He rejected her in front of the entire kingdom. He crowned her rival queen. Then, he offered her as a sacrifice… to his father. Esmeralda had it all—or so she thought. The future queen. The beloved mate. A father who raised her with honor. But in a single night, everything crumbled. Thorne, the man who once kissed her scars and promised her forever, humiliated her before the entire werewolf court and handed her over as a traitor. Betrayed. Rejected. And pregnant. Marked as a disgrace, Esmeralda escapes into the wild lands with nothing but a heartbeat growing inside her and the ghosts of a love that was never real. But the wilderness holds its own secrets, including a pack of dangerous rogues and a cold, powerful Alpha who wants nothing to do with her. He saved her once. He regrets it already. Now Esmeralda must fight to protect her unborn child, survive a pack that sees her as a threat—and face the one man whose hatred burns as deeply as his stare. But what if the real enemy is the king she once loved? And what if fate still has a crown for her… just not the one she expected?
View MoreEsmeralda POV
“Hey baby. You look stressed, what’s the issue?” I asked Thorne as he entered our room, he wasn’t smiling at all. “Hey, I didn’t see you there. Shouldn’t you be with the women right now?” He asked me instead, staring at me with a little bit of unhappiness on his face. He doesn’t even look like he’s happy to see me at all. I frowned a bit at that, putting aside that thought. “I came back early because I wasn’t feeling well. What’s wrong with you though? Did something happen?” I asked him again. “Nothing much, I’m just stressed out. But what did you do that made you not feel well? I bet you all were just talking and all. What happens when you finally become queen then?” He asked me. My heart dipped a bit. For some reason, the words made me a little bit hurt. It was almost like he was invalidating my feelings. “I want to be left alone for the rest of tonight please, just stay out of my way.” He added, making me even more confused. Thorne never talked to me that way, he had never told me to leave him alone before. What exactly is going on with him? I didn’t miss the look on his face as he walked away. Was that disgust? I could have sworn that was what I saw on his face. But that’s not possible. It’s just not possible that he’s disgusted by me, it doesn’t make any sense to me at all. I badly want to believe that it’s my brain playing pranks on me. Maybe it’s because I’m not feeling well. Thorne has been the most romantic man I’ve ever seen and met. We met years ago, and I was over the moon when I met him. I've been longing to meet my mate since. I fell in love with him since the first day I saw him, he was everything I wanted in a mate and more. And although he’s the heir of the werewolf King. I pictured our future together and I just really want nothing more than to get mated with him already. The mating and coronation ceremony is tomorrow and he hadn’t failed to tell me how much he looks forward to that. I really expected him to be all smiles when he got home today but the attitude I got wasn’t expected at all. He was so happy with me before leaving, what happened then? “Thorne, what’s the issue?” I asked as I walked over to the room. I tried to open the door, only to see that it was locked from behind. He really doesn’t want to see me? “Look for something to do, Esmeralda. I’m not in the mood for you at the moment” He shouted from inside. That hollow feeling came again, I felt really hurt by his words. Just as I turned around, I heard the door to the right swing open. I walked towards it, wondering who came in without knocking. I got into the living room to see Aria, Thorne’s childhood friend and my biggest hater. She only spared me a glance, about to walk past me when I dragged her back. “Excuse you? You don’t barge into someone’s-” “I asked her to come, Esmeralda. She’s here to see me.” Thorne’s voice came on, cutting me off. “You heard that, bitch. Now get out of my way.” She slightly pushed me aside and walked past me. I was really stunned by her choice of word, and Thorne heard it clearly too but he didn’t say anything about it. Before I could say anything else, I felt bile rush up my throat and I ran towards the toilet. I dumped everything in my stomach into the sink as a very sick feeling washed over me. I rested my back against the wall as I tried to catch my breath. I felt really dizzy, my head light too. Thorne should have felt it already that I wasn’t feeling well, but he didn’t run through the doors to come to me. My eyes suddenly traveled to the pregnancy strip on the table. I had gotten one from the clinic earlier today. I slowly picked it up, nervousness eating at me. The fact that Thorne called for his female best friend while he asked me to leave him alone and they’re in the same room right now didn’t even freak me like the test. I waited patiently in the restroom as I waited for the result. I don’t even know the result I hope for. How will Thorne react? My heart missed a beat as soon as I saw the two pink lines on the strip. Maybe… just maybe this news will make Thorne happy. ~~~ Today was the day I become the Queen of the werwolf kingdom and also mate with Thorne rightfully. My makeup and hair has been done perfectly already, I could barely even recognize myself at the point. “I’ll go and grab the gown now.” My stylist said, referring to the regal gown that I’m meant to put on. It’s the gown that has been passed down from generations to generations and now I’m next in line to wear it. I’ve tried it yesterday for the fitting and the necessary fitting has been done already, now it’s just for me to wear it for the celebrating. As I was left alone in the room, I couldn’t help but think about Thorne. He still hasn’t said anything to me. I just hope that the news I want to break to him tonight cheers him up. The stylist rushed in with panic on her face, forcing me out of reverie. “There’s a problem, your highness. We can’t find the dress!” “What? How’s that even possible? You said it’s a very sacred dress and I can’t become queen without it.” I said back, my heart racing wildly in my chest. “It’s really sacred, and we’re way behind schedule at the moment. Everyone is waiting for you, we have to do something.” She said. “What do we do then?” My head had started to bang with the kings of thoughts running through it. I really can’t afford to mess anything up again, I don’t want to make Thorne more mad than he is already. “We have a backup dress, there’s one that you can wear. It’s just that a special rite will be done after this coronation.” She said. “Okay then, let’s do that. Let’s just get this over with already.” I said to her. We swung into action immediately, I put on the dress that looked like that one that I wore yesterday. The only thing was that this one felt lighter. Immediately we were done, I was escorted to the grand hall by some maids, I had been told that I’d only see Thorne when i get into the hall. Hopefully he’s over anything that’s going on with him already. The doors opened and the sounds of chatters filled my ears. Then suddenly everywhere went quiet as soon as I stepped in, Thorne stood at the altar with his father and mine at the front too. Nervousness was at the forefront of my mind. I walked over to where Thorne stood, a small smile on my face. Meanwhile he had a very stern look on his face, there was no hint of a smile or anything related to it on his face at all. “We welcome you all to the mating ceremony and coronation of the new king and Queen. May the both of you please step forward.” The announcer started. Thorne walked towards where I stood, but his eyes weren’t on me at all. They were on someone behind me. I turned and gasped. Aria. That’s Aria, in the same dress like I was. What exactly is going on right now? Is this a prank or something? “In opposition to what every one of you think or know, I’m not taking Esmeralda as my queen or mate today. I choose Aria as my Queen and mate instead.” Thorne spoke for the first time since I got here. My head went light, I pinched myself just to be sure that I wasn’t having a bad dream or something. There’s just no way this was real. “Esmeralda here and her father have plans of starting a coup and overthrowing my father, the king.” He announced then started walking towards me. “I hereby offer her as a sacrifice to prove my loyalty to the whole pack and my father, the outgoing king. I reject you, Esmeralda Knight as my mate. I give her up for my father.”Esmeralda POV “Hi there.” She said, her voice bubbly.“What do you want this time, Aurora?” I asked in a tired voice, putting up a resting face.“It’s nothing much, I just want you for something.” She shrugged nonchalantly.“How’s it that you now work with Carson? I thought it was just the former Alpha king you had on your side, how did you move to Carson so quickly?” I asked her.I was still shocked at Carson’s betrayal, but I had to act chill around Aurora first so I’d get out of here first.“It’s not that hard to get him on my side at all, he needs his mate back after all.” She said, walking around the room to get things together. I was even tied to the wall by a chain.“So you no longer work for the former Alpha king?” She let out a very loud laughter, the voice echoing through the forest. I knew she wasn’t normal human anymore, she had a lot of supernatural powers embedded in her, but the voice that sounded didn’t sound like it had any human connection with it anymore. She see
Esmeralda POV He took in a heavy breath, looking around as though he was looking out for someone. A small frown came up on my face, he looked so suspicious, almost as if he had something really complicated that he wanted to tell me.“Are you okay?” I asked him with concern laced in my voice. He opened his mouth, about to talk then he hesitated before finally opening his mouth.“I think I’m dying.” He said.My eyes widened a bit, shock coating my features. I looked around us to see if anyone was listening in because of the way he also kept looking around, but it was just us.“Why do you think so?” I asked him, finally looking back at him.“I can feel it in my spirit, I’m withering away. I think it has to do with Miranda, and I think it’s Aurora’s doings too. She wants to kill me.” He answered.My eyes widened even more after realizing that the situation was more serious than I thought. He did look very different, but I thought it was because of Miranda.I paused a bit before replying
Thorne POV The whole kingdom was silent, everyone walked on eggshells out of fear of being the next person who’ll drop dead or contact the disease that was rapidly spreading through the kingdom.We’ve done everything we could to stop everything that’s happening, but what I could come with at the moment was declaring a state of emergency in the kingdom. No one is to go out at this point, even the people who come in are being monitored. It has been really draining trying to find out what the problem is.We just keep hitting a dead end at every step, all we know is that it’s a punishment from the moon goddess. But she won’t even say what she’s punishing us for. I don’t know if it’s a personal punishment on me at the point, or it’s aimed at another person in the kingdom.“You aren’t sleeping?” Aria’s voice brought me back to reality. She wiped her face with her hand then sat up a bit on the bed to look at me. She moved closer to me, resting her head against my chest.“I even wonder how
Esmeralda POV Wind blew slightly, the environment so calm that I felt tempted to just sleep right there on the field. After that hot session with Killian, I was so tired that I just went straight to bed again.But on waking up, I felt so energized that I didn’t even want to stay in the room any longer. Luckily for me, Lily was around the house and she was so happy to see me.I didn’t allow him to have full control last night out of fear of his beast coming out. It almost happened, but I stayed in control so I took charge of the situation. Sex with Killian is something else. It felt like my brain was about to be blown away.“I heard that the kingdom is currently in danger.” She said as we walked away from the house.“Really? What’s going on?” I asked her, brows raised.“I heard that people are dying, especially children. People are saying that the new king came with bad luck. But I think it’s just karma working in your favour.” She smirked, a devilish smile playing on her lips.I stop
Esmeralda POV The past few days have been very hectic. The first was Killian finding out that Thorne was my mate, then him telling me that he’s the rightful heir to the throne as both Thorne and his father don’t even have the royal blood in them.That one shook me to the core, I wouldn’t have thought that he’d have the royal blood in him. I always knew he’s a very powerful man, I just didn’t know that he’s the son of the real former king.I always knew that man wasn’t a normal person, he’s so corrupt and wicked. I always had this weird feeling around him, but I thought it was my head playing tricks with me because of the kind of power he possessed. But after Killian revealed to me that he covetously became king, I just knew that my instincts were right. But he has a lot of power in his possession that he can’t be easily brought down by anyone.Then to Miranda being used by Aurora to send a message to us. It has been a roller coaster of activities here. Apparently, we don’t even know
Killian POV Carson immediately swung into action and stood in front of Miranda in a protective stance. I stormed over to her, my body shaking as fury overtook me fully. I glared hard at Miranda who was peeking out her head from behind Carson.“What’s going on? Why are you growling at my mate?” Carson asked.Esmeralda was as confused as they all were, I signaled to her guard to be alert in case it gets bloody or something.“She’s working for Aurora.” I answered simply.A deafening silence resonated amongst us as soon as I said that, Esmeralda letting out a shocked gasp.“Who’s Aurora? What’s he talking about?” Miranda asked, coming out from behind Carson.“You have her magic inside of you, and you definitely met with her before you got to this pack again.” I said confidently, my blood boiling really hard.“What magic? What’s he talking about, Carson? Are you okay, Killian?” She asked, looking around with confusion etched into her face.“Carson step back, no one is hurting her.” I said
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