The Rejected Werewolf Princess by Didiadeyemi

RYKER'S POV

I choose Ryker.

Those were three words and on paper they looked simple enough but the truth was far terrifying. Who was choosing and why did they choose me? There were so many questions running through my mind but I didn't have an answer for any and it was maddening. I walked closer to the writing on the wall, most of it had faded off due to nature but it was still readable.

“Did Reina write that?” Juan asked and although I knew he was talking aloud, I couldn't help but respond with a shrug. “What do you think she meant?”

“I don’t know,” I mumbled as I stepped in front of it. I lifted my hand to it and felt a tug in the center of my gut and was pulled to it. I lifted a hand to it and no sooner than the moment my finger touched it, it felt like I was sucked into a void.

At first, all I saw was darkness and then I heard a sound. I turned to it and found Reina there. She was mumbling to herself, her hands were pressed hard against her head as if she was trying to shut out some noise. She looked insane, there was blood dripping from her nose and she was stumbling around like she was drunk or hurt.

“No!” she screamed. “Stop talking. I can't, I'm not ready.”

“Reina?” I asked but she couldn't hear me. It was almost as if she couldn't see me. I tried to move closer to her but I couldn't move. It was almost as if I had been glued to the ground. “What the hell is going on?"

“Itis time. Reina,” I heard an audible voice in my head. I was sure it was whatever was inside of her that she had passed down to me- the magic. It sounded different though, almost darker and more sinister than what I was used to. “This is what we agreed on. You must pass it on." “Please,” she looked like a child begging on her knees like that. Her hands were still pressed over her ears and drool fell from her lips mixing with the pool of blood in front of her. I almost felt bad for her because in this moment, she looked nothing short of human. She looked like a fragile girl who was scared.

“Enough!”

Even I shook from the force of the order. It took everything in me to not fall to my knees and cower. There was sheer and undiluted power in that voice. It was the kind of power that you knew could hurt you, the kind that you knew would unleash years of misery and torment. I couldn't imagine that Reina lived with this for years and I couldn't imagine that this was what was inside of me. It was far greater than what I had bargained for.

Reina’s body shook with raw fear. I didn't know how, but I just knew that in that moment, she regretted her choice to even dabble in this magic. It was fun at first, almost light hearted, the power made her drunk and heady, but now, she was paying for her actions. Magic always came with a price and now, it was time to pay.

“I beg of you,” she whispered. “I don’t want to die"

“You died the moment you killed your entire coven,” the voice laughed. “I told you Reina, dark magic comes at its own cost and you said you would pay with your soul, did you not?"

“I did," she sniffled. “I didn't know what I signed up for. I can give you anything else”

“I don’t want anything else. I need to choose my next vessel, Reina, tell me the options."

Reina looked distraught but even she knew there was nothing much she could do. I watched her stand on wobbly legs and reach into some glass vials on the ground. There were six in total and they each had strands of hair inside. I knew without a doubt that it belonged to my family. “Camilla, Ryker, Audrey, Aurora, Christine and Juan,” she said as she placed each vial on the table. “You asked for a royal member, these are the ones I could get close to.”

There was punctuated silence as it thought. Reina stood there with her head cast to the ground and she waited. Even I felt a sense of anticipation despite already knowing what it chose. After two long minutes, Reina’s eyes darkened and she started to move. She moved in a daze, like she wasn't in control of her own body. I watched as she walked past where I stood and withdrew a knife from her pocket.

I knew what was going to happen next but I couldn't stop her. She drew the knife across her skin and with her forefinger, she wrote on the wall in blood. I stared at the writing, fresh and dripping in contrast to the faded mess Juan and I saw and then the most absurd thing happened. Reina turned and with her dark eyes, she looked pointedly at me as if she could see me.

“I choose you," she said- or rather- something said through her. The voice was guttural and otherworldly. As soon as she said that, it felt like I had been thrown out of my body and I landed on my a*s at Juan's feet.

My head was spinning with the revelation and also because of what happened. I could hear Juan asking me some questions but I could barely focus on his voice. I had just gone back into the past and I had seen and felt the potential power that could be brewing inside of me. Was that how I was going to be when the time came? Was that how I was going to beg and plead for my life because of powers that I had not asked for?

I managed to get myself to my feet but I ignored Juan and walked over to where I had seen the vials of hair. They sat in their place just staring at me and before I could think, I had shattered each bottle on the ground. It did nothing to calm the raging storm of emotions inside of me but it was the only outlet that I could think of.

I felt a hand on my shoulder as Juan stepped in front of me. “What the hell is going on? You stood there for like two minutes, I couldn't get to you, I couldn't touch you and now you're smashing bottles so can you tell me what the fuck is going on?”

“It chose me," I said simply and Juan's brows furrowed. “Reina didn’t choose me. She offered us all up like prized pigs to the magic and it chose me."

I wasn't sure if Juan understood the fullness of what I was saying but he understood enough because he cursed. “Do you know why?"

I shook my head. “It just looked at me and- fuck. I need to go home.”

“Ryker-"

“There is nothing here. Just grab her books and her journals. I need to figure out what I can about this but it chose me, Juan. I don't know why but maybe it thought I could be the next Reina. I don’t know why the f**k it did but I would rather die than hurt my family."

Juan ran his hands through his hair in frustration. I could tell there was a lot that he wanted to say but at the last minute, he decided against it and reached down to grab the journal closest to him.

“You'll beat this,” he told me and I scoffed because the honest truth was that I wasn't so sure anymore. I tried to brush past him but Juan stopped me. “You will beat this and I will be right by your side helping because fuck me, you are a great man and a great ruler. Your family deserves to have you and I don't care what we have to do to make sure you pass this test but we will do it"

There was something encouraging about hearing someone else believe in you. I couldn't speak because the emotion threatened to overwhelm me. I nodded and he gave me a firm nod before leaning down to pick more books. As soon as we had gathered all of them, we were on our way out.

The ride home was quiet. My thoughts kept going back to what I had seen. It had said something to Reina about dark magic having a price. I wasn't sure if I was reaching but could that mean that its magic wasn't inherently dark but she had chosen to make it dark when she killed her coven members? I needed to know more about what had transpired to know the truth but that was the only semblance of hope I had left and I was clinging to it with both hands.

My family deserved better and I was going to do anything possible to be better for them. I had no idea what I was dealing with and I knew I was in way over my head with this but I couldn't stop. The magic was inside of me, swirling inside my blood and in my bonds, it was well within reach and there was an itch, an urge to just touch it, to just feel it and let it take over but I wouldn't- I couldn't, not until I knew exactly what I was dealing with.

By the time we returned, the sun was setting and Camilla was walking outside the palace with Christine. As soon as they noticed us, they rushed over. I stared at my mate with her curly hair billowing behind her. She gave me a small smile before gesturing to the books we had brought back.

“What are those?” she asked but I ignored her question in favor of kissing her deeply. By the time I pulled back, her cheeks were flaming red. “What was that for?”

“Nothing, I love you,” I said simply and her brows furrowed in concern. I brushed a strand of her hair behind her ears and kissed her forehead. “I've had a long day, why don’t you tell me about yours while we walk in.’

“Will you tell me what those books are for?”

“Tomorrow,” I promised. For today, I just wanted to be with her.