Rejected, Then Reborn
Chapter 12

An entire week had gone by.

And in that space, Lacy had not even seen the Alpha King once. She had caught a whiff of his intoxicating scent a few times to know that he was around and was just avoiding her.

The question though was why?

What was the point of making her his s*x slave if he was just going to keep her around without visiting her even once?

Make no mistake, it wasn’t as though Lacy wanted any of that… or maybe she did? —She did not even know anymore. What she did know was that his distance just made her… confused. Because why go to such lengths if it was all for naught?

Her mind kept playing back to when he had seen her naked in the bathroom. Had she come across as so hideous to him that now he wanted nothing more to do with her again?

What other reason was there if not for that very one?

Lacy tried to convince herself that it was all for the best anyway, but she knew deep down that she was lying to herself.

The good side though was that she had other more interesting things to look forward to now aside being in her prison, and it was all thanks to Anaya. Before meeting her, Lacy liked to think that she was very stubborn, but the she-Lyken’s hard headedness put hers to shame in leap and bounds. Her request to allow Lacy walk about the castle grounds had been adamantly rejected for three straight days, but the girl had not given up, not even when her brother’s wolf had almost come out for her head at the continuous mention of the girl’s name. Finally frustrated, he had given in, and now thanks to her, Lacy got to take short walks around the beautiful castle and sit in its astonishingly beautiful gardens for a good two hours every afternoon. She now had activities she looked forward to, and it was funny, but as soon as she was sent back to her prison, she was already dreaming of the next day when she’d be out there again with the warm May breeze blowing on her face and in her hair.

Speaking of the castle, it was the most magnificent thing Lacy had ever seen. It looked surprisingly like that castle in the Walt Disney intros that started most cartoons, but it lacked that magical touch, though of course that did not mean that it was any less impressive nonetheless.

Every time Lacy stepped out, she tried to look out for the Alpha King, to see if she’d catch even a glimpse of him, but all she got were just the wonderful smells, and that was just about it. To be honest, there were days when she almost gave in and told his sister everything, why she always seemed to be asking about him instead of enjoying her little time out… but the contract she had signed held her back, and she was scared to think of what the ruthless man would do if he found out that she had broken their agreement.

“Have you ever been kissed before, Lacy?” Anaya asked her, interrupting her train of thoughts as they sat side by side in the castle’s beautiful gardens. Lacy was startled by the line of questioning, “Why are you thinking such wild thoughts, Anaya?” She teased, covering up her discomfort with a chuckle, but Anaya meant business, “Come on, Lacy… tell me, let me live vivaciously through you.”

Her statement caught Lacy by surprise, causing her mouth to actually fall open, “Wait, you haven’t been kissed before?”

A blush coated the lovely ginger’s cheeks, “If I had, would I be asking you to tell me about your experience? With a brother like mine, who would risk it?” She punched her friend softly in the shoulder, causing Lacy to chuckle, “Come on… out with it, tell me how it was like.” Lacy sighed deeply, a faraway look glazing her eyes. She really had to tell her newfound friend some bits and pieces about herself if she wanted this friendship going somewhere, because she certainly couldn’t keep hiding forever. “I was married once, Anaya…” She confessed, a sad smile on her face, “…My husband, the first man I ever kissed.”

“Y—you were married?” The incredulity in Anaya’s tone was super hard to ignore.

“Yes, to a werewolf. I’ll tell you all about that and who he was some other time… but yeah. To be honest, kissing truly is overrated, the first time even more so than all the others. I think that the only thing that makes it worthwhile, that makes it special, is the expectation that we create in our minds— this perfect, spontaneous moment we weave into our heads and spend a long time waiting for. It is actually not the person we k**s per say, though that plays a certain role at times, I guess. Oh, and when that expectation fades away, we lose that thrill with which we got into it in the first place.”

“Oh.” Anaya was disappointed to hear all of that, but someway somehow, she knew that the human girl was not lying. Even she actually had it all planned in her head, her first k**s.

Oh, she had it all down to a f*****g T alright.

There would be a sudden downpour, and then she and the love of her life would ran through it, laughing and teasing each other and complaining about its suddenness. She’d complain about how her hair was all messed up, and he’d tell her that she had never looked more beautiful, and then stare at her lips like he was thirsty and had just found living water. Then he’d ask if he could k**s her, and she’d say yes… and it would be simply put… fireworks. To hear Lacy belittle the moment she had been looking forward to since she started having crushes was quite shattering, but she was surprisingly still positive. Her friend was definitely speaking out of a bad experience. “I really can’t believe you were married, Lacy… and to a werewolf nonetheless. I now get why Reed said you were a Grey Mortal.”

Lacy’s head snapped to her friend so fast that she almost gave herself whiplash. “That word, Grey Mortal… what does it mean?” She asked, suddenly interested. “Oh, it’s just a human who knows about us supernaturals and has actually lived among us.” Anaya explained, standing up to cup a brightly colored butterfly in her hands. She played with the beautiful insect as she left the girl to soak it all in.

It all suddenly made sense to Lacy.

Want to know the funny thing?

Lucius had never told her much about the Supernatural world. She had been curious, having spent so much of her years thinking that werewolves were a myth, and then she got married to one. She couldn’t help but want to know if the other stuff in the books existed as well, but he had told her not to be ridiculous, downplaying everything as though she were crazy for even suggesting it.

Some husband he were.

“So speaking of supernaturals,” She stood up to admire the butterfly Anaya was playing with. “What else is there? Are vampires real too? Dragons? Witches? Because to be honest I’ve never heard of Lykens.”

“We’re the only Supernatural specie that have managed to keep ourselves hidden from human intelligence. The fact that we sometimes get mistaken for werewolves is an added advantage that completely assures our safety and protection,” Anaya handed the insect carefully to her, even as Lacy tried not to cringe. She hated insects, but this one was so beautiful, she found herself actually wanting to hold it, “You can understand why my brother is not exactly open to the idea of letting you go out there with all the knowledge you have of us.” Anaya explained.

Oh.

“But anyway, what happened to make you leave your ex?” The redhead dusted her hands on her black jeans, “Tell me more, was it a fated mateship?”

“Time’s up!” A guard called out, signaling an end to Lacy’s two hours outdoors. Lacy could have sworn that she had forgotten that they were even around… all seven of them— Reed’s terms and conditions for letting her out of her prison for just two f*****g hours.

“Ah, bloody bollocks,” Anaya cursed in irritation, at their untimely intervention, but Lacy was secretly overjoyed. While the human was relieved that she had been saved from diving into a painful part of her past life that she was trying so hard to forget, she hated that it was time to go back inside where the only thing she had to keep her company was the TV. Even Anaya keeping her company had been added to the two hours now, so she wasn’t going to see her friend again until tomorrow same time after lunch. It came by so fast these days, just a blink of an eye, and then all that time was gone.

“Don’t worry Lacy, we’ll continue where we left off tomorrow,” Anaya promised with a sad smile as she held onto her friend’s arm with one hand, brushing her bone straight ginger hair away from her face with the other.

Lacy really hoped they never returned to this conversation in particular, but she only smiled and kept her mouth shut.

****

Lacy was just lying in bed, bored out of her mind.

The huge flat screen TV right across her bed was playing some crappy romantic movie from Hallmark, but it was the last thing her focus was on. She had nothing on her mind really, it was just wandering everywhere and nowhere all at once.

Lacy had no concept of time whenever she got back from her daily walks, for as soon as she was brought in by the guards, she sometimes had a nap, and other times too, she forced herself to watch something, but it always took her dinner coming round for her to know that it was evening since there was no clock nor any windows in her room to give her a clue. She really didn’t know why, but today, it felt like her meal was taking ages to come around.

A knock sounded at the door, the unexpected sound causing her to jump up in alarm.

Her dinner was here!

She sat up on the bed, pulling down the mini shorts that she had changed into when she got in. Normally, she wouldn’t have cared since women brought her meals… women who had been instructed not to even look her in the face, much less engage her in conversation… but she just had a gut feeling and she chose to listen to it. Modest now, she cleared her throat, “Come in,”

The now familiar sound of a key being inserted into the lock reached her ears, and then the door opened to reveal the last person she had expected to see holding her dinner tray,

The good doctor… Xavier Mendoza.