Rejected No More: Rise as Lycan Queen

The Moon Goddess kept her secrets well. On my eighteenth birthday, the gift she bestowed was not my fated mate, but a devil in disguise.

My hands trembled violently, the phone I’d snatched from Ethan feeling like a live coal. My heart pounded a frantic rhythm against my ribs as the video played. Disbelief, cold and sharp, sliced through me, leaving my mouth agape.

It was me… and Damian.

Last night, in the shadowed woods behind the pack house, I had given my virginity to Damian Vaughn. The Alpha’s son. The love of my life. My perfect boyfriend.

It hadn’t been magical. It was pain, a clumsy, aching soreness that lingered even now. But none of that mattered yesterday. All that mattered was giving Damian what he wanted, seeing the satisfaction on his face.

But this video… How did Ethan have it? How did it even exist?

I dragged in a shaky breath, forcing back the hot sting behind my eyes as I glared at Ethan. He took a step back at the fury he saw, hastily pointing at Brandon beside him. “Don’t look at me! He’s the one who shared it in the group chat.”

My stomach plummeted. The air grew thin.

“Group chat?” I echoed, the words brittle.

He couldn’t mean the main chat for all the Silverwood Pack youth. He couldn’t.

A violent tremor ran through my hands, threatening to dislodge the phone. I turned my burning gaze on Brandon.

He raised his hands in mock surrender, a smirk twisting his lips. “Whoa, easy there. Your precious boyfriend sent it to me. Who knew the Beta’s perfect little daughter was such a eager little slut?” His voice dripped with condescension as he winked.

I barely registered the insult. My head spun, the weight of his confession crushing me. Before I could form a coherent thought, a familiar voice cut through the haze.

“What’s going on here?”

Damian.

My beloved. The son of Alpha Marcus Vaughn. I couldn’t bring myself to turn around. How could I face him when he had taken my trust and shattered it on the stones?

Ethan was quick to answer, a thread of apology in his tone that made my nausea worse. “Sorry, man. She caught us watching the clip.”

Damian’s footsteps drew closer, stopping just behind me. A ragged, tearing pain bloomed in my chest, radiating outwards until my whole body felt numb. My vision blurred, the world tilting. Each breath was a struggle, as if iron bands were constricting my lungs. It took everything I had just to stay upright.

He stood beside me, a silent, looming presence. The silence stretched, taut and suffocating. I didn’t look at him, but I screamed at him in my mind.

Say something, Damian. For Goddess’s sake, say something!

“Damn it,” he finally growled, the sound shattering the quiet. I held my breath, a fragile, desperate hope clinging on. Explain it. Tell me it was a mistake. A hack. Anything.

“I specifically told you idiots not to let her find out. I wanted to enjoy her a few more times. Now you’ve ruined it.”

That last shred of hope withered and died, turning to ash in my mouth.

I looked at him then, truly looked, unable to comprehend the cruelty falling from his lips. The tears I’d fought so hard broke free, tracing hot paths down my cheeks.

Hatred, scalding and pure, surged alongside the crushing betrayal. He was as handsome as ever, but the words he’d just spoken beside me made him a stranger. A monster.

Damian met my gaze, a grin spreading across his face. His eyes sparkled with malicious amusement, and the disgust I saw there made me wish the earth would open and swallow me whole.

“Whatever. It’s no great loss. Her body is as boring as her personality. I’m sure I’ll find someone more… stimulating,” he said, his voice deceptively soft.

Then he leaned in, patted my cheek twice in a patronizing gesture, and walked away without a backward glance.

My world didn’t just tilt; it shattered into a million irreparable pieces.

“What in the name of the Moon did you think you were doing?” My father’s roar echoed in his study, his hand slamming down on the heavy oak desk with a crack.

I flinched, the cold fury in his voice like a physical blow. Each word was a razor blade, slicing deeper than any claw.

I swallowed against the painful lump in my throat. “I’m sorry, Father. I didn’t know… I didn’t know Damian would do that. I thought he loved me,” I whispered, the plea pathetic even to my own ears.

His eyes blazed with a red-hot anger as he glared down at me. “This isn’t about Damian Vaughn! This is about you! Do you have any idea of the shame you’ve brought upon me? Upon this family? The Council members are calling me a spineless wolf, a Beta who can’t control his own daughter! How could you do this to me?!”

His words caved in my chest.

I had heard the whispers. The journey back from school after seeing the video had been a gauntlet. Girls pointed and giggled behind their hands. Boys wore smug, knowing looks that made my skin crawl. I could only imagine the vile things they were thinking.

But to hear that my father was being insulted because of me… That pain was a different kind of agony.

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I’ll fix this. I’ll be better,” I choked out, the promises sounding hollow.