Scarlet's pov

Just as the rogue is about to sink his canines into my neck, a howl echoed into the night, right before a huge black Lycan jumps in front of me.

His aura reeks of power and authority, and he stands tall, looking down at the rogues who are visibly shaken by his presence.

My wolf perks up at his presence, and she claws to be let loose as my eyes trace all his features.

That was weird.

The Lycan growled lowly, daring them to step forward and challenge him.

Their leader snared and leaped towards the Lycan.

The Lycan effortlessly sidestepped the rogue and flung it back.

The rogue stood and seemed to weigh his options. He thinks better of it when it is painfully clear that the Lycan can take them all at once.

With one last threatening growl, they retreat and disappear into the shadows.

The Lycan turns towards me, and my breath hitches when our eyes meet.

Brown hazel eyes sparkled as they stared at me, almost as if they were searching my soul.

His face was hard and unreadable.

My throat dries at how huge and muscular he is, towering over my little frame. His eyes are sharp and alert with a mix of wonder.

Electric sparks surround us, and my wolf begs to be let free.

I'm baffled by how my body craves to gravitate towards this stranger.

"Mate." His low husky voice declared, looking straight at me, and my heart dropped.

My wolf leaped for joy at his words.

"No, it couldn't be," I muttered as my eyes rolled to the back of my head and I passed out.

****

"What if she dies?" A tiny voice asked.

"Sophie, don't say such things." Someone gasped, and I groaned as I felt someone poke my side.

"Aren't you a tough one?" A voice lulled me into consciousness, and I slowly peered my eyes open.

A small girl of not over five years and a young, chubby woman towered over me and stared at me with curiosity.

"Off you go Sophie, I have a patient to attend to." The woman shooed the little girl out of the room and locked the door with a click, before returning to me.

I took in the simple cream coloured room and frowned when I realized this wasn't my bedroom.

"I'm sorry, that's my daughter. She's very curious." The woman's soft voice broke the silence.

"Where am I?" I asked, cradling my banging head within my hands.

"In the Moonlit Lycan pack." She informed me, and my eyes bulged.

The events of the past day flooded my memory, and I plopped down on the bed in defeat.

"Who brought me here?" I asked.

"Damien, the Lycan King." She shrugged, and my heart stopped.

It couldn't be.

This had to be some sick joke from nature.

Of all the people in the world to be my mate, it had to be the Lycan King. A wolf feared by all throughout the kingdom.

I marvelled at how, in less than a day, I had gone from almost getting married to the love of my life to finding out he was having a child with my best friend and then almost getting killed by rogues if not for the timely appearance of my mate.

My mate, the Lycan king.

"You don't need to seem so frightened, dear, I know what the rumours say, but when you get to know him, you'll discover he is nothing like that." The woman looked at me with a soft smile.

"Who are you?" I asked, gulping down the water she offered me greedily.

"Emma, the pack doctor." She introduced herself.

"King Damien asked me to inform him when you are awake." She commented and a strange emotion I couldn't place gripped my heart at the thought of staring into those brown hazel eyes again.

"I'm not sure I'm up for company just yet," I muttered, trying to avoid any interaction with him until I could decipher how I felt about everything.

"I can't disobey his orders." She told me.

She went to the door and spoke to whoever stood behind it before returning to me with a frown on her face.

"Is he standing outside the door?" Panic spiked through me.

"No, those are the guards he stationed at your door." She explained.

"Guards?" I quirked a brow at her.

"Just a formality." She shrugged.

"King Damien has ordered you rest and regain your strength before he visits you." She informed me.

That was exactly what I wanted, so why did I feel disappointed instead of relieved at her words?

Why didn't my mate want to see me?

"How fast do you think the wound would heal, and would I be able to leave?" I asked her as she changed the dressing on my abdomen, where the rogue had bitten me.

"I don't know about leaving." She looked up at me wearily.

But it should take a day or two at most for you to heal, your wolf is very strong and is helping to speed up the healing process." She revealed and I merely nodded.

Once I was strong enough to be on my feet again, I would leave this place, regardless of whatever my mate had to say about it.

"I tried to save your gown, but I'm afraid it was unredeemable." She divulged.

It was then I noticed I wasn't clad in my white wedding dress; rather I was in a simple black tank top and shorts.

My heart clenched at the mention of my wedding gown.

I should have been marked and happily married by now.

"It doesn't matter, you could burn it if you like. I want to have no physical reminders." I gritted out, and the woman stared at me in bewilderment, no doubt surprised at the venom laced in my words.

Because the last thing on my mind right now, is taking revenge against those motherfuckers who betrayed me.

"Alex, Kayla..." I breathed heavily, my fist clenched in anger.

Damien's pov

I drove my fists harder into the punching bag, concentrating on letting out all my pent-up frustration.

Two days–it had been two whole days since I had met my mate and carried her back to my pack.

Everything within me screamed to go to her, to take her and claim her as mine, but I bit down the urge, drawing a breath as I didn't derive the sensation I sought from attacking the punching bag.

"We've already changed two punching bags in the last day, some of my men are in the infirmary because they were brave enough to spar against you at your command, and the others are unwilling to risk their lives by stepping into the gym even though they need to train." Callan, my beta, stared at me as he leaned against a wall at the far corner of the gym.

"Your point is?" I quirked a brow at him.

"You have to get it together, Damien." He pushed off the wall and approached me.

"I am well put together," I informed him, and he scoffed, ignoring the daggers my eyes shot his way.

Callan was the only one who could call me out and go scot-free.

"Then why are you attempting to kill all your men?" He quirked a brow.

"I am not attempting to kill my men, I simply wish to train their bodies. They are weak." I growled.

"Or maybe you are being a coward who is scared to face his mate outside these gym walls and doesn't know how to express the emotions raging within him." He retorted.

"Know your place, Callan." My voice boomed, but the man didn't even bat an eyelash.

"I know you, Damien." He sighed.

"Avoidance won't help you." He advised and I raked my hands through my hair in frustration.

"What do you expect me to do? I was sure the moon goddess hadn't given me a mate. I was sure I was going to rule alone, considering the curse, and that was fine by me, but now the moon goddess thrusts a little frail woman my way."

"If I dare mark her, she is going to die, and if I reject her, it will weaken me. So tell me, what do you expect me to do?" I placed both hands on my waist as I tried to control my ragged breathing.

"Why can't you be with her?" Callan asked, and my expression immediately darkened.

"You know about the curse-" I gritted out. Callan was the only one who knew about the curse.

"There could be a way around the curse. If the moon goddess gave you a mate, then there must be a way." He interrupted me.

"You knew how long I searched for a cure, a remedy, a way around the curse, and anything that would break it. I won't give myself any more false hopes only to end up at a dead end." My words rang with finality, and he knew better than to say anything more on the subject.

"Just find another outlet for your pent-up emotions and leave my men alone." He sighed before walking out of the gym and leaving me with my thoughts.

Callan was right about one thing, though: I couldn't hide away in the gym forever. I had to face my problems head-on.

After taking a shower, I made my way to my mate's room, stopping short as her melodic laughter rings through the door and something stirred within me.

"Come in." Her soft voice called out to me when I knocked on the door.

I pushed open the door, and immediately my nostrils flared as the sweet scent of strawberries wafted around me.

My eyes landed on my mate who was in the middle of her bed and staring at me with blue doe eyes, and her little lips parted.

Everything within me begged to pounce on her and claim her as mine.

I knew my eyes flashed, and I closed them for a second, trying to gain better control of my urges before I opened them and kept a blank expression.

Sophie, Callan's daughter, and Emma are perched on the bed beside my mate.

"I would like to speak with my mate." I announced and Emma immediately spring from the bed.

"Let's go, Sophie." Emma bundled the little girl in her arms and left the room, shutting the door with a click behind me.

Awkward silence stretched in the room for several seconds, and my mate rose from the bed.

The sparks were undeniable when our eyes met, and I couldn't second-guess this.

This woman was my mate, there was no mistaking it.

She looked fresher now that the dirty and bloodied gown was gone and her blond hair was tied up in a bun.

She was perf,ect.

"You wanted to talk to me?" She asked, breaking the silence as a blush stained her cheeks at the intensity of my stare.

I cleared my throat and looked away from her.

"How are you feeling?" I asked her lamely.

"Much better. I'm practically healed." She replied slowly.

I was at a loss for what to do.

"What is your name?" I asked, keeping my voice steady, and her eyes widened in shock.

I had made it a point not to talk about her whenever Callan or his mate tried to bring her up in the last two days. It was safe to say I knew absolutely nothing about my mate.

"Scarlet." She replied.

"Scarlet." I tested her name on my lips, and I noticed her sharp intake of breath.

Good, I wasn't the only one who could feel the mate pull.

"And you are the feared Lycan king." She muttered after a moment, and I quirked a brow at the title.

Somewhere within me, I didn't want my mate to see me as the Lycan in that title, I wanted her to see me for who I was behind the crown.

"I hope-" I began, but my mate cut me off.

"I want to leave." She announced, and my heart dropped.

Scarlet's pov

"Leave to where?" Damien asked, his words vicious, and I could tell by the slight tick in his jaw, he was struggling to control his temper.

I hated to admit it, but I was scared.

I had heard tales of his ruthlessness and viciousness being spoken about across packs.

"I can't go back to my pack, but I'll find somewhere else," I replied in a tiny voice.

"This is your pack and home now." He growled.

"Would you keep me here against my will?" I asked.

I remained silent, and that fear I felt rose within me.

He scanned my face before he let out a sigh.

"I wouldn't keep you here against your will. However, would it be so easy for you to leave? Don't you feel the mate bond?" He asked, stalking towards me.

The closer he came, the stronger the scent of sandwood invaded my senses.

"I don't know what to do," I whispered, and it was the truth.

I didn't know how to move forward from here.

"Why were you in a wedding gown the day we met?" He asked, and my eyes bulged at the unexpected question.

"I was meant to be married," I revealed, and he clenched his fists by his side.

"What happened? Why were you fending off rogues instead of being at your wedding?" He inquired, and I was unsure how much to divulge to this man.

He might have been my mate, but he was still a total stranger to me.

"I'd rather not talk about it." I shrugged and looked away from him.

"I would like to know if my mate is married or if I should be bothered about anyone coming to claim what is mine." He said possessively, and I almost melted into a puddle.

"I am not an object to be claimed by anyone," I announced.

"But you don't have to worry about that. I'm not married, and no one is coming for me." I said with a sad smile.

"He is a fool, then, but I cannot bring myself to hate him because his actions made our paths meet." He divulge,d and my wolf leaped within me, against my better judgement.

"Why were you in the forest by that time?" I asked, and his eyebrows shot up in surprise.

He wasn't expecting me to ask any questions.

"I was restless and I needed to clear my head." He shrugged.

My eyes rested on his face, and I was overcome by the sudden urge to brush my fingers along the single scar running down his left eye, right before I peppered it with kisses.

I must be running mad.

"I thought you were avoiding me." I blurted out.

"What made you think that?" He asked, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

"You made no attempt to see me since the night you brought me here." I reminded him.

"Did you want me to visit?" He cocked his head to the side.

"I was just saying," I muttered as my cheeks heated at the implications of his words.

"You've already met Emma. She would guide you on anything you need to know about the pack, and if you have any questions, feel free to seek me out." He said before he turned to exit the room.

"You aren't going to claim me or mark me?" I questioned, and his hand stilled on the door handle.

I wanted to slap myself for speaking without a filter.

"Do you want me to?" He turned slightly towards me.

"Again, I was just merely asking." I shrugged as I hugged myself.

That was all my wolf wanted, but I wasn't about to say that out loud when I knew it was the mate bond manipulating me.

"And what would you do if I decide to take you right here and now and mark you?" He asked, his hazel eyes flashing.

My mouth went dry as my traitorous mind conjured the image in my head.

I gulped but otherwise remained silent.

Damien gave a stiff nod and turned back towards the door.

"Then I suggest you stop asking questions when the answers might not be favourable to you. The pack's doctor will come to attend to your wound," He announced before he left my room.

I stared at the door long after he left and realized that he hadn't answered any of my questions; rather, he had left me more confused than I had been.

It wasn't up to a few minutes when Emma entered with a tray, plates, and some wool.

"You definitely have to eat more, and we have to build your body." Emma touched my limbs.

"I think I look alright just like this." I looked down at my body.

"Of course, you do," Emma muttered under her breath.

I wasn't exactly skinny, but I couldn't say I had a sturdy build.

"Damien gave me his credit card and said to get you some new clothes." She changed the subject as we walked into the mall, and I stilled.

"Why would he do that when he is deliberately ignoring me?" I asked with a frown.

"He isn't ignoring you, Scarlet. He is just busy." Emma defended him lamely, but I could see even she didn't believe her words.

"Too busy to speak to his mate whom he has not even attempted to get to know?" I quirked an unimpressed brow.

"Do you even want him to get to know you though? You just proposed that you are leaving," She asked, and I groaned before adding. "I overheard it though. It wasn't intentional." 

"Would everyone just stop doing that. I need straightforward answers, and answering my question with a question isn't particularly helpful." I snapped, and Emma stood still. 

But come to think of it. Am I really going to return to a pack I felt so unwanted? An Alpha that betrayed me. A mate that slept with my bestfriend. And a friend that sees me as an enemy?

I can't believe I was almost torn into pieces by those rogue wolves in the wood. Alex, and Kayla after many years of loving them hard chose to betray me this way. 

What if I leave and they come for me? 

Kayla, and Alex had hurt me badly. It hurts I cannot forgive. All my life, I've loved them. And this is how they chose to betray me?

Revenge is the only thing on my mind. And right now, maybe leaving isn't an option. 

But how am I going to get revenge against those two when I have no backup? 

Before Emma could reply, a bang was heard from the distance, almost like a loud drum, and it kept beating.

"What is that?" I asked as I noticed people inside the mall began to rush out, and there was an excited chatter in the air.

"Come on, let's go." She retorted instead of answering my question as she dragged me out of the mall.