LUCY
When I wake, my head, lying on the cold floor, is throbbing violently, the pain so merciless that I have to clutch it with both hands as I slowly push myself upright. The pale light simmering into the room from the window tells me it is just dawn.
With my legs stretched stiffly out before me, I wish fervently, desperately, for the searing headache to stop so I can think clearly. But what comes instead is memory.
A brutal recollection of what had happened.
Immediately, my hand flies to my stomach, pressing hard—
—and that is when I feel the wetness beneath me.
Slowly… dread coating every inch of my skin, my eyes already stinging with fresh tears, I lower my gaze.
What I see tears a guttural scream from my throat.
Blood.
A thick, horrifying pool of blood that has soaked through my trousers, smeared across my trembling hands.
I keep screaming when I see it—when I feel it—when the terrible truth crashes over me that I am sitting in the blood of my child.
The hollow emptiness I feel inside me causes me to keep screaming, ugly sobs ripping out of my chest, tears pouring endlessly down my face.
My cries bring my parents, the maids, and the guards hurrying over in alarm.
But my door is locked. I only realize this through my mother's frantic knocking, her voice filled with panic on the other side.
I frown through my crying haze. The door shouldn't be locked.
If Mina locked me in… did that mean she left through the window?
A heavy crash follows—a guard kicking the door down—and suddenly the room floods with a sea of familiar faces.
When my father sees that I am alone, he dismisses the others with a sharp motion, then strides into the room with my mother close behind him. Even now, his face is a hard tapestry of anger.
"Why are you shouting like a banshee?"
My mother is about to speak—
Then she sees the blood on my hands.
Sees the blood on the floor.
I watch realization dawn in her eyes. Watch the hurt bloom there.
And it breaks me all over again.
I curl into myself, dragging my legs close, knees bunching tight against my chest as fresh sobs tear free.
Still, I hear my mother's breathing turn ragged as she steps closer, as if needing to confirm what she is seeing with her own eyes. I hear her lips tremble. Hear the soft, shattered gasp that escapes her.
My father rushes toward her immediately—it seems she is about to faint.
I lift my head weakly just as he asks, his anger replaced with frantic concern for his mate.
"She lost a child, Karon," my mother chokes out. "She lost… oh my goddess, it must be the pain of the bond breaking… it must have—"
I am already shaking my head wildly as my father turns to look at me, his expression a storm of pain and anger.
"That's not what happened. Mina did it. She came here and—"
"I don't want to hear anything about my friend's daughter anymore!!!"
The boom of my father's voice makes the room seem to quake, his Alpha authority crashing down heavy.
"What is wrong with you?!" He flings a hand sharply as he lowers my weeping mother carefully onto the bed.
"What haven't I done for you despite you being wolfless?!" His voice rises, each word striking like a blow. "Being useless to the throne?"
I shrink as if he physically slapped me.
As a matter of fact… the words hurt worse than any slap could.
"I still loved you," he continues harshly. "Still cared for you. Didn't let the pack treat you any less than an Alpha's daughter. And what do you pay me back with? Humiliating me in front of everyone—"
"I—"
"Shut your foolish mouth!"
My lips tremble violently as I watch my father begin to pace, fury radiating off him in waves. This is the first time he has spoken to me since the disaster at the sacred grounds.
"Doyle has loved you since forever. You know that. You lived that. And all of a sudden…" He shakes his head slowly. "I should have known you had gone mad when you burned that tree house. I should have known. It's my fault. But I thought you were letting go of old love to embrace a newer, sweeter one…"
His laugh is dark. Pained.
"Instead, you humiliate our family. You drag us through the mud. And now the throne—for the first time in centuries—is going to a stranger. One with no Alpha blood running in his veins. One that isn't Drakonia."
"Father, I—"
"I am not your father," he cuts in coldly. "You severed the link between us when you chose disillusion over your family."
"I am not disillusioned!!" I shout, spit flying, tears still streaming uncontrollably down my face. "They betrayed me! Doyle wanted me only until he got the throne! I heard them!"
I turn desperately to my mother. "Mother, you have to believe me. Mina is not who you think she is."
My mother shakes her head slowly, ruefully. "No… you are the person who is a stranger to me…"
Whatever remains of my heart shatters completely.
My will to fight, to speak… everything evaporates into nothing.
Didn't she hear what I just said?
"You lost your child," my mother continues brokenly, "and all you care about is smearing your friend's name. Mina has only cared for you, and you allow your insecurities to override your common sense."
Her voice hardens with grief. "And now we have lost the throne. Worse… you lost the heir that would have turned things around. Why didn't you tell me you were pregnant, Lucy?"
I open my mouth… then close it again.
I only discovered yesterday. I wanted to tell Doyle first. But when I was betrayed… I thought I would tell them after the mating grounds. But things had not worked out the way I planned.
And saying all that out loud now sounds foolish.
So I stay quiet.
She shakes her head slowly. "Your father is right. You are insane… but not in this kingdom. You will go where I cannot see you…"
Her voice breaks, and she begins to weep again. "Karon… where did we go wrong?"
My father sighs heavily and moves to her, pulling her into his arms.
"We did nothing wrong," he murmurs. "If there is a wrong made, it is the goddess—by giving us a wolfless child who took us for granted… who took her friends for granted."
I feel completely hollowed out as I watch them comfort each other.
I try to rise, but a sharp pain in my lower belly forces me back down with a strangled gasp.
"Get out!" my father snaps suddenly, not even looking at me. "Pack your bags and get out. And don't return. The banishment is forever—as long as I'm still Alpha."
"Karon, not now," my mother protests weakly. "She has to take some pills for the pain… I need to wash her at least, so she won't have an infection… we need some days…"
"I don't care." His voice is cold as stone. "You are too caring for your own good, Lilian. Can't you see she is cursed? I don't want you stained. A maid can wash her…"