The Lycan's Queen (Now published on Galatea)

"He kissed me deeply and I knew in that moment that we would be alright." Snapping the now finished book shut, I sighed. Normally, I wasn't the type of girl who obsessed over romantic stories but the last week has changed that. All I've been doing is reading these unrealistic romantic stories and obviously imagining myself as the female lead. Who is the male lead you might be wondering? The same guy who stole my heart four years ago, Hunter Hall.

"Aarya, do you want to come grocery shopping with me?" My mom's unmistakeable voice shouted up the stairs.

"No mom." I replied.

Aarya Bedi, that's my name. I am 19 years old and if you can't already tell from my name, I am Indian and yes, I am a werewolf. Currently, I live with my parents Sid and Tara, they've been mated/married for 27 years. My older brother, Sai is 24 and his mate Zoya is also 24. Our pack is called Black Moon, I love our community. Everyone knows everyone and growing up here was amazing. Right now, I am training to be a pack doctor, it was always something I wanted to do. I remember when I used to get teased when I said I wanted to become a pack doctor. My skin colour and the stereotypes were the cause of course. Everyone thought it was the perfect career for me since I am Indian, and we are all apparently doctors, lawyers or accountants. It used to bother me but now I embrace it.

My mind was racing with thoughts about Hunter Hall, he was our Beta. Him and our Alpha, Carter Ward were sent away for training four years ago and they were coming back today. I still remember the day before they left, Hunter came up to me with his gorgeous blue eyes and told me to wait for him. I was only 15 at the time but I knew I would wait for him, after all I was utterly in love with Hunter. He was my first kiss, I can still remember the feeling of his lips against mine. Most wolves find their mates at 18 and since Hunter wasn't here when I turned 18 and I didn't find my mate, I was convinced that Hunter was my mate.

Groaning, I rolled off my bed and walked over to my bookshelf. I had to think of something else otherwise I would go insane. My bookshelf was overflowing with books, you could say I was a bookworm.

My fingers brushed against the covers of many books before stopping at one. Picking it up, I sighed. It was the history of humans, werewolves and Lycans. Not a story, but pure facts. However, I knew that if I read another romantic story, my irrational thoughts would never let me rest.

I got comfortable in bed and began to read. Humans, Werewolves and Lycans all lived in peace and we have done for thousands of years now. It was no secret that Lycans ruled over us all, they were much stronger and powerful than us werewolves. Our Royal family was made entirely of Lycans. I always found them to be extremely intimidating, they had this aura about them. Skimming through the history of how we all came together for a significant battle, I found the chapter that always intrigued me.

Lycan's mates. They were considered to be so precious to Lycans. It was said that if a Lycan loses their mate, they can go on a rampage and kill thousands and destroy cities. There is a special army that is trained to deal with such situations. Lycan's can only have one mate, they are unable to mark and mate with someone else if their mate dies, like us werewolves can. I always found that so fascinating. If a werewolf was to lose their mate, we had the option of finding happiness by marking and mating someone else but Lycans were not able to do that. That's why a Lycan's mate was so precious and it also made Lycan's extremely loyal. As I continued reading, I came across the aging part. Lycan's stop aging at 20. Many still celebrate their birthdays but they technically are still 20, they can live for hundreds of years. Before our current king, the previous king ruled for 500 years before handing the reigns to his son. It is said that he went travelling, with his mate and no one has heard from them since. Us werewolves also live for a long time but not as long as Lycans, we just age slowly.

The Lycan's Queen (Now published on Galatea) - Chapter 1 (2024)