The Lycan's King Forsaken Mate.

The moon suspended heavily in the blue sky, its silvery reflection shimmering over the ancient stone altar in the middle of the sacred Moonveil forest. The air tensed with power, weighty with the scent of damp earth and jasmine. Shadows of tall iroko swayed as if whispering secrets long ignored. The Elders stood in silent circles, their hooded figures barely detectable in the strange glow of the lunar eclipse.

At the middle of the altar knelt a woman worn in a white cloak, her brown hair cascading over her trembling shoulders. Her piercing golden eyes, mixed with silver, held the fate of generations-eyes that premonited the veil of life, into the depths of fate itself. She was Jacqueline, the very first of her kind, chosen by the gods to hold the power of the Lunar Queen.

The humming sounds of what seemed to be the summoning of the Moon Goddess was the only thing that filled the already tensed air.

A tremor passed through her as the event climbed to its climax. The shimmering moon, camouflaged in crimson, pulsed with an old force, beckoning to the call of the ritual. A gust of wind howled through the grove, carrying whispers-voices of her predecessors, voices of her premonited successors.

The Great Seer moved forward, his gnarled fingers raised to the heavens. "Jacqueline Rivera of the Silver Bloodline, do you accept the burden of the Luna Queen, the guardian of the preternatural world, the holder of fate?"

Jacqueline's breath caught in her throat for flick seconds. She had been chosen, but she had not been given a choice of decision. The power that runned through her veins was both divine and a gift. To oblige means to die to herself, to become an immortal, yet never truly a life of self decision.

"I accept," she whispered, her voice steady despite the storm raging deep inside of her.

A cold and unreadable smirk tugged at the lips of the Great Seer.

A bolt of silver light strode from the moon to the ancient stone, reflecting its beams at her chest with an eerie force. Jacqueline's body froze, her back arching as the magic wove itself through her spirit. Her bones as though in flames, her heart pounding violently against her rib cage with the celestial dance above. Then, just as suddenly as it began, the agony ceased.

Jacqueline gasped, her body sweaty and shaking. She felt it-the divine power, the wisdom, the undeniable truth that was no longer a mortal. She was a legend. A deity in flesh form.

The Great Seer's voice trembled with respect. "The Luna Queen has risen. All hail the Queen!"

The cacophonous sound that raised in the air showed their reverence and the consecrated power that she had just carried. "Hail. Hail. We hail the Great Lunar Queen of our world!"

Yet, as the voices of the gods faded, another whisper crawled through the darkness, a figure in dark cloak, carrying the environment of darkness as it looked like a shadow of itself, unbidden and filled with foreboding. "And what do you people think you are doing? You foolish and jobless old men." Tone laced in darkness.

"And don't you respect the presence of the Moon Goddess?" The Great Seer asked, pointing his staff towards the evil figure.

"Oh Spare me that or else I displace your head out of that filthy neck of yours!" It continued. "And you. You don't know the wrath you have brought on yourself. Your generation after you will pay for this." The dark figure's voice dripped blood as it closed the distance between it and Jacqueline. "But this is it. Since your so-called Moon Goddess has decided the fate of a long lasting war."

The light of the Luna Queen will burn bright, but dark shadows shall rise to turn it off. A time will arrive when her blood shall be given off once more, and in her return, the destiny of the preternatural world will be decided. The one who carries her essence shall move on a route of pain, love and war. She will rise, fall and awaken the wrath of those who dwell beyond.

The words slithered into Jacqueline's mind like creeping vines, tightening around her soul. A prophecy, forged in the hands of fate, unchangeable and absolute.

Far beyond the sacred grove, hidden in the abyss of time, a pair of unseen eyes will watch. A force older than the moon itself stirring, waiting. Watching.

For the prophecy had been spoken, and fate had begun its course.

Rhea's POV

"Why are you just so stupid and lazy at the same time?"

Anita's voice sliced through the air like a blade, her eyes suffused with irritation.

I winced, my fingers clenched to the fabric I had been scrubbing for hours. "I have been doing the laundry for the past few hours now. Pardon my delay." My voice was barely above a whisper, my heart racing, trying to avoid the land of her palm on my cheek.

What looked to me to be a daily routine of chores always was a sting to the flesh. I needed some rest and relax from the twenty hours daily rigorous chores I have been a subject to.

"Sorry for that stupid self," she snapped. "Hurry up. I need you to visit the packhouse for a contracted gardening job tonight."

"But..." The words hidden at the back of my clenched teeth as I couldn't let it on to what seemed to be an added agenda to how my day was always spent.

"......But what. You have no objection to my instructions." Anita's voice dripped with mockery and disdain.

I struggled to hold the fire of pain that had already ravaged deep inside me. My hands clenched to a fist, my knees almost submitting to the floor.

"Madam Anita. I don't like the way you treat me. It isn't fair in any sense." I said with the last ounce of bravery I possessed as I shot her with my already dewy eyes that I had been trying to hold.

What responded first was the imprint of her palms on my cheek. My light coloured cheek turned crimson.

"You idiot. After what I warned you, you still have the guts to throw words at me."

What I could only hear was the ringing sound of my eardrum and the muffled words that escaped her lips. I couldn't help as my knees failed me, bringing me to the floor, my hands clenched at my chest to see if it was possible to wage the shattered hope I had left for a life of merriness.

"Now leave my site immediately before I pour the remaining furnace on you." She exclaimed, her voice laced in anger.

"Not that you were ever better than my parents. You are nothing compared to them." I murmured, but what I felt to be a consolidation to my soul turned to a nightmare as my words were loud enough to the hearing of Anita.

"What did you just say?" She asked in a commanding tone. Her face already turned pale from the anger that burned deep within her as the distance closed between us.

"Nothing." I said

"You thought I didn't hear you." She exclaimed with a bloody tone. The next was the pain that swirled through my nerves, bones and muscles as a heavy punch landed on my face.

When I realized it was reality was the first drop of blood to my feet. My hands immediately held my face to cover the injury as though it was therapy.

The pain only increased and shattered deep inside of me as her fingers deliberately swung down my arms after the impactful punch.

"Oohh! So sorry for that one. I needed to make it three punches. I know you would love more." She said in a sarcastic and disdainful tone.

"Madam Anita. What did I ever do to you?" I asked as the first tears escaped my eyelids, streaming down my cheeks. My trembling hands grew sweaty as I clenched my already stained white gown.

"So you really want to know what you did wrong?" She asked in an uncanny tone. Her eyes widened in a playful surprise.

"Yes ma'am. I have been serving you diligently but yet, I never seem to satisfy or make you happy." My voice was already trembling from the fear that consumed deep inside of me.

"Oh darling! Come to mummy. Come hug me. I have been waiting for this for so long, the day you finally come out from this weak shell of yours and confront me." She said in an unreadable but happy tone. "Hurry up darling, come on." Her lips tugged in a warm smirk.

I moved closer towards her, closing the distance between us. My hands still trembling in fear as I reeled to the premonition of what will possibly happen–whether that of a good or a bad outcome.

"Rhea." She called in a husky and whispering tone, her arms fluttered around my shoulders. "Now I need you to listen to me very attentively. You don't want to end as your parents did. You are nothing but air, so you better act like one before I trade your skin with the birds of the air–a place you belong."

My shoulder lost a heavy shiver, my feet finding its balance to the ground below me as I tried to find myself in the nightmare I call a world.

"Now leave my presence at this very moment. Idiot!" Her tone was laced in irk and what looked like bitterness as she pushed me with much force to the floor. "And for your punishment. You won't put off those clothes you are wearing. You will use them for the gardening job tonight."

I nodded without hesitating, holding the lump that had already filled my throat. I struggled not to give in to the cold hands of tears in her presence.

Anita. My guardian. A Beta of the Moonveil pack had made my life not worthwhile. After the death of my parents in what they say to be a car accident eighteen years ago, she had taken me in–only to strip me of my Beta title and force me into the duties of an omega. A slave to the pack.

A weak wolf. A servant. A burden.

I had learned early that resistance meant pain. So I obeyed. Always.

As I made my way out of the laundry room. My hands trying to cover the blood that had already suffused all my face just to avoid questions from someone that had always been a thorn to my weak flesh.

A scoff came from behind. "Hey you! Come here, where have you been all this while." It was Ria, "And why are you stained with blood?"

"It's nothing serious. Just a domestic accident." I said. My eyes rested on the floor, avoiding my gaze from those dangerous eyes.

"Now you lie. You know you're nothing but a liability to this house." I felt her eyes looking at me in disdain. "Anyways, I don't care about those injuries. Just be mindful of your movements in this house and in the pack." she warned.

I barely had the energy and time to look at Ria, Anita's daughter, who shoved me hard. I stumbled, catching myself against the ceramic vase before I fell to the ground.

"I curse the day my mum ever brought you into this house," she spat. "You disgust me. Pray for death and end this agony you call a life."

I lifted my gaze to hers, my lips tugging in bitterness. "Thank you miss Ria, I acknowledge your advice," I said, the sarcasm thinly veiled.

"Hold that to your dead parents. Thank your stars for not being dead yet."

I turned immediately, avoiding her to see the pain that had already started suffusing on my face, swallowing the weak anger that ravaged deep inside me.

I had long since learned that wishing for kindness was pointless.

Rhea POV

I reached the pack mansion, the night air was weighty with the scent of damp earth. I wrapped my arms around myself, nerves surging through my muscles. It was my very first time coming to the packhouse. And now alone.

As I approached the gate, a deep, unfamiliar voice cut through the silence that had just the croaks of crickets.

"And who are you? What is your business here?"

I froze. A guard. His unreadable stare bore into me.

"I was sent by Mrs Anita for a gardening job," I said, forcing the steadiness of my already trembling voice.

"Gardening job? We weren't expecting anyone today, or-" he said with a confused tone. "But since you are coming from Mrs Anita. Then I would just have to play cool."

It wasn't the words of the guard that reeled through my mind, but the event from minutes ago between Anita and her daughter.

"I need directions please. Can you take me to the garden so I can get going." My quivering tone was laced with fear. My hands clenched to the gown stained with blood.

"I will. But if I may ask; why are you stained in blood?" the guard asked. But this was the question I had tried to avoid.

"It's none of your business. Just direct me to where I am supposed to be." I exclaimed, trying to stealth the pain deep within me, my eyes already forming dewy eyes.

"You can't say It's none of my business." he continued. "What if you are a vampire who is here to kill or even a spy?" The guard said. His voice turned venomous to my ears.

"I am not a spy or whatever you call it." I said, my voice high above a whisper as I tried not to reflect the fear and vulnerability that had eaten deep inside my soul.

"Then what are you? A rogue? A witch who finds solace in sucking blood?" His questions already furring my head to what I never wanted at this point when I need absolute silence with my thoughts.

"Okay fine!" I shrieked. "You really want to know who I am?" I asked, the agony already to the point of my throat as my breath escaped its flow from my lungs.

"Yes, and now." He said in an authoritative tone. "And don't act like someone to be pitiable, that's how your kind behave before carrying out their dark acts."

His words faded as something strange hit me. All my life had been hit of agony and pain, but this was something I couldn't fathom.

A scent.

It enveloped my senses, intoxicating and undeniable-pine, lavender and floral with its exquisiteness of natural roses.

No.

My body froze as realization slammed into me like a punch to my face.

What could this be? The scent became more pungent as I darted my eyes to find where it was coming from.

"Hey, I am talking to you." the guards voice cutting through the thought of what I had never felt in my existence.

"Don't you feel what I'm feeling?" I asked. My eyes rested on him for the hope of the scent coming from him.

"What do you mean by feelings?" He asked, his face in an uncanny expression but suddenly followed by something cold. "So you think you can play games with me right? Just wait here, I will be back. I will teach people like you what it means to be responsible."

His words resonated like what was usually responded with either an escape or a plea. But to me it was absurd. What just filled my mind was the intoxicating scent that filled my senses as I continued darting my eyes to find where it was coming from.

Surprisingly, It's been almost two years since I got my wolf but the Moon Goddess was yet to grant me what she usually gave to female wolves at their turn to eighteen. Although the case was for me and Ria. We were not yet mated.

This scent. This pull.

It could only mean one thing. But I don't think I was ready for it, because of the threats from my guardian Anita of me getting married before Ria, her daughter.

And I was about to turn twenty tomorrow.

I darted my gaze sharply as I scanned the dimly lit entrance. My breath paused for a moment when I saw him.

It was Damon Blackthorn. The future Alpha of Moonveil Pack.

My mate.

"This can't be," I whispered, dread curling in my chest as I cringed to get a good posture of taking my heels on the run.

But I couldn't because of the pull that was intensifying, drawing me closer to him like a magnet.

For the first time in the past two years, my wolf, Zomen, said something. "I am so happy to finally meet him. Can't wait for Zoran to be my lifetime partner."

Zoran is the name of Damon Blackthorn's wolf, known for his strength and fierceness.

Damon's piercing eyes locked into mine, something unreadable flickering in their depths. He moved forward, his towering presence making my skin jolt with awareness.

I felt like running into those arms of his. His broad beared chest gave him his large statue. At least he is my mate and it wasn't a bad idea anyways.

"Good evening my leader. I am really..." My words were interrupted by his fingers on my lips.

"Shhhh, you don't need to say anything." Damon requested.

"I feel it too," he murmured, voice low as he reached for me. His fingers tangled in my hair, pushing it back to expose my neck. His breath cascaded against my skin, sending a shiver down my spine.

"Yes, you are," I admitted, my voice barely audible. "Not my will, but that of the Moon Goddess."

He chuckled darkly, amusement laced with something cruel.

"When I see you, I see something of the reflection of an attribute," he said. "You are an attribute of failure, girl." His voice turning malicious, his words like a sword cutting through my soul. "Anyways, get to my chambers immediately."

I froze. "But that wasn't the reason why I came here."

"I don't care. Just be a good girl and oblige to my words." he continued. "Let's do what we have to do and go our separate ways."

His words resonated like a weighty block that fell on my heart, shattering it into fragments that couldn't be replaced.

"I won't go with you." I said in a stern tone, fighting with my wolf not to show the gullibility I felt towards his request.

He ignored my protest. "I hope you know who I am and you know what I can do to you if you don't act submissive to my command." His voice landed with primality. "Don't put me to the test.'

"What do you...." I could barely talk before he yelled.

"Guards!! Take this thing to my chamber immediately."

Before I could react, the guards grabbed me, dragging me to his chamber.