Althea gazed at the walls, sitting slumped in front of her vanity table mirror.
“I want to go out,” she muttered with a deep sigh. Although being locked inside a comfortable bedchamber was still better than being thrown into a dungeon. Luna ena used to lock her there whenever her father wasn’t around.
“Hmm, don’t worry, My Lady. I’ll talk to Beta Osman about it. Maybe he can help us,” lva said reassuringly as she began braiding Althea’s hair.
Althea raised a brow and smirked at lva through the mirror. “You and Beta Osman seem to be getting close.”
lva paused briefly.
‘He’s easier to deal with than Simon... He’s my mate and yet he seems not willing to acknowledge it.’
Althea blinked after reading lva’s thought. Simon? Gamma Simon was her mate?!
“Hmmm... aren’t you and Osman mates? You two are always so–” she leaned in with a teasing grin, “friendly?”
She deliberately said that so lva would confide in her about her true partner.
lva let out an exaggerated sigh. “No, My Lady! I wish like Osman, he’s approachable, and kind. But no. The Heavens gave the complete opposite.”
She looked at Althea through the mirror and said dramatically, “Would you believe it? My mate is here. And he’s none other than that grumpy Gamma—Simon!”
Althea smiled as she voiced out, “That’s... actually great news! I an, your fated mate is here! Instincts will kick in, the mate pull—he’ll protect you!”
“But he’s ignoring it,” lva replied with a shrug.
“I’m not even sure he wants to acknowledge it. You know how werewolves are. They’re not as bonded to the idea of fated mates like Lycans are. So of your half-siblings didn’t most of them reject their mates and marry nobles instead? So even kept their mates as mistresses, or tossed them aside whenever it suited them.”
Althea nodded quietly. She had witnessed that kind of coldness too many tis.
Unlike Lycans. She’d heard stories about how devastating it was for a Lycan to lose their fated mate. So were said to follow their mates into death, unable to bear the pain of separation. But it wasn’t always the case—it was a choice.
A Lycan with strong willpower could survive, even thrive, and sotis the heavens granted them another mate. And in her heart, she knew Gavriel was one of those Lycans.
‘He can easily toss aside,’ Althea reminded herself. She was, after all, the daughter of his enemy.
Part of her hoped he would simply let her go, release her so she could start a new life sowhere far away, where no one knew her na. A place where she could finally have the freedom she had always longed for. But deep down, she knew how fleeting that dream was.
“Are they still outside?” Althea asked, referring to the three guards stationed outside her door, sothing lva had ntioned earlier. And then there were two more guarding Gavriel’s door. So even though the connecting door between their chambers wasn’t locked, she still couldn’t get past his doors.
Her gaze shifted toward the balcony.
lva caught the look and let out a nervous chuckle. “You’re not thinking of jumping from the balcony, are you, My Lady?”
Althea gave a small, knowing smile. She could jump, if she wanted to. All her mories had returned now—including everything her mother had taught her. And the balcony wasn’t as high as it seed, just one floor above the ground.
She stood and walked toward it, with lva following close behind.
To her surprise, the Alpha King’s chambers overlooked the forest beyond. Below them stretched a wide, open courtyard, likely the rear side of the Alpha King’s castle. Stone walls rose around the periter, guarded by alert royal soldiers.
A few servants moved across the grounds. So of them glanced up in her direction, and Althea instinctively tried to reach into their thoughts but they were too far away.
Then ca the sound of a door creaking open behind her.
“Show your respect to the Queen Mother!” a sharp voice commanded.
Althea and lva quickly turned. As soon as they saw the Queen Mother enter, they moved forward and dropped to their knees. lva knelt just behind her, head bowed low.
“I heard you’ve refused my generous offer of maids,” the Queen Mother said calmly, her tone smooth but edged with cold steel. “Why is that?”
Althea slowly lifted her head, eting the older woman’s gaze. The Queen Mother had long, charcoal-black hair, the sa color as Gavriel’s. Her sharp gray eyes were his as well. But the rest of Gavriel’s striking features, Althea guessed, must have co from his late father.
‘You arrogant wench,’ the Queen Mother’s thoughts echoed clearly in her mind.
Althea steadied her voice. “Your Highness... I don’t deserve your kindness,” she began carefully. “But I am deeply sorry for the pain my father caused the royal family.”
Her voice remained steady, even as her heart pounded. “I know the court resents for sharing his blood. But please believe , I do not share his views. I have never and will never harm anyone. I only wish to make things right... If I still can.”
“Make things right?” the Queen Mother repeated, her voice rising as fury seeped through her composed façade. “Your father seduced my daughter, Riela. He used her, manipulated her, for his rebellion!”
Her eyes blazed, voice trembling now with restrained rage.
“We barely kept her alive after what he did. He nearly killed her. And now... my daughter lives in a state worse than death. She’s lost her sanity.”
She stepped closer, her presence suffocating.
“So tell , daughter of Cain, how exactly do you plan to make that right?” the Queen Mother questioned.
Before Althea could respond, one of the Queen Mother’s attendants stepped forward and silently offered a small cup in front of her.
“Drink that,” the Queen Mother hissed, her voice low and venomous. “Consider it a start.”
Althea stared at the cup, her instincts instantly alert.
‘Drink this, you wench, or I’ll have it forced down your throat. You don’t deserve to bear my son’s heirs!’ the Queen Mother’s thoughts scread into her mind.
Althea’s fingers curled slightly over her dress, but she didn’t move. Her heart pounded as her gaze flicked from the cup to the older woman’s unyielding eyes.
She knew exactly what this was... a poison ant to make her barren.
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