Rejected, Then Reborn
Chapter 20

“I take it that that was the human?” Rieka asked the Alpha King as she picked up her clothes from the floor and laid them out on the chair in her room. She didn’t know why, but the sight of the girl and his sister had somehow ruined the male Lyken’s mood, turning him from the teasing, passionate man from two hours ago into his usual dark, broody alter ego.

Rieka hated this version of him.

She had known him since they were mere pups, and she, him, Lobo, Xavier, and Henderson had practically been an inseparable squad growing up. Reed Alderon Winchester had been the charming boy of their little squad, the one who had come to her defense most of the time when the others made crass jokes about her being a tomboy. He had been handsome even then, but it was his even more lovely personality that had drawn her to him and sealed the deal, crowning him as her first crush.

It had actually come as a surprise to Rieka to know that she liked boys… that she liked men, for she had allowed herself to believe the others when they told her she was definitely into girls, and for a brief period she had sought out female company, but she soon realised it was not for her.

For a long time after that discovery, Rieka had sought love countless times to no avail, and then just when she had given up and declared herself asexual, it had hit her like a wrecking ball… that the love she had been seeking had been under her nose all along.

The nicest thing was knowing that he equally returned the sentiment.

But alas, as fate would have it, the young future Alpha King had disappeared all of a sudden… disappeared without saying goodbye, without letting any of them know anything. His father, King Bardulf Winchester had let them all know that his young son had been sent to a boarding school for Lykens in the far east. No one had believed that lie of course, but one could not exactly challenge the King, and so slowly the speculations had died down, with many a people concluding that perhaps, the future Alpha king was dead.

Oh, but he had returned.

He seemed to have resurfaced all of a sudden. He had looked the same alright, but he was also completely different— both personality wise, and aura wise. His ruthlessness had started sometime after that, and then his father had died mysteriously, leaving Reed to ascend the throne… and the rest was history.

Rieka had been devastated to realise that he pretended not to notice her, but then she had proven herself and secured the Gamma General position along with all the other members of their squad, and though it had been awkward at first, they had all slowly but steadily returned back to their friendship of old… all five of them.

Nevertheless, someway somehow, the newly crowned Alpha King never spoke about two things…

His time in the supposed far east,

And their crush on each other almost five years ago,

And Rieka had not been able to stand the entire hush hushness of it all, so she had eventually confronted him about it. If she was being honest with herself, the confrontation had not yielded the results she had wished for… for the new Reed had practically shut himself off from love, claiming to have no time to explore stupid concepts such as relationships. In the end, he had given her an ultimatum, to move on completely or be willing to explore a no strings attached entanglement, and Rieka, stuck in the memory of the young boy she loved had decided to agree to his outrageous proposition, fixated in the hope that soon enough, she would be able to remind him of that perfect relationship they had once shared all those many years ago.

And so now here she was.

“Gods so help me, but I just might kill Anaya one of these days,” The woman in the pixie cut heard the Alpha king mutter under his breath, the words making her conscious of her surroundings once more. “Why, what has she done? Is it because of the human girl?”

Now, Alpha King Reed had no idea what to say to that.

The last thing he wanted was to let anyone know just how much the annoying girl was affecting him… Xavier already had a fair idea and was quickly beginning to suspect that there was more to his strong dislike for the girl— and he’d be damned if he let anyone else have a clue.

Reed Alderon had actually been in very high spirits when he woke up this morning… perhaps, it had been because of that morning run he had let Ace go for, or perhaps, it had been because for the first time in a long time, he had actually had a fitless sleep… one that had not been plagued by any nightmares of any kind. It didn’t matter that he had dreamt of the little human… that he had had sweet, erotic dreams of doing things to her that would make an old nun blush… he had just been grateful for it for it had made his day very much tolerable. The Alpha King had enjoyed his brief tour at the clinic, and he had been phenomenal at their sparring sessions— so phenomenal that his friends wouldn’t stop teasing, asking which side of his bed he had slept today. He had taken it all in good stride, his light mood making him surprisingly horny, so horny that he hadn’t turned down his friend, Rieka when she had thrown herself at him, proceeding to take her to her room for two long hours of nothing but a good time.

But then he had heard her scream.

And instantly, he had been on red alert (even Ace surprisingly on the same level as he) and then he had opened the window frantically, finding in that moment that had she been in danger in any way, he wouldn’t have hesitated to jump down from all those floors to save her life, but instead… there she had been, laughing. The melodious laugh had filled him with this surprisingly immense joy before Ace had ruined the moment. As much as Reed wanted to deny it, he knew that the big bad wolf had not been lying, he really was becoming weak, and the human girl had much more power over him than he wanted to admit. That revelation had been enough to completely ruin his mood.

“You know how Anaya is, she likes to have fun and be mischievous… just let her have this moment, Reed.” The she-Lyken chuckled, inching close to the naked king, and muddling his thoughts. “Now, what do you say about climbing back into bed, hmm? Picking up right where we left of?” She whispered sexily, but the Alpha King pushed her away gently, totally unaffected. “Perhaps another time,” He replied gruffly, grabbing his clothes and starting to get dressed. Rieka climbed into her king-sized bed, covered herself with the white sheets and began to pleasure herself with her fingers. If she had been under any illusion that that would get him to change his mind, then she was sorely mistaken, for he only walked out of her room without another word, leaving her all alone to finish what he had started.

******

“That was Rieka Howard, she’s Gamma General for the Clan, and also Reed’s uhm… partner.”

Oh.

Lacy felt her heart plummet into her stomach, all that little joy and excitement she had managed to accumulate from her four hours outdoors vanishing into a puff of flames.

He was seeing someone.

That was why he had barely wanted to hear anything about the mate bond. Of course, it all made sense now, for if Lykens knew that they did not get mates, they were likely bound to seek out any spark or connection so they could base off of that to start their families and continue their lineage. For Reed, the person he had apparently connected to was this Rieka Howard. Lacy felt another pang of pain and jealousy tear at her heart. She was pretty sure that if she had a wolf, this was the time it would have been howling its heart out in her head. For the first time since Lacy discovered the fantasy world, she found herself wishing that she had agreed when Lucius had asked to turn her, for at the very least, she would have had someone to share this tremendous pain with instead of bearing it all alone, the sad part of it all was that she had Anaya with her, but she couldn’t even tell the kind she Lyken anything about it due to that non-disclosure she had signed.

The girl was beautiful.

Lacy was not one to usually look down on herself like that, but even she could not refute the fact that Rieka Howards was perfect, flawlessly perfect. Her beauty was simply put otherworldly, and gods, her confidence was on a whole other level. Lacy was not sure that she would have had the courage to flash everyone like the pixie cut haired beauty had when she appeared at the Alpha King’s side, and along with that admiration came even more jealousy.

It had been so obvious from the Alpha King’s bare chest and tousled hair to the she Lyken’s naked body that they had just taken a tumble in the sheets and then some. Perhaps, she was the reason why he did not need her services as s*x slave?

It all made sense.

Why do you even care anyway, Lacy?

Her subconscious asked, for the first time sounding concerned instead of mocking or condescending, but try as Lacy did, she could not figure out why, but that was a complete lie. Deep down, the human girl knew that she cared because of the mate bond and only because of that, because ever since her arrival, the Alpha King had only done the bare minimum, actually going far enough to wash away any fantastical notion she might have of them getting together, but someway somehow, his actions rather made him all the more intriguing to her senses.

Oh, how she could not wait for the three months to arrive.

Then she’d be done with all of this torment. She’d go back to the loving arms of her parents and put herself in her nursing practice so much that she would barely have time to think about life in the Clan or in the Werewolf pack, and then eventually forget all about it all together. She really couldn’t wait.

“Rieka is actually a very nice person, and I was so glad when she got the Gamma General position you know?” Anaya continued in her gushing after the woman who was quickly becoming Lacy’s rival, completely oblivious to the human girl’s reactions. “She’s the first woman to ever hold the position so you can imagine how much of a field day all She-Lykens had the day she was appointed. I really can’t wait for the day that she would officially be a part of our family, gods know that I could do with a more younger, more relatable face.”

Lacy was stunned, completely stunned, “What do you mean by you can’t wait for the day that she would officially be a part of your family?” She asked, the thumping in her chest already confirming her fear, but she found that she actually wanted her friend to say it.

“Oh,” The Lyken Princess slapped her forehead in remembrance, “You and I are so close that I sometimes forget you’re not from here Lacy,”

“Come on, out with it already,” Lacy commanded, her tone causing the Princess to raise a perfectly plucked eyebrow at the sheer audacity, “Jeez, what the hell has gotten into you?” but she just decided to let it slide instead, taking in a deep breath, “Anyway, Reed and Rieka are already betrothed. They’re all set to be married at the end of next month.” She finished. Lacy could see her friend’s lips moving, a tell tale sign that she was saying more, but honestly speaking, she did not hear anything else after that bombshell had dropped.