Chapter 43
His entire body seemed to vibrate with excitement. “Sadina’s with pup! She’s been carrying our child for over a moon now, ever since I spirited her away to the secluded lodge. Those bumbling royal healers, with their useless potions and false prophecies! They said I was on death’s door, unable to sire an heir, doomed to perish within three moons.”
He puffed out his chest, flexing his powerful muscles.
“Look at me now, Luna! I rode with Sadina through the wilds of the Western Woods today, galloping for hours without tiring. When we returned, our pack’s healer placed her hands on Sadina’s belly and felt the tiny flutter of life within. Our cub grows strong,
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and I… I am stronger than ever!”
His brows unfurled in a sweep of savage relief.
“So there’s no need to force Lia into this farce of a mating” he drawledh. “Send her away.
“Lia,”
“Did I not vow my strength would return? Your womb quickening wasn’t some blessed fertility!”
A laugh rumbled from his chest, dark and dangerous.
“It’s the natural order. Any she–wolf,could bear my heir now that the curse has lifted.”
My lips remained sealed.
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The crescent moon outside seemed to hold its breath as I steeled myself, the weight of the Beta pack’s promise–a binding mark etched into my skin–burning hotter than Alex’s searing gaze.
From this day forth, my path diverged from Alex’s.
Yet Alex mistook my silence for defeat.
His lips curled into a smirk.
“Then be gone,” he sneered.
“Leave this place and never darken my doorstep again.”
But Luna’s sudden laugh shattered the tension like a thunderclap.
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“Not so fast, she chided.
“Lia is indeed betrothed. To Beta Mathew. And you, dear Alex, will share the same wedding day.
His eyes blazed a fierce crimson, and his hands clenched into fists. “What?!”
His roar shook the rafters, sending a tremor through the very foundations of the castle.
He whirled on me.
“You’re marrying Mathew? The Beta?”
His voice wavered.
And then, realization dawned.
“The betrothal… it was for you and Mathew? Not… not for me?”
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Luna arched an eyebrow.
“Of course. Didn’t you declare that Sadina was the only one for you?”
“With such a proclamation, what reason would I have to bind you to another?”
I kept my gaze lowered.
Suddenly, a vice–like grip encircled my wrist.
I gasped, looking up to meet his feral gaze.
“How… how can you do this?” His voice was a ragged snarl.
“Who gave you permission to bind yourself to another? Weren’t you obsessed with becoming my mate?”
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A bark of laughter escaped my lips.
“Your Highness, has the fever addled your mind? I’ve told you time and time again- I want nothing to do with this farce of a mating.”
“And since when does my choice of mate concern you? Didn’t you insist we should be strangers, each to our own path?”
Alex’s complexion darkened. His grip on my wrist tightened.
For an eternity, his grip lingered.
When he finally released me, his lips were drawn into a bloodless line.
I rubbed the bruised flesh.
Bowing to Luna, I fled the chamber.
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I sought the Beta’s matriarch, begging her to
secure me a room.
But the old she–wolf only clucked her tongue.
“Nonsense, child.” Her weathered hand
closed over mine, warm and firm. “You’re to be Mathew’s mate. This is your shelter now.”
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