Chapter 1 A Birthday To Remember
Chapter 1 A Birthday To Remember
Lily’s POV
“You heard correctly, Beta William. Lily’s name was on the list of the 100 maids to be offered to the
Lycan King as tribute in exchange for peace. I’m sorry.”
My jaw fell to the floor and at that moment, hell froze over. I couldn’t tell if I wanted to scream, cry,
laugh, or all of the above.
Some 18th birthday this was turning out to be.
First, I stayed up until midnight, excited that I was finally going to get to meet and hear my wolf. When I
didn’t hear them, I thought that I was one of the late-bloomers, and I figured that I would hear them
while I was at school.
Spoiler: I never did.
So, I was hoping that today was going to be slightly better because Jonathan promised me that he was
going to be at school. He planned for us to drive off of campus for a short birthday date.
But then he never showed up.
Honestly, I thought finding out I was wolfless and having my boyfriend ghost me for an entire day was
bad enough. Then things just had to get worse.
“This can’t be happening…” My voice was barely above a whisper.
“Did we piss off another pack or something? Why am I on that list?!” My body shook.
Alpha Oscar’s lips downturned slightly but he tried to put on a brave face. “I’m sorry, my dear, I know
this is a lot to take in. My hands were tied.”
“Don’t bullshit us!” My dad’s voice cracked. “You practically helped me and Betty raise her! How could
you say that your hands were tied, Oscar?”
“William…” My mom placed her hand on my dad’s shoulder. Her eyes were red from crying.
“No, Betty! He needs to hear this!” My dad shouted. “It’s like he doesn’t care that he’s sending our
daughter to an early grave!”
“I-I just don’t understand, Alpha Oscar…” I looked at our Alpha; my uncle. “This is the Lycan King we’re
talking about. He tortures people for his amusement, and murders anyone who says his name in the
slightest tone of disrespect. What will 100 defenseless girls do to stop him?”
“Lily doesn’t deserve a life where she has to look over her shoulder 24/7, Oscar!” My dad roared. “What
if Lily breathes the wrong way when he’s in an ill mood?!”
“Remember the group of werewolves whose heads he left at foot of Blackwell Hills? They thought they
could rob him because he was the only one of their kind left…” My mom shivered.
“You’re sending these girls to their deaths!” Exclusive content © by Nô(v)el/Dr/ama.Org.
My heart sank at the thought of being anywhere near the Lycan King, and now I was going to be his
maid. I couldn’t quiet the thoughts in my head that told me this was the last time I was going to see the
light of day.
Why did it have to be like this?
Decades ago, lycans used to roam the world. For the longest time, humans thought that “lycans” was
just another term for “werewolf.”
They were wrong, though. The lycans were stronger and had abilities that none of us could
comprehend. If anything, they ruled over us werewolves for a while.
But one by one, the lycans started to disappear. No one knew why. Rumors started to spread but it was
nearly impossible to pinpoint the real reason why they were vanishing.
Some say they practiced taboo occult magic and that they prayed to a demon god. It was said that on
the full moon of every month, they would kidnap a child as a sacrifice to their deity.
Another rumor was that groups of lycans were slaughtering small towns of humans to satisfy their
growing hunger. At one point, the police got involved and found that a small downtown area of people
disappeared without a trace.
Regardless of what the real reason was, one thing was certain.
The last Lycan King was hungry for revenge after his people vanished. Stories of his ruthlessness
traveled like wildfire and many people lived in fear of the day that he would retaliate.
“Remember that werewolf from the Stars Aligned Pack? He was the only one, by the grace of the Moon
Goddess, who made it out of Blackwell Hills alive in search of his son–who he never found, by the
way.” My dad started.
“Mr. Rivers… He was my art teacher… I remember that when he was able to come back to school, he
covered the classroom windows with cardboard in fear of the Lycan King searching for him.” I started to
recall.
“And then what happened to him?” My dad asked despite already knowing the answer.
Everyone knew–me and my classmates walked in on it, and it even made the local news.
“His body was found hanging in the middle of our art room…” I started to cry.
“He went crazy because of the horrors he witnessed! Maidens chained to walls in degrading positions,
men fighting to the death for his amusement! Did you know he kills the last man who ends up winning?”
My dad got close to Alpha Oscar.
“Don’t make me regret naming you as her godfather.” My dad spat.
Alpha Oscar took a deep breath and met my dad’s eyes, despite there being pain and sadness behind
his own. “You want to know why I couldn’t fight the decision, William?”
“Please, do tell!”
“Because it was Alpha Leo who wrote the list.”
Silence fell onto us. My dad took a step back and my mom let out an audible gasp.
“Of the Night Walker Pack?” Goosebumps formed on my skin from just saying the name.
Alpha Oscar nodded his head.
Not much was known about the Night Walker Pack aside from them being extremely powerful and
wealthy. They became the strongest, fastest, and most well-equipped pack in the entire state.
It was like their powers were granted to them by the Moon Goddess herself.
“I… I can’t go. Please, don’t make me!” I begged. “I spent the past 18 years of my life living for the sole
purpose of finding my own happiness. I had everything planned!”
“I was bettering my grades and was going to work hard to graduate with A’s and B’s! I was going to
boost my GPA, too!” I began to rant.
“Then, I was going to apply for the community college that was 10 minutes down the road so I could be
close to home. After that, I was going to transfer my credits to Crescent Moon University…”
“What were you going to major in?” Alpha Oscar gave me a gentle smile.
“Character design.” I wiped the tears that rolled down my cheeks. “I was even going to apply for the
internship with Howlstar Games after I graduated…”
I looked over at my mom who was also bawling her eyes out. My dad moved to her side and took her
into his arms as he cradled her.
“Please… The Lycan King will strip me of my freedom and happiness. You raised me, you were like
another dad to me, uncle Oscar! You have to undo this!”
“I’m sorry, Lily, but there’s nothing I can do… Not against Alpha Leo.”
I looked out of the window of my dad’s study. Blackwell Hills was tall enough to be seen from nearly
everywhere in our small town. I felt my heart shatter, its pieces stabbing every part of my body from the
inside.
I was set to belong to the most heartless, brutal, and cruel monster in existence–the last Lycan King.
My life was over.