Regret of Two Alphas: I Married the Lycan King Chapter 01

Regret of Two Alphas: I Married the Lycan King Chapter 01

At my 25th birthday party, I announced that I would be holding a mating ceremony.

The two childhood friends who once swore they would marry no one but me simply muttered an indifferent “Oh,” then went back to fighting over who got to sing happy birthday to my beta.

A moment later, their voices drifted over, dripping with contempt.

“Her? Form a mate bond? Give me a break.”

“Haven’t you tricked us enough? Are you seriously not done yet?”

“You actually think we wanted to mark you before? You’re nowhere near Arwen’s league.”

After I announced my intention to form a mate bond, no one even bothered to react.

Arwen, wearing her birthday hat, noticed my crestfallen expression. A flicker of triumph gleamed in her eyes, but her voice came out soft and fragile. “Valeria, are you just saying that out of spite?”

“It’s not because of me, is it? I didn’t mean to steal your birthday hat… It was Evander who insisted I wear it… Here, I’ll give it back to you…”

Arwen made a move to take off the hat.

But Evander caught her wrist mid-motion.

“Arwen has never had a proper birthday her whole life. So what if she wears it?”

Then Evander turned to me. “Arwen is happy for once, and you have to stir up trouble. Using this kind of tactic to compete for attention? What gives you the right? You’re Arwen’s boss! Seriously, how petty can you get?”

Jareth let out a cold snort. “I don’t know how you became so horrible. When we were singing happy birthday to Arwen earlier, I kept nudging you and you still wouldn’t open your mouth. What, too good to sing?”

Right. Beneath my sleeve, my skin was already bruised all over. The old Jareth wouldn’t even have said a harsh word to me.

Now they took turns hurling accusations at me, like I’d committed some unforgivable crime.

But today was my birthday. Not hers.

Four was always one too many, so I chose to walk away.

I took a deep breath and announced again, “I’m going to hold a mating ceremony. One month from now.”

Jareth burst out laughing. “You? Someone would actually want to mark you? Dream on.”

“You couldn’t hold a candle to Arwen. Who’d be that pathetic?”

I looked at Jareth, now so sharp-tongued and cruel, and felt a strange sense of disorientation.

Before I knew it, I was thinking of the boy from high school, standing under the cherry blossoms, nervously confessing to me.

Time is a cruel thing. It changes people beyond recognition.

Evander pulled Arwen into his arms to comfort her, shooting me a look of disgust. “Can you stop pretending? You pulled this same stunt six months ago. Wasn’t humiliating yourself enough last time?”

I shrugged. “Believe it or not, I don’t care. You’ll get your invitations on time. You’re welcome to attend my mating ceremony.”

Hearing how certain I sounded, both of them hesitated for a brief moment.

Evander’s eyes dark with restrained emotion. “Really?”

Before I could answer, Arwen’s eyes darted around. Then she burst into tearful apologies. “Valeria, I’m so sorry. Back then, I really didn’t know you were lying to Evander. I thought it was okay to tell them… Valeria, you can slap me if you want. It’s my fault.”

Hearing Arwen’s words, the brief hesitation in Evander and Jareth’s faces vanished.

Replacing it was nothing but raw disgust remained.