The Lycan King's Mate

Prologue

Prologue

    Mara was far from being popular in her school, despite her looks. Her dark red hair was always in a braid that fell down her back and her bright green eyes provided color to her pale face. She was always the quiet child who usually had her nose in a book rather than attend parties. She always told herself that it was better to be alone rather than risk making false friends. She knew all too well the pain of betrayal from loved ones. She believed she was better off alone.

    On the final night of her sophomore year in high school, she was walking alone in the park long after the sun had set for the day. Her foster family didn't care. She doubted they would even care if she never went back to the house. She knew they only kept her for the paycheck. Her entire childhood was spent in foster care. Her parents died in a tragic house fire and no one else in the family wanted the burden of raising a child.

    Every friend she had treated her terribly. They constantly used her and treated her as if she was an afterthought. As soon as she realized how terrible they were, she would finally call them out on it and they became a new bully. She entered high school with no friends and made no effort to reach out and make any.

    After a couple of hours, Mara decided it was finally time to head back to the house. With a long sigh, she turned and began to make her way out of the park. A sudden movement out of the corner of her eye caught her attention and she turned to look into the woods near the edge of the park.

Curious, she slowly made her way in that direction. As soon as she stood in front of the tree line, she heard the rustling of branches and knew someone was in the trees.

"Hello?"

    Mara felt stupid for shamelessly calling into the darkness. For all she knew, it could mean someone who wants to do her harm. But there also was the chance that someone needed help. Her suspicions were confirmed when she suddenly heard a faint whimper coming from deeper into the trees.

    Mara rushed forward, pushing back the branches and ignored the slaps of random limbs against her arms and legs. A few caused cuts on her arms and she felt the warmth of the small amount of blood that spread on the sleeves of her arms. The warmth was gone as soon as the wind rushed over her.

After she finally pushed through a large bush, she saw the figure of a young woman curled up on the ground a few feet away from her.

"Hello? Are you ok?"

    As Mara rushed over to her, the girl suddenly turned. Mara instantly recognized her as a fellow student. Lidia was a beautiful girl with long blonde hair and bright blue eyes. Her clothes were torn and dirty. Mara could also see several different cuts and bruises. She was clearly suffering.

Like Mara, she was quiet and reserved but was much more popular than Mara ever hoped to be. The two of them never spoke a word to each other.

At the sight of Mara, Lidia's eyes went wide.

"No! You need to go!"

Mara ignored her words and rushed forward. She dropped to her knees and quickly looked over her injured body.

"What happened? Can you walk? You need a hospital!"

Lidia shook her head and tried to stand.

"No, you need to go! I'm fine! Please, before it sees you!"

    A loud growl suddenly caused both girls to jump. Mara's blood ran cold at the sight of a large creature emerging from the darkness. The best way Mara could describe it was a very large wolf. It had to have been the size of a large horse. It's red eyes glared at both girls and it's teeth were clearly dripping with blood. It's brown fur was matted and covered with dirt.

Mara had no idea what came over her. She quickly grabbed the pocket knife out of her pants and jumped in front of Lidia.

"Get the hell out of here! NOW!" She screamed.

Mara thought she was losing her mind when she swore the wolf smiled and gave a barky laugh.

"You're a pretty little thing. I would hate to scratch you up too much. Put down the knife, girl, and back away. I don't want you. Just the little blonde bitch."

Mara didn't move. She believed her sanity was truly gone now that she thought the monster was somehow speaking to her.

The creature's eyes suddenly closed and it smelled the air. It's eyes opened and it's smile widened a moment later.

"Ahh.... you are human. A very brave and stupid human."

    It slowly began making steps forward but Mara stood her ground and held the knife out in front of her. Lidia began whimpering in pain and was frantically looking around the area. Mara assumed she was either looking for a weapon of some kind or an escape route.

The creature's smile was unbelievably haunting.

"You would sacrifice yourself for a Were? What a brave little thing. I wonder how good you would taste?"

Mara couldn't stop herself from trembling as it finally stood a foot away from her.

"Actually, rouge mates are rare. And I've always been into redheads. You will make a fine mate!"

The creature suddenly drew back on his hunches. Mara knew it was getting ready to jump.

"The alpha's daughter's head in my teeth and a pretty little redhead as my mate! What a perfect night! I'll have you screaming my name before the night is over!"

"MARA, RUN! GET OUT OF HERE!" Lidia screamed.

Mara refused to move. Even as tears of terror rolled down her cheeks, she held the small knife high and glared at the massive monster.

"I SAID GET AWAY! GET OUT OF HERE BEFORE I-"

    She didn't get to finish her words. Another large mass suddenly came out of the trees and slammed itself into the creature. Mara watched in horror as another large wolf battled the other. The new wolf had light brown fur and Maya caught a glimpse of it's large yellow eyes.

Mara took advantage of the situation and dropped to her knees again, trying to get Lidia to stand.

"Quickly! We need to get away now!"

Mara was shocked to see a large smile now on Lidia's face.

"No, I'm ok now! But you need to go before the fight is done! Please, get out of here before my brother notices you!"

Maya's eyes went wide. "WHAT?"

    There was a sickening crunch and both girl's heads turned in time to see the body of the brown wolf fall to the ground, unmoving. It was obvious it's neck was broken. The large yellow eyes suddenly set onto Mara's face and she raised the knife back up.

"Get away or I swear to God I will stab this into your head!"

    The wolf seemed to regard her for several moments. Suddenly, she witnessed the wolf hunch over and heard the sickening crunch of bones. Her eyes went wide and her mouth opened to scream but no sound came out. She watched as the wolf disappeared and was replaced with a man.

    After the transformation, the man stood tall. His dirty blonde hair was a mess and his body had splotches of dirt all over it. Mara blushed but tried to ignore the fact that he was completely naked. Her hands trembled as she held up the knife, fighting the urge to pass out.

"I-I said go away monster!" She screamed.

The man smirked and looked down to Lidia.

"You have a really brave friend, little sis. I like her."

Mara blinked in surprise and looked down to Lidia. She was smiling back at the man who Mara now knew to be her brother.

"Yeah. So do I."

That was the beginning of Mara's journey down into a world she never knew existed. A world she now had to embrace as her own.