bChapter /bb32 /b

Kieran bpov /b

Something was terribly wrong. I didn’t fully understand what bwas /bhappening, but one thing was clear- she had changed. She waspletely different from the girl I once knew.

The Nyssa I remembered would never have pped me. This bwas /bthe girl who would lose her mind over the slightest bscratch /bI got during training. The one who would cook my favorite meal and rush to the training grounds just to watch me eat it all.

She bwas /bthe girl who would get me anything I wanted, whether it was a higher position in the pack’s army or ba /bcollection of gifts. The girl who would argue with her father every time he said something unkind about me. That bwas /bNyssab, /bthe girl I kept around for my own gain. The girl I left my mate for, the girl I didn’t love, didn’t care about, the one I was on the bverge /bof marrying.

Yet, that girl had changed. The love that once shone in her eyes had been reced with something darker- hatred. Pure, unfiltered hatred.

And it happened in mere seconds. The moment she was about to say “I do,” her eyes shut, and when she opened them again, the first emotion that crossed her face was confusion, followed swiftly by rage, the instant she saw Aria and me standing there.

“How could she change so much in just a moment?” I muttered under my breath, frowning. Before I could dwell on it further, Aria, who was wiping the blood off my lips, scoffed dramatically. Her eyes narrowed into a re, and she paused in her movements.

b“/bIs that really what you’re worried about right now? You were almost killed by that cursed king, Kieran!”

She leaned back, her grip tightening around the cloth in her hand.

“And it’s because of that bitch. How could she do this to you- to me? She shoved me to the ground and just stood there with a sickening grin while the king threw you against the wall.” Her words hissed through clenched teeth, and I sighed, leaning back against the couch, narrowing my eyes.

Aria wasn’t exaggerating. I had seen it too- the twisted grin on her face as she looked at me earlier. If I had to put it into words, it wasn’t just a grin. It felt like she wanted me dead. No, I was certain of it, there had been a hunger in her eyes, an eagerness for my downfall.

“What has even gotten into that bitch? She’s so different now- calling off the wedding and acting like we don’t even exist. Is it because she’s the king’s mate now? She thinks she can do whatever she likes?” Aria scoffed, flopping onto the seat beside me with an exaggerated eye roll.

“That dumb, stupid girl. Does she really think the king won’t reject her? And when he does, she’s going to die!”

—

Her words made me frown as my mind wandered back to the king’s expression earlier, the jealousy that had radiated off him, the way he had roared at me for simply touching her. His mate that’s what he had called her. With the way he had looked at her, a nagging doubt crept into my mind, whispering that maybe… he wouldn’t go through with the rejection after all.

“Aria, the reason she’s acting like that…” I paused, my gaze flickering toward her, watching as she met my eyes. “Do you think it’s because she found out about us? About our secret?”

The moment she heard me, her eyes widened, shing with fear bas /bshe stiffened.

That could very well be one of the reasons she was acting this way because she knew about Aria and meb, /babout the fact that

we’re bmates/b.

But bbefore /bbshe /bcould, she fainted.

What bif /bbwhat /bbshe /bbhad /bbeen trying to bexpose /bbwas /bthe truth about Aria and me?

bMy /bfrown bdeepened/bb, /band my hands instinctively clenched at my sides.

If that bwas /bthe bcase/bb, /bbthen /beverything bwe /bhad worked bfor /bwould have been for nothing. And I refused to ept bthat/bb. /b

I refused to ept it- not when I bwas /balready so close. So close to the position bthat /brightfully belonged to me.

“T–that’s not possible,” Aria stammeredb, /bshaking her head bas /bbshe /bstood abruptly from the couch. “She doesn’t know. I doubt she does, because bif /bbshe /bdid, she would bhave /balready told her father and cried her beyes /bout. I know her, she wouldn’t just ignore us blike /bthis. bIf /bbshe /bknew the truth, she would hate bus/b, and he would have bcast /bus out of the bpack /bby now,” she said, trying to reason it out.

And as I listened to her, I knew she bwas /bright about one thing

If Nyssa truly knew our secret, she wouldn’t have stayed silent. Her father would have made us pay for what we had done to his precious daughter.

bYet /bno matter how much I tried to convince myself, I couldn’t shake off the memory of the look on Nyssa’s face, how it burned with a strong, deadly intent every time her eyes met ours.

But now wasn’t the time to voice my doubts especially not to Aria, who never knew how to handle pressure well. One wrong word could set her off and make her do something reckless.

“You’re right. I’m just overthinking. Don’t mind me,” I said, forcing a reassuring smile onto my face.

Before she could say anything, I reached out and grabbed her hand, pulling her toward me. Settling her onto myp, I wrapped my arms tightly around her, drawing her closer. Gently, I brushed her hair away from her neck and leaned in, inhaling her scent deeply.

The scent of my mate filled my bsenses/bb, /bcalming and intoxicating me all at once.

My eyes fluttered shut as a groan rumbled from my chest. I reached for the zipper of her dress, desperate to pull it down, to undress her before my eyes.

Goddess, I needed a brelease /band my mate had always been the perfect remedy.

“Fuck, Kieran,” she gasped, moaning as my lips trailed kisses along her shoulders, my hands working their way to the sp of

her bra.

“Yes, mate,” I grunted, pulling her even closer against me.

Yes, Aria bwas /bmy mate and Nyssa couldn’t know about this or else our n would fail and I wouldn’t be able to get the Alpha’s position.

The position that should have been mine.

b2/3 /b