Chapter 0006

Valeria’s POV

I stare at the man and inhale in shock, averting my gaze quickly so he won’t notice the direction of my gaze from earlier.

“Second chance mate?” I echo in panic. “But that’s impossible….”

My wolf vanishes once again, and now I’m left trying to steady my heartbeat.

However, as I take a deep breath, I catch a sweet scent in the air that wasn’t there a while ago. A combination of amber, pine, and mint. Manly, sweet, and cool at the same time. It’s intoxicating. I find myself inhaling deeper and deeper, trying to take it all in.

But that’s when I realize that that kind of strong, imposing scent could only come from a Lycan. A powerful one.

Like the Lycan King.

I lift my gaze up once more and that’s when I spot the golden circlet on his wavy hair. The symbol of a King.

He stares back at me and the sudden contact with his eyes makes me freeze. I’ve always imagined the Lycan King to be old and maybe weathered, considering that he’s been alive for a hundred years. But the man before me couldn’t be any different. He’s strong and handsome, unlike what everyone said about him….

Surely this man couldn’t be connected to me in any way, much less by a mate bond. He’s much too perfect. Painfully powerful. And what am I?

I take a step back, ready to change course and leave, but the Lycan King closes the distance between us. He’s dangerously close to me now, his body in full display and sending my whole body aflame. The familiar heat between my legs start to appear.

“Where are you going?” he whispers, his breath hot against the top of my head. “Are you really trying to leave?”

I don’t say anything. I can’t. All I can think about is how his cock would feel like inside me, and that’s not something I want to linger on right now.

I need to focus.

He laughs softly. “I know you feel it too. There’s no denying it. You’re mine.”

You’re mine. My knees almost buckle at those words.

So he really is my second-chance mate. That also means that I’m the one he’s been looking for for years, then? The one he seeks through Choosing Night?

I don’t want to believe it, but it makes sense. No wonder this is the pack he chose this year, and why my dad is so desperate for me to show up. I’m certain that he didn’t know, but it all ties down together….

I really am his. I’m the Lycan King’s mate and his property.

Everything about that is making me dizzy, and judging by the curve of his lips, he finds this pleasing.

But as though that isn’t enough, he slides his finger right under my chin and forces me to look up at him. He takes another step closer. The heat of his skin is emanating so strongly that I can feel his warmth through the fabric of my dress. His eyes flicker to the top of my breasts.

“You’re beautiful, perfect,” he murmurs. “And your name?”

“Valeria, your Majesty,” I stammer, swallowing hard as my heart starts to race.

“Ares.” He smirks. “Just Ares to you, from now on. You’re mine, remember?”

With that, he trails the tip of his finger from my chin right down to the length of my neck. His touch travels to my collarbone, leaving a fiery sensation in its wake. But he doesn’t stop there. He goes on until I can feel his fingertip firing delicious pleasure in my body as he traces the top of my breasts.

I gasp. Ares lets out a chuckle.

“Have you never had anyone touch you before?” he asks. When I say nothing and look at his cock, which is now stirring, he smirks. “You’ve never seen anything like this before?”

I don’t know why, but for some reason, that’s the question that snaps me back into reality. Something about it just felt oddly condescending that I have to face him.

“Of course I have seen something like… that.” I curse myself for faltering, but I continue, “I’m not a child. I know what a man’s body is supposed to look like.”

Instead of getting angry like I hoped, Ares just smiles like he finds me amusing. Does he think I’m some sort of innocent lamb who knows nothing about sex?

“Why him, huh?” I demand at my wolf through mind-link. “Why does this arrogant prick have to be my mate?”

I had sex with Matthew before. He was my first love, so naturally he was the one I gave my virginity to. Do I regret it? Very much, yes. But did I enjoy it at that time? Also yes.

Don’t get me wrong, Matthew was not nearly as big as Ares, nor did he give off the same sexual confidence, but I loved him. It was everything to me.

I try to turn around to show Ares that I’m not interested in his package whatsoever, but he just blocks my way.

That draws my attention back to his length, which is now hard.

I gulp.

“You know, other women would beg to be the witness to this show,” he teases. “You don’t have to pretend.”

I roll my eyes, but I can feel myself getting wet. “Just leave me alone, okay?”

With that, I push past him. Touching his chest immediately activates the gravitational hold he has on me, making it hard for me to walk away, but I still try. Having a powerful man as a second chance mate is a tempting deal, but I didn’t suffer this much just to be someone’s property. I want to be free.

Besides, how will he even react once he finds out who I am? What my wolf is like?

Matthew, a mere Alpha heir, already rejected me cruelly. What would the most powerful man in this whole land say about my weak cursed wolf?

It’s better to leave now, before he accuses me of being a fraud.

However, before I can even get away, Ares takes me by the hand and makes me turn around.

This time, he looks serious. “Come with me to my castle. We will leave this pack and head to my home this very same night.”

“No,” I say simply. When he recoils, I rub my temples. “You… you don’t understand. I am not what you think I am.”

“You are exactly what I think you are, and that is my Luna,” he states. “I will not let you go.”

I look into his eyes and see nothing but sincerity there. He’s aggravating, no doubt about that, but it still stings to see that much trust and honesty in someone’s gaze. I don’t think I have ever seen this kind of genuine belief from anyone in my life before.

But that makes things even worse.

“I don’t want to disappoint you.” I shake my head. “But that’s what I’m going to end up doing anyway. So please, just let me leave.”

Ares’s eyes go flinty. “You have no idea how long I’ve waited for you, how badly I longed for you. You are my Luna. You are perfect. I don’t see any way in hell you can disappoint me--”

I don’t let him finish. I try to snatch my arm from him, but he holds on, pulling me until I stumble forward and end up in his arms. I gasp at the sensation of his bare skin against my thigh, but he’s looking at something else.

The bruises and cuts on my wrists.

“What’s all of this?”

Suddenly, the temperature in the forest seems to have dropped a couple of degrees. It’s almost like he released a blizzard. His chest is rising and falling slowly, but I can sense the simmering anger inside.

“Ares.” My voice is barely a whisper. “Ares, let me go.”

He doesn’t listen. “Who did this to you?”

His tone is so cold and merciless that I flinch. “My family. My dad. It’s not like they didn’t have a valid reason to do this. In fact, they have a perfectly good reason to hurt me this way--”

“Valid reason?” Ares thunders. “To hurt you?”

“Yes,” I breathe out. “I told you, I will only end up disappointing you. They hurt me for a reason.”

He brings his face close to mine. “No one has the right to lay hands on you. And whoever dares would not see the light of day.”

He lets me go, but the sheer inferno in his eyes makes me fear for my family’s life, even though they discarded me. He’s starting to walk away, no doubt to hunt my father and make him pay.

But an idea is forming in my mind. An idea that would ensure he wouldn’t come after my father, but also let me go in the process.

I have to show him what I am.

“Hey!” I call out. “You need to listen to me. You have to let me prove it.”

Ares slowly turns around. “You already proved yourself to me. Now I have to punish whoever hurt you--”

“No.” I take a deep breath. “I want you to see the reason why they abused me, and why I can’t be with you.”