Rejected, Then Reborn
Chapter 14

Lacy took a look at the outfit laid out on the bed, her nose scrunching in absolute disgust.

“The King asked you to bring this to me?” She asked for confirmation.

“Yes ma’am, he did.” Came the answer.

He wanted her to wear… this?

The skimpy outfit barely covered anything for crying out loud, and to be very honest, every part of her was just screaming, itching to boycott the entire thing altogether.

But, she had signed an agreement.

It was really the only thing holding her back in that moment, for even though she had barely started, Lacy already felt like quitting.

The human girl’s mind flitted back to when the Alpha King had so rudely barged into her room, her mind taking note of the fact that for the first time since meeting him… since recognizing him as her new mate, her hatred for him had finally gotten so strong that it had overshadowed the pull of the Moon Goddess’s bond. Granted, his wonderful smell had still intoxicated her senses nonetheless, but for the first time, she had actually been able to fight it and concentrate on how much of a jerk he was being instead, and honestly speaking, it made her realise that he was not a likeable person.

At all.

“His Eminence awaits, ma’am…” One of the maids softly reminded her, bringing her back to her senses. It was the first time any of them was speaking to her out of turn, so you can imagine how that alone completely surprised her. “Uh, thanks,” Lacy muttered softly, grabbing the dress (if she could even call it that anyway) and dashing right into the bathroom, for she was most definitely not going to let a bunch of strange women she didn’t know see her naked.

But you let their king see you naked.

Her subconscious mocked darkly as she dressed up, but she ignored it, refusing to rise to the bait and have an outrageous war with herself.

After spending what seemed like ages trying to figure out what went where, she was done dressing up.

If Lacy had had any inhibitions about the dress before, she out rightly wanted to have it burnt now.

Oh, yes… it was beautiful, yes… but it was definitely not something she—or anyone for that matter— should wear. The outfit was kind of like a one-piece swimsuit (minus the modesty of course). It was a white, revealing slingshot teddy of sorts, with its upper part only barely covering her n*****s, and as for the bottom part… it was shaped like a thong with her kitty being the only part of her that was quite decently covered, meaning her entire a*s was on display.

She was certainly not going out like that?

An unbelievable chuckle escaped the human girl’s lips as she looked at herself in the mirror, an almost unrecognizable girl staring right back at her. Her face and her hair had been made up by the girls currently stationed outside the bathroom, waiting for her reemergence… it was truly the first time she had had her dark curls that voluminous and luscious, and also the first time that she had had that much makeup on her face, it certainly made her quite… uncomfortable. What she had on was not helping things either.

An agreement is an agreement, Lacy.

Her subconscious reminded her. Of course she knew that, but the thing was, how was she going to get to the King’s chambers without being seen? She needed to do something about that part first, and then hopefully… she could deal with the other parts. Thankfully, a pretty genius idea popped up in her mind just then, and she smiled, going over to execute it right away.

Wear a bathrobe over it.

Real genius, right? So that’s what she did.

You can imagine the surprised and confused looks on the faces of the girls when she exited what was quickly starting to become her safe haven, but she paid them no mind at all, “I’m ready,” was all she said, and then she was being led away.

Seven guards trailed after them as usual, making Lacy quite confused, because were they trying to tell her that one Lyken couldn’t take a mere mortal like her on should it come down to it? Perhaps they were those people who believed that it was always better to be over prepared than to be underprepared, but what at all could she possibly do that at least two Lykens couldn’t take care of? Weren’t seven guards a bit too much? Didn’t they have much better things to do?

Lacy was snapped out of her thoughts as they approached huge double doors, a loud shout being the only thing she heard, and then the heavy doors swung open and she was being led inside. The Alpha King and a couple of men sat around a square dining table, a huge feast laid out before them. “Ah, my s*x slave is here!” He declared loudly to everyone, a huge blush appearing on Lacy’s cheeks and her entire body at the unnecessary announcement. The slaves and guards were dismissed, and then she was standing alone before the five men who were already eyeing her in interest, “Ah Lacy… surely, I did not ask the maids to deliver a bathrobe to you, or did I?”

Lacy bowed her head in submission, because who knew, perhaps if she played her part very well, he might just as well let her go early. “No, your Eminence, you did not.” She responded.

“Then show me what I asked you to wear.”

Lacy’s head shot up in disbelief, “H—here? In front of these people, your Eminence?” She squeaked, already hating how weak she sounded. “Why? Is there a problem with me wanting to show my slave to my business partners?”

Yes, yes there is… you perverted a*****e!

Saying that would certainly land her in trouble for sure, and so she said this instead, “I—I don’t think so, your Eminence, but—”

“No buts, human. Take off the robe.”

Lacy swallowed hard and reached for the bathrobe strings, slowly untying them as she bit her bottom l*p in nervousness. Under normal circumstances, she should not have been this shy, but her supposed mate had already started chipping at her self-esteem and pride, what with his weird behavior the last time he saw her naked, it was only natural that she be that way.

The raven haired woman wished for the ground to open up and swallow her when the robe finally dropped to the beautifully tiled floor, but she wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of knowing just how uncomfortable the lustfully eyed men were making her feel, and so she held her head up high, and stared at him, her eyes saying everything her mouth dare not. She knew he was punishing her because of Xavier, but as to why, she had no f*****g clue.

“Come.”

Lacy took tentative steps, doing exactly as he had asked. Her heart picked up speed as the distance closed between them and she stared at him face to face… (Well, chest to face, if she was being completely honest) for she saw what she hadn’t when she had been far away from him now,

Pure, unbridled l**t.

He wanted her. It was very much evident in his stormy blues.

Oh, he badly did, and Lacy knew that it should have made her more irritated at him, gods knew she did, so why was her breath becoming more ragged then? Why was the panty part of her f*****g outfit already pooling with wetness for crying out loud?

“Meeting adjourned… same time tomorrow,” She heard him say absentmindedly as he flicked a hand, the men quickly getting into action, albeit begrudgingly as one by one, they filed out of the large room. The large room was ostentatiously designed, with high ceilings just like every room she had been to in the castle, (not that she had been to that many to begin with) and from the look of things, there was obviously an inner chamber that she was pretty sure was his sleeping quarters. She wondered if she was going to see how it looked like that night.

“Take a seat on my laps,” She heard him say, his voice suddenly deeper than even she was used to. She stared at him like he had slapped her, but she still did as he had asked anyway, sitting down tentatively on his jean clad thighs, her back facing him, as she let out a shaky breath, willing herself not to become affected by him or by their awkward sitting arrangement, even as she wondered if she was too heavy for him, but his hot breath against her back had all her will flying out the window, “Have you had dinner yet?”

“Yes. Xav—” Lacy trailed off, not knowing what the mention of the other Lyken’s name would do to the Alpha king, but he was surprisingly calm as he responded. “Ah yes, Xavier brought you your meal,” His hand trailed down her back absentmindedly, sending shivers down her spine, sweet, pleasurable shivers. She unconsciously relaxed into it, “You looked so happy in his company,” He observed, his hand still continuing its sweet torture, “Do you like him?” He reached for her like she weighed nothing and turned her so that she was facing him, staring right into his now stormy blue orbs, “Answer me Lacy.” He pressed, but something else was pressing right into her woman parts, almost making her forget about the words spewing out of his mouth.

Almost.

“What do you want me to say, your Eminence? That I like him very much because he’s the only one who respects me enough after your sister? That I find him very charming and sweet, and even more so after he had saved me from you?”

“I wasn’t the one who attacked you—”

“It doesn’t even matter.” Lacy scoffed, “You’ve avoided me for what, an entire week and now you’re back, and how convenient, just when some other man was paying attention to me. Tell me, did you stay away from me because of the bruises on my face?”

It was now the turn of Reed to be surprised, “What? No, I—”

“Was I so hideous that you absolutely couldn’t stomach the thought of f*****g me?” She stood up, “Because I’m completely healed now, and look at you, all back and ready to pick up where you left off—”

“No, stop, stop.” Reed cut her off, running his hands through his hair in frustration. This wasn’t how he had expected it to go? That his avoiding her would be so misconstrued? All along, he had thought that he had been doing her some favour staying away, but this was what she thought of him? “You want to know why I’ve stayed away from you for so long? Well, it’s because you vex me,” He told her passionately, a little anger seeping through, but she only stared at him, completely devoid of any emotion. “I haven’t done anything that anyone in my shoes wouldn’t have,”

“Exactly,” He agreed, “And yet, here I am, having these weird thoughts about you that is unsettling just as much as it is confusing.”

“It is the mate—”

“Now, don’t even go off about some stupid mate bond, human.” He cut her off angrily, “This is why I’ve been staying away. Lemme tell you this, the Moon Goddess you think has granted you this bond chose which side she favored more when she granted Werewolves soul mateship, and it has taken us a while, but we Lykens have been able to come to terms with that fact, and I’ll be damned if I have you waltzing in here trying to plant some ridiculous ideas into my head.”

Lacy stood there, trying to soak it all in, “So, how would you explain these unsettling feelings as you so call it?”

“It’s l**t. Plain and simple. There’s no denying the fact that you’re an attractive woman… everything I’m experiencing right now has to do with that fact. Believe me when I tell you that had I found you hideous, you would have certainly been back home with your family by now…” He closed the distance between them, smirking when Lacy took a step back, “I was so out of control when I saw you looking like that the last time we met… with curves that I so desperately wanted to touch… wanted to feel.” His hands caressed her h**s, and she couldn’t help it, a m**n escaped her lips, “You looked so sexy standing there like that with your mouth open and your chest heaving like that, that it honestly took the little self-control I had not to take you right there and then. I’d already gone too far creeping up on you like that and I—”

“I—I understand,” Lacy cut him off, pressing her fingers against his lips. He raised an eyebrow at her boldness, and she dropped her hand like she had been burnt. The Alpha King moved closer, “You know, since coming in here Lacy, you’ve been everything but a submissive slave.” He whispered huskily, sitting back in the chair, and roughly reaching for her arm and pulling her over his laps, her a*s right in his face as he caressed it sensually, the whole swift, unexpected action completely snatching the wind out of the poor human girl, “Want to know what I think?” He continued unperturbed, “I think you deserve to be punished.” His hand came down heavy and hard against her a*s cheeks at the statement, drawing a loud shriek out of her.