Rhydian of the Crescent Pack stepped forward, dragging Danika's drifting attention back to the ceremony that she was meant to be the highlight of.
"As much as I would like to claim her" he began with his voice so light and unsteady, that Danika briefly wondered if he was even a man at all.
Her lips twitched bitterly. Just so she could be picked and desperate for it to happen as her father was, he had even invited heirs unworthy of being her mate. All just so she could compete to be chosen. The sheer irony gnawed at her.
"Even if I were to overlook the fact that she's deficient," Rhydian continued .
"She's still a love child born out of wedlock. And we all know what that means. I don't want whatever curse following her to infect my pack"
That was the height of it. Danika thought as her rage seethed in her bones. She wasn't going to stand here and let them humiliate her any longer.
She turned away without another glance.
She didn't wait to hear what Thorne had to say, knowing that it wouldn't be any different. And as for the fifth heir? He hadn't even bothered to show up for a ceremony he was expected to grace hours ago.
"Danika, calm down" she heard someone call out as she stormed out of the gathering.
She did not stop. Neither did she listen.
Calm down? How dare he humiliate not just her but her late mother too?
And her father had been awfully quiet as the heir of a lesser pack insulted her to her face. Born out of wedlock?
Her father had intended to marry her mother according to the human traditions for crying out loud. After discovering her pregnancy, he had brought her into his pack despite the fierce opposition from some of his court.
He promised to marry her after the great war to legitimatize Danika's birth. But her mother's untimely death during childbirth had shattered those plans.
Yes, Danika knew that they called her the Alpha's disgrace. But never before had anyone been bold enough to say it aloud.
And not like this. Not in front of her father. Not to her face.
He probably couldn't do anything because his wife was there. He had always been under her control for as long as Danika could remember. Still, she felt bolts of resentment at him for having done nothing to preserve her late mother's legacy.
Danika barely noticed where she was going. Her feet moved on their own, carrying her away from the voices that had erupted into murmurs.
She was desperately walking to the only place she knew she would feel something other than the heat rising in her chest.
She had barely walked a few meters when she turned towards the corner near the eastern exit and collided into someone.
"Tchhhhh" A grunt escaped the person's lips.
"Watch it!" the voice snapped at her, sharp and irritated.
"How dare you barge into a future Alpha that way?" His condescending voice continued, "I'll have the Alpha of your pack behead you as a deterrent to others" he added, taking in her disgusting omega scent.
She looked up and this caused her curly hair to fall back.
The man blinked at her, surprised. "Oh," he said as his tone shifted quickly and softening as well. "Danika." he muttered.
It was Lucian.
The fifth heir.
The one who hadn't even bothered to show up until now.
Of course it was him.
His eyes scanned her face, settling on the fire still burning in her eyes. "You're angry," he murmured. "Who made you mad?" He tried shifting attention from his threat few minutes ago when he had taken in the omega scent of the person who collided with him.
Danika didn't respond. She turned to keep walking, but he stepped in front of her and blocked the path.
"I know how it feels Danika," he said, quieter now. "To burn and not be worthy of relief. To be seen and still overlooked." His gaze lingered on her. "That's why I came Dani, I came to save you."
She stiffened, staring at him in amusement and disbelief despite the rage still seething in her.
Lucian smiled slightly, he thought he was offering her a gift which she was desperately waiting to receive. "Go back in with me," he said. "Let me claim you before everyone. Let them talk. I don't care. I want to accept the bond and make you mine."
She arched an eyebrow, irritated the further he went on spilling more of the words she saw as garbage from his lips.
He stepped closer. "I can't wait anymore, Danika. I want you. I want your body. Oh you won't understand. I swear by the gods, your body drives me mad each time I come to the Crimson Veil Pack"
"I cannot wait to have you and make you mine" he continued confessing.
And just like that, the air between them shifted. Any flicker of confusion she might have felt in her before was gone, replaced with a pure cutting rage.
She knew this man.
Lucian, the heir to Raven blood Pack. The heir with a mate he refused to acknowledge even though she already birthed three children for him.The one known for his harem full of his rotating bed warmers. Her father had invited him to claim her?
He thought she was desperate enough to give off her pheromones, all in the hopes of getting to be picked by him?
She clenched her fists and then looked him in the eye.
"Have you ever looked at yourself in the mirror?" she asked, her voice laced with venom.
He frowned, startled by her question. What did she mean by that? He was handsome and girls ran crazy on their own wanting to even get him to return their seductive gazes.
"How dare you think you're a fit mate for me?"
Lucian blinked as if she'd struck him. But she didn't wait to see his face change. She brushed past him and kept walking, her steps fast as did her blood keep boiling.An elderly lady whom she did not notice continued following her and tried to keep up with her.
Behind her, the silence stretched for a while.
"You'll regret those words." he said coldly as he watched her leave.
Danika didn't slow.
Lucian stood still for a while, watching her disappear into the shadows. Then he laughed mockingly at himself, biter at the insult he had just received from a lowly and wolf less omega.
"When Damon wins this rebellion," he muttered to himself, "I'll ask for you. And you'll come crawling at my feet for my attention and affection."
His smile turned cruel.
"And I'll make sure you suffer for that mouth, beloved Danika... every day of your life."