Bullied Mate Of The Lycan Kings
Chapter 21

Lily's POV

People with the kind of face and body that Aiden possessed were not supposed to be assholes. This was my first thought after the statement he made.

Despite his exterior beauty, there was an underlying darkness within him that slips out as easily as water through cracks. I hated him. I hated the way he used his good looks and physical presence to intimidate and bully others, making life a living hell for those around him. Poor Mauve. He had broken her hand for trying to explain to him and I had seen the cruel curve of his lips as he watched her cry in pain. Like he was feeding off of it. Like he relished it. He had to be the devil himself.

What's worse is that his cruelty didn't mar the beauty of his face. Even when his inner darkness is shining through, it's hard not to be entranced by his outer shell. He had an undeniable handsomeness about him. His spoiled rich boy, yet rugged features, muscular chest and arms, and mess of black hair complemented his piercing grey eyes.

Piercing grey eyes that were glassy with pleasure, obviously getting off on what his girlfriend was doing to him under the table. At least, I assumed she was his girlfriend. She was kneeling at his feet, her head bobbing up and down between his legs. I scrunched up my face in disdain.

How could he even do that in front of so many people trying to have a decent meal?

I scoffed and his eyes suddenly slashed to mine. Silver clashed against emerald, and I froze.

There was so much hate in those eyes.

I held his gaze, despite feeling restless and uncomfortable, his earlier, degrading words making their way back to me.

"Maybe I can replace some use for scum like you."

What an a*****e. All that good looks wasted on such a cruel creature.

Cade was an a*****e, I remembered and even though my eyes welled with tears at Aiden's referral to me as scum, I remained seated at the table instead of running away like he wanted me to.

I won't give him the benefit of seeing me defeated.

We engaged in the stare off for the longest time even though I was sure it was just moments and when he saw that I was not going to flee, he rolled his eyes and finally looked away from me, and I heaved a sigh of relief, shifting in my sit and turning my attention to the girl beside me.

I had picked this seat for a reason. It was beside the girl that Ren had been talking with, the one with white hair that I suspected was his sister.

She was speaking to the person sitting beside her and when she finally turned to face me, her face suddenly went cool and her mouth pressed in a straight line as she stared at me, her teal colored eyes cold, beautiful and stern.

She was very pretty in that elegant, regal and ethereal way that Ren was.

Her long white hair was braided over her left shoulder and there were flower barrettes in her hair. She had snow white skin, peach pink lips and her nails were short and painted bright pink..

She looked like royalty and I was even more convinced that my thought about her being related to Ren was right. She had tweaked her uniform a bit so that her blouse, vest and coat were cropped, exposing a sliver of clear white skin around her slender waist and while that may be defying school protocol, she was a royal and she could do whatever the hell she wanted. She had beads and butterfly pins in her hair and chunky charm bracelets decorated her wrists.

I wanted to know what she sounded like and if she was kind like Ren was. I opened my mouth to greet her but her next words stopped me right in my tracks.

"You shouldn't be here." She said coldly and the excitement that I had to meet her suddenly died.

Of course she was a bully. Everyone on this table and none had stood up to Aiden except Ren so why was I expecting that she was going to be nice and sweet like she looked.

I pursed my lips and was about to turn around and stand up when she covered her hand with mine.

I looked at her, surprised.

"Okay, that came out wrong." She huffed. "Hi, my name is Rhea and this is my best friend, Chelsea." She gestured towards the girl sitting beside her and when the two of them smiled at me, I was surprised because I was not expecting the genuine warmth that I radiated from them.

"Nice to meet you, Lily," Chelsea chirped, popping her black bubblegum and I waved shyly.

She looked intimidating in a dark way.

She had hair that was as dark as mine, with blue dye streaks that were the same shade as her deep blue eyes. Her style of dressing was definitely gothic. I saw it in her makeup; kohl lined eyes, black lipstick, and the way she dressed up her uniform. There was a glittering choker around her neck, her vest and coat were black instead of the usual blue, the school badge resting on her b****t pocket. She wore fish net socks and paired her uniform with big black boots. She had multiple piercings on her ear and a septum ring on her nose.

They were polar opposites to each other. While Rhea rocked the boho princess look, Chelsea slayed the goth girl look.

"We got off on the wrong foot." Rhea continued and when I raised my eyebrows in confusion, she went on. "When I said that you should not be here, I didn't mean it with ill intent. I was trying to look out for you because all is not as it seems." "Just get to the part where you tell her that Mauve is a b***h, Ri." Chelsea said and Rhea laughed and shook her head, her smile very identical to Ren's.

"Pardon me asking, are you and Ren..."

"Siblings? Yeah, what gave it away? Our hair or the fact that we look almost the same save our eyes?" She answered with a grin and I remembered how Ren had talked about his sister and how playful she was and he was right.

I liked her instantly.

"Both, I guess." I said and she chuckled.

"Fair enough. So what my best friend, Chels is trying to say is that Mauve did not invite you over to this table with good intentions, Lily."

That made me raise my eyebrows in confusion. Mauve had been nothing but sweet to me, even though I kind of wondered why and had chucked it up to her being naturally kind.

"What do you mean?"

"Think about it. Everyone knows that you got off on the wrong foot with Aiden. Ren could have invited you over here for lunch if he wanted, but he knows that you probably shouldn't be in Aiden's radar. Mauve knew what she was doing when she brought you here." Something cold and hard settled in the pit of my stomach. I didn't want to believe it. I mean, things could have ended a lot worse but it still didn't stop the fact that she knew Aiden hated me and still, she brought me right into his den. Maybe Mauve is not as nice as I think she is. Maybe there's a reason I feel uneasy about her.

But... but she's dating someone like Ren and he seemed to be a good judge of character. And Aiden seems to despise her as much as he despises me. I felt a stupid sort of camaraderie with anyone Aiden didn't like.

"Mauve feels threatened by you" Chelsea answered "She is very possessive of Ren but besides Aiden and the other royals, she has never had to worry about him making new friends because he never does."

Oh. That still didn't mean that Mauve was being mean right? She had practically stopped others from bullying me.

"And then suddenly, you come along and Ren is very friendly with you, something he has never done before. He has even mentioned you to me and trust me, Ren never talks about anyone in that manner." Rhea said and my face turned red in a blush. "And if there is one thing that Mauve hates..." Chelsea continued.

"It's competition." The two of them chorused and I let that information sink in.

"It's competition." The two of them chorused and I let that information sink in.

It felt almost impossible to believe that someone like Mauve would see someone like me as competition even though the girls looked like they were telling the truth. Ren would never leave someone like her for me, would he?

After what happened with Cade, I sure as hell was certain that he would not and I didn't like the sinking feeling that I felt at that.

"But Mauve doesn't have any reason to feel threatened by me. I'm a wolfless omega and it's obvious that Ren has nothing but affection for Mauve." I answered and the two of them looked at each other before they laughed.

"Oh, sweet Lily, the only reason Mauve prances around claiming to be queen of this f*****g place is because she's mated to Rhea's brother."

Rhea nodded and turned to look at me.

"She's also a wolfless omega, Lily and trust me when I say this, Ren has no affection of her. He's just too kind and selfless to ever treat a woman badly and that of course extends to Mauve unfortunately. He doesn't look at her the way I've seen him look at you. And that says a lot because Ren usually never cares about anything. Hell, he is the kind of person that will lie down and die if he thinks fighting for his life is going to be a drag."

I didn't like the way butterflies fluttered in my belly and I had to remind myself that Cade had hurt me despite being the nicest guy I knew. Maybe Ren would not, but hope was a dangerous thing.

"She's right. If he was my type, I would have tried to steal him a long time ago." Chelsea added and when Rhea rolled her eyes, she laughed.

I liked their friendship dynamic. It reminded me so much of what I had with Bia.

"Look, all I'm saying is that my brother is friends with Aiden, I know, poor choice of friends," she cringed. "But that's not the point. He never meddles in what Aiden does but I saw him stand up to Aiden for you. And that is a very big deal."

Nodding shyly because I was not sure of what to say, I brought out my homemade lunch from my bag and was about to ask Rhea and Chelsea if they would like some cookies when someone snickered.

"Oh, look, she can't even afford cafeteria food. A pity that the scholarship only covers tuition. Can't leech your way out of this now, can you?"

I gasped and looked up to see that it was the girl that had been blowing Aiden under the table. She was now sitting on his lap and looking directly at me with a wicked sneer on her face, enjoying my embarrassment as her group of friends cackled at my expense.

I slipped and my eyes fell on Aiden. He was already glaring at me, his gaze cold and hard as ice. There was no amusement on his face, even as the girl leaned into his chest and he dragged a lazy hand down her silky blonde hair.

I swallowed and was about to hide my face in embarrassment when Rhea stretched out a hand to me.

"Shut up, Paige." She hissed, before turning to me. "Ren told me how delicious your cookies are. I want one."

Chelsea on the other hand stretched across the table and emptied Paige's food on her clothes, causing her to stand up and shriek in shock.

"What the hell, you b-"

"Finish that statement and I'll punch you so hard, you'll be shitting your own teeth for days." Chelsea said in a tone that made it clear that she meant every word.

She glared at her and then looked at Aiden, probably expecting him to defend her but he was already talking to a different girl, easily replaceing another toy to play with the moment he got sick of the current one. Paige turned red in embarrassment and stormed out of the cafeteria.

Rhea high-fived Chelsea and when the two friends looked at me and smiled,I realized that I was already smiling too.