arius pov

“I’m so happy you’re not brejecting /byour mate, my king! Truly! I was starting to think byou /bbwere /bheartless enough not to bcare /bbif /bthat poor girl died from the rejection. But who knewb, /byou’re bsecretly /ba nice bperson/b!” Cassian eximed in surprise, pping his hands as he bstared /bbat /bme in bawe/bb. /b

My expression didn’t changeb. /bbI /bsimply stared coldly at the idiot in front of me.

Drake stood bbeside /bhim. Though he didn’t openly show his excitement like Cassian, the glint in his eyes bwas /bproof enough that bhe/bb, /btoob, /bbwas /bbpleased /bthe girl wouldn’t bbe /bdying tomorrow.

b“/bYou know,” Cassian continued, “I think the miss bis /breally happy and relieved. That must bbe /bwhy she’s noting out of her room. I can just imagine her crying on her bed, so overwhelmed that everything’s going to be okay nowb!/b”

At his words, the image of the girl ring at me with nothing short of murderous intent shed through my mind and I couldn’t help the small smirk that tugged at the corner of my lips.

That girl? Happy? I doubted it. She looked like she’d rather gut me than be my mate. In fact, if I wasn’t mistaken, bit /bseemed like she actually wanted me to reject her.

“Would you me her?” Ss chimed in, as usual. “Since you got here, you’ve done nothing but torment our mate, talking about rejecting her, making her drink poison. And let’s not forget today, you slung her over your shoulder like she was some kind of doll. Why wouldn’t she want to kill you?”

I didn’t respond.

Choosing to ignore Ss entirely, I was just about to order Drake to bring me a ss so I could pour a drink, when my brows furrowed and my eyes narrowed.

I caught a whiff of something, foul and distinct. The scent of a rogue.

And from the way the conversation had died down and both Cassian and Drake fell silent, their expressions now serious, it was clear I wasn’t the only one who had caught the scent.

“My king, they’ve followed us here,” Cassian said grimly.

I nodded, my expression cold and unreadable as I tapped my finger against the armrest, deep in thought.

“Go and inform the Alpha of the pack. Help them fend off the rogues without causing any casualties to the pack,” I ordered.

Without hesitation, both Cassian and Drake dropped to their knees, lowering their heads in a respectful bow.

“We understand, my king. We will carry out your orders,” they said in unison before rising and exiting the study.

Once they leftb, /bsilence filled the room, broken only by the steady ticking of the clock.

At this point, the rogues had be more of a nuisance than a threat. They were annoying- not in a way that demanded my full attention, but in their repeated, desperate attempts to take my life.

By now, bit /bwas no bsecret /bthat I couldn’t die. No matter how many times I bwas /bstabbed, shed, or even drowned, death would note for me. The goddess’s curse wouldn’t allow it.

I had even tried beheading myself once, thinking that without a head, there was no way I could survive. But some invisible force had intervened, nearly killing one of Cassian’s ancestors in the process. I had jumped off ba /bcliff, hoping that my body

would be too broken to brecover /bbut once againb, /bbI /bwas bsaved /bbefore hitting the ground.

So byes/b, it was more bof /bba /bbcurse /bbthan /bba /bblessing, I could bnever /bdie no matter how hard I bcrave /bfor bdeath/b.

It was ba /bblesson /bto bteach /bme bto /bvalue life but instead it made my hatred for bit /bbgrow /bmore and the pests of the rogues didn’t seem to bmake /bit bbetter /bbeither/b.

bI /bleaned against the couchb, /bmy beyes /bfluttering shut bas /bI tried to block out the rest of the world around me. Maybe bI /bshould breally /bbstart /binvestigating the leader of the rogues to stop this afterall.

bNyssa /bpov

“I thought you said we deserved to starve for not killing Kiera and Aria. So why are you sneaking to the kitchen nowb?/bb” /bShe said, her tone dripping with mockery bas /bbI /bscanned the area, making bsure /bthere were no maids, Calen, Benjaminb, /bthe king’s bbeta/b, Gemma, bor /bmost importantly, father nearby.

I didn’t respond, not because I didn’t want to, but because I bwas /bembarrassed. Yes, I had said we deserved to starve for failing our n, but my stomach felt like it was about to rip apart. The pain was so intense it had woken me from bsleep/b, leaving me whimpering in agony.

I hadn’t eaten anything all day, and the trauma Darius had put me through was probably why I was this hungry. So I told myself it wasn’t my fault and ced all the me on him, that exined why I was sneaking to the kitchen now.

I exhaled deeply when I saw the coast was clear, gripping the slippers tighter in my hands as I sneaked inside. My eyes fixed on the cab where the instant ramen was, easy and quick to make.

Just as I drew closer and was about to move the little table toward the cab to climb up, She’s panicked voice made me freeze.

“Nyssa… Something’s wrong.”

I blinked in confusion. I had never heard She sound like this before, not with rage, but with tension. It was unlike the way the king had found out about my identity, but this time, it felt more serious.

At that exact moment, I couldn’t help but tense up as a shiver ran down my spine.

T–this was the feeling of being watched. Of knowing someone was right behind you. Of feeling a pair of eyes locked on you. Like a predator watching its prey.

“Nyssa, you need to run. They smell like rogues, and there seem to be many of them right now. I’m not strong enough yet to take them, so… run.”

She said urgently, not the proud wolf I knew. Without thinking, I heeded her words, exhaling deeply before slowly turning around and dashing toward the kitchen exit, wanting to run to my room.

But before I could react, a gasp escaped me as a hand shot out and grabbed my neck, mming me against the wall. Pain shot through me, making me whine and close my eyes.

“You smell fucking delicious,” a rough voice growled in front of me. The grip on my neck tightened, forcing me to open my eyes and when I stared into the red eyes of the man before me, I knew I bwas /bba /bgoner.