FATED BEYOND THE PACK (rejection and redemption)

My eyes fluttered open when my senses started swimming in a haze of unfamiliar scents. I blinked, the sunlight filtering through heavy curtains, casting soft golden rays over the room.

My body felt surprisingly warm, I wasn't surprice to find it was nestled in soft sheets, like a coccoon.

I yawned and tied my hair into a bun before sitting up and flinched when a twinge of soreness shot through my limbs.

I was guessing that it was all I got from hours of walking in the woods last night.

Woods...

Last night...

My eyes automatically roamed the quiet, unfamiliar room, it's interior was elegant but I was too occupied to even pay attention to that.

"Where... where am I?"

I whispered, my voice still thick with sleep. I tried to remember what had happened last night.

But I got nothing, all I could remember was I was feeling exhausted after a long walk that when we arrived at King Marcus's kingdom last night, I immediately passed out like a light.

And where was it?

I think it was on his beautifully crafted, elegantly designed couch.

I let out a soft groan before letting my own eyes roam the room once more.

And I couldn't help but gasp to find how luxurious it was, with rich tapestries hanging on the walls, a grand fireplace burning low in the corner, and soft furs scattered across the floor. The scent in the air was strange, earthy, like the forest I had run through, but also something sharper, more regal.

I sighed.

It smelled like power.

My attention automaticall turned to the door when it creaked open, just a few seconds when a tall figure stepped in, he was draped in dark, fur-lined robes that whispered against the stone floor.

I froze.

My heart raced as I recognized him instantly, the man she had encountered in the forest last night.

King Marcus...

His golden eyes gleamed with a predatory hunger, but there was something softer in them now, something almost... comforting?

"You're awake."

He said, his voice both smooth and commanding, like the deep rumble of thunder.

"How do you feel?"

My throat tightened. I shifted away from him instinctively, though the movement only left me more tangled in the silken sheets but still I managed to sit up straight, I immediately clutched the thick blanket beside me before turning back to him.

"Why am I here?"

I let out a silent curse when the voice that came out of my mouth was a little sharper than I ever intended.

The man... No!

The king, tilted his head and a slight amused smile curled at the edges of his lips.

"You've been brought here for your protection, Foxy."

"Do you know who I am?"

He asked as he crossed the room with a fluid grace, sitting at the edge of the bed with a faint crackling of energy surrounding him.

I tensed, I found his presence overwhelming, it's as if his presence alone was enough to fill the room like an ancient storm.

I nodded an answer to his question.

"Yo-you are Marcus... Lycan King... I- I know who you are, I already know who you are, even before our first encounter the other night..."

I paused, trying to think whether it was wise to ever mention the night when he, the King witnessed her embarrassment.

"The night when the new Alpha, of Shadow Walker Pack rejected you as his mate, as his Luna?"

He said, his voice barely above a whisper.

And for the second time, my body tensed again. I was unable to move, unable to say a word, so I slowly nodded.

"You-you brought me here?"

I asked, I immediately looked away, unable to meet his gaze.

Marcus's gaze softened.

"I did. You fell asleep in my couch. My Kingdom is safe, you are welcome here, but you can'y just fall asleep wherever you please. Though you are safe here, a young wolf like you should still watch out for yourself."

I gulped, this time I chose to play with my hands, thinking it was enough excuse for me not to look at him.

"I- I'm not like you... I am not a wolf..."

I said almost a whisper, I closed my eyes shut after the pool of reality started to wash over me again.

I maybe managed to go away, far from the pack where I thought I belong, but then I guess running away will never be enough reason so move on.

Especially when I felt like it's not just the home I've ever known that I left behind at Shadow walker pack.

"So I heard... That's the reason why he rejected you, you didn't shifted yet?"

My eyes shifted to him when he talked again, I let out a soft sigh before forcing myself to smile.

"Was it also the reason why you were wandering so close to the Dark Forest light night?"

"I-I never intend to go there, wander... I only thought I was walking on the right path."

I whispered through the top of my lungs before taking all the courage left in my chest to finally look at him.

I saw how King Marcus's brow raised, his eyes fixed on mine.

"Where do you want to go exactly? Wandering to that part of the forest, the only place you can find yourself was the Dark Forest. I am not gonna ask whether you was aware of the dangers that lurks behind its towering trees."

He said, his voice knowing.

"I'm leaving... I want to leave my pack, for good."

I declared, trying to keep my own voice low and steady.

I swallowed the lump in my throat when the room fell into silence.

I can'y blame him. The Lycan's rules was very clear. Even my own father never fail to remind me that before.

No one leave the pack unless it was by exile or death.

The words rang in my ears, like giant cannon, almost enough to put me back in place.

King Marcus leaned forward, his fingers curled over the soft sheet of the bed.

"Leave?"

His said, his deep voice reverberating through the stone walls of the room.

"Explain."

He ordered, his voice commanding, the King made sure not to take his eyes off mine.

I clenched my fists.

"I- I don't belong to Alaric's pack anymore... Nor I don't think I still belong yo your world."

King Marcus's brow arched, I gulped again when I thought I saw a trace of amusement flickered in his gaze.

"You are a child of the Moon. You carry the Lycans blood. You belong."

"No."

I shook my head, I forced myself to calm down a little when I felt the sudden anger and sorrow tightened my throat.

"I was born a wolf, that is nio secret, not to the pack where I thought I was part of, but I never shifted. My kind, your kind look at me like I'm broken..."

I whispered as my eyes flashed open.

I forced a smile and whispered the words I tried to hide in my chest ever since the night of the blue moon and I didn't transform in my wolf form.

"I- I feel broken..."

His gaze darkened.

"Your wolf may still come."

"I don't believe it will."

I whispered.

"And neither does the rest of the pack. That's why they whisper behind my back. That's why my mate- Alpha Alaric..."

My voice caught, but I forced myself to continue.

"That's why he rejected me."

The room tensed. The rejection of a mate was a cruel fate. I know that and I am sure, a King like Marcus knew that as well as I do.

Marcus exhaled slowly, his expression unreadable.

"Where do you plan to go, given that you seemed to already believe the mate who cruelly rejected you that you don't belong to this world anymore?"

He asked again, his voice now posing danger.

I stopped for a moment as I tried to think. It wasn't long before I answered.

"The humans..."

My breath hitched when his eyes dimmed with doubt and restraint.

"You wish to abandon your kind and live among humans?"

He asked.

I paused for a moment, I have had spent my remaining hours in Shadow Walker Pack, thinking whether it was safe for me to go there, like Marcus had said, live among the humans.

Or spent the night thinking whether it's where I trully belong, the humans...

And maybe, that's where I should go, start a new life...

"Yes."

I lifted my chin.

"They don't care about shifts. They don't have mates. They live freely. I want that."

Marcus rose from the bed, his towering form casting a long shadow over me.

He descended the steps slowly, his boots echoing with each step. When he stood in front of me, I instantly catch my owm breath, his presence was suffocating, his scent of pine and blood thick in the air.

"You think humans will welcome you?"

He asked, voice softer now, yet no less powerful.

"You will always be different. Always an outsider."

I dared to meet his gaze, determination burning in my chest.

I again forced a smile and whispered.

"I will be an outsider here, nothing less than I will be with the humans. So I then I ask, King Marcus... Leyt me be an outsider on my own terms."

Marcus looked at me, as if studying me for a long moment, then scoffed.

"Foolish girl. The human world is cruel. You won't last."

"I'd rather take my chances there than stay in a place where I will always be nothing."

He tilted his head, something unreadable passing through his expression that made me shiver.

I once again looked away. Only to turn my gaze back at him when he spoke.

The words that slipped in his mouth somehow made me feel safe, like a thousand steel no enemy could break through...

"In Alaric's pack, you maybe nothing. But in my Kingdom, you can be my queen, Brielle Fox, of Shadow Walker Pack."