THE REJECTED BETA AND HER CURSED LYCAN KING

The scent of pine and rain clung to the evening air as Zara stood at the edge of the Moonstone Pack's gathering grounds with her hands clenched into fists. Her heart pounded, though not with fear-no, she had long since stopped fearing rejection.

She already knew how this night would end.

Before her, Alpha Kieran stood tall, his golden eyes flickering with unease. His fingers twitched at his sides, and Zara could see the battle waging within him. His wolf wanted her, called to her, but the man-the Alpha-was resisting.

"I can't," he finally said, his voice barely above a whisper. "I reject you, Zara Grey, as my mate."

The words settled like a weight in the pit of her stomach. A dull ache spread through her chest, the familiar sting of a rejected bond. But she didn't flinch. She didn't beg. She didn't even cry.

Instead, she exhaled slowly and met his gaze with cold, unreadable eyes. "I accept your rejection."

Gasps rippled through the gathered wolves, but Zara turned on her heel and walked away before she could see their pitying stares. She had been through this five times before. Six now. She had lost count of how many times she'd been told she wasn't good enough. That she was cursed. That something was wrong with her.

Six mates. Six rejections.

The moon hung high above the trees as she made her way back to the Beta Quarters, where she lived with her best friend, despite being second-in-command of her pack's warriors. Her fingers trembled as she pushed open the door to her small cabin.

She hadn't taken more than two steps inside when a sharp knock echoed against the wooden frame.

"Who is it?!" There wasn't a single trace of emotion in her voice.

"It's me, Denice. You've locked the door.."

Zara turned back around and made her slowly to the door, dragging her feets across the floor as she made heavy strides.

Denice immediately sensed the tension in the air the moment the door was opened. Without asking any further questions, she wrapped her arms around Zara and pulled her into a wadm embrace.

"It's okay, you don't need to tell me how this one went." Denice mouthed.

"It's the curse again isn't it, I know you wouldn't want to tell me the truth, but the curse is the reason he rejected me, isn't it?!" Zara slapped her palm across her face, holding back the tears that threatened to cascade down her cheeks and slowly pulled away from Denice.

"You have to take easy on yourself, Zara. This isn't your fault, remember we are still trying to find a way around this...." Her best friend, Denice wrapped her arms around Zara and tried to console her, while she soaked her dress with her hot tears.

"For how long is it going to take, how long are we going to keep on finding a way around this?!" Zara screamed at the top of her lungs. She was finding it hard to take in air at this point,

The air felt contaminated and it held her at a choke hold. "Take it easy on yourself, Zara, it realised isn't your fault." Denice said again and kept holding her as she wept.

"Do you need me to get you anything to eat or drink?" She asked her.

"No, I do not want to eat anything. I'm going to be fine." Zara wiped her face and suddenly went to the door.

"I'm about to head out, I'll be back in the morning." She said in a low tone while placing her hand on the handle of the door.

"Tomorrow morning? Where are you going to?!" Denice asked in shock.

"Just going for a stroll...I'm going to calm my wolf.." she informed her.

"Hold on, let me grab my coat, I'm going to come with you." Denice said, spinning around immediately to search for her coat.

"There is no need to, Denice. I'm going to be fine, besides, I need a moment alone to put my thoughts together." She paused and then as if she were trying to recollect something, she lifted her gaze to the ceiling.

"If I don't return home tomorrow morning, you know where to start looking." And with that, she went out of the house without anything on her and closed the door with a loud bang.

"Zara, wait!" Denice tried to call out but she was already gone. Her face fell with agony.

Never had she encountered any wolf, even while growing up that was going through as much pain as Zara was. She had a pure heart and should never be put through this kind of hurt.

Being rejected six time in a row all because of the rumoured curse surrounding her. Denice had been with her for more than a decade and had never witnessed this curse herself manifesting in Zara.

Nothing extraordinary ever happened while she was ever around Zara and it was all a mere myth that the pack had cooked up, but still, there was a reason for contemplation.

Neither of the women could actually tell what Zara kept getting rejected by her mates. Denice thought her previous mates weren't wolf enough to handle her, because she was the best Warrior in their pack but Zara still believed that they could sense her curse and immediately flee without return.

The cold air stung to Zara's face, drying off the remaining tears that dropped eagerly from her eyes.

Zara's wolf stirred inside her, alerting her about the environment she was in, she had strayed too far away from safety.

Her instincts screamed at her to be cautious, but she squared her shoulders and continued walking with her hands shoved in her pocket.

When suddenly, she caught a towering figure stood in the shadows, shrouded in darkness.

She spun around and Instantly felt him. His presence was suffocating, his power pressing down on her like a storm about to break. The moonlight caught his face, revealing obsidian-black eyes that seemed to look straight into her soul.

She knew who he was before he even spoke.

It was Kael Draven. The Lycan King.

The most feared ruler of their kind.

"Zara Grey," he said, his voice deep and smooth as a blade sliding from its sheath. "You are mine."

Zara's world began to spin. King Draven had just called her by her name; how did he know her name? Scratch that, what was it he had said last before her ears began to ring and her heart began to race faster in her chest?!

She didn't think she had heard him right, her wolf was growling so loudly that she found it hard to process any further words emanating from Draven's mouth.

And then, the tingling sensation hit her nose, the familiar scent she had always dreaded and wished she would never get the privilege of sensing again, but here it was, pulling at her heartstrings.

Zara's breath hitched, her wolf stirring at the undeniable pull of the bond snapping into place. The air between them hummed with raw power, a connection stronger than anything she had ever felt before. But instead of the rejection she expected, Draven didn't push her away.

He took a step forward, their bodies almost pressing together.

She had not expected that in the space of one night, she would get rejected and find another mate right after. But she wasn't about to let herself go through the same process again, regardless of his status.

"I don't have time for this," Zara said, stepping back instinctively. "If you've come to reject me, do it quickly."

Draven's lips curled into something that wasn't quite a smile. "You assume too much."

Zara's brow furrowed. He wasn't rejecting her?

For the first time in her life, the pain of rejection didn't come. Instead, Draven reached out, his fingers brushing against her wrist. A jolt of heat shot through her, not just the pull of the mate bond but something deeper, darker.

"I won't reject you, Zara," Draven murmured. "But I won't mark you either."

Zara stilled, her mind struggling to comprehend his words.

"Why?" she asked, voice quieter than she intended.

Draven's expression darkened, his gaze flickering with something she couldn't place. "Because if I do, you'll die."

Zara's eyes widened at his words. "Die?!" She exclaimed.

"Can you not sense the curse around you, Zara?" He said in a soft voice that made Zara's stomach churn both from the texture of his voice and what he was revealing to her.

"And besides, Zara, you know you were not supposed to be here. My men are right over there... hunting." He said, pointing into the distance.

"I'm not quite disappointed that the scent of the mating bond has led me to you, Zara, but you need to head home right now!" He ordered her and led her in the direction from where she had come.

He stroked her chin lightly before he turned and headed in the opposite direction.

******

"You're back already?!" Denice could help but voice her surprise when she saw Zara walk in through the door.

"I changed my mind. I think I'd prefer to sleep over it instead." Zara replied and collapsed into her bed.

She lay awake that night, staring at the ceiling of her cabin while Draven's words replayed in her mind. Why would marking her kill her? she had thought.

A chill crept through her body, and for the first time, she thought of her past rejections not as a string of bad luck, but as a pattern.

A pattern that made no sense.

Sitting up, she reached for her phone and scrolled through old messages from the mates who had cast her aside. But as she searched, she realized something that made her blood run cold.

There were recent reports of wolves disappearing without a trace, and every single effort to find them was futile. It had been posted just a few hours ago that a couple more wolves had disappeared that evening, and Alpha Kieran was among them.

Zara sat up in bed and wiped her eyes. She began doing some more research; all of her other mates who had been rejected had also disappeared mysteriously.

Six rejections. Six mates. Six disappearances.

A sharp knock on her window sent her heart into a frantic rhythm. Zara spun, eyes narrowing as a hooded figure stood outside in the shadows.

Her gaze fell on Denice, who was still fast asleep on her bed.

Cautiously, Zara stood and went to unlatch the window. The scent of earth and musk filled her senses as she did, it was a rogue.

"You're in danger," the man rasped, his voice barely audible over the night breeze. "Your bond with Kael isn't a blessing. It's a trap."

Zara stiffened. "Who are you?"

The rogue's gaze darted around, fear flashing in his eyes. "The others-they didn't just reject you. They were erased."

A chill ran down her spine. "What do you mean?"

"They were never meant to claim you," he whispered urgently. "Neither is the King. Someone-something-is using you, and if you don't leave now, you'll be next."

Before she could demand more answers, the rogue's body convulsed, his eyes going wide with terror. A strangled gasp left his lips before he dropped to the ground, a dagger buried in his back.

Zara stumbled away, her breath catching as Draven emerged from the shadows, his obsidian eyes glowing in the moonlight.

His hands were clenched into fists and his body rigid. But there was something wrong with him. His muscles tensed unnaturally, his breaths came in ragged gasps. His wolf was fighting for control.

"Dra.... Draven?" she whispered, "What...what are you doing here, how did you know where I lived?!"

His head snapped toward her, and for the first time, she wasn't sure if he truly recognized her.

"I-" His voice was raw, guttural, as if he were in pain. His eyes flickered from black to molten gold, his fingers twitching at his sides.

Then, with a growl that shook the night, Draven dropped to his knees, gripping his head as if he were battling something unseen.

Zara rushed to him, but before she could reach him, a deep, inhuman voice that didn't seem to belong to him growled from his lips.

"It's too late."

Zara froze, her blood running ice-cold.

Draven lifted his head, his gaze locking onto hers with an intensity that made her heart hammer against her ribs.

Something-or-something-was inside him. And it wanted her dead.

"Have you lost your damn mind, Zara?!" Denice screamed at the top of her lungs. She had been awakened rudely that morning by low groans that seemed to be coming from Zara.

The deep groans didn't sound lady like and Denice had to quit her sleep to find the source of the endless groans that kept her turning and tossing in bed.

She was dumbstruck to find Alpha Kael Draven, the lycan king, lying just next to her on Zara's bed.

"What in the world?!!!" She had screamed and humped out of her bed almost running out of the cabin when she bumped into Zara on her way out.

"What's the matter with you?" Zara asked, making her way inside the cabin.

Denice yanked her by the arm, pulling her roughly. "Don't say a word!" Denice lapped her index finger over her lip as her bulged sockets drifted to where Alpha Draven lay.

"I don't know how the hell he got in here, but we have to get out." Denice's hot breath flushed against Zara's face.

"Calm down, Denice. I brought him in here." Zara revealed ans released Denice's grasp on her arm.

"You did what?!" Denice exclaimed silently, afraid that her rants would awaken the Lycan king.

"You heard me, I brought him in last night."

"What?!"

"Wh-why on earth would you do that?!" Denice stuttered; she was at a loss for words as Hervase kept drifting back to the Lycan king, who was still fast asleep on Zara's bed.

"And you let him lie on your bed? What is he even doing here in the first place, how did he find us-how does he know where we live?!" Denice asked all at once.

"It's a long story, but I'll tell you all about it later. Right now, I need to see if he's doing well."

Denice was still in shock, watching Zara walk past him towards Alpha Kael Draven.

"Can you help me make some tea for him while I try to get him to wake up?" Zara asked politely.

"No way in the world am I too to do that, until you tell me what the hell the lycan king is doing here," Denice whispered sternly.

Zara sighed and was about to head out to go make the tea herself when Alpha Draven began to stir awake.

"On shit!" Denice exclaimed and made her way out of the cabin, leaving Zara alone with him.

Zara's breath hitched in her throat as Alpha Draven's eyes fluttered open, "Where am I?!" These were the first words he uttered as his eyes took in his environment.

"You're in my cabin," Zara informed him, swallowing the bile in her throat.

"Your cabin? How did I get here?!" He asked with furrowed brows, trying to recall the events of last night.

Zara shot him a confused look. Doesn't he have any memories of what had transpired last night, how he had killed that rogue and suddenly passed out?

"I found you in a critical condition, so I had to take you in." Zara lied.

"Gosh, what's the time? I'm supposed to be at a council meeting...." He ignored what she had said and got up from the bed.

"My head hurts so bad." He groaned in pain while grabbing his head. He didn't want to go into much detail about what must have happened to him since he was already running late for his council meeting.

"Thank you so much, Zara, for taking me in, but I will see you when I get back from my council meeting." He said and vanished out of the cabin.

*********

The scent of burning sage and old parchment filled the ancient chamber, the dim torchlight casting flickering shadows along the stone walls. Zara Grey ran her fingers over the brittle pages of the Lycan Codex, her heart hammering as she read the words that had been hidden for centuries.

She had no idea how she found herself in the temple's library. She had paid a visit to the temple because that was the only place she derived solace apart from the woods. But instead, she had wanted to fulfill this pressing instinct to visit the temple's library.

She found a book with a prophecy that was surprisingly written about her-not her in quote, but all of the life's events that took place in the prophecy pointed towards her life.

"The Beta-born with six broken bonds shall stand before the cursed king. She alone shall decide his fate-to free him or to end him. One must fall for the other to rise."

Zara's breath came in short gasps as the truth settled like ice in her veins.

Her mind suddenly went to her six mates who had rejected her in the past and had suddenly disappeared.

It had never been a coincidence. She had been chosen. Prepared. Groomed.

Her fingers trembled as she traced the prophecy's final line, barely daring to breathe.

"By her blood, the curse shall be undone."

Zara swallowed hard. Her rejection, her suffering-it had never been about her. It had always been about Draven. The Lycan King's curse and her tragic fate were bound together in ways she had never imagined.

And now, she had a choice to make.

Her eyes took in the words from the book, her heart heavy. She wanted to make sense of all that was happening, she recalled the event from the night she had first ran into Alpha Draven; it now dawned on her why he had refused to neither mark or reject.

But she remembered something else: The unconfirmed news about a mysterious illness that was killing the Lycans in Alpha Draven's pack.