Lycan King's Regret: Punished The Wrong Daughter

Jasmine Smith:

"What part of iced water did you not understand?" The young servant who stood beside the bench was holding a bottle I’d just shoved back into his hands.

"I... I’m sorry, my lady. I thought..."

"I thought?" I hissed at him, "Don’t think! Just do what I asked!"

With a pale face, she quickly bowed and hurried toward the door. I grabbed the towel from the bench and wiped the sweat running down my neck before tossing it aside.

Goddess. Why is everyone irritating me today?

I walked back to the punching bag and started practicing. My fists kept slamming into the leather, hard enough to send it swinging wildly.

Did I ask you to make such a promise on my behalf? Lucien’s voice echoed in my head.

Bang! I hit the bag harder.

His voice had been playing in my head for hours now. And the way everyone was looking at me... I gritted my teeth and struck the bag again. "Damn it!"

"M...my lady... water..."

I spun around and found the Omega standing several feet away, holding out another gym bottle with both hands.

Finally!

I snatched it from him and uncapped it. Without wasting a second, I started pouring it on my head, not caring that it was freezing cold.

The fire raging inside my chest made me almost immune to it. I caught sight of the clock on the wall and frowned. I had spent four hours in the gym today while my usual workout lasted two. I should have been exhausted by now, but the only thing I could feel was rage.

I tossed the bottle onto the bench and walked toward the treadmill. Running might help. It might stop me from thinking about the way Lucien had talked to me. I stepped onto it and reached for the controls.

"Planning to spend the night in here?" My hand stopped as I looked over my shoulder. Mom stood in the doorway with her arms folded across her chest.

Ignoring her, I started the treadmill, "How long have you been standing there, Mom?"

"Long enough to see you terrorize that poor boy over a bottle of water."

I rolled my eyes and increased the speed. With a sigh, she walked inside and watched me run for several seconds before speaking again.

"Still angry at Lucien?" I didn’t pay any heed to her words and kept running. She walked over to the treadmill and pressed the stop button.

"Mom!" I protested when the belt slowed beneath me, "What are you doing?" I grabbed the rails and glared at her.

She stood there calmly with arms folded on her chest. Like a true Luna.

"I’m not in the mood for this, Mom," I stepped off the treadmill and grabbed my towel, "If you came here to lecture me about how to treat the King, save it."

She threw her arms in the air, "I came here because my daughter has spent four hours beating the hell out of a punching bag over one man."

"Are you blind?" The words came out harsher than I intended. "Couldn’t you see how he insulted me?"

I turned to face her, breathing heavily from the run, "He likes humiliating me when his family is around. I’m his soon-to-be mate, his queen, and yet..." I gave a bitter laugh.

Mom’s expression remained unreadable.

After wiping the sweat from my face, I tossed the towel onto the bench, "I’m done talking about this."

I crossed the room and picked up my gym bag when I heard my mother’s voice, "Jasmine, I’m not finished yet."

"Well, I am." I slung the bag over my shoulder and headed for the door. A low growl suddenly rumbled behind me.

"Stop right there, Jasmine." Her voice was not gentle at all. It made my steps halt.

"Turn around before I forget you’re my daughter and remind you exactly how a Luna deals with disrespect."

My grip tightened around the strap of my bag. For a second, I considered walking out anyway, but then I decided against it and turned toward her.

"What do you want me to do?" I snapped, "Beg him? Run after him? I’ve spent years standing beside him. Years, Mom! I got engaged to him for political reasons, and somewhere along the way, I actually started wanting him, started falling for him. What else am I supposed to do?"

I didn’t realize that I had started crying. Tears were rolling down my cheeks. I stared at her as she walked to me slowly, "Stop waiting for him to hand you the place you want," she smirked, "You think becoming his wife will automatically make you important to him? You think a crown will do it?"

My jaw tightened as I watched her, "Wh...what are you trying to say? You know very well what I did. I got rid of her to be with him!"

She was aware of who I was talking about. That name was forbidden in the palace.

"You don’t understand, Lucien, Mom."

An odd smile touched her lips as her hands reached to my face to hold it tightly, "I don’t understand, Lucien? Honey, I understand men like Lucien better than you think."

Something about her tone made me frown as she lowered her voice, "Make your space, Jasmine. Fight for it. Hold onto it." She gritted her teeth as something bitter flashed across her face. "Just like I had to make mine when your father refused to accept me."

I stared at her silently. She looked away for a moment before fixing her eyes back on my face. "If I had been sensible enough back then..." She pursed her lips for a moment. "... if I had fought for the man I actually wanted instead of accepting what life handed me... I would be standing at Theodora’s place today."

Everything inside me went still as I felt my bag slipping a little from my shoulder.

What did she even mean?

My entire life, I had seen her calling Queen Theodora her closest friend. But the bitterness in my mom’s eyes told me their friendship had a history I had never been told about.

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