The Lycan Prince’s Defiant Mate

3. Rogue Wolf

Ara's POV

The steady beep… beep… beep of the heart monitor was the first thing I registered. Then I felt the sharp, throbbing pain radiating from my forehead down to my bones.

"She’s waking up…”

I heard a voice.

I squeezed my eyes tighter, fighting against the blinding light.

Where am I?

"It’s a miracle. She survived that fall without her wolf.”

Murmurs again!

Right! The rejection, the stairs. Bianca’s hands shoving me. The sickening crack of my skull against stone.

She tried to kill me!

A pair of arms suddenly wrapped around me, squeezing too tight. The familiar scent of jasmine and vanilla made my stomach churn.

"Oh, Goddess! Ara, you scared me so much!" Bianca’s voice was honey-sweet, dripping with fake concern.

I recoiled, shoving her away with what little strength I had. My vision swam as I met her eyes, that had once been my comfort, now filled with venom.

"You…" My voice was raw, broken. "You pushed me."

Bianca’s lips parted in feigned shock, "Ara, what are you—"

"Enough." Lucian’s deep voice cut through the room. He stood behind her, his dark eyes locked on me. For a second, I thought I saw regret flicker in them.

But then it was gone.

"Why would you do something so stupid?" Bianca cried, her hands fluttering dramatically. "I don’t want to be with Lucian! I don’t want to be the Luna! I’ll reject him right now if that’s what you want!"

I stared at her, stunned.

What kind of twisted game was this?

Lucian growled, pulling her against his chest.

"Stop this nonsense." His glare turned to me like an icy warning. "You listen to me, Ara. If I see you pull another stunt like this, I won’t stay quiet."

"Stunt?" I choked out. "You think I—"

Freya, the pack doctor, stepped in, her kind eyes filled with pity, "please, give her space. I need to examine her."

Bianca sniffled, wiping the crocodile's tears, “I’ll be right outside."

As the room emptied, Freya’s kind eyes met mine. She had always been nice to me. Slowly I leaned on the bed frame. I was in the pack hospital.

Freya didn’t speak until the door clicked shut.

"How are you feeling?" She asked softly.

I ignored the question.

"How did I end up here?" I enquired instead.

Freya hesitated, “the Alpha carried you in himself. He may not love you, but he still cares."

A bitter laugh clawed up my throat.

Cares?

Lucian had watched Bianca torment me for years. He had allowed it.

"You shouldn’t have tried this again, Ara," Freya murmured, flipping through my charts. "Suicide isn’t the answer. And even without a wolf, a fall like that wouldn’t have killed you either. It will only make you suffer more."

My blood turned to ice.

“Suicide?” I gasped.

"Bianca told everything to everyone,” Freya’s brows furrowed. "She said you were distraught. That after the rejection… well… you jumped suddenly and she couldn't do anything.”

Of course she did. So typical!

The venomous liar.

Freya’s fingers paused on my chart. Her expression shifted, something dark and uneasy flickering in her gaze. She examined my eyes and mouth and my nails. I could see concerns in her gaze.

"Ara... have you been feeling dizzy lately? Fatigued?" She questioned.

"Yes." But who wouldn’t be, living under Bianca’s tyranny?

"Any blurred vision? Coughing blood?" She asked as she noted down on the chart.

A memory flashed. Me hunched over the sink weeks ago, scarlet droplets staining the porcelain.

"Maybe a couple of times. But that's not new." I admitted. I never cared much as too much was already on my plate.

"How long have you been having these symptoms?" She asked.

"I don't remember. Probably a few years now?" I replied.

Freya’s face paled. She set the chart down with deliberate slowness.

"I am afraid I might have some bad news," she said.

"What is it?" I asked. What more bad news could she have for me?

"You have brain cancer. The last stage. In general, werewolves don't get these kinds of diseases since we have enhanced healing abilities. But your case is a bit different." Freya explained.

Of course, I had to have a creepy disease among all. Why was it always me at the receiving end?

I did have healing abilities, but it wasn't nearly close to other werewolves.

"How long do I have?" I asked, gulping down the tears. What would happen if I cried? I would get more pity?

"Not very long. But the exact time is hard to say. For a human, it would have been just a couple of months, six max. But since you have some werewolf healing and your anatomy is different, you may live a little longer," Freya replied.

So, just a year! or maybe two?

I couldn’t believe how pathetic my life had been!

My entire pack pitied me.

I never had a real family.

No mate, no friends.

And I chased after a ghost marriage.

"Freya, please don't tell others about it. I don't want any more pity from this pack," I said.

"Alright!" She gave me a sympathetic gaze.

The moment Freya left, Bianca burst into the room with false concern dripping from her every pore.

"How are you feeling, Ara?" She asked, her sickly-sweet voice like nails on a chalkboard.

I met her gaze, unamused, “can we talk? Alone?"

Bianca's eyes darted to Lucian hovering in the doorway. With a saccharine smile, she nodded, "Of course."

"I'll be right outside," Lucian said, his voice tight with barely restrained tension.

The door clicked shut, sealing us in suffocating silence.

"Why?" The word tore from my throat. "Why would you do this? Do you really hate me this much? We were supposed to be friends... sisters..."

Bianca's facade cracked for just an instant before her lips curled into a vicious smirk.

"What are you talking about?" she cooed, tilting her head like a confused puppy.

"Don't pretend," I hissed, my fingers digging into the thin hospital sheets. "You pushed me. You tried to kill me."

In an instant, her mask shattered.

She leaned in so close I could smell the mint on her breath, her whisper like venom sliding between my ribs, "I've always hated you."

The words stole the air from my lungs.

"You had everything," she continued, her voice trembling with barely contained rage. "When your parents died, mine took you in. My mother made sure you finished every bite on your plate while I went hungry. I had to be perfect, had to share everything— my home, my family, my life— with the poor, pathetic wolfless girl."

A cold realization settled in my chest. All those years... all those shared secrets and whispered promises...

"It was all a lie?" My voice barely rose above a whisper.

Bianca's manicured nails dug into my wrist, "I thought I would finally be free when I found my mate. But even then—" her voice broke with real emotion now, "—even then, Lucian refused to acknowledge our bond because of you!"

I recoiled as if struck, "you think I wanted this? You think I enjoyed being trapped in a loveless marriage while you—"

"You could have walked away!" She shrieked, then immediately lowered her voice as footsteps sounded outside the door. "But you didn't. Because deep down, you're just as selfish as I always knew you were."

“I wanted to. You made me stay, Bianca,” I gritted my teeth remembering how she was on her knees, begging.

Her fingers trailed mockingly along my IV line. "Are you sure you want to be alone with me, Ara? Accidents happen so easily in hospitals..."

"You disgust me," I spat, louder than I intended.

The door flew open. Lucian stood framed in the doorway, his golden eyes darting between us. "What happened?"

Bianca's face transformed instantly, tears welling in her wide eyes.

"Nothing... I only asked how she was feeling, but she—" a delicate sniffle, "—she got all worked up..."

I watched, numb, as Lucian moved to her side without hesitation, his large hand settling protectively on her shoulder. The sight sent a rage coursing through my veins.

"I'm feeling fantastic," I said, forcing a brittle smile. "Jealous, Bianca?"

"Why would I be—"

"Because I'm still alive," I interrupted, swinging my legs over the side of the bed despite the screaming pain in my ribs. "Because your little stunt didn't work."

Bianca's perfect mask faltered, "I don't know what you're—"

"Oh, save the act," I snarled. "Do you really think Lucian is stupid enough to believe your lies?"

"Enough!" Lucian's alpha command vibrated through the room. "First you try to kill yourself, now you're accusing Bianca? These games won't make me love you."

The words landed like a physical blow.

"Are you blind?" I laughed, the sound hollow and broken. "Or just willfully ignorant?"

Lucian's eyes flashed dangerously, "mind your tongue."

"Or what?" I challenged, pushing to my feet. The room spun, but I refused to show weakness.

Not now.

Not ever again.

"What more can you possibly take from me?" I asked.

The dam inside me burst, “five years, Lucian! Five years I've been your prisoner in this sham of a marriage! Did you ever once think about how I felt? Or was I just a stepping stone to your precious alpha title?"

Bianca whimpered, pressing closer to Lucian, “what are you saying, Ara? We sacrificed everything for you!"

"Sacrificed?" I barked a harsh laugh. "By f*****g my husband behind my back? By letting the entire pack acuse the poor, broken wolfless girl while you played the victim?"

A crowd had gathered at the door now, their murmurs like static in my ears.

Bianca's lower lip trembled, "if that's what you want... I'll leave. I'll reject our bond and go—"

"Do it," I dared, stepping closer. "Prove how much you care for me."

Her eyes widened in genuine shock. She hadn't expected this.

"Enough!" Lucian roared, stepping between us. "Stop being so selfish!"

"Selfish?" The word tasted like ash on my tongue. "My parents died for this pack. I gave up my dignity for your ambition. And I'm the selfish one?"

I turned to the gathered pack members, their faces a blur of shock and pity, "if Alpha Adrian were alive, would he have allowed this?”

Lucian flinched as if struck. "We've treated you well—"

"I never wanted your pity!" My voice cracked. "I wanted—"

What did I want? Love? Respect? A place to belong?

Too late now!

Bianca stepped forward, tears streaming down her perfect cheeks, “please, stop fighting... we're sisters, Ara..."

Something inside me snapped. I couldn’t control my hand.

The slap echoed through the room like a gunshot. Bianca stumbled back, her hand flying to her reddening cheek. The entire pack gasped as one.

"You were never my sister," I barked, my hand stinging. "You're just a viper who wore my friend's skin."

For a heartbeat, no one moved. Then chaos erupted.

Lucian caught Bianca as she collapsed dramatically against him.

"Look what you've done!" He growled. "She's carrying my child!"

"Of course she is," I said calmly, though my heart was shattering into a thousand pieces. "And of course you'll keep her. Because we both know she'ld never actually leave."

I turned toward the door, my body screaming in protest with every step.

"Ara—" Lucian's voice held a note of something almost like regret? Guilt?

I didn't look back.

The entire pack as witness, I spoke the words that would change everything, "I, Ara Vaelcrest, reject you, Lucian Black, as my Alpha. I reject the Blue Moon Pack as my own. From this moment forward, I declare myself a rogue.”

The bond shattered like glass.

Agony ripped through me. The pain of a thousand broken promises, of a lifetime of betrayal, all condensed into a single, excruciating moment.

I didn't scream.

I didn't fall.

"I'm leaving," I said, my voice steady for the first time in years. "Enjoy your happily-ever-after while it lasts."

I paused at the threshold, meeting each of their eyes in turn. Lucian stood there frozen. He looked half guilty and half surprised. "Because one day, I'll return. And when I do..."

I let the promise hang in the air, watching as true fear flickered across Bianca's face.

I knew I would die soon. I would never return. But the grim look on her face gave me a distinct satisfaction!

As the last tether to my old life burned away, I did the one thing I should have done years ago…

I walked away.

From the pack, from Lucian, from everything I ever knew.