The Rejected Lycan

Zelda’s POV

My heart leaped for joy when I caught sight of Ryder who was coming towards my direction while conversing with some men. A bright smile formed on my face as I stared intently at him. He was everything that I have ever wanted. Ryder had the perfect face, and the perfect smile and every part of him screamed perfection.

I was about to rush towards him when I suddenly stopped on my track. His penetrating blue eyes pierced into mine and I could see the glint of rage mixed with pity that was so evident in his orbs. He was smiling earlier but the smile on his face disappeared as soon as he locked eyes with me. Shoving the thoughts off, I strode toward his direction even if a voice kept ringing in my head that something was wrong! The atmosphere was tense and the way he had been treating me for the past few days meant that something was wrong.

For the past few days, I have been trying to reach Ryder through every means. My calls were ignored, my messages were ignored as well and I kept trying to console myself that everything was going to be fine. However, the rage in his eyes said otherwise, his face devoid of emotion made my heart palpate with fear and in split seconds, Alder rushed towards me as he grasped me by the arm, and pulled me inside a room as he bolted the door.

He ran his hands through his hair and I could see the frustration that creased on his face and I could see how hard he was trying to control the wave of anger that was rushing through him as he clenched his fist by his side.

“Zelda, what are you doing here?” His glare traveled with unnerving thoroughness and his eyes raked with nothing but disdain and I knew that it was for me! The look in his eyes was for me! It made me wonder how he went from looking at me with those dreamy eyes to looking at me with nothing but hatred. Jolting me out of the thoughts that I was starting to get drowned in, he snapped his fingers before me. “Zelda, I asked you a question, what are you doing here?” His voice was calm yet eerie.

I forced out a smile. “What do you mean by what I am doing here? I am here to see you and I want to be anywhere you are. Stop being silly, Ryder” I laughed dryly even though I was enveloped with fear. For the umpteenth time, he ran his hands through his hair before a scoff escaped his lips. He squeezed his eyes shut. I hated the way he acted, I hated the fact that something was wrong even though I had no idea about what could be wrong. Flicking his eyes open, he bit on the corner of his lower lips. “Zelda, I know this might come as a shock to you but I am done with this!”

For a second, it felt as if I heard wrong. It felt like everything paused for a second and I was the only one in my world. Slowly, his words kept resounding in my ear and at that moment, I knew that I heard right.

Fixing my gaze back to him, I shook my head in utter disbelief as tears pressed at the back of my eyelid while I mastered the courage to take his hands in mine. “Ryder, what do you mean by you are done with what exactly? me? You are kidding right?” My lips trembled with every syllable that my mouth made. He shoved my hands away from him and walked towards me while I retracted my step backward until my back hit the wall as he towered over me, starting right into my eyes. “Since you are pretending like you are deaf then I would spell it out to you! Zelda Williams, I am done with you!”

“I, Ryder Jameson, reject you as my mate!” He snarled as tears welled in my eyes. I shook my head, tears cascading down my cheeks. “Find then, it is fine if you reject me as your mate but the least you can do is tell me what I did wrong?” I said with a teary voice. A scoff left his lips as he grasped me by the arm, he gripped me so right that a wince escaped my lips, his eyes blazed like torches as he stared right into my eyes. My knees weakened to the ground and the next thing he did was grip me by the neck while I gasped for breath as I tried to dislodge his fingers with mine.

“Ryder please…..” I whimpered.

“Don't ask me about what you did wrong! I can't be mates with someone like you! I want someone that is strong and I don't need a weak person like you that is, you are not someone I am proud to be with, you are nothing but a…..” He gritted his teeth as his eyes reddened and slowly, he released his grip around my neck. Panting for air like a jackal, Ryder grabbed me by the wrist while I was trying to get a hold of my breath.“Ryder, we can talk things over,” I cried, he pulled me alongside him and dragged me to the door despite the tears that streaked down my face. When he unbolted the door, he pushed me outside the room as I hit my back against the wall, falling on my knees to the ground.

He pointed his finger at me in the form of a warning. “I am done with you! Let this be the last time that you step your feet anywhere close to me, this should be the last I should ever set my eyes on you. Instead of being so weak, it would have been better if you had just died!, then I won't have to every tell anyone you were ever my mate” He warned and before I could rush toward him to plead with him, he slammed the door shut right in my face.

******************

After several hours of crying my eyes out, I returned home, ignoring the greeting of those who had called out to me. I was miserable and to worsen it all, I was heartbroken. It felt like my heart was being shredded into pieces because never in my wildest imagination did I ever imagine that Ryder would do something like that to me. “How could he just reject me? How could he do that to me” I cried as I trudged up the stairs while mumbling to myself.

I walked down the hall as different thoughts coursed through my mind and all the hurtful words that Ryder said kept flashing through my head. Amidst my thoughts, I heard some words that kind of made me stop on my track. I wouldn't have stopped if not for the fact that I heard someone mention my name. I scrutinized where I was and what was when I realized that I had walked past my room and was now standing in front of my parents.

With my eyebrows furrowed in confusion as to why my name was being mentioned, I pressed my ear against the door and listened keenly to their conversation.

“Isn't it about time that we tell Zelda the truth” I heard my father say and it made me wonder what truth they were talking about? “What are you even saying? ”You want us to just casually go to her and be like Zelds guess what? we aren't your real parents and another funny story you are actually a human oops?” My mom said sarcastically.

My eyes almost bulged out of their sockets as I staggered backward. “This can't be true” I muttered under my breath as tears streaked down my face. Slowly, everything was starting to make sense to me. I was starting to understand everything perfectly well! Times I would be filled with jealousy for all the pack members who shifted into their wolves and I would ask my parents why I hadn't shifted into my wolf and the only thing they would tell me was to be patient. “Be patient, Zelda, you have something special in you and one day, you would shift into your wolf form” I recollected my mother’s words perfectly.

I ran down the stairs and almost crumbled on my knees to the ground as I clutched the railings of the stairs. “They all lied to me! My whole life has been nothing but a lie! Ryder was right! why am I living” My heart raced rapidly in my chest as my heart pounded in my ear. The pain I felt at the moment was too much for me as I ran as fast as my legs could carry me until I found myself on the cliff.

The wind blew some strands of hair on my face. My chest rose and fell steadily as I cried out my eyes while Ryder’s words flashed through my head and the venom he had in his eyes for me replayed in my head. “You should have died!” Ryder words kept ringing in my ear, I pursed my lips slightly because he was right. I had no use for him, for my pack, and for me as well. So he was right, I should have died.

Taking tiny steps until I got to the edge of the cliff, I looked down at the river. I was scared but the more I thought about it, wasn't it better to be dead than to stay alive useless. Mustering the courage that I had left inside me, I squeezed my eyes shut and plunged deep inside the river.

Ryder’s POV

I leaned against the door and squeezed my eyes shut as all the memories from earlier rushed through my head. I felt a panged of guilt but I tried to justify it, If I were, to be honest, I didn’t really regret it because who would want an Alpha with a weakling as a mate, I had to say to Zelda! She deserved every one of the words that I had uttered and if she were right before me, I would repeat those same words ‘You should have died’.

A few years ago, when I discovered that Zelda was my mate, I was filled with glee and I was happy with the fact that I would finally have someone with whom we would rule the pack together. However, as years passed by, I began to notice something absurd with Zelda. Something so absurd that it created a deep fear in my heart.

There was once a time when I was roaming through the woods alongside Zelda. I rushed to answer an important call and when I was back, I couldn’t find Zelda. That was when I knew that something was wrong