Claimed by the ruthless lycan king.

Tiara's POV

" Do you, Alpha Bernard, take Zara as your Luna and mate? To uphold and to hold in holy matrimony?"

My hands clenched on the gown I had on, tears welled up in my eyes threatening to spill as they fixated on him.

Everything screamed in me to speak up, to let everyone know that I was against the marriage happening right now but my world crashed at the next word that was uttered.

" I do," Bernard uttered with a smile so wide on his face that tears stung my eyes.

Mustering up the strength, my feet padded across the huge room back to the cab waiting for me.

" Take me back" I said in a whisper, unable to recognize my voice.

Staring blankly, fond memories sipped in of I and Bernard which had just about turned out to all be lies, I tried to swallow the lump stuck in my throat, but it seemed rather persistent.

" Thank you" A smile graced my face at the cab driver who nodded at me, not before giving me a sympathetic look as I sauntered over to the trailer in the pack where our love story had begun.

My legs found their way to the kitchen, needles jabbed my heart endlessly as I picked up the celery, slicing through when barely minutes after, the door was yanked open and my body collided against the warmth of another.

With nose nuzzled against my neck and breath fanning my ears, he said in a whisper." I have missed you so much, Tiara, what is for dinner?"

" Where were you?" My hands clenched tight around the knife, squeezing my eyes before flickering them right open.

" Work was so hectic, but I am done, and I am here with you now. What do you want me to do? Assist you with the veggies? I can do that, also...we can watch that series that you have wanted all this while" he suggested.

A peal of laughter erupted through my throat as I placed the knife by the side, my eyes pivoting round until they were staring at him.

" You were at work? Bernard, are you going to do this? Right now?" My voice came out in broken shells.

He looked stunned, his eyes morphed into shock when he saw the tears I was trying to hold back.

" I was at work, what are you talking about? That is where I am always and...."

" Oh, please stop it!" I was tired of this charade he was putting up, how he was acting as if he had done nothing.

Slipping my hands into my pocket, I drifted the card at him.

" That is where you have been all day! While I stayed back at home, washing your clothes, making sure you had something to eat when you are back, you were out there getting married to my sister, of all people, how could you get married to my sister?" I raged as the crystal I held in, snaked down my porcelain face.

The sizzling of the pot rang across the air telling me they needed my attention, but I was done being the housewife he wanted.

" Tiara..." he held a hand out, racking a hand through his hair. "I can explain what it is, I didn't do this on purpose. I mean come on, you know I love you and...."

My fingers poked him on his chest, with my eyes glaring daggers as I wished that he would be hurt just like I was.

" You don't tell me you love me when you got married to someone else already! I dedicated my life to you, I did whatever you wanted me to and this is how you repay me? You should have done better. You owed me that"

" I owe you nothing!" He retaliated, my eyes widened at his words.

" I gave you a home, you had recognition because of me, everyone knew you because of me.... Oh, the alpha is dating that poor lowly omega, he is such a sweet man. That was all because of me and you knew it"

A chuckle of laughter escaped my throat, my heart slammed so hard against its rib cage that I couldn't breathe for a second.

Everything in spirals as my world darkened. I had loved him even more than I had loved myself. I had felt the bond, the pain with him, I was there when everyone didn't want him and now....

"And then you had to do that with my sister? Why wasn't I ever enough?" I muttered out.

" She is better in every way that you would ever be. You did your part and she did hers. You were never supposed to find out, if you weren't nosy, you wouldn't have known about this." He exhaled.

"We would have still been the same sweet couple everyone knew" he squeezed the paper into a ball, advancing further.

My wolf writhed in pain, snarling and growling at the betrayal, but there was nothing that could be done. Fisting my palm, I glared at him, watching as he halted in his footsteps.

With determination coating my tone, I said. " I don't want you anymore. I am renouncing our bond, from today onwards, we have nothing together"

My stomach twisted as air knocked off me. I couldn't think anymore, with reddened eyes, I tried to walk past when he held my wrist.

"You can't go.... Tiara...you can't...no one will love you as you are, no one will desire you as you are. I will take you as my mistress, stay back and be my mistress....just don't...don't go"

My feet halted, transfixed to the spot as I shook my head, trying not to succumb to his request, wriggling his hands off, I sneered at his words.

"You may find me undesirable, but that doesn't mean other men look at me the same way"

I picked up the pace, his growling voice behind me faded as I ran down the pavement, crashing into a nearby bar.

" A gin and tonic please" I placed a dollar bill on the table.

I had made a resolve to get wasted but when the alcohol hit the right spot, all I was instead, was a crying mess.

A gentle voice pierced through my reverie, jolting me out of it as I sniffed in, flicking my head around, my eyes met with honey brown orbs that seared into me.

I was lost in them for a minute, before staring elsewhere. Tossing his glass at me, he winked. "You look like you need company" his tone made my head muddled.

My stomach reeled in, heat pooled between my legs as a sandalwood scent drifted into my nostrils, awakening and intoxicating all of my senses.

" What gave it away?" I questioned, a gentle smile tugging at my lips, trying to look beyond the fact that I was soaked in-between my legs already.

His lips curved into a smile. "Your eyes, has anyone told you how easy it would be reading you?"

I shrugged, trying so hard to get rid of him until the music came up. A smile hinged at the edge of my lips as I nodded to it, memories of I and Bernard waltzing to it came on.

"You like it?" I bobbed my head.

"Then dance with me," he had a hand stretched out, waiting for me to take it.

" I am drunk, I can't" I waved him off when he insisted.

" If things doesn't go the way they should, I am surely going to take care of you, you don't have to worry about that. Just trust me"

My teeth dug gently into my lips, before accepting his hands. " One dance and I am done"

I tried to fend off the sizzling attraction I felt to him but when my hands leaned on his shoulders, his orbs locked on mine, I let him sway me away into the night, letting myself go.

Tiara's POV

Placing a hand over my eyes, I tried to fend off the sun rays that filtered through, letting out a yawn.

With my head flipped to the side, I stretched out my hands when I met something hard and sturdy. One that felt nothing like Bernard's body.

My eyes flicked open, memories from a night ago drizzled in, and I sat upright, weaving a hand through my hair.

I clasped a hand over my lips wondering what exactly I was to do when I saw those honey brown eyes.

"Shit" I cursed out loud, my legs wobbling as I glanced around, picking up my clothes as fast as I could. When I was sure that he was still fast asleep, I ran a finger across his face gently, startled when he let out a grunt.

My heart pulsated when I moved toward the door, my wolf grunting as I shut the door behind me. Why do I feel this way? Like everything was gone before it even started?

Digging my hands into my bag, I took a last glance at the mirror just outside the bar, my heart thumping so fast as I sauntered down the pavement to my office.

Tiptoeing down was becoming a thing, which had to stop, I was already late by an hour.

"You are late, when exactly is this habit of yours going to stop?" My footsteps stopped as my teeth dug slightly into my lips.

" It wouldn't happen anymore, I am sorry that I am late and..."

With a flick of his wrist, he dismissed my protest. " There wouldn't be a next time since we are relieving you of your job. You are sacked, Tiara"

I let out a chuckle as I tried to laugh it off, there was no way that was happening.

I might come in late, but I always get the job done. I had even won an award as the best employee of last month.

" That cannot be true, right?" My brows crooked as I questioned.

Raising his eyes at me, I could see the doubt that swam in them.

" For weeks now, we searched all over for these missing documents, the one that is aligned to the Michigan deal, and we found it on your desk. What exactly were you doing with them? When you know how long we have been pursuing that deal?"

" You know that isn't true" I shook my head.

" You know that I would never do that to the company, what exactly are you talking about?" I couldn't lose this out as well. Losing Bernard was manageable but not my job as well.

" It has been decided already. The disciplinary committee came to a conclusion, it is either we hand you over to the police or we get rid of you, and we don't want any issue right now. The public would pick it up, and it wouldn't be good for our image"

I stood still, clenching my fist tightly with thoughts racing through my mind. Spinning on my feet, I made a way to the MD's office, determined to get an explanation.

With hands clasped around the knob, I tried to turn it clockwise when I heard my name.

" Tiara has to leave. It is a regret that it has to come to this, but her sister is agitated with her presence here, her father the Beta is as well. Zara got married to the Alpha, and she feels threatened, so she wants her out"

My grip loosened around the knob as though I had been scalded by something hot. My chest squeezed as I strolled away.

Gossips trailed my path as snickers and sneers filled my ear as I trooped out.

I just couldn't grasp the reason my parents would do this to me. I was their daughter, there was a time when they loved me but all of those had changed when they found out I couldn't shift. It was something that hadn't been heard of.

Everyone knew me as a weakling, and they made sure they ridiculed it to my face at any given opportunity that they had.

They all hated me, no one wanted their children to be friends with me, but Bernard had changed all of that when he held my hands from being bullied and now, he was gone also.

" Zara! Zara!!" I yelled out, my feet kicking the trailer open. My eyes swept round as I searched for her.

I took steps forward, trying to go up the stairs when my parents walked out, stern looks on their faces as they pondered about wondering why I was here.

" You reek of weakness, what exactly are you doing here?" my father's degrading words struck me.

I stiffened in the spot I stood in, my chest heaving as I tried to focus on why exactly I was here.

" Father, mother...." My eyes went up to the stairs where Zara stood, with a briefcase by her side.

My eyes saddened as I stared. "Why?" I demanded, in a still voice. This wasn't how I had envisioned it, but I guess, I was too broken to care.

" I loved you" I scoffed. " I would do everything for you, I was ready to give you whatever it is you wanted, so why did you go for my man?"

She sneered, hands underneath her boobs. " You man? When exactly was Bernard yours? Wasn't that just a fickle of your imagination? I mean...you will always be the girl who can't shift and no one will want you. You stink"

I swallowed, trying to keep sane but all of my rationality flew right through the window as I tried to race up the stairs to exert my punishment on her when a hand held me back.

Gold orbs blazed at me as claws dug into my arms, blood dripping on the wooden carpet.

" What exactly do you think you are doing? Did you want to hurt my daughter? Who do you think you are?!" My father questioned.

The pain sipped in, as I endeavored to force myself to push the claws off. " I am your daughter as well. You knew how much I loved Bernard and yet, you walked her down the aisle, you watched her take not the only man I loved but my job, how can you be so cruel?"

A ripple of laughter punctured through the air as I was flung to the side, pain cranking through my spine.

" When exactly did I ever call you my daughter? You were never my daughter, and you would never be. You are just trash I picked up by the side and that is where you belong. Guards!" His voice thundered against the wall, with footsteps drawing closer.

Forcing myself up, my eyes went up to him, my heart twisted.

"Father...that isn't true, right? It can't be...mother...say something" I shook her vigorously, demanding an explanation when hands dug into my arms as I was pulled away, my father's last words coming through.

" Tiara is banished from this pack house and the pack. She is never to return"

All of my tears were drained, and I felt numb, I leaned against the hard wall, crashing against it.

All was lost, I had lost every single thing, and it was only right that I ended it all. With clambered steps, I walked into the woods, thorns pricked my sole but I didn't care.

With eyes that stung with unshed tears and hearts that had been jabbed with needles, I stood at the edge of the cliff, pushing myself forward welcoming the solitude that I was going to feel afterward.

Larry's POV

The first thing I noticed when I stretched my hands to the far end of the bed was the cold space beside it, devoid of the warmth I had felt all this while.

I pushed myself up, pacing the room as I searched all over for her, but she was nowhere to be found.

" Shit" I cursed as I fiddled around, slipping on my linen pants and a white long sleeve over my body.

I couldn't quite place my hands on it, but I could tell that she had been gone for so long, she wasn't here anymore. I couldn't feel the bond. The mating bond between us.

" Lexis" I placed the phone against my ear as I spoke to my Beta.

" I was with a woman, get me all her details in five minutes. I want them in five, and I am not going to take any more time than that"

Running a hand through my sleek hair, I pivoted my gaze around, before deciding to ask the bartender.

" Hey, have you seen anyone? Beautiful, and plump? We danced last night" I explained when he shook his head.

My hands slipped into my pocket, pushing a dollar bill at him.

" She left an hour ago. She looked suspicious, but she wasn't holding anything, and you were fine so...."

I was gone before he could utter the rest of his word, sliding into my car, I eased my way through the city while praying to the moon goddess that she would be fine.

A ding song echoed through, and I held the phone, running my eyes through it. A smirk at the edge of my lips. She worked in one of my companies, funny.

I killed the engine when I drove into the garage, running out in a daze.

" Boss, you didn't tell me you would be coming here and..." a short man ran out to me, a blissful look on his face.

" I want Tiara, get her for me right now. I want her in my office. Now"

He had his mouth wide agape, before clasping it shut. " She was sacked today," he relayed.

" She was sacked? Why?" My eyes squinted as I waited for an explanation, I could see he was squirming which meant there was foul play.

" She stole the document for the Michigan contract, and we had to get rid of her"

I let out a dry chuckle.

" Get rid of her? Is she a thing that you get rid of!" I pushed him against the wall, my hands fisted around his collar.

" What are you hiding?" I demanded to know. I could perceive it all the way from here. The stench of the fear of the unknown.

" Her sister instructed us to sack her. She got married to Tiara's fiancé last night and felt unease because she didn't want her close, so she asked us to do so"

I loosened the grip around his collars, my eyes spitting fire at him.

"Pray with everything in you that I see her because if I don't, you wouldn't just kiss your job goodbye you will kiss your life goodbye as well"

I watched him shake like a pluck chicken would have before spinning around on my heels, now that I knew what exactly had happened, I was going to use it to my advantage. Get her to my side and keep her with me, but where was I to start from?

My phone buzzed, interrupting my thoughts.

" We have a lead on her. She was seen walking into the woods just beside the crescent pack and..."

I stepped on the gas, driving as fast as I could.

" Damn it" I cussed at the edge of the woods. I couldn't drive any further than I had already, but I could race in.

Growling, I skidded on my feet as I sprinted down the woods in my hands, with claws at the tip of my fingers. Her scent led me down and when I saw her lean forward, trying to dive, everything in me blew away.

" What exactly do you think you are doing!" I growled at her, pulling her back until she was in my arms. Startled, she tried to push me away before I reverted into my human form.

"It is me," I explained.

I must have scared her. Her eyes stared at me and when those streaks of tears that lined her cheek faintly came into my view, all I wanted to do was snap whoever had caused that into two.

" You look different, aren't you a wolf?" Her hands trailed my face, fascinated at it.

" A lycan," I explained. " I am the lycan king, Larry"

A gasp escaped her lips, her eyes white as she stared at me.

" I didn't know... I didn't..." as though she had finally gotten her senses back, she shoved me aside.

" Let me go!" Her hands peeled off mine as she tried to stand upright only for her knees to buckle to the ground, but I caught her before she could.

" Let me" I implored. " Don't tell me you were going to kill yourself because of your sister and your fiancé?" I questioned.

I knew she was sad, my heart squeezed whenever she murmured, and I didn't know if it was because she was my mate.

" Come on, were you actually going to kill yourself because of them? What happened to making them pay?"

Her eyes turned dead with her lips pursed.

" You will never know what it is like to love with everything in you and what it means to be betrayed by those you love, then finally disowned from your pack" she relayed.

She was trying so hard to be strong, but she didn't have to. It was me. My hands patted the side of her face unconsciously as I leaned closer.

" Trust me, I do. I understand what you are going through"

We were laying still on the grass, surrounded by nothing else aside from nature and our buzzing heart. Mine that raged and hers that were torn. Two hearts that would become one.

" That is why I am going to ask you to come with me to my kingdom, be my queen, and we can work everything out. I know this came suddenly, but I have a reason for it. Let me fight off your enemies and...."

" No!" She screamed, she was up before I could hold her down. " I don't even know you! I don't see any reasons why I should be your queen"

My eyes met her own, peering into them, I uttered the one word I never thought I would.

" Because you are my mate. I felt our bond from the moment you were in the bar, it snapped just right, and I am not letting you slip through my hands, Tiara. I will do my best to be by your side and help you revenge those who had hurt you"

She looked stunned.

" Mate? How? Bernard was my mate and not you"

I shrugged. " That makes us two, but he is gone, so how about I be the one who stays by your side?"

"You need me and I do too. My kingdom needs a queen, you will have a home over your head, people who love you and I will help you avenge those who hurt you, how does it sound?"

She shook her head to the side, dismissing it. " I don't believe you. You are all out to hurt me"

" Give me a chance, Tiara, to show you that I am different, take my hands..." I stretched it out to her. " And you will never have a single regret"

She stood deep in thought.

"I can't," she explained. "I am still heartbroken and I can't be your queen. I need time to heal."

I exhaled deeply, thinking of what next to say to have her concur when she spoke up.

"You can stay by my side while I do so. I don't have anywhere to go and a roof over my head would be duly appreciated".

I punched the air in excitement, pulling her in for a hug, as I muttered to her. "Thank you" we were starting off somewhere.

She let me lead the way to the car where my beta stood, after making sure she was in the car, he leaned into my ear.

" Does she know the real reason you went searching for her?"

With eyes squinted at him, I warned. " She should never know. If she does, she wouldn't want me in her life"