A WEAKLING BRIDE FOR THE LYCAN KING

[ Elena ]

"I, Lycan Nikolai Duskborn, Lycan King of the Duskborn werewolf realm, reject you, Elena Rivers, as my mate..."

Even though the words didn't come exactly to me as a shock, I wouldn't deny the way the sting of rejection hit me like a punch to the gut.

The crowd around us gasped and I could hear some people snickering delightfully behind me.

"Rejected. I knew it." An unidentified girl whispered.

"She really thought she would be Luna? A pathetic sick girl like her?" Another woman sneered.

I swallowed hard, forcing myself to stand tall, despite the heat of embarrassment creeping up my neck. But truth be told, I didn't feel all that bad. Sure, I was the center of mockery once again, but deep down, I felt relieved.

I could never imagine myself bound to a man like Lycan Nikolai. He was too cold, ruthless, and had lived thousands of years as an immortal. I wasn't the first girl he had been mated to. Matter of fact, he had been mated to many women before me, but because they were mortal, he would reject them when they started to get older and mate with someone younger again. This time, it was me whom the moon goddess had chosen for him.

"Elena!" I heard my stepmother, Valeria's voice behind me. She walked to stand beside me and immediately bowed her head before Lycan Nikolai before straightening her posture again. "My king, if I may?"

Nikolai turned his cold, amber eyes toward her. He didn't look like he was interested in whatever she was about to say, but she continued anyway.

"While the rejection of a mate is final, there is a custom that I would like to remind you of." She said and Lycan Nikolai raised a brow at her. Even though he was thousands of years old, he looked nothing like his age. He looked hot and sexy, like he was in his late twenties or early thirties. In fact, he had to be the hottest man I had ever set eyes on.

"What custom?" Lycan Nikolai asked and she immediately answered with a sly smile.

"Well, My King, it is customary that a rejected mate's blood relative may take her place." She placed a hand on Sophie's shoulder, pushing her forward like a prized trophy. Sophie was my step sister. "In this case, Elena's sister would be the perfect match."

I blinked in disbelief and averted my gaze to the both of them. I couldn't believe they would be so shameless to jump at an opportunity like two desperate opportunists.

Beside Valerie, Sophie looked radiant. Her perfect, porcelain skin was glowing and a fake innocence plastered across her face.

I felt my heart swell with rage as my mind traveled back to last night when I had caught her in bed with my boyfriend, Jake. She had laughed in my face and told me I shouldn't be selfish as I was a sick girl who would die anytime soon. Just before I saw them naked together yesterday, I had thought that I'd be mated to Jake today and escape this shit-hole, called my life. But it turned out everything was just a dream.

And now, Sophie was about to step in my place and become the Lycan King's mate? How much lower could she stoop?

My father, who was standing behind us nodded his head eagerly in agreement.

"Yes, My King. Sophie is everything Elena isn't. She is strong and capable of being the perfect Luna for you. She would make a wonderful choice for you, My King."

For a moment, Nikolai stared at them, his expression unreadable. He glanced at Sophie as if considering her carefully, before his gaze flicked back to me. A scorn crossed his face before he looked back to Sophie again.

Oh, yeah. Just like everyone else, he thought I wasn't worth anything.

In my heart, I prayed fervently that he would dismiss my father and step mother and choose instead, to mate with another girl. Sophie shouldn't win this. I would be screwed if she did.

But the gods had other plans.

The wolf priestess, Anya, leaned in and whispered something into Lycan Nikolai's ear. When she pulled away again, he continued to stare at us with that blank, expressionless face of his.

"Fine." He spoke with a tone of finality. "Sophie will take her place. The rites will be performed tomorrow night."

My heart fell in disappointment and beside me, Sophie beamed, her smile sickeningly sweet. Her eyes then shifted and locked onto mine with nothing short of triumph. I rolled my eyes and looked away again.

Valerie gave me a quick, victorious look before turning back to Nikolai and bowing before him.

"Thank you, My King."

As the rest of the full moon festival continued, I stood by a corner, watching the party and avoiding judgemental eyes. Out of habit, I adjusted the beanie on my head.

Then, I noticed Valerie and Sophie cat-walking towards me with victorious smirks on their faces.

"Sulking, are we?" Valerie asked me as they reached me.

"And why should I be?" I pasted a fake smile on my face as I stood straighter.

"Because as always, I was picked instead of you, dearest sister." Sophie batted her lashes at me and gave me a sweet smile. "It was foolish to think you'd ever be Luna. I am always the better choice."

"Better choice?" I laughed a low, sarcastic laugh. "Is that why you force yourself on everyone you meet? Is that why you like to take away everything that rightfully belongs to me? My boyfriend for example? Don't forget I caught you naked and having sex with him on my own bed..."

Before I could complete my sentence, Valerie's hand landed on my face, sending me a sharp slap that echoed across the hall.

Almost everyone was staring at us now, some of them pulling out their phones to take videos and pictures as they tried to suppress their laughter. My face burned in embarrassment.

"You'd better mind your tongue and remember your place." Valerie hissed at me as her eyes narrowed and her lips curled in disdain. "Sophie is better than you in every way. No one would want a cursed and evil child like you."

Then, in the flash of a second, she grabbed the beanie on my head and snatched it away, exposing the white smooth waves of my hair that cascaded freely down my back now.

I heard a few gasps of shock at this.

"See? I told you she was cursed!" A girl's excited voice came, followed by another.

"She really is cursed. She's bad luck."

My eyes watered as I watched Valerie and Sophie stare at me with twisted, satisfied smiles on their faces.

"See?" Valerie said. "There's the evidence. You are worth nothing. So, don't you ever think you're better than Valerie in any way. You are not and can never be."

I stared back at her, trying my best not to let my tears fall as my hands trembled at my sides. I wanted to lash out, but I swallowed my rage and did nothing. If I as much as tried to defend myself, they would add to the hell that I was already living at home.

"You know the way home, Elena. Your father would drive Sophie and I home." Valerie said, pushing a couple of bags into my chest with unnecessary force. I caught them before they could fall.

"Goodbye, sister. Don't worry. I'll consider hiring you as my personal handmaiden after I become Luna." Sophie chuckled and followed Valerie and my father as they walked out of the hall.

Sniffing back tears from falling, I did not hesitate to hurry out of the hall shortly after. As I walked down the street home, I shivered as the cool night air hit my skin. I pushed the beanie further down over my white hair, as if it could hide the mark that branded me. I had never fitted in. I had never been good enough.

My life has always been a sad, pathetic story. I was born with unusual white hair and a hole in my heart. And to make matters worse, my mother had died while giving birth to me. Because of this, everyone tagged me as an evil and cursed child. I think my father's hatred for me had started from that moment too.

A few months later, my father had brought his mistress; Valerie, and his second daughter; Sophie, who was my age, to the house and I had became a slave and an outsider in my father's house from an early age. Even in the pack.

Unlike Sophie who was treated like a princess, enrolled in the Duskborn Elite Academy, and given the finest of things, I was treated the exact opposite. I was made to sleep in the basement and I never had new clothes, neither did I have any friends.

Well, I had one. My boyfriend. Ex-boyfriend now, after he had broken my heart when I had caught him cheating on me with Sophie.

And now, I had just been coldly rejected by the Lycan King. Even though I had seen it coming, it was proof that I wasn't even on the good side of the moon goddess. I had already concluded that the only reason she had given me life was so that she could enjoy watching me suffer.

When I finally reached home, I was surprised that Valerie, my father and Sophie weren't here yet. They had taken the car, so why were they late? Maybe they had made a stop somewhere.

Just as I began to drop the bags in my arms, the phone in the living room rang and I hurried over to pick it up.

"Hello?"

"Hello. Is this Elena Rivers?" A professional female voice asked and I nodded as if she could see me.

"Yes. How may I help you?"

"This is Duskborn's General Hospital." The voice said. "Your family has been involved in a car accident. You need to come to the hospital immediately."