Heart Of A Lycan King

3.

"Wake up you lazy slut," Camila's voice filled my ears as I struggled to pry my eyes open.

A few moments later, a sharp piercing pain hit my stomach and I woke up as a bucket of cold water washed over my thinly clad body. I gasped as I quickly sat up, hands on my chest as I took in my wet body. Camila just glared at me.

"What time do you think it is? It is almost 7:00 am and you're yet to start making breakfast. You b***h! I have a class at eight!" Camila hissed, throwing the bucket at me. I narrowly dodged it.

Today, unlike every other day when I sleep in the attic, I was forced to sleep in the middle of the stairs clad only in a see-through white dress that I was given. Making it possible for every passerby to look at me. To see the multiple bruises beneath the dress. I had wanted to leave, and wanted to go back to the attic. But I knew that would only cause me more beatings. More abuse. What I needed now was money. Enough for me to leave this pack, this country even, and go somewhere else.

I just needed to be patient and bide my time. Hopefully I survive that long

I had assumed accepting the rejection would have made things a little better. I had thought that all this torture would end if I wasn't his mate anymore. However, that was far from the truth. I was still the weak omega, one whose mate despises her and makes her watch as he takes another woman.

Even after the rejection, Matteo had forced me to suck him off after he was done f*****g Camila in my presence. Apparently, despite Camila's protests, this was something the Alpha enjoyed.

"I'm sorry," I muttered as I stood up. My feet were shaking and I almost slipped due to the water below them. "I...was tired and..."

"Tired? What did you do? You did nothing yesterday," she screamed in my face as hers turned into an ugly shade of red.

'I did suck off your i***t boyfriend,' I thought. 'And it was the hardest chore ever.'

"I'm sorry. I'll go fix it now," I replied, staring at her.

"How dare you look me in the eye as you speak," she snarled, pulling at my mass of curly hair that was now wet. "You are not his mate anymore," She hissed as she slapped me.

I contemplated pushing her and watching her body roll down the stairs. I wanted to. But this was not the right time. As always, I'll only end up complicating the situation more for myself than anyone.

She's not worth it. At least not right now.

"I'm sorry, Miss Camila..."

"Luna," she snapped. "It's Luna for you," she added with a snarl.

"But...but..."

"Do you have something to say?" she pinned me with a glare.

"No, of course not. I'll go fix your breakfast now, Luna."

"You have thirty minutes to do that. I want chips, scrambled eggs, some pancakes, and a smoothie. You have 30 minutes, Natasha."

Does she think I'm a machine? How does she expect me to…

"Make it twenty," Matteo drawled from behind us as he descended the stairs. Then he stopped beside me and opened his arms wide. "Come here, baby." Now that we weren't mates anymore, I couldn't smell his scent that always had a touch of pills? Or were they drugs? I never truly made out the scent he had. And funny enough, I felt no pain whatsoever as they kissed, only that the sound made me cringe.

"Why are you up so early?" Camila asked as she snuggled into his body.

"You left the bed. How do you expect me to continue sleeping?"

I winced at that. That was...terrible.

"Oww, someone is a big baby," she cooed, and I almost scoffed.

"What are you waiting for?" Matteo thundered.

"Nothing," I replied as I finally turned. For the first time that morning, I saw Matteo. He was clad only in pants, his chest bare and muscles ripping underneath. He was handsome, that much was given already since he was the Alpha after all. With eyes so dark that it shows the level of his cruelty, chiseled shaved jaw, and perfectly carved nose, it was impossible for anyone to resist him if he wanted. That is if they could ignore the cruelty that always shone in his eyes. "I'll just go change..."

"You have no time for that!" Alpha Matteo growled.

"But I'm wet all over and it is c..."

"Wet, you say?" Camila asked wide-eyed. "You mean you're wet right now?"

"I...I..." isn't that obvious? I mean, she drenched me just now with a bucket of cold water.

"She said she's wet, baby. Maybe she needs help?"

"Eww! No. She's disgusting. I can't do that with her," Matteo said, his face scrunched up in disgust.

What were they talking about?

"She does smell really bad. And those saggy breasts aren't enticing at all," Camila said as she stared at me. Because I'm wet and the dress I was forced to wear was so thin, every part of me was visible. Including my saggy breasts that yesterday were assaulted by Alex. "Plus, the fat on her makes her so...unwanted. I can understand why you don't want her as your mate," she ran a finger along his chest, her eyes fixed on me.

"We're not mates anymore. A weak, ugly lowlife like her was never supposed to be mated to me," he growled.

"Maybe we have one of the men take care of her? Maybe she wouldn't still be wet after that," Camila taunted with an evil glint in her eyes.

It finally dawned on me what they meant, and I suddenly felt dirtier. Would I ever be liked? Wanted? Or would my life remain this way forever?

"I'm not wet anymore. I'll go fix the breakfast now," I mumble with my eyes on the ground.

"You have twenty minutes. Twenty minutes, slave." Matteo spat.

I nodded, forcing down the tears that were threatening to spill. I think my crying too much was part of the reason everyone thought of me to be weak

But I never knew crying meant being weak. Crying is strength. It shows just how capable I was of accepting what is going on with me. And that is strength. I refuse to let anyone make me think otherwise.

But today, I'm not going to cry. I have a goal in mind. Money then leaving

I met several wolves as I walked to the kitchen. Most of them sent glares towards me. Some sent me pitied glances, but none approached me. I was fine. I don't need them anymore. I will be leaving soon. No reason to get attached to anyone here.

I stepped into the large kitchen and took in the mess. There was no way I could start making Camila her breakfast without cleaning it first. Even if I do ignore the mess and proceed to make her breakfast, she might come in, find how messy the kitchen is, and punish me for supposedly trying to kill her with germs.

'You've been silent ever since you told me to accept the rejection. Are you okay?' I tried talking to Erin. She didn't reply.

I didn't like that she always does this. We have only ourselves, and yet, all she does is shut me off and disappear. Then suddenly appears when she wants to.

I sighed and began cleaning the dirty plates in the workplace. The gas cooker was also dirty, as though I didn't clean it yesterday morning. The kitchen in its entirety looked like it had never been cleaned.

So many dishes were piled up in the sink, the smell of spoiled food littered all around the kitchen.

I spent the next thirty minutes trying to clean the kitchen, completely forgetting that I had only been given twenty minutes to finish that.

I washed and peeled the potatoes as fast as I could and started them. Then I mixed the eggs and set them aside, as well as the batter for the pancakes.

I had just washed a mango, peeled a banana, and was washing an apple when two young Omegas, whose names were Katelyn and Mary, stepped into the kitchen. They were Omegas like me, but they have a lot more freedom than I do in this pack.

"Have you heard who is coming in today?" Mary asked as they both set the plates they were holding into the sink.

"Who?" Katelyn asked.

"Delegates from the capital. This time around, unmated female wolves would be chosen from our pack and sent to the capital where the Lycans live," Mary explained.

"What? Do they survive there?" Kat asked, the fear in her voice quite evident.

"Not always. The Lycans are more ferocious than we are. It is nearly impossible to please them. Besides, they have a low rate of Lycan females there, and sometimes, they take the unmated wolves as their mates. But somehow, the wolves hardly ever live long after that."

"Why?" Kat asked in a shaky voice.

"It is said that the moon goddess cursed them. Everything they..." Her gaze drifted towards me and she clamped her mouth shut after eyeing me. "Come, let's go somewhere else and I'll continue the lore for you," Mary said as she pulled Kat towards the door. "We wouldn't want to get into trouble with the Alpha because of 'that'," she added.

I sighed, staring down at the apple I was holding. I had stopped peeling it as soon as Mary had started speaking, and now, I've wasted more of my time.

I walked over to the air fryer and found that the chips were done, just as crispy as Camila likes them. Now, it was time to get started on the pancakes.

As I began, my mind drifted to the conversation I had just heard.

Every three years, delegates were sent to each state in the country to fetch unmated female wolves. These females were mostly used as s*x slaves or for procreation, which most of them never survived. According to the stories, it's been close to fifty years since the Lycans had succeeded in procreating. The women either die at childbirth with the pups, or they never get pregnant.

It has also been said that the reason for that was due to the curse placed on them by the moon goddess. That is as far as I know since I had no privilege to go to school and nobody talks about it around me.

The Lycans rule over the werewolves since they are so much bigger and stronger. There are twelve states in the country, all of which had an Alpha, with the Lycan king ruling over everyone.

I intend to leave the country, and perhaps travel to a human country so I can leave this part of my past behind forever.

I tossed the pancake to the other side and my eyes landed on my breast. Were they saggy? I know I'm not fat, at least, not as fat as everyone makes me want to think. I'm thick, and I'd like to think I'm thick only in the right places.

But after hearing how terrible the shape of my body is all through yesterday night, how big and saggy my breasts were, how big my ass was, I was now conscious of it.

As much as I didn't want that, I hated my body now. I hated the size of my breasts. The size of my ass. Above all, I hated the shade of my skin, which was a bit darker than the shade most of the pack members had.

Our pack was the descendants of the Malakarian wolves from the western part of Africa. The twelve packs scattered around the country were descendants of different wolves from all over the African continent. We shift at sixteen and find our mates at twenty. I found mine a month ago, and I had been in so much pain ever since.

Now that we aren't mates anymore though, I…

"You stupid b***h!" A loud voice roared behind me before I felt a thick, cold mixture roll down from my hair to my body. It took me a few seconds to realize it was the pancake batter, as well as the egg I had mixed, all poured on me by Camila.

"I gave you twenty minutes to finish!" She yelled. "This is over an hour and you still aren't done. I gave you enough time to finish because my baby and I were busy and you still couldn't finish? What sort of a pathetic, lazy assed woman are you?" she thundered, shaking with rage.

I balled my fist tightly, shut my eyes, and I began to count to ten. I needed to calm down. Now that I wasn't Matteo's mate, now that I wasn't trying to do things to please him so he would accept me, I was suddenly filled with the urge to hit the scowl off her face. To wipe it off and replace it with the imprints of my fingers.

I dropped my gaze and watched as the thick batter trailed down my body onto the tiled floor. I smelled of raw eggs and…

"I am talking to you," she hit me in the face at the same time Matteo stepped in, dressed in a black suit with Alex trailing behind him.

"Let her be, baby. We are running late already. I'll personally see to her punishment when we return."

"You are receiving the delegates with her?" Alex asked.

"Yes," Matteo replied as he used a handkerchief to wipe off the batter that had splattered on Camila's black dress.

"But she's not your..."

"She will be on the full moon. She's my mate," he announced.

Although we aren't mates anymore, I couldn't help the prickling sensation that settled in my chest when he said that.

"For real? She's not just your..."

"She's my mate, Alex!" Matteo thundered, using his Alpha voice.

"Congratulations, Alpha. Happy for you," Alex said with a small smile on his face. I couldn't find out if it was real or fake. It was always impossible to understand Alex.

"Clean our room, prepare lunch, and wait for me in the attic," Matteo commanded as he took Camila's hand and all three of them left. "May Nyala help you, because if I return and you aren't done, I'm going to pick your body apart, Natasha. I promise you that."

And I knew he would. The promise was evident in his voice.

I swallowed the tears. I had promised myself not to cry today and I wouldn't. I walked to the attic, stripped naked, and stepped into the water I had saved for a bath since yesterday.

I shivered as the cold water made contact with my skin. I cannot recall the last time I had a bath with warm water. It was a luxury I couldn't afford.

I washed my body as fast as I could, wasting more time on my hair which was thick and always hard to wash. I didn't wait for it to dry off as I slipped on a yellow dress that reached my knees and stepped down the stairs towards Matteo's wing which was on the third floor.

I nudged the door open and nearly choked on my spit at the sight that welcomed me. Clothes were scattered all around. I began by picking them up before I walked over to the bed. It was crumbled, and there was a sticky substance on it. I knew without anyone telling me what this was. I wanted to puke.

Goddess! I hate those two. And I was sure they deliberately left it for me to see. But I was past the point of caring anymore.

I stripped the sheets off the bed and tidied up the room, then stepped into the bathroom and proceeded to wash the sheets alongside Camila's inner wears that had been set aside. It has always been my job to wash them, even before I found out Matteo was my mate.

'Money!' Erin decided to finally speak to me. 'Now is the right time to look for something. Check. Quick."

Stupid. Stupid. I mumbled as I rushed back into the bathroom and started searching the drawers. I pulled the ones with the mirror, empty, except for one gold stud I knew belonged to Camila. I picked it up. I would sell it and use the money.

I searched the other drawers as well and they were all empty. Where does he keep the money? Maybe he has none at home but in the bank? And perhaps, he uses his credit card more often? I thought as I opened the wardrobe on the side and began searching.

As it is, luck was on my side and I found a wad of naira notes. I took two notes and closed the door.

But that seems to be the only luck I had, as the door to the room was kicked open and Matteo stepped in. I stood there trembling with the money in my hand, unable to move.

Matteo's eyes trailed down my body before they settled on my hand.

"What the f**k do you think you are doing?" he growled as he took menacing steps towards me.

Oh no. Oh no. Oh no no no no! I stupidly sang in my head.

That's the end of you, Natasha. I thought.