“There is nothing to understand. At least nothing your little mind can wrap around of. I know humans can be slow sometimes.” I looked at her with all the contempt I could summon. “Let me be clear with this at least: I reject you, Gwendolyn Woods. You are not my mate. You never were. I reject the bond between us. I reject everything about you, human filth. I rejectyoucompletely.”
25
— • —
Wen
Pain exploded in my chest.
Not metaphorical pain. Not heartache that people described in poetry. This was actual physical agony that felt like my ribs were cracking open and someone was reaching inside to tear out my heart with their bare hands.
The bond. The mate bond. It was breaking.
I fell to my knees on the cold throne room floor as the pain radiated outward from my chest in waves. My lungs refused to work properly. Every breath felt like inhaling glass.
Mal stood above me with his face completely cold and expressionless. The man I loved. The man who’d held me through nightmares and taught me to fight and made love to me with such tenderness just hours ago.
Gone. Replaced by a stranger wearing his face.
I was so confused. So weak. So completely heartbroken that I could barely think past the agony.
What the hell was going on?
I’d sworn after my father went to jail and my mother abandoned me that I’d never give a man the power to destroy me. Had built walls around my heart for years. Had kept everyone at a distance because letting people in meant giving them the ability to hurt me.
And here I was. Being destroyed by a man from another species in front of his entire court.
My life was a fucking joke.
I wanted to scream at him. Wanted to kick and punch and make him feel even a fraction of what I was feeling. But I could barely breathe past the pain radiating through every nerve.
“Why?” The word came out as barely a whisper. “I thought you loved me.”
His expression didn’t change. Didn’t soften even slightly. “I told you what you wanted to hear so you’d spread your legs willingly. It worked, didn’t it?” He looked me up and down with disgust. “You were pathetically easy. Desperate for affection. I barely had to try.”
The words hit like physical blows. Each one landing with precision designed to cause maximum damage.
“You actually believed a king would choose you?” He laughed. The sound was cold and mocking. “A human nobody with nothing to offer? You were a warm body when I needed one. A curiosity to study. But looking at you now, knowing I wasted weeks pretending to care about your tedious stories and your pathetic insecurities, makes me sick.”
Amaia laughed from beside the throne. The sound was bright and delighted and cruel. “This was supposed to happen from the beginning! You never should’ve come here, you weak human whore. Did you really think you could compete with me? This is what you get for being delusional.”
Tears gathered in my eyes without my permission. I hated seeing them fall, hated that everyone in this room could watch me break apart, hated giving them this satisfaction. But I couldn’t stop them.
“Leave,” Mal said. He gestured to the guards standing near the doors. “Take her away. Get her out of my sight. I’m tired of looking at her face.”
The guards approached and grabbed my arms, hauling me to my feet even though my legs didn’t want to support my weight. They started dragging me toward the exit and the room blurred around me as faces stared. Some looked satisfied. Some uncomfortable. Most just looked eager to gossip about what they’d witnessed.
I barely registered where they were taking me. Could only focus on putting one foot in front of the other, on breathing past the pain, on not collapsing completely in front of all these people who clearly enjoyed watching me suffer.
Then a hand reached out and grabbed my arm, stopping the guards mid-step.
Aurion.
Relief flooded through me for half a second before confusion replaced it. We were standing next to the chest where the portal sat at the bottom, and I could see the light swirling inside it. Why had he brought me here?
“We need to step in,” Aurion said quietly. His expression was grim as he looked at me. “Now.”
I stared at him through my tears. “We?”
