Mated To The Lycan King

“Aren't you excited for tomorrow, Sweetie?” Melody Goldstone asked her older daughter as she came in from outside.

Skylar scowled. “No.”

Tomorrow was the mating ceremony for wolves who hadn't yet found their mate, and Skylar was not looking forward to it.

Melody looked at her child with sadness. “Honey-”

Skylar broke in, “Mom, I have told you so many, many times that I do not want a mate.”

“Everyone has a mate.”

“I'll reject mine. If I get one tomorrow, I'll reject him.”

Her mother's eyes saddened the more. She washed her hands at the kitchen sink and moved towards her daughter. “Baby, having a mate is a wonderful thing. It's like having your own….everything. It's a feeling I can't explain.”

The girl snorted. “A whole lot of good that'll do you. See what happened when Dad died?” She asked her mother.

Melody felt herself crumble a little on the inside. Ever since her dad died, Skylar had hated the idea of mates. She'd seen what losing your fated partner did to you firsthand through her mother. Melody had almost never recovered from the incident, and seeing her mom in an absolute wrecked state had made Skylar swore not to have anything to do with partners. Mates or not. As long as it was romantic, count her out.

The door opened again. “Hi, guys, I'm home.”

Melody smiled at her second daughter. “Hi, baby.”

“Hi, Mom. Hey, Sky, what's got your pants in a twist?”

“The idea of mates.” said their Mother, going back to the kitchen.

Sapphire sighed. “It's like a bad idea and not a bad idea at the same time.”

“Make it make sense, baby.”

“Well, it's nice that you have your own personal person. You know, someone that only you have access to in some ways. Someone that's not for the whole world. Someone any random person can't call dibs on anytime they want. Buuuut…”

“But what?”

“But what if he isn't the right one? Like y'all aren't perfect for each other?”

Melody chuckled lightly. “Baby, the Moon Goddess never makes mistakes. And there is no one perfect person. You make the imperfections perfect. Excluding abusive relationships, of course.”

“I guess. You and Dad were absolutely perfect for each other.”

Melody's eyes softened. “Thank you, baby.”

“Yeah, right,” said Skylar, “See what happened to her when he died? We almost lost her, too. I don't want to be part of anything that does that to you.”

“I just want little more time to myself, is all.” said Sapphire. “But I think it's lovely.”

“You've always been a romantic.” Skylar admitted grudgingly to her sister.

“And that's a nice thing to be.” said their Mother. “Lunch's ready.”

****

THE NEXT DAY AT THE MATING CEREMONY:

“Do you think the King will get his mate today?”

“Ugh,” Someone replied, “I sure hope so. It's been ages. I pity him.”

Caroline rolled her eyes. “Stop being dramatic. He's just twenty-five.”

“Twenty-Five years too long without a mate.”

Sapphire detached herself from the group and glanced around as she took a lick of her ice cream. She glanced left and right, hoping to spot her sister.

Wham! She ran straight into a tree.

Or not a tree, she thought, judging from the hushed whispers around her. If it was a tree, people would come to her aide immediately. Or was it a tree and people just didn't want to bother?

"Er," she began. Apparently her brain had short circuited. A smile appeared at the corner of the tree's mouth.

"Hello." It said. "Alpha Nicholas?" It was more of a question since her eyes were still seeing stars and couldn't yet focus properly.

"Are you okay?" He didn't wait for her to reply as he called out to someone. "Hey. Get her sitted for a few minutes until she's okay."

****

"Sapphire Goldstone, where the hell were you?"

Rubbing her head, she replied her mother, "I ran into a tree, er, Alpha Nick. Head first."

"Oh." Her mother paused.

"I gotta go apologize."

"I'm sure it's fine. He'll understand. He's nice."

"Nah. I want to." And off she went, pep-talking herself as she went along. She found him sitting with another Alpha, his brother Liam.

"Alpha Ryder?" she called, bowing.

As the brothers both turned and her eyes clashed with Liam's intense green ones, the world stopped rotating and tilted on its axis.

“Ah, sh*t.” She muttered.

Mate, mate, mate, her wolf danced around inside of her.

“Mate,” Liam said quietly.

They kept staring at each other, the apology totally gone from Sapphire's mind.

“Ah, f*ck.” She said again.

Nick watched them both with amusement, then said to Sapphire, "It's you. How are you feeling?"

"Fine. Thank you. I just wanted to apologize for earlier."

He smiled again. "It was an accident"

“Thanks. Bye.” She left without another glance at Liam. She knew he would come for her. As soon as she left, Nick turned to his brother.

"I'm happy for you, man."

"Thanks." Liam stood up. "Maybe you'll find your's soon, too." At that, Nick threw back his head and laughed.

"Just go, Liam."

****

“Can Miss Sapphire Goldstone, please step forward? You have now been claimed as a mate to Alpha Liam Ryder.”

Sapphire sighed despondently. “I'll miss you, Mom.”

Melody pulled her baby close. “I'll miss you, too, darling.”

“I'm scared.”

“Don't be. He's a young one. And a good looking one, too.” She winked at her daughter. “And remember I'm always here when you need me.”

Sapphire held on just a little bit tighter. “I know, Mom. I'll make the best of it.”

“That's my girl.”

"No way," Skylar said as the news was announced. She just laughed it off. Because there was no way, right? There was no way she could be the Lycan King's mate. She turned to her mother.

"Mom?"

But her mother wasn't listening. Faced with the probability of giving another child out, she had gone pale.

Nick sauntered towards them in all of his arrogance and watched mother and daughter. He'd first seen the girl with Liam's mate when she came to apologize, but he hadn't said a word. She had been watching Sapphire protectively from a distance away, and when Liam had suggested that he might find his mate soon, he was already thinking if he hadn't already found her.

The girl turned to him. "Alpha Ryder, we are both very reasonable adults here-"

Nick raised an eyebrow. "We are?"

Skylar painted an artificial smile on, ignoring the pull of the bond she was feeling. She equally ignored her wolf that was seriously going crazy. She would reject this man,