Chapter 20 #2
My heart pounds against my ribs as we climb a winding, stone staircase. Each step takes us higher, and gradually, the rough-hewn walls give way to more refined surroundings. The torches are replaced by elegant sconces. The floors become polished marble that reflects the light.
I’m in a palace.
The realization hits me like another bucket of cold water. This isn’t some random kidnapping. This isn’t Alpha Gareth’s crude justice. This is something much, much worse.
We reach a massive set of double doors carved with intricate designs—wolves running beneath a full moon, their eyes inlaid with what looks like real silver. The guards don’t hesitate; they push the doors open and shove me inside.
The throne room is massive.
That’s my first thought as I’m dragged across the shiny, marble floor.
Soaring ceilings disappear into shadows above, supported by columns that could probably hold up mountains.
Stained glass windows stretch from floor to ceiling, casting colored light across the space in brilliant reds, blues, and golds.
But it’s not the architecture that makes my blood freeze. It’s the people.
Dozens of them line the walls—nobles in fine clothing, their faces cold and curious as they watch me being hauled before their king. Their stares are like a physical weight, pressing down on me, judging me. Their whispers follow my stumbling progress across the room.
“Is that her?”
“She looks so ordinary.”
“What did she do?”
“Pathetic little thing.”
The words slice through me, but I keep my chin up. I won’t give them the satisfaction of seeing me break. Not yet.
At the far end of the room sits a throne carved from black stone that seems to absorb the light around it.
The man sitting on it commands attention even from this distance, with his silver hair, sharp features, and eyes that could cut glass.
Even weakened by age, his authority fills the entire space.
The King.
But it’s not the sight of royalty that makes my knees nearly give out. It’s the two figures standing nearby, watching my approach with expressions that cause my stomach to clench with dread.
Alpha Gareth and his daughter, Harper.
They’re here. They followed me all the way to the royal palace, determined to see me punished for the crime of wanting freedom.
The guards force me to a stop about twenty feet from the throne. I stand there, dripping wet and shivering, but I keep my spine straight and my gaze level. The nobles around the room continue to murmur among themselves, their whispers carrying clearly in the vast space.
“Look at her.”
“So defiant.”
“Doesn’t know her place.”
I ignore them all, focusing on the imposing figure seated on the black throne in front of me.
The King leans forward slightly, his pale eyes fixing on me with cold interest. “So, you are the runaway bride who disobeyed my orders.”
Terror floods through me, but I force myself not to crumple under his stare. I’ve come this far; I won’t break now.
“Alpha Gareth,” the King says without taking his eyes off me. “Verify her identity.”
My alpha steps forward eagerly. “Yes, Your Majesty. This is Astra, the female who was meant to be sent to the Blue Crest Pack according to your decree.”
The King nods slowly. “Tell me, Astra of the Silver Stone Pack, do you know the punishment for defying a royal decree?”
My mouth goes dry. I know exactly what happens to people who flout the crown. This isn’t just humiliation or exile we’re talking about; this is life and death. So, if I’m going to die anyway, I may as well speak the truth.
“I do, Your Majesty,” I say, my voice steadier than I feel. “But I would also like to know the punishment for someone attempting to make a fool of the King.”
“Shut up!” Alpha Gareth’s roar echoes around the throne room. His face turns purple with rage. “King Alaric, you see how defiant she is! How rude and arrogant! Her insolence is staggering. She has no respect for authority whatsoever!”
“Arrogant?” I snap at him, my fear transforming into white-hot anger.
I turn my head back to face the King again.
“Your Majesty, your decree stated that the strongest female of each pack must be sent to another pack. But I am not the strongest female in the Silver Stone Pack. She is.” I point directly at Harper, who turns as pale as death.
“Harper, the Alpha’s daughter, is our most powerful healer and our strongest female. ”
Hushed murmurs emerge from the nobles.
“Silence!” the King commands, his voice cutting through the throne room like a knife. He turns his cold gaze to my alpha. “Alpha Gareth, is your strongest female this girl, or is it your daughter?”
Alpha Gareth’s face flushes red, but his voice is steady when he answers. “Your Majesty, it is Astra. She is our most powerful healer.”
“I have a latent wolf!” I say, my voice rising with desperation. “How can I possibly be powerful? I can’t even shift!”
“She’s lying,” Alpha Gareth says quickly.
“Your Majesty, Astra is indeed a powerful healer. When news came that she had to be sent to fulfill your decree, she tried to manipulate the crown by concealing her powers. She had help: a healer who assisted her in pretending to be latent, and a warrior who helped her escape.”
My blood turns to ice as I hear footsteps echoing from a side entrance. Two guards haul in familiar figures, and my eyes immediately fill with tears.
Selene and Daciana.
My friends. The two people who risked everything to help me escape, who showed me the only kindness I ever knew in that wretched pack.
The horror knocks the wind out of me when they get closer and I can see them better.
They’re almost unrecognizable. Daciana’s face is swollen and bruised, her left eye completely shut, dried blood crusting around her split lip.
Selene can barely hold herself upright, her healer’s robes torn and stained with blood that I pray isn’t all hers.
“No,” I whisper, shaking my head in disbelief. “No, no, no.”
Alpha Gareth’s voice is dripping with vindictive satisfaction.
“These two traitors have confessed to their crimes, King Alaric. They admitted to helping this girl escape, to concealing her true power from the pack, to defying the crown’s decree.
” His smile is cruel, predatory. “My daughter Harper witnessed their conspiracy firsthand.”
Harper steps forward, her face the picture of false remorse. “I’m sorry, Your Majesty. I tried to stop them, but they threatened me into silence. They said terrible things would happen to me if I spoke out.”
Lies. All lies. The rage building in my chest is about to choke me.
“Furthermore,” Alpha Gareth continues, his voice growing stronger, more confident, “if Your Majesty were to question anyone in our pack, they would confirm what I’ve told you. Astra is our most powerful shifter. She always has been.”
I shouldn’t be surprised. My entire pack—every single person I’ve lived alongside my entire life—they’ve all conspired against me. They’ve all agreed to confirm this lie that will see me executed.
I stare at Gareth, at Harper, at the sea of faces in the throne room, and it becomes crystal clear that I never had a chance. This was planned. Orchestrated. They have all colluded to ensure that I die here today.
“You’re lying,” I say, my voice shaking with fury. “Your Majesty, you can check for yourself. They made me live in a tiny shack on the edge of pack territory. I’ve never had a wolf. I’ve never shifted. I collect herbs because that’s the only thing a latent shifter is good for.”
Gareth doesn’t even flinch. “She has been hiding her true nature for years. The evidence is overwhelming.”
“I know why you’re doing this,” I spit at him, my voice growing stronger as the truth burns through me. “You knew Harper was the strongest female, but you didn’t want your precious daughter to suffer at the hands of another pack. So, you decided to sacrifice me instead.”
“That’s enough,” the King snaps, but I’m not finished.
“Ask him,” I demand, pointing at Gareth. “Ask him why he really chose me. Ask him to explain how a latent shifter could possibly be more powerful than his daughter, who can shift and heal and fight.”
The King’s cold gaze shifts to Gareth. “Alpha Gareth, I ask you one final time. Are you telling me the absolute truth?”
Gareth’s jaw tightens, but his voice remains steady. “Yes, Your Majesty. Every word is true. This woman is our most powerful shifter, and she defied your order.”
My heart sinks as I watch King Alaric nod slowly. The lie is too perfect, too well-coordinated. No one is going to believe a desperate runaway over an alpha and his pack.
“Then, the matter is settled,” the King says, his voice resounding through the huge throne room. “Astra of the Silver Stone Pack, you have disobeyed a royal decree. The punishment for such defiance is death.”
The words ring in my ears, but before I can fully process them, a woman steps forward from among the nobles. She is breathtakingly beautiful in a delicate way—doe eyes, porcelain skin, and an ethereal fragility that makes her look like she might shatter at the slightest touch.
“Your Majesty,” she says, and my blood freezes.
That cloying tone—I recognize it at once. This is the voice that made my skin crawl in the darkness of my prison cell.
“If I may?” she asks the King, her voice carrying easily throughout the silent room.
“Lady Zari.”
The King nods, and she continues with that same false sweetness. “I was the one who found this woman and brought her before you. Not simply because you were looking for her, but because I have my own grievances against her.”
My blood freezes. What grievances could this woman possibly have against me? I’ve never seen her before in my life.
“You see,” Lady Zari continues, her voice gaining strength, “the reason your son, the Crown Prince, has not yet returned to the capital is because this woman used magic on him. She seduced him.”
Gasps echo from every corner. The King’s face goes completely white, then flushed with rage. Even Alpha Gareth looks shocked.
But none of them look as shocked as I feel.
“Wh–what?” I stammer, my voice barely audible through the nobles’ murmuring. “I don’t even know the Crown Prince. How could I possibly seduce him?”
Lady Zari’s smile is cold and triumphant. “Oh, but you do know him, don’t you? This scheming little shifter had high ambitions, Your Majesty. She tracked down the Crown Prince during his mission and gave him a deadly aphrodisiac. She has been holding him captive with her magic for weeks.”
“That’s not true!” I shout desperately. “I’ve never seen the Crown Prince before in my life! And I don’t know any magic beyond basic herb work!”
But the woman is already shaking her head, her expression perfectly crafted to show grief and righteous anger. “I have proof, Your Majesty. Witnesses. Evidence of her sorcery. Her own pack is aware of her intentions. I can even bring forward human witnesses.”
The King’s face is a mask of barely controlled fury. “You dared to lay your hands on my son?”
“I’ve never—”
“As the Crown Prince’s betrothed,” the woman interrupts me, her strident voice overcoming my breathless one, “and as the future crown princess of this kingdom, I would like to request permission to punish this woman myself. For attempting to destroy my engagement by using dark magic on the man I love.”
My heart stops. Betrothed! The Crown Prince is engaged to this woman, this creature who orchestrated my capture and is lying about everything.
The King studies the woman for a long moment, then nods slowly. “Permission granted. Lady Zari, you may proceed.”
She makes a small gesture with her hands, and horror floods through me as two guards step forward and I see what they’re carrying. Whips. Long, vicious-looking things, with metal tips that gleam in the throne room’s colorful lights.
Zari stands to the side, watching the proceedings with cold satisfaction, her delicate features composed in a mask of righteous fury.
“No,” I whisper, but it’s too late.
The first lash tears across my back like liquid fire. I scream, the sound echoing off the marble walls and soaring ceiling. The second strike follows immediately, and the third, each one sending waves of agony throughout my entire body.
But through the pain, through the horror and betrayal and fear, something new is building inside me. Something hot and fierce and utterly furious. A rage unlike anything I’ve ever felt before, burning through my veins like molten metal.
They lied about me. They tortured my friends. They’re going to kill us all for their own political games.
The fourth lash falls, and I feel something crack inside me. Not my body—something deeper. Something that has been locked away my entire life.
The fifth lash, and the rage explodes within me.
The sixth—
The massive doors of the throne room burst open with a thunderous sound. The guard stops his whip mid-strike as every head in the room turns toward the entrance.
“STEP AWAY FROM MY MATE!”
The voice that roars through the throne room is one I know intimately. The one that has whispered my name in the darkness, that has commanded and cajoled and argued with me for weeks.
Lucian.
Through my blood-soaked vision, through the tears and pain, I see him striding through those massive doors like an avenging angel.
His face is a veneer of pure, deadly fury.
His eyes—those blue eyes I know so well—are blazing with an anger that makes the very air around him seem to crackle with danger.
He moves toward me with lethal grace, and the guards who were whipping me take a step back. Even they can recognize a stronger predator when they see one.
“Lucian,” I gasp, watching him approach.
He reaches me in three long strides, positioning himself between me and the guards like a shield. His hands are gentle when they touch my face, checking for damage, but his voice is pure ice when he speaks.
“If anyone ever lays a hand on this woman again,” he says, his words carrying clearly through the stunned silence of the throne room, “I will tear this kingdom apart, stone by stone.”
That’s when the King speaks, and his first word shatters my world completely.
“Son,” King Alaric says, and there’s relief in his voice as well as anger. “You certainly took your time.”
Son.
That word is the final blow. I stare up at Lucian—my Lucian, the mercenary who hunted for me and protected me and made me feel safe for the first time in my life.
The Crown Prince.