Ch. my mate gambled me away to the lycan King 2 my mate gambled me away to the lycan King 2

Chapter 2 

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Alaric Thorne. The Lycan King. The most powerful wolf in North America. His account was nothing but a black circle. He’d been in the chat for a decade and had never sent a single message. 

Until now. 

Alaric Thorne: [She is not anyone’s prize.] 

Five words. Not one wolf dared to reply. 

My phone rang before I could process it. Kane. 

I picked up, and his roar nearly blew out my ear. 

“Have you lost your mind? Betting on yourself in front of the whole pack? Do you know how stupid you just 

made me look?” 

I stopped in the middle of the terminal and laughed. “You put me on a poker table, Kane. You did that all on 

your own.” 

“I did it for the pack!” His voice dripped with that tone he always used when I was being “difficult.” “You’ve been playing nurse in the North for a year while I held this territory together. Did I complain? Your father’s been dead three years, Lyra. Wake up. You’re not a princess anymore. You’re a wolfless girl with a famous 

last name.” 

“So you posted my funeral photo,” I said quietly. “From the worst day of my life.” 

When Dad died, the pack fell apart. I had no wolf, no mother, and no friends. People laughed at my body in the hallways of the pack house. I stopped eating, then I started eating everything. I stopped sleeping. 

Kane was the one who found me crying on the porch at three in the morning. He sat with me until sunrise. He wiped my face with his sleeve and said, I don’t care what they say. You’re my mate. You’re beautiful. 

When the bond snapped into place between us, he begged me to keep it quiet. If they know, they’ll say I only became Acting Alpha because of you. Let me earn it first. 

So I hid. For three years. I was his secret. 

On the flight home, I’d pictured his face when he saw the new me. I thought maybe, finally, he’d say my name out loud in front of everyone. 

He did say it out loud. 

On a betting slip. 

11:28 Wed, Oct 21 

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“The rules for tomorrow are set,” Kane snapped. “One: you share a drink with the King, arms linked. Two: a cheek-to-cheek photo posted to the pack chat. Three: he carries you across the ballroom for fifteen seconds. Bridal style. If he doesn’t throw out his back, you should thank him. Now get in the chat, apologize, and 

cancel your bet.” 

“No.” 

I hung up and blocked his number. 

The official rules dropped in the chat a minute later, every line designed to humiliate. 

[Fifteen seconds? The King’s going to need a chiropractor.] 

[Bridal carry LOL. Bring two kings.] 

My phone buzzed with a video call. It was Tessa, my only real friend in Silver Creek. Her eyes were red with 

rage. 

“Lyra! I’m going to rip his throat out. I’m serious. I’ll shift right now and-” 

“Don’t.” I looked at my reflection in a darkened shop window, at the stranger with my eyes. “Ripping his throat out would be too quick. He thinks I’m still the girl he can step on.” 

“Then what do we do?” 

I smiled. “We find me the most dangerous dress in Colorado.” 

Tessa’s jaw dropped. Then she grinned like a demon. “I’m in.” 

After we hung up, I noticed a little red dot on my screen. 

A private message from the black circle. 

Alaric Thorne: [If you don’t want to come tomorrow, you don’t have to. No one will touch you. Not even him.] 

My fingers trembled. 

Then, right below it, a second message appeared. 

Alaric Thorne: [But if you do come, I’ll be waiting at the door.] 

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