Chapter 5: Stop Making Me Hope

Thalia's POV

Day after day, I woke up with the same disappointment. 

Not because my life was basically over. Not because my mate had brutally rejected me, or because my wolf had been violently ripped away from me. 

No. My true, pathetic disappointment came from a single, desperate hope: that when I opened my eyes, Caspian would be standing by the cell door with that signature smile on his face that made my heart skip a beat.

Which was ridiculous, completely and absolutely ridiculous.

The man had looked me in the eyes and announced we were mates like he was just letting me know my shoelace was untied. So, I slapped him. In my opinion, it was a perfectly reasonable response.

Anyone would have done it. Right?

Right?

Gosh, I hated second-guessing myself.

Yet, my treacherous heart still noticed his absence and still craved his presence.

I hated that craving more than this shithole cell. I hated it more than the fact that I’d been stripped of my title. But most of all, I hated that deep down, I actually missed him.

An urgent bang on the door suddenly pulled me out of my trance. I sat upright the moment the door burst open, my breath catching in my throat. 

“Caspian…?”

Two royal guards stepped inside, and neither of them looked thrilled to breathe the same air as me.

“Get up!” the first one ordered.

I blinked, the hope draining instantly into confusion. “What? Did Eris order this?” I asked, my heart hammering against my ribs.

“The Luna has ordered all imprisoned women to serve at her banquet tonight.”

The Luna.

Hearing Eris called by that title felt like someone had stabbed me with a knife just below my heart and twisted it mercilessly.

“Move!”

The second guard yanked my arm, aggressively hoisting me up. I stumbled, barely catching my feet before they shoved me out into the blinding sunlight. 

As I stepped into the palace, everything looked different, maybe because I was no longer welcome. The same hallways that once looked like home now felt cold to the bone. 

The same servants who once bowed and smiled at me now found the walls and ceilings very fascinating when I passed by.

Nobody wanted to associate with the abandoned, wolfless girl, and I couldn’t even blame them. Adonis had literally declared me toxic. To associate with me was a death sentence.

They allowed me to clean up and change into a drab, scratchy servant's dress. By nightfall, my hands were raw and aching from setting two hundred tables. I was also forced to carry heavy silver trays through the lively ballroom. 

As expected, the event was disgustingly lavish. Musicians played near the wall, while nobles flooded the floor, dripping in enough diamonds to fund a small kingdom.

At the center of it all, looking more expensive than others, sat Eris. She looked radiant—the complete, mocking opposite of me. Her arm was looped possessively around Adonis, and every time she laughed, she leaned into him, smiling like a cat with cream. 

I clenched my jaw tight, staring daggers at her. If only I could wipe that smug look from her face

“Watch it!” A voice suddenly snapped.

I jerked back a bit, startled by the tone. The tray in my hand tilted from my sudden movement, and several wine glasses began to slide off. 

No, no, no. I closed my eyes, bracing for the crash and the inevitable punishment, when strong hands appeared out of nowhere. The tilted tray instantly leveled, and the glasses were saved. 

My heart stopped for a bit. I knew that scent. I knew that impossible, electric pull.

I forced my eyes open and looked up.

Caspian.

For a heartbeat, neither of us breathed. We just stared, waiting for the other to break the suffocating silence. Then, his lips tugged into a warm smile.

“Thalia.”

I had missed him so much, but now that he was standing right in front of me, the reality of my broken life crashed back down. I couldn't do this. 

“I have work to do,” I blurted out. It was a pathetic excuse, considering I was literally hiding in a corner behind a pillar. 

His lips twitched a bit. I guess he also figured that I could have come up with a better excuse.

“Can I—”

“No, you cannot,” I snapped, cutting him off before spinning on my heel.

I fled, desperately trying to ignore the way my skin tingled where his hands had brushed mine. 

Unfortunately for me, fate wasn’t done torturing me. Every time I tried to disappear into the crowd, he was there. I caught glimpses of his silver-white hair by the desserts, then again near the musicians, always tracking me. Every single time, I ran away before he could get close, knowing that if I let him voice the words, my resolve would shatter. 

The final encounter happened in a secluded, dimly lit corridor away from the main crowd. I rounded the corner and ran straight into his broad chest. The tray slipped from my grip. I lunged for it, but I wasn't fast enough. I hadn’t been fast, strong, or healthy since my separation from my wolf.

Caspian caught the tray. But this time, he didn't let go. His fingers slid over mine, pinning my hands to the tray.

I tried to pull free, but his grip was iron. My body betrayed me, my neck moving of its own accord as my eyes rose to meet his. His dark gaze burned with a magnetic pull that made my knees buckle.

For a terrifying second, I wanted to lean into his warmth. Then, the memory of my public humiliation with Adonis flashed behind my eyelids. 

I yanked my hand away. “Don’t,” I breathed, stepping back. “Stay away from me, Caspian. I thought I made myself clear?”

“Trust me, Thalia,” he murmured, his voice laced with a deep, frustrated longing. “If I could stop thinking about you, I would.”

The raw honesty in his voice rendered me speechless. He stepped closer, close enough that I could feel the heat radiating from his body, as a frown marred his handsome face.

“That doesn’t change the fact that you’re still my mate.”

“Oh, for the love of—”

“I still don’t understand why you’re fighting this so hard,” he pleaded, his voice cracking slightly. “This is a second chance. A chance for me to give you the love that was stolen from you.” 

He spoke so easily, like he knew the gravity of the pain I felt.

It irked me.

A harsh, breathless laugh tore from my throat. “Why am I fighting this?” My voice trembled. “Maybe because the last time someone claimed to love me as his mate, he publicly rejected me and destroyed my entire life!”

“I know,” he whispered.

“No, you don’t!” I choked out,

His jaw tightened, a flash of hurt crossing his face. I hated how sad he looked; it made me feel guilty, which was deeply unfair because I was the victim here.

“I have nothing left, Caspian,” I whispered, staring down at my raw, blistered hands holding the tray. “I am nothing”

“You still have yourself,” he whispered, reaching out to gently cup my face. The contact was like lightning, melting the emptiness in my chest. “And that is everything to me.”

“Stop this.” I shook my head, stumbling backward out of his touch. “Please.”

“Don’t you get it, Thalia? I can’t.” he lunged forward, catching my arms. I froze, too exhausted to fight him. “We can start over. You can start over. You don’t have to be a slave to this pack. We can run away. Tonight.” 

The mate bond between us surged, offering me safety, warmth, and the possibility of a future. But the memory of Adonis’s betrayal hurt like crazy, telling me it was all a lie. If Adonis could betray me, why wouldn't Caspian? I couldn't survive that heartbreak a second time.

I ripped myself out of his grip. “I can’t do this.”

“Thalia, just listen to me—”

“I can’t!” I shrieked.

I turned and sprinted down the corridor, convincing myself that if I looked back, I’d turn into a pillar of salt.

I ran toward the exit of the palace, but before I could even reach the courtyard, three massive guards stepped out of the shadows, blocking my path. 

“Consorting with outsiders,” the lead guard sneered, gripping my upper arm with bruising force. “And a rogue, at that. The Alpha is going to love this.” 

They dragged me back through the dirt, throwing me violently onto the freezing floor of my prison cell. I lay in the pitch-black, my chest heaving as I sobbed into my hands, when a terrifying realization set in. 

Eris’s spy had seen us.

If they found out Caspian was my second-chance mate... they wouldn't just keep me locked in this cell.

They would hunt him down and kill him.