Rejected From Birth

Mate?

~ Third Person POV ~

Ryan, who was gazing at both Daeron and Essence, was not just confused, but he was also pissed. He knew on his eighteenth birthday that Essence belonged to him, but now he could no longer feel the bond that they once shared.

All his life he loathed the existence of someone like Essence as he was always compared to her, even though he was the next Alpha King of the werewolves.

He didn't like it when Essence scored better than him in the exams or how she was stronger than most of the werewolves, even though she still didn't awaken her powers.

After searching for Vivian for the last two years, he thought about making Essence realize her real position in front of them.

He believed after knowing the truth she would completely shatter, but instead of seeing her with tears, he witnessed her kissing some other man in front of him. Nothing was working according to his plans.

He wanted to crush her and that's the reason why he introduced her as his mate in front of the King and Queen. Ryan was well aware that someone like Essence would never be accepted as the next Queen, so she would be given the position of someone lower and that she would still be tied to him.

The trap that he laid for Essence was to make sure that she would never be able to escape from him, but seeing her in someone else's arms made all his efforts go down the drain.

"How the f**k did she know the damn Lycan king?" Ryan mumbled to himself while he tightly clenched his fists.

Daeron and Essence were so lost in each other that they forgot that they were standing in front of Evan and Olivia, but their presence didn't mean much to either of them.

"Essence! How could you do something so shameless when you are well aware that I am your mate? How could you disrespect the moon goddess by not giving respect to our bond?

I know that all your life you have craved for a higher position, but if you think about it carefully, then being my lover would surely not be a bad thing for someone like you.

Your mother was a runaway omega, a criminal and, as her daughter, you don't have a good position in this palace.

You should feel grateful that we are not punishing you for her crimes." Ryan pulled Essence away from Daeron's arms and, after grabbing her by her jaw, he looked straight into her sapphire eyes.

He believed that after hearing his words Essence would surely lower her gaze because of embarrassment, but instead of lowering her head, she was looking straight into Ryan's eyes with a smile on her face.

"You are not my mate and even if you were, then I would have rejected you right here and now. Oh, but what to do? The goddess didn't choose you as my mate… she chose the Lycan king for me.

As for you, I don't plan to give you any position. You can never be my lover or my mate in this life or even in your next one, Prince Ryan." Essence pushed one away from her and after she grabbed his collar, she did her best not to harm him, as that would make the others doubt her actions.

If she acted completely differently than before, then others might even think that she was involved with the dark magic.

There were many women who were accused that way and in the end they were all burnt to death, so as not to repeat their fate. She didn't act out of line.

To make them suffer miserably, she had to show them that she still carved for the family's affection and to get their attention, she could do anything. To make them reveal their real faces, she had to show them her weakness, so this time she decided to make the rules and not the other way round.

"No! That can't be possible! How could he out of anyone become your mate? You are lying, aren't you? Say something, damn it!" Ryan grabbed Essence by her shoulders and he made her face him.

Daeron, who was witnessing everything silently with his people by his side, finally walked towards Essence and when he intertwined his fingers with her, he glanced at Ryan with a smirk on his face.

"Why would she lie to you or anyone else, huh? She is my mate and the future Lycan Queen of the north. She is above all of you, so there is no need for her to lower her head in front of the likes of you.

Keep this thing in your head, king of the Westross… I belong to this girl and now that I am with her, nobody else could have her or even think about having her.

The ceremony will soon happen in the north, so you better not think about ruining anything." Daeron said to them coldly while he simply brought the hand of Essence that he was holding near his lips.

Amara, who was listening to everything, was stunned when she saw her brother's smile. It was not only her, but even Zion and Silas were not able to accept that their king was smiling and that, too, because of some wolfless princess.

Alan wanted to understand the reason why Essence was avoiding him. He believed that he was closer to winning the bet, but Ryan ruined everything. Sebastian, who was still not able to believe that he would see Daeron behave in such a way after finding his mate, just started to laugh.

"Am I not welcomed here, Brother Ryan? Did I do something wrong by telling the truth? I should return from where I come from. This palace definitely can't become my home, right? I should be the one to leave this place." Vivian sniffled when she felt that everyone's gaze was only on Essence.

The queen immediately dashed towards her and after embracing her in a warm hug, she wiped away her tears.

"There is no way that you are not welcomed here. This is your home… it was and it always will belong only to you." She whispered to her in a sweet voice while she gently caressed her head.

She never really did all of this for my sake. Was it because she was not their real daughter? She knew that in their eyes Essence was nothing more than an imposter, but she still believed that one day they might see her as a part of their family.

Well, her belief died the day when they killed her horribly just to fulfill their selfish desires.

"Should I start calling her my sister-in-law or should I address her as the new queen of the North? Let's just find a nice date to fix the marking ceremony." Amara suggested to her brother while she looked excited to welcome a new member of their family.

"Father! Why are you not saying anything? You can't let a random guy steal my mate from me." Ryan complained, but nobody heard his words or gave any sort of attention to him.

While everyone was busy discussing the ceremony, Zion received a report, so he immediately whispered everything in Daeron's ear.

"I will need to take my leave for now. I will let you know about the details of the ceremony, so you better stop looking for a mate for her." Daeron said to Evan in an authoritative tone, and this made Evan lose his temper.

He threw the glasses of the red wine on the floor and when he saw that Daeron had left, he stood up from his throne and walked towards Essence to teach her a lesson, but before he could touch her, a shadow guard appeared from somewhere and when he stood between Essence and Evan, he understood what Evan was planning to do.

Without causing any more trouble, he asked everyone to leave as he had some things to think about, "You can all go. I don't want to hear anything related to the word mate."

Sebastian stopped in front of Essence, but instead of congratulating her, he whispered something else in her ear, "Mate? Stop kidding me.

Even if you wanted to play a game, then you should have chosen me, love. Alas! The dragon-blooded Lycan king out of all the options you had… you are surely going to regret it."

Essence turned her face to some other direction as she didn't want to reply to the vampire prince. She asked the shadow guard to wait for her as she had something to talk about with Ryan, so the guy simply nodded his head… she was now all alone with Ryan.

"You can't tie me down, Ryan. Trust me, I am going to ruin every little plan of yours that you have made to mess up with me.

Why don't you go and enjoy your limited time with that angelic sister of yours? You see, unlike you, I had to start preparing for my marking ceremony.

Believe me, Vivian's presence didn't break me down, so why don't you try something else?" After saying those words to him, Essence took her leave, but in his anger Ryan broke everything that he saw in that room.

His eyes then fell on the throne and with a smirk on his face, he mumbled to himself in a hushed voice, "I will get you back from that bastard Essence and that's a promise. So, just wait for me a little more."