Chapter 2: The Lycan King
1694 Words
Elena POV
My heart stopped.
The stranger’s silver eyes remained locked on mine, filled with disbelief.
“I’ve finally found you.”
My wolf trembled inside me.
“Mate.”
The word echoed through my mind. No. It couldn’t be. I had already found my mate. Adrian. He had rejected me. The bond had shattered, and the pain still burned inside my chest. How could I possibly have another mate?
The giant wolves surrounding us remained perfectly still, their heads lowered toward the stranger. Fear rolled through me as I realized who he must be.
The Lycan King.
The ruler from every bedtime story. The monster mothers used to frighten their children.
He took another step toward me. Moonlight illuminated his face. He was devastatingly handsome, yet terrifying. His black hair fell around his face, and his silver eyes seemed almost unnatural. Power surrounded him so strongly that I could barely breathe.
He looked ancient.
Not old.
Ancient.
As though he had witnessed centuries pass before his eyes.
“Who are you?” I whispered.
One of the wolves growled, but the stranger raised his hand, and silence immediately fell. His gaze never left me.
“My name is Kael.”
My breath caught.
Every werewolf knew that name. Kael. The first Lycan King. The immortal ruler who disappeared hundreds of years ago. The monster responsible for countless deaths.
But that was impossible.
He should be dead.
“You are afraid of me.”
I swallowed. “Shouldn’t I be?”
Something flickered in his eyes.
Pain. Sadness.
“I suppose you should.”
Thunder rolled across the sky as rain poured harder around us. Only then did he seem to notice the tears on my face, the blood on my lip, and the pain that still lingered inside me from the broken bond. His expression darkened.
“Who did this to you?”
I looked away. “It doesn’t matter.”
His voice became dangerously quiet.
“Who?”
For some reason, I answered.
“My mate rejected me.”
The wolves around us growled. Kael’s silver eyes narrowed as if he couldn’t understand the words.
“He rejected you?”
I nodded.
A strange expression crossed his face, filled with confusion and disbelief.
“No male would reject his true mate.”
I laughed bitterly. “Apparently they do.”
Pain suddenly shot through my chest, causing me to stumble. Before I could hit the ground, Kael appeared beside me. His hand wrapped around my arm, and warmth immediately spread through my body. The pain lessened, and my wolf sighed with relief.
His eyes widened.
He felt it too.
The connection.
The bond.
He quickly released me, his jaw tightening.
“This is impossible.”
“What is?”
He looked toward the dark sky.
“For five hundred years, I have carried half of a bond.”
I stared at him.
“What?”
“I was given a mate by the Moon Goddess centuries ago, but she never appeared.”
The forest became silent.
“I searched for decades,” he continued, his voice strangely empty. “Then decades became centuries. Everyone I knew died. Kingdoms fell. Wars ended. And still, my mate never came.”
His silver eyes returned to mine.
“And now you’re standing before me.”
The realization slowly settled inside me.
No.
No, that couldn’t be true.
“You think I’m your mate?”
“I know you are.”
I stepped backward, my heart racing.
“I can’t. I loved someone else.”
His expression softened slightly.
“The male who rejected you?”
Tears filled my eyes.
“I spent years loving him.”
“And tonight he destroyed you.”
The truth hurt because it was true.
Suddenly, the forest exploded with movement. One of the wolves rushed toward us, shifting in midair. A man landed on one knee before Kael.
“My King.”
Kael’s expression hardened.
“What is it?”
“The Silver Moon Pack has entered the forest.”
My heart stopped.
Adrian.
He was looking for me?
Hope flickered despite everything.
Perhaps he regretted it.
Perhaps—
“The future Alpha is leading them,” the man continued.
Kael’s face darkened.
“He dares enter my territory?”
“He says he is searching for an omega.”
My chest tightened.
Kael looked at me.
“Do you wish to return?”
I opened my mouth, but no words came.
Adrian had rejected me.
Humiliated me.
Destroyed me.
Yet part of me still loved him.
How pathetic.
Kael waited patiently.
“I don’t know.”
He nodded once.
“Then you will remain here until you decide.”
I looked around nervously.
“With you?”
“With me.”
Fear returned.
“You are the Lycan King.”
“And you are my mate.”
The words sent heat through my body.
“I don’t even know you.”
His silver eyes softened.
“You will.”
Another growl echoed through the forest. The wolves immediately became alert, several moving in front of Kael while others scanned the darkness beyond the trees.
Kael’s expression changed.
“What is it now?”
One of the warriors stepped forward and lowered his head.
“My King, they have crossed the river.”
The forbidden river.
Every werewolf knew its name. It marked the border between the werewolf packs and Lycan territory. No wolf had crossed it in centuries.
Kael’s silver eyes turned cold.
“They have entered Lycan territory.”
He looked at me.
“Your former mate is either very brave or very foolish.”
My heart raced. What if Adrian came to take me back? What if he regretted rejecting me? What if he apologized?
A voice suddenly echoed through the trees.
“Elena!”
My entire body froze.
Adrian.
He sounded desperate.
Another voice followed.
“She must be nearby!”
Sophia.
Kael heard them too. The silver in his eyes darkened, and the air around him became dangerous. The wolves surrounding us began to growl.
I looked toward the trees.
Adrian appeared between the branches. His clothes were soaked from the rain, and his chest rose heavily as he searched the clearing. The moment his eyes found me, relief washed over his face.
“Elena.”
He took a step forward.
Then he saw Kael.
Everything changed.
The future Alpha stopped moving. Fear appeared in his eyes because standing beside me was not a myth, a bedtime story, or a monster invented to frighten children.
The Lycan King was real.
And he was staring directly at Adrian.
Kael’s voice was calm.
Too calm.
“Is this the male who rejected you?”
Adrian looked between us.
“What are you doing with her?”
Kael slowly stepped forward, and power exploded around him. The trees trembled, and the wolves lowered their heads.
“I asked you a question.”
Adrian swallowed.
“She belongs to my pack.”
Kael’s silver eyes became ice.
“No.”
The single word echoed through the clearing.
Adrian clenched his fists.
“Elena is one of us.”
Kael looked at him for several seconds before speaking.
“Was.”
The correction struck me deeply because it was true. The moment Adrian rejected me, I stopped belonging to the Silver Moon Pack.
Sophia finally stepped into the clearing. Her eyes widened the moment she saw Kael.
“The Lycan King.”
Fear crossed her face, but she quickly looked at me.
“What are you doing here? Come back with us.”
I couldn’t answer.
Adrian stepped forward.
“Elena, please.”
Please.
The word shocked me.
For years, I had dreamed of hearing him say my name with concern. Now he stood before me looking frightened.
But frightened of what?
Losing me?
Or losing his mate?
Kael glanced at me.
“Do you wish to go with him?”
Adrian immediately looked hopeful.
My chest tightened. I remembered the years I had spent loving him, the dreams, the hope, and the future I had imagined. Then I remembered the rejection, the laughter, the humiliation, and the pain.
Slowly, I shook my head.
Adrian’s face fell.
“Elena—”
“You rejected me.”
Rain dripped from his dark hair.
“I know.”
“You told everyone I wasn’t worthy.”
His jaw tightened.
“I made a mistake.”
Sophia turned toward him.
“Adrian!”
He ignored her.
His eyes never left mine.
“I shouldn’t have done it.”
My wolf stirred painfully. For years, I had wanted him to choose me. But hearing those words now only hurt.
Kael spoke quietly beside me.
“Too late.”
Adrian’s gaze snapped toward him.
“You stay out of this.”
Kael’s expression remained unreadable.
“You rejected your mate in front of your entire pack.”
Adrian’s fists clenched.
“You know nothing about us.”
“And you know nothing about mates.”
Silence fell.
The rain continued falling between them.
Sophia suddenly stepped forward.
“She is only an omega.”
The wolves around Kael growled. The temperature seemed to drop.
Kael slowly turned his head toward Sophia.
“Choose your next words carefully.”
For the first time, I saw genuine fear in her eyes.
Adrian moved in front of her.
“You will not threaten my pack.”
Kael’s gaze returned to him.
“Your pack entered my territory. You crossed my river.”
His voice became deadly.
“I came for Elena,” Adrian said.
Kael looked at me.
“And yet you rejected her.”
Adrian had no answer.
The silence was enough.
For several seconds, no one moved.
Then Kael reached for my hand.
The moment our fingers touched, warmth spread through my body. The pain inside my chest eased, and my wolf sighed with relief.
A brilliant silver light suddenly burst between us.
Everyone gasped.
The bond.
Visible.
Undeniable.
Adrian stumbled backward.
Sophia’s face became pale.
The wolves lowered themselves to the ground.
Kael’s voice echoed through the forest.
“She belongs to me.”
- Writer
