Rejected at the River, Claimed by the Lycan King Chapter 05

Rejected at the River, Claimed by the Lycan King Chapter 05

The next day, I put on my wedding dress and got into the carriage that would take me to the Lycan King.

But before we could leave, Cillian tore the curtain open.

Morning mist rushed in through the gap, dampening my hair. Cillian’s eyes were red and frantic.

He’d run all the way here.

His once-sharp suit was wrinkled and covered in mud.

The elegant gentleman was gone.

“Elowen, get down. Now. Come with me!”

He charged toward the carriage and reached for me.

The elders immediately stepped in to stop him, their faces stern.

“Rules cannot be broken. If the flower boat ceremony was interrupted even once, the bride had to spend the rest of her life in the Lycan King’s palace.”

“A rule can ruin someone’s entire life?”

Cillian shoved past them, his voice shaking.

“There was an emergency at the pack that day. I’m the Alpha. I had to go back. I never meant to give up on Elowen.”

He tried to explain to everyone.

Then he turned on me.

“We’ve been together for five years. That has to mean more than some stupid rule, doesn’t it?”

I looked at him quietly, my heart already frozen.

All the love I’d felt had been worn away. “Cillian, do you really think I’m just throwing a tantrum?”

When I answered, hope lit up in his eyes.

He immediately dropped his pride and begged.

“I know I messed up. I didn’t answer those calls.”

“Punish me however you want. Just don’t trap yourself here forever.”

“Come back to Blackthorn Pack with me. Let me mark you.”

“What about Hazel?”

He froze, confused.

“What does Hazel have to do with our mating ceremony? She’s just my beta.”

I pulled out my phone and showed him the picture of them outside Mate Registry.

“If she’s nothing, why’d you go to Mate Registry?”

Whispers spread through the crowd.

People threw judgmental looks at Cillian.

Everyone in Moonbrook Pack hated seeing someone lie and cheat like that.

Cillian’s face went pale.

“It’s a misunderstanding. I only got the Mate Bond Certificate to help her stay in Blackthorn Pack.”

“It was just a formality. There’s nothing between us.”

“A formality?”

I put my phone away and let the sarcasm hit. “So pinning Hazel’s chat is a formality? Replying to every single thing she sends while your girlfriend gets ‘yeah’ and ‘okay’?”

“Getting all handsy with another she-wolf at work while your girlfriend passes out from period cramps and you don’t even notice? Leaving her behind over and over?”

“That’s what you call a formality?”

“You knew exactly what Moonbrook Pack’s rules were.”

“You knew pulling the boat across the river only took a few minutes. But you’d rather wait two hours at the airport than pull me across.”

“And now you want me to go with you? That’s a joke.”

“I’m sorry, Elowen.”

Cillian’s eyes were red as he tried to step closer to the carriage again.

“I’ll break the bond with Hazel right now. End everything.”

“Come on, let’s just forget all of it and start over. Please.”

“No.”

I reached out and pulled the heavy curtain shut, blocking him out.

“The ceremony is done. I’m choosing to be the Lycan King’s bride.”

“Alpha Cillian Blackthorn, I, Elowen Nightbloom, reject you.”

“No! Elowen, please, don’t do this!”

From outside the carriage, I could hear Cillian’s desperate screams.

Mixed with the sounds of people pulling him back and arguing.

I closed my eyes and ignored everything outside.

Soon, the driver snapped the reins, and the carriage moved.

The five-year entanglement ended right there by the water.