toward the door and stopped for a moment. He folded his hand a little like it was his way of controlling himself. His smooth hands ran through his thick brown hair again. Despite what he had done to her in the presence of others, she still found it hard not to be attracted to him. Although Nolan had rejected her, the mate bond was still effective especially since she hadn't accepted his rejection. She studied how composed he looked as he stood still by the entrance of her bedroom.

Was he also feeling the pain of the rejection ?

The mate bond was something so strong and divine, it didn’t matter how powerful the person who broke it was, they would surely feel the pain that comes after the rejection. This was because mates are one’s soulmates. They are the better half of any creature so when one is rejected it would feel like they had lost a part of themselves forever.

And from how rigid Nolan’s shoulder was, Celine could tell that he was also hurting from the rejection, but it seemed he was holding back the pain because no matter how hard Celine tried to reach through him, she just couldn’t express how he was feeling inside.

With a sigh, Nolan continued walking. He grabbed the door knob and he opened the door. A tear ran down Celine’s cheek as she heard the door of her bedroom creaked. She wanted to jump on her feet and rushed after Nolan, begging him to accept her. She wanted to promised him that she could be strong for him. She wanted to prove to him that she was more than willing to fight for their love, but will all that matters?

It didn’t matter what she did, the rejection had occurred. And Nolan would never be confident enough to stand against his father. This was because the lycan king had raised Nolan with an iron hand ever since his mother had died while trying to protect him. And all through his childhood, Nolan had grown up being afraid to stand for himself.

So she of all people knew how difficult it would be for Nolan to oppose his father. But that didn’t lessen the ache in her heart and neither did it make her less angry at Nolan.

Suddenly, the door opened.

Celine pulled up her knees to her chest and continued to focus her gaze to the opposite wall of her bedroom. She wasn’t ready to face Nolan again. Not at the moment when she was completely broken.

“What part of I don’t want to see you do you not understand?” She asked, her voice laced with an unlikely irritation.

“Cel…”

At once, she recognized that voice. It wasn’t Nolan who had entered the room. It was her best friend, Beatrice.

Immediately, Celine dropped her hands and stood up to hug Beatrice. Taking a deep breath, Beatrice welcomed Celine in her arms and hugged her tightly. They stood still for some time as they allowed themselves to seek energy from each other. Beatrice knew Celine was falling apart and needed someone to comfort her. That was why she had rushed to meet Celine. She hadn’t been in the hall when the rejection had happened, but she had heard the other slaves murmuring about how baffled they were to discover that Celine was actually the lycan Prince's true mate. She had been confused as to how they had found out about this. If there was one thing Beatrice was certain about Celine, it was how hard she had been trying to conceal the truth that Nolan was her mate.

In the wolf world, mate was sacred because it was given by the moon goddess. Regardless of her status, Celine could have been given the chance to be with her mate, but everything got complicated because the king would never allow his son to marry one of his slaves. It was forbidden and they both knew this.

Beatrice pulled back and looked at Celine with concerned eyes. “Celine, what are you going to do now?” She asked. “I heard that Nolan tried to defend you before his father and he wouldn’t have rejected you if the lycan king hadn’t commanded him to do so. Don’t you think this is a sign for you to fight back?”

Beatrice didn’t understand why Celine was giving up on Nolan. Even though it was forbidden, Nolan was her mate and he clearly was still interested in making Celine his queen. If Celine could find a way to convince Nolan to oppose his father’s decision, she might actually have a chance to become the Luna queen of the lycan kingdom. And wouldn’t even have to suffer as a slave anymore. So what was stopping Celine from doing so?

Celine moved away from Beatrice and shook her head. “I can’t do that now,” she said. “I have to bring Ruby down before I can claim Nolan.”

“Why?” Beatrice asked, confused. “Nolan wants you and you want him too. Why will it be so hard if you fight for what is yours?”

“He is already betrothed to Ruby. And as long as Ruby is his bethronal, nothing I do will change anything.”

Celine didn’t know how to explain everything to Beatrice. This wasn’t her first life. In the past, she had done everything in her power to convince Nolan to oppose his father and all her actions had been futile. The only way she would be able to fight back was if she could defeat Ruby and she still didn’t know how she was going to do that.

“What about your unborn child?” Beatrice asked, looking at Celine's flat stomach. Although Celine was pregnant, her stomach was still flat because her baby was barely a month old. “You need to tell Nolan that you are pregnant. This will be enough to convince him to put an end to his arranged marriage to Ruby. I’m sure that Nolan will do everything in his power to ensure that your child will be named as the heir to the lycan throne.”

Blinking back her tears, Celine held her stomach. She stared down at her stomach, her mind wandering as she thought about how Ruby had stabbed the unborn child in her womb. In the past, she had failed to protect her child. She couldn’t risk doing that again. Beatrice was right about one thing, she needed to do everything in her power to make sure that her child was given his birthright. And the only way she could achieve that was by becoming the Luna queen of the lycan kingdom.