The Cursed Mate of the Lycan King

I woke up drenched in sweat. My body ached and my temperature had shot up. My sheets were soaked and my heart was beating so fast it felt like it wanted to jump out of my chest.

This was the first day of my heat cycle.

I knew what was coming.

I walked towards the bucket full of ice water I had fetched in advance. My hands trembled as I lifted it. I splashed the freezing water on my skin, but instead of helping, it made the burning inside me feel even worse.

I winced in pain.

I closed my eyes and remembered last year.

Males had chased me because of my scent. I could still remember the sound of their footsteps behind me and the way my heart had pounded as I ran.

One of them had almost grabbed me.

Or even worse.

I swallowed hard.

This year, I was not going to attend the ceremony.

I had to hide myself.

A knock came at the door.

I froze.

My body was already burning, and now fear crawled through me as I walked towards the door.

“Alpha orders. Every unmated female must attend the ceremony. Sundown.”

The gamma furrowed his brows as he covered his nose.

Shame burned hotter than the heat inside my body.

I closed the door and leaned against it. Slowly, I slid down until I sat on the ground.

Disobedience was equal to death.

I looked across the room at the shabby dress hanging there. It was the most decent one I had.

No way I was fit to be seen.

I looked at myself.A wolf-less failure.

That was what they called me.

“It seems the wolf-less failure is now in heat. She stinks. Cover your nose.”

I heard the gossip outside as people moved towards the ceremony grounds.

My fingers curled against the floor.

I hated them.

But most of all, I hated that I could not do anything about it.

I took another cold ice bath and applied the suppressing paste to my glands. I added the herbal patch I had made myself and hoped it would be enough.It had to be.

I walked alone towards the old temple, and along the way, people avoided me like a plague.

No one wanted to walk beside me.

No one even looked at me for too long.

The moon was slowly rising and the more it rose, the more my pheromones leaked despite the herbal patch.

“Smells like trouble.”

The girls around me covered their noses and walked towards the unmated males.

I lowered my head and kept walking.

“Don’t taint the King with your stench.”

Another girl pushed me and my back hit the pillar hard, and pain coursed down my spine.

For a moment, I couldn't breathe.

Nobody helped me.

Some laughed.

Some simply walked past as if I was nothing.

I picked myself up and bowed my head before taking steps back.

Maybe if I stayed far enough, people wouldn't smell my scent.

Maybe I could disappear.

I stood at a distance where I could see the arena.

Hundreds of werewolves filled the grounds. Torches surrounded the temple, their flames dancing against the night while the moonlight lit the ancient stones.

The air was filled with excitement.

Tonight, everyone was waiting for fate to choose them.

Everyone except me.

“Tonight, fates are chosen,” the Alpha commenced the ceremony.

Every other werewolf howled with him.

The sound shook through my body.

I hid behind the pillar and pulled the dirty old cloak over my head.

I wanted to disappear.

The moon was now at the centre of the sky and it hit me.

My skin began prickling.

I gasped.

My heat spiked.

A painful groan escaped my lips as I pressed my hands against my stomach.

I felt like I was about to burn all over.

The pain shot down my spine, and I bit my lip to stay silent.

Then I saw it.A flash.

It was as if the moon was playing a memory for me.

I saw my mother yer face exactly the way I remembered.

“Your strong, Selene.”she said.

I gasped.

Then it disappeared.

My heart was pounding.Why was I seeing her?

Before I could think about it, another wave of heat tore through me.

I gasped again.

This time, people noticed.

Heads turned in my direction.

People began covering their noses.

“It’s her.”

Someone pointed from the crowd.

Someone spat near my feet.

Others threw debris at me.

I stepped backwards.

“Stop.”i screamed .

Nobody listened.

The moon then fully emerged from the clouds and when its light touched me, my body temperature skyrocketed.

My knees went weak and I fell to the ground.

Something crawled beneath my skin.

At first, it felt warm.

Then it became hot.

Then it burned.

I grabbed my arm and clawed at it and a faint silver glow appeared beneath my skin, moving as if something was being carved into me.

“What is happening to me?”

The pain became was unbearable.

Then my forehead ached and a moon carving appeared on my forearm.

Glowing silver.

The entire arena went silent.

People stared.

Then the whispers began.

“What is that?”

“Look at her arm.”

“Witch!”

People screamed and began retreating.

I stared at my glowing arm.

I had spent my entire life believing I was defective.

Wolfless.

Weak.

A failure.

But this...

This was something else.

My pheromones burst out uncontrollably and all the unmated males groaned.

Their eyes went red.

One stepped towards me followed by others.

They were all advancing towards me and my blood ran cold.

No.

Not again.

I remembered last year.

The footsteps.

The hands.

The fear.

But there were too many this time.Hundreds of them.

The whole ground was filled with chaos. People stumbled towards me and I panicked.

“No, no. Don’t come any closer,” I pleaded.

One of them reached for me.

I lifted my arms to shield myself and my fingers sparked.

Ice formed on the ground beneath my feet and it spread across the stone like a living thing.

Everyone slipped but still tried to move towards me, but their feet kept sliding across the frozen ground.

I stared at them.

Then at my hands.

Then at the ice beneath me.

What had I just done?

The table where the Alpha stood flipped from the force, and he stood up.

“Someone contain her!” he yelled.

The guards moved in and surrounded me.

I tried to run but my legs were too weak.

They gave out beneath me and I fell again.

Just as someone was about to touch me, another vision hit me.

Blood.

Fire.

War.

People screaming and bodies lying across the ground.

Then a voice rang in my head.

“Take revenge.”

My heart stopped.

“Revenge for what?”I screamed.

The sound was deafening.

It wasn't human and a wave of power exploded from my body.

Three guards near me were knocked backwards.

Everyone stared at me.

The whole ceremony became dead silent.

I could hear my own breathing.

Then, from the raised dais, a voice cold, devoid of emotion and ancient, spoke.

“Enough.”

The crowd parted and I felt it before I saw him.