Kidnapped By The LYCAN My Mate Hates Me by J Cruz

"He can't mate with this. Not my only pup!" Olivia, the mother of my mate, Darius, sneers, her brown eyes flickering with disgust as she yanks his arm from my grasp.

We're in the clearing not so far from the pack house where mating ceremonies are held, with the moon hanging over us like a dull bulb, casting long shadows over her face and making her look more menacing than she usually is.

"Heck, she can't mate anybody," someone else says from somewhere behind me.

Darius begins moving away from me, and I instinctively reach out to try to stop him, but he's too far from my grasp.

Around us, the pack stands in the clearing, their eyes glinting with satisfaction in the harsh silver light of the full moon.

"Darius..." I whisper, reaching out to him still, but his face hardens.

"You're nothing but the pack's shame," he says, his voice cold and cutting. "The daughter of a woman who threw away her destiny for a human."

"Do you have to remind me? She loved him and that's all that–"

"Look where that got her!" he snaps, cutting me off. His voice rises, echoing through the clearing. "The great Victoria, who should have been Alpha, reduced to nothing because she couldn't control her urges around a human. And now?" His gaze rakes over me, sharp and cruel. "You're her left over. An abomination who can't even shift."

Laughter ripples through the gathered pack, low and mocking. Smirks curl on their faces, while others stare openly, their disdain unmasked.

"I might not have a wolf," I whisper, struggling to steady my voice as the world spins around me, "but I'm still pack. I'm still-"

"You're still what?" Olivia cuts in, her laugh cruel and biting. "You think you belong here? You think Darius would mate with a human? You're a joke, Delilah. You're not one of us. You'll never be one of us. Being the alpha's niece doesn't give you special glory."

Her words rip through me like claws, sharp and relentless. My breath comes in shallow gasps, my vision blurring as the pain of the rejection settles deep in my chest.

I glance toward my uncle, Alpha Rowan, standing off to the side with his arms crossed. He doesn't intervene. He doesn't defend me.

His golden eyes-so much like my mother's-remain cold, distant, as though I'm nothing more than a stranger to him.

"Theo," I croak, my voice trembling as I turn to my cousin. He's always been the one to save me, to shield me from the pack's cruelty.

"Don't let them see you cry Lilah," he'd say. "You're already weak enough as it is, you don't have to be so pathetic all the time."

His methods weren't as friendly in public eyes, he'd always say that he didn't want the pack to see us getting along as he's going to be Alpha someday.

But behind close doors, he was different. He made me feel seen. He'd hear everything I had to say, even though it only lasted for few minutes every other day.

But now, even he doesn't move. His eyes meet mine, detached and distant. He tilts his head, watching me like I'm some pitiful creature he doesn't recognize.

Then, I feel a wave of anger. I'm fed up of this...I have been fed up for years, but now?

"I have swept your floors. I have mowed your lawns. I have scrubbed your bathrooms, year in, year out since my mother died," my voice is shakey, but it doesn't deter me. "Don't I deserve something in return?"

"Deserve what?" Darius chuckles. "Deserve me for being a good maid?"

The clearing thunders with laughs and snide remarks, and a fat glob of saliva lands a few inches away from my feet.

I ignore him, turning to my uncle again, letting the hot tears fall down my cheeks in torrents. "Don't I deserve to be happy at least? I'll still sweep the floors, I swear. But please, don't let him do this to me!"

He doesn't move.

"Theo, please," he cocks his head to the side, spreading his arms out slightly. It's a gesture he makes when he means to say, "we're in public. There's nothing I can do to help you now."

The ground beneath my feet feels like it's giving way, and I fight to stay standing, fight to hold onto the last scraps of my dignity.

But in this moment, with their mocking laughter echoing around me, all the anger suddenly deflates and I feel weaker than I've never felt.

I take a step back, and then another...and another, until I'm sprinting away from them, their laughter growing quieter as I move.

My feet carry me on instinct, away from the clearing, away from the humiliation, away from Darius.

Branches snag at my dress as I plunge into the forest, the rough fabric tearing in places. The cool night air bites at my exposed skin, but I welcome the sting.

Anything is better than the suffocating shame.

A low growl stops me in my tracks.