Patt sent updates. No sign of Vix. No leads on her location. She’d vanished completely.
Finally, word came from the infirmary. Riley was awake. She was stable. The healer said she could leave.
Time to destroy my mate’s heart.
***
The throne room was packed.
Word had spread, as it always did in a castle full of gossips, that drama was unfolding. Nobles, servants, guards, council members. Everyone had found an excuse to be here, to witness whatever spectacle was about to occur.
I’m sure they’d all cleared their very important schedules for the entertainment. Nothing like a public humiliation to brighten everyone’s afternoon.
I stood at the front of the room, beside my father’s throne. My expression was carefully blank. My hands were clasped behind my back to hide the trembling. I looked every inch the cold, emotionless prince.
Inside, I was dying.
And then Riley entered.
She looked terrible. Beautiful, always beautiful, but terrible. Exhausted, her eyes still red-rimmed from crying. She walked slowly, carefully, one hand hovering near her stomach in a protective gesture she probably didn’t even realize she was making.
My child. Our child. Growing inside her while I prepared to break her heart.
Thessa walked beside her, shooting me a look that could curdle milk. She didn’t know the full plan. Only that I’d summoned Riley here, and she didn’t like it.
Riley’s gaze found mine across the room. For a moment, just a moment, I saw hope there. The desperate wish that I’d called her here to explain, to apologize, to make things right.
I was about to crush that hope completely.
Before she could feel my anguish through the bond, I closed it. Slammed it shut with every ounce of control I possessed. The pain was excruciating. My wolf thrashed against my control, but I held him down.
It was necessary. If she felt what I was really feeling, she would know the truth.
She stopped in front of me. Waited.
The room held its breath.
“Riley Hawkins,” I said, and my voice was cold, lifeless, the voice of a prince rather than a mate. “I have called you here to address the matter of our... arrangement.”
Her brow furrowed. “Arrangement?”
“Our engagement. Our... bond.” I forced the words out. Each one was a knife to my own heart. “I have given the matter considerable thought, and I have reached a decision.”
The room was silent. Every eye was fixed on us. I could feel the weight of their attention, the hungry curiosity of nobles who fed on scandal and drama.
“A decision,” she repeated. Her voice was flat, but I could see her hands starting to shake.
“This was a mistake.” The words burned my throat. “The claiming, the engagement, all of it. A moment of weakness. A temporary fascination. I cannot take a human as my mate.”
I had hoped she’d see the truth within my words, realize I was calling her human when she’s clearly not, so something must’ve been wrong. But Riley just went very still.
“I am rejecting the bond,” I continued. “Publicly, formally. You are no longer my mate. You are no longer welcome in this court as anything other than a... guest.”
The gasps around the room were audible. Whispers broke out. I didn’t look at anyone but Riley.
Her face had gone bloodless. She was staring at me with an expression I’d never seen before, pure devastation.
“You’re...” She swallowed hard. “You’re rejecting me.”
