Reclaimed By Fate

Chapter 3

Lucifer POV



The moment she stepped on my pack’s territory, I knew that I was screwed. Screwed beyond repair. I was ready to pack my life, hand over everything to the next guardian of the throne, and leave this world silently, but she came like chaos, an unexpected typhoon. For sure, I didn't have the guts to end this chaos and bring everything back to normal. Hell, I can't even imagine laying a hand on her.

Undoubtedly, she was pretty, and I couldn't bring myself to say that I had seen better. I only knew her name, and I was smitten. I thought the Moon Goddess wouldn't grant a mate to the devil. But she knows how to screw someone; she granted me a mate when I only had three months to live. She's a selfish b***h who only wants to play with us until the end.

“You can't kill me, can you? Killing your mate means suicide."My little one smirked while sitting in front of me with crossed legs, causing the shirt on her to ride up. She was the only one who could behave like this in front of me; others would be dead by now. And she was right; I can't kill her, but not because of the reason she stated—hell, I don't give a f**k about my life.

“Shut that pretty mouth of yours, or I will put a silence to it forever,” I replied coldly.

I knew that she was not happy seeing her mate, which hurt my wolf, but it was better this way. I didn't want to be selfish by keeping her by my side for three months, developing her feelings, only to leave her at the end.

I saw her roll her gray eyes at me while playing with her ice-colored locks. I thought that she would be scared of me after knowing my identity, but who knew that she would be more confident? I knew pretty damn well that she was putting all her hope on the fact that she was my mate.

My eyes focused on the screen as I read her information. I darted my eyes at her when I saw that she was on a run. My anger boiled even more when I read what her ex-mate did to her and how her pack turned against her.

“No wonder she doesn't want us; we got to kill that bastard,” my wolf said. Sage growled in my head, and I agreed with him.

I looked at her from my computer screen; wheels were turning in her head. She knew her stakes. Before I could say anything, she spoke up.

“How about I offer you a deal? I know that you don't want a mate like me. I will accept your rejection, but in return, you have to let me go. Also, before going, I will sign a peace treaty with you. If I ever get my pack back, I won't go on a war with your pack; however, if you ever need my help, my pack will help you unless it's not against our interests,” she eradicated confidence.

An involuntary laugh escaped my lips. “We both know that this deal is only in your favor; however, I accept your deal, but only the first part. I will let you go after the rejection, but as for the peace treaty, you got to have a pack first to say that,” she flinched upon my words. I knew that I rubbed salt in her wounds, but I didn't want to leave some good memories for her to remember me.

“You will let me go?” She didn't seem to believe my words. I wouldn't have to, but who knew that a day like this would come too?

I stood up from my seat, and my involuntary steps stopped in front of her. “Stand up, let's finish it; the sooner, the better." For a split second, I saw a wave of hurt flash in her eyes.

I didn't mean it to sound like this; I said that to flash reality in front of my eyes. “Don't do it right now, Lucifer. We can do it a few days later. A few days won't do any harm to her; please let me enjoy the feeling of having a mate,” Sage begged me.

“We won't be able to control it, Sage. Look at her; she is a temptation, a seductress, and a gift ready to be unpacked. We will ruin her,” I sighed.

Laila stood up from her seat; we were both just inches apart. I could feel the heat coming from her piece of furniture. She reached my shoulder height. Her eyes were directly staring at mine; an unknown emotion was in them. It might be a mixture of fear, sadness, comfort, relief, and emptiness.

Unintentionally, my hand lifted to tuck the strand of hair behind her ear. I was so lost in the moment that I didn't even realize that I had taken another step toward her. We were just centimeters apart. I ran my hand from her forehead to the bottom of her neck, tracing every inch of her beautiful face, her almond-shaped eyes, her small and pointed nose, her blushed cheeks, her sharp jawline, and finally her long and sleek neck, where I expected my mark. I saw her closing her eyes and pushing her face into my palm. My wolf burst with happiness when he realized that our touch and our presence affected her.

I lowered my head until our foreheads touched, closing my eyes. I inhaled her rose scent, a scent so sweet and so intoxicating that it left me craving more. My thumb brushed against her plump lips. Suddenly, I felt her arms wrapped around me, causing a small smile to form on my lips.

I lifted her on the table and snuggled my head in the crook of her neck. Her body against mine felt warm; she felt like home, a place I would happily like to return to at the end of the day. But I knew that it was only a dream that could never be fulfilled. I sighed and pulled away from her while ignoring the whinnies of my wolf.

I saw her coming back to reality too. She stepped down from the table. She took a few steps backward, rubbed her arm, and looked everywhere else except for me.

I cleared my throat. “Are you ready?” I asked her because I was not ready and I might never be.

She looked at me for a split second, kept quiet for a minute or two, and then took a sharp breath. She looked back up and nodded.

“I, Lucifer Denarios, the Alpha of the White Willow Pack, reject..." My words paused as Laila fell unconscious on the ground with a thud.

My eyes widened, and I immediately fell on my knees. Taking her head in my lap, I taped her face. "Laila... What happened? Wake up……"I said while sprinkling the water on her face, which was on the table beside me.

She didn't move an inch. I checked her pulse; it was there but barely recognizable.

“Call the royal doctors!!!” I shouted, and my mind linked Odin to making the arrangements. Picking Laila up in my arms, I rushed to the royal medical room in the palace. I looked down on my mate in my arms, and suddenly my steps came to a halt. My gaze fell on the bloodmark on her lower stomach.

“Moon Goddess is truly a b***h,” I said with a mixture of sadness and anger. Pulling her shirt back down, I placed her on the medical bed, and doctors immediately surrounded her.

I saw how they connected her to several machines and gave her medical assistance. My hand curled into a fist and connected with the wall outside of the room. The cure that I have been looking for all my life—the only thing that can save me from dying—resides in the beauty that is now fighting for her own life.

Only the blood from her heart can save me.

Just as a chess master planned ahead, the Moon Goddess had made her moves, and I, Lucifer, was left to face the consequences. I was a pawn in her game, a doomed player with a fate already written. Laila was the unforeseen move that changed the course of the game. The next moves were uncertain, and the consequences were far-reaching.

I watch as the doctors work on her, their faces etched with concern. The bloody mark on her stomach seems to mock me, as though the Moon Goddess herself is laughing at this predicament.

"Stay with me, Laila," I whisper to her unconscious form. "I will find a way to break this curse and keep you by my side."