His Rejected Queen

Chapter 3.:

Ariana puts on the best clothes she finds in her wardrobe. Her choice differs from what she wore yesterday during the ball.

“Where are you going dressed up like that?” Daria asks, seeing her daughter put on the girlish dress which she has in her wardrobe but until today never wore it. Over her shoulders, she puts a simple silky cloak just to keep the wind away from her skin. Although as a werewolf, she can’t feel the cold, the wind isn’t always likable.

“Back to the castle. I want to talk to Marcus,” Ariana replies with resolution. Her mother blinks several times, unable to process the words her daughter just said.

“Who is Marcus?” Daria asks immediately. She knows Ariana spent the night with the Lycan king, the ruler of the country. Not with some Marcus. It takes a minute for Daria to realize Marcus is the Lycan king’s given name.

“The King. He told me yesterday to call him by his name. We are mates.” Ariana speaks with such resolution, leaving her mother in utter shock. Ariana didn’t tell her they were mates. She thought her daughter had spent the night with the Lycan king because of a dream she had had since childhood. Ariana always wished to see him and when she finally had the chance, of course, she had to take advantage of it but mates? Daria expected anything but this.

“I thought he sent you back home so why are you going back? What exactly happened yesterday?” She knows exactly what happened between them. Ariana doesn’t need to explain that to her mother, but Daria didn’t understand why her daughter wishes to go back after he sent her back once he took what he wanted. The same thing he did to every other girl before Ariana.

“I think there must be some sort of misunderstanding. I am his mate! I should stay by his side. Maybe the maid in the castle didn’t know that and sent me back home.” Ariana argues with her mother, trying to find an excuse for them to send her home. Daria shakes her head, sadness in her eyes. The naivety of her daughter can’t be this severe. She raised her daughter to be smarter than this. At least Daria always thought Ariana would recognize when someone is playing with her, lying to her or using her only for his own amusement.

“Do you really think so?” Daria asks sternly. The tone of her voice changes as she resumes a different approach to her daughter’s stupidity.

Everyone around the capital knew about the Lycan king’s plays. He always used the young girls which were sent to him and then simply sent them back when he got enough. The Lycan king wasn’t someone she could just go and talk to as she wanted. Not even if they were mates. If he ever cared about such a thing, there would have been a queen sitting on the throne a long time ago. As a king, he has abundant mates around the country and outside the borders of his territory, to assure the continuity of the lineage. Ariana wasn’t the only one who wished to claim him, but most likely the stupidest one to think she could do so.

“Of course, mother. I am his mate! He can’t just send his mate away. That’s not how the mate works. Yesterday, we spent a beautiful night together, and he told me to call him by his name. Sure, he must have felt the bond between us. Why else would he stay with me the whole night?” Ariana can’t properly understand the reality of her situation and the nature of the Lycan king. What happened to her happened to many other girls in the capital, and Daria has to break this down to her daughter to make her understand.

“Oh, honey. That’s what he does. Every girl you watched entering the castle spent a night or two with him. Once he got enough, he sent them home the same as he sent you. It wasn’t the maid who made the mistake. She followed the order given by the king himself. I am truly sorry for you to be his mate, but trust me, this bond won’t last. If you keep pestering him, he will openly reject you and break the bond, but he won’t admit it. Maybe if we are rich with status and hold a position in the capital, he would at least consider you as a concubine, but not as we are now. In the capital, we are nobodies. You are nobody to him. He saw yesterday an easy prey exactly because of the bond, so he tasted you, but for him, that’s all there is to it. There won’t be anything else.” Daria tries to explain to her daughter the situation as gently as possible. It is breaking her heart to see the dream of her daughter shattering. The tears which appear in Ariana’s eyes carry stones, slowly settling into Daria’s heart. She feared precisely something like this would occur when they were entering the castle yesterday. When he came to their table and asked Ariana for a dance, Daria feared precisely this would happen.

“But… I am his mate. We are mates.” Ariana feels her heart breaking into a million pieces. She refuses to believe her mother. This can’t be happening. Not to her.

Ariana rushes out of the door and straight up the road to the castle. Her mother tries to stop her, but Ariana ignores her, rushing through the crowded streets, hoping she loses her mother on the way. After a few turns, the voice of her mother calling her name disappears. Her feet carry her straight to the castle, to the main gate through which they entered yesterday with the carriage. The guards refuse her entry and force her to turn and leave, but Ariana stubbornly fights with them.

“Let her come in.” The steward suddenly appears by the gate, ordering the two guards to let Ariana enter. She has tears in her eyes from fighting the guards. First, she had to argue with her mother and then these two stopped her from visiting her mate.

“Thank you,” she slightly bows her head to the steward, expressing her gratitude. He replies to her in a similar gesture before he leads her into the castle. His steps slowly lead Ariana to the throne room, which Marcus uses to accept visitors, if there are any.

Upon entering the room, Ariana sees the Lycan king sitting high on his throne, staring coldly at the daring girl in front of his eyes.

“What brings you back? The ball finished yesterday, and the gates of the castle are closed to the commoners during the year.” The tone in his voice explains almost everything. Especially the word “commoners” rings in Ariana’s ears like bells on the highest tower in the capital, which always announced the danger when there were attackers or any other danger threatening the capital’s peace.

“I thought…” she begins but the words get stuck in her throat. She can’t finish the thought which comes to her mind.

“You thought I would claim you as my queen because you are my mate,” Marcus finishes her thought for her. Ariana lifts her eyes, staring straight at the Lycan king sitting on his throne. His posture remains exactly the same as at the time she entered the room. The Almighty king ruled over the werewolves, staring at her with cold, emotionless eyes. The night they spent together meant nothing to him. She sees it in his eyes. She sees it in that haughty stare he gave her the moment she entered the room.

Ariana stands there, unable to say any other word. She had so many in her mind just a moment ago, but now, when she finally faces him, her mind remains blank. Those icy cold eyes offer nothing but pain. The cold shower of his blatant arrogance and rejection cripples her mind from proper thinking.

“Did you really think I would take a silly girl like you as my queen? How naïve of you! Did you really think you are better than those aristocratic girls sent to me every month? They have been studying since birth to be a proper queen and yet I still refused them. What makes you think a girl with no background, no position among the citizens would be sufficient if those girls weren’t?” His snarky tone brings tears to Ariana’s eyes once again. She tries hard to keep them from falling. Crying in front of him won’t change anything. By the way he talks to her, Ariana fully realizes how truthful her mother’s description of his character was. The truth showing right in front of her eyes is heartbreaking, but she finally accepts to see not only his charming face but also his ugly personality. This is not a person Ariana wishes to spend the rest of her life with. His emotionless demeanor and bitter words finally opened her eyes.

“Reject me then.” Ariana collects the rest of her courage and dignity, asking him to reject her. She can’t do it. He is the king, and rejecting the king is something unheard of.

The request, as such, wasn’t something Marcus heard from the other girls. They never asked for such a thing and there were at least dozens of others with whom he shared the bond. He refused them all, sent them back home with their eyes full of tears while he had his amused smile on his lips.

“Daring you are, indeed,” Marcus scoffs after hearing her request. It takes him a minute to decide whether to give her what she asks for or keep her, but since he had his fun last night, Marcus doesn’t see the necessity of keeping a little girl like her around. She isn’t that amusing, although he has to admit she has a charm. Among the girls with whom he spent nights, Ariana belonged to those naturally beautiful and attractive.

“As you wish, then. I, Marcus Aullus Sierra, reject you, Ariana…” he freezes for a moment, not knowing her surname.

“Thomas,” Ariana quickly tells him so he could continue. She already feels the string in her heart tearing apart just from hearing the half of the rejection, but she focuses on remaining strong. She won’t cry in front of him. Arian won’t give him the satisfaction of seeing her broken.

“Ariana Thomas as my mate. You are free to leave my country or stay in my service, but from now on, there is nothing connecting us.” The string burst at the same time as he said the last word. Ariana gets hit harder since she had hopes for their relationship, yet she keeps her composure.

“Thank you,” she tells him before she turns around and leaves the room. Steward awaits her behind the door and leads her directly out of the castle. Ariana’s legs continue to carry her back to her home. Later, she can’t remember how she got there. Since the rejection, her world had darkened, and she remembered nothing else except the growing pain in her heart as the string connecting them completely dissolved.