Chapter 3: Cursed Beyond Repair

ADELINE

“Who the hell are you?!” The woman screeched, rushing forward.

I could see her clearly now, her amber eyes widening. 

“I…I…”

She swung a hand forward, slapping my face so hard my teeth rattled. 

A loud yelp erupted from my lips, wrenched straight out of my chest as my ribs hit the table edge. The impact knocked the wind of my lungs and I curled into myself with my hands around my ribs, biting the insides of my lips in an attempt to steady my breath. 

“Oh no, you don't!” She tugged at my hair, fisting as she pulled me back up. “Bitch, get up!”

“Please, this isn't what you think. I didn't know…I'm so sorry.”

“You're sorry? You're fucking sorry?!” Her screeching voice rang through the room, and I shuddered at it. 

I didn't dare meet her eyes. 

“You fucking whore! You dare steal my place as the Lycan King’s bride?!”

This was a misunderstanding I desperately wanted to escape. No, this wasn't even a misunderstanding. This was a freaking shit storm that blew up in my face.

I lifted my head slowly to meet her eyes, propping myself up with one hand. “I- I don't know, I-”

“Is this some kind of conspiracy?!” She continued to yell, hands raised dramatically in the air. “It's me, me! I am the Lycan King's bride!”

“Vivian, that's enough.” A low, steady rumble came, thick with authority. He wasn't speaking to me, yet his voice sent chills that shook my bones.

But she spun around just enough to face the Lycan King himself. “It should be me by his side, not some no name bitch like you!”

I was pulled up again with nails digging into my skin, then came another slap.

“VIVIAN!”

The room fell silent. There was a sense of power so unrestricted and immense in his voice. If he'd easily used his Alpha command on the woman, Vivian, he would surely kill me. 

And they knew. The maids most definitely knew. They had tricked me. A cruel, vile trick, knowing I would get into trouble. 

My scattered thoughts piecing together suddenly made sense. I was the fool to have believed their lies. 

Perhaps they even knew about a past I wanted to forget, and wanted me dead just as everybody else. It was the most perfect set up, and I played right into it.

The alpha closed the small gap between Vivian and him. “Go, now.”

Vivian obeyed, but not before shooting me a glare so sharp it would have easily sliced through me. As soon as she'd left, he turned to me. I didn't dare meet his eyes.

“Now, who are you?” I could hear him losing control, rage seeping through those four words. 

Tears I didn't know I could cry streamed down my cheeks and my fingers fidgeting. My lips trembled. It was only a matter of time before he would kill me.

He hissed out and inched closer. This time, he completely let go.

“I don't like my time being wasted. I’ll ask one last time before I have your head, who are you?”

I fell to my knees immediately at that, hands up in pleading and my voice quivering. “My name is Adeline. I didn't know a mating ceremony was going on…I'm just an omega and arrived here as a maid and I was told that there was a party and I was tricked—”

I was cut off by the sudden restriction as he seized me off the ground by the neck.

“You expect me to believe that?!”

His fingers tightened as he lifted me off the ground, cutting off even more air. Grinding teeth and strangled coughing stole most of the uncomfortable silence. I was slipping away, my arms falling limp at my sides. 

All of a sudden, he let go, tossing me roughly to the ground before facing the oracle. “Undo this, right now! I want the bond between this woman and I severed immediately!”

The oracle looked scared. “I’m afraid that would be impossible, Alpha.” 

“What nonsense? You're the Oracle, do your words hold no weight any longer?”

“Indeed, Alpha, rightfully you should only be mated to someone of royal blood. The woman is an omega and worse, a maid.”

“Then why can't the bond be broken?”

“The mating ceremony involves a blood oath that has been done for centuries past, binding mates forever. It is one so strong and can't just be severed. It is final.”

“I still don't hear a good enough reason,” he snapped. “I don't care if she has to die. BREAK IT. NOW.”

I lifted my head just enough to see the oracle cower, his head bowed. 

“I-I will try, but…if we attempt to sever it by force, a lot could go wrong. You have to remain mates.”

My heart sank.

This could not be happening. 

“I'm sorry…” I breathed out, fresh tears brimming in my eyes. I'm so sorry..”

Neither of them took any notice of me. 

Still yelling, the Lycan King walked away, the oracle following soon after.

A few moments later, I was being taken away to an unfamiliar, dark room in a part of the building I'd never been in before. 

I saw the maids from earlier all watching me as the guards pushed me onwards. Seeing the dark look in their eyes and the smirks on their faces, I wondered how I ever thought they were truly my friends. 

I looked away to hide the tears in my eyes. 

****

I laid on the cold, hard floor of the room I'd been locked in and shut my eyes. I was curled up in a fetal position when I felt nausea overtake me.

I retched violently, tasting bile as I threw up the contents of my stomach. 

My heart skipped a beat. 

It had been nearly a week since this started happening. This nausea, this fatigue. I told myself I was probably imagining it. After all, I always felt sick and tired.

But this was different. 

I placed both hands on my belly, feeling the tiny, almost imperceptible motion. It was so small I could have missed it.

A light, feathery heartbeat. 

In my confusion came a sickening realization: I wasn't just sick. After all of those horrible nights in Hilton's bed, him taking my dignity night after night it'd happened. 

Tears sprung to my eyes. 

I was carrying Hilton's child.