Chapter 5

~Arineth~

I grinned as I stared down the cliff watching Lyrielle fall. “Arineth, you bastard!” she screamed, her voice sharp before it dissolved into the gusts. My hands tingled from the shove I had given her. It was not to kill her but to scare her out of her wits. I still didn’t trust her, but I had seen it after pushing her. The regret was written on her face.

I covered my face with my cloak and turned around, flaring my cloak like a flag. “Did you teleport her safely?” I asked the masked servants opposite me.

“Yes, my lord, she’s fine,” one of them replied.

I smiled. Good. She would live, but this memory of almost dying again would be forever in her head.

I threw my head back and cackled when I remembered the terror as I had pushed her. It was fun to watch her cower in fear but to make her strong; her fear was the first thing to get rid of and i didn't regret pushing her. “Summon the portal,” I ordered the Masked servants

They turned around and summoned the portal. I walked through, and it closed immediately, transporting me to the front of the hall.

I heaved a deep sigh as I walked back to into the hall. It was buzzing with the crowd’s chatter, and I leaned against the wall in one of the corners, staring at my so-called family. My father loomed among the nobles and alphas, smiling broadly at them. He never smiled like that at me, and he looked genuinely happy. I mean, why wouldn’t he? His favorite child was getting married. Again.

The Luna Queen, my stepmother—that scheming wretch—sat with women of noble blood. She laughed with them, just like my father. “Yes, impressive,” I heard her say in her fake soft tone.

Eiraeth was proudly twirling Diana across the floor while Daveth, that idiot who had faked his death, was sprawled at a table, laughing loud enough to split my head. “To the bride!” he shouted, raising a goblet with women around him. They were all having the time of their lives and it made my skin crawled.

How could they look happy after all the pain they had caused those around them?

I clenched my fists tightly, knuckles popping, nails biting into my flesh as I remembered how I had almost lost my life two years ago at the border. They had turned on me—my blood. They had wanted me dead and sent unknown enemies to get rid of me after winning the battle. That day, I had lost all of my warriors and was left bleeding alone in the dirt. I had nearly died there until the fae found me. They had pulled me back from the edge, their strange hands and magic stitching me up. I learned who I was and how fae blood coursed through me there. It was a secret my father had kept from me.

When I returned from the battlefield two years later, no one expected me to return safely. I had expected my father to throw his arms wide, call me son, and show me off as a hero. Instead, he had stared at me with ice in his eyes as he declared me a traitor. Traitor! Me, who had bled for them and put my life on the line! He had banished me to solitude, cast me out to rot on some forgotten island. Then I remembered Lyrielle, my mate who had rejected me years ago. I learned of her family’s doom and how it was connected to my exile. At first, I wanted to look the other way; I wanted her to die alongside her family. She had rejected me for Eiraeth, and I wanted to watch her suffer before her death, but then it hit me—a mad, brilliant idea. I needed her. She was like me—broken and betrayed. To win this fight against my family, I needed someone as wrecked and vengeful as I was.

The hall soon became crowded as everyone started dancing, bringing me out of my thoughts. This was the perfect moment, I thought as I moved closer to Eiraeth and Diana, pretending to dance. My heart pounded as I darted around swaying bodies, my steps quick and erratic. When I reached Eiraeth, I struck—my hand shot out fast, and I crushed a folded paper into his palm when he wasn’t watching and quickly disappeared into the crowd. The crowd’s movement hid me, and I slunk to the hall’s edge, my breath hitching as I watched.

Eiraeth unfolded the paper and his eyes scanned my words: I know what you did. His head jerked up, panic flickering as he searched for me. I let out a laugh that drowned in the music and grinned under the cloak. The message was enough to instill fear into his mind and that of my family. “I’ll be back,” I muttered and walked out of the hall.

The portal appeared immediately as I stepped out and entered. it opened again inside the room of the abandoned building where Lyrielle was lying on the bed, sleeping like the dead. Her chest rose and fell softly, and her face was calm despite all the hell I had dragged her through. For a moment, I froze and just stared at her. Her family was gone, her life had turned into a wreck, and I pitied her. She was foolish to trust my family, leading to her downfall. It affected not only her but also her family.

Suddenly, I shook my head, snarling at the weakness. “Stop acting foolish, Thunder,” I told my wolf because the emotions didn’t come from me. They were from my wolf. Even though Lyrielle had rejected us, the bond was still there, messing with my wolf’s emotions. He pitied her, but I didn’t. “Remember what she did to us,” I reminded him, and he didn’t say anything, only growling in response.

I suddenly frowned, and my voice twisted into something darker. I turned to face the masked woman in the room with us. “Get a bowl of water—now!” I shouted.

She nodded in response and bowed her head before walking out. A few minutes later, she returned with a bowl sloshing with water, and I snatched it from her hand.

I grinned as I raised the bowl and dumped the water on Lyrielle’s face. She gasped and jerked up from the bed. “Father, Mother, Kale!” she shouted, then sputtered, “Why am I here?”

I threw my head back, laughing like a maniac, the sound bouncing off the walls. I leaned in close to her and laughed again. “Surprised you’re alive?” I asked, and I mimicked her gasps when she saw me. Her eyes widened in shock, her hands flying to her mouth. “Oh, Lyrielle, you thought I’d let you off that easy? No, no, no!” I moved back, cackling, my cloak swaying as I paced around the room. “You’re mine now—my little pawn in this bloody fight. I went back to the hall and gave Eiraeth a note. You should’ve seen Eiraeth—the terror when he read my note! They think they’re safe, dancing and drinking, but they have no idea!” I stopped pacing and faced her. “And you—you’ll help me, won’t you? You’ll rise with me. Together, we will rip them apart, make them scream like we’ve screamed!” I crouched beside her, my eyes boring into hers. “Say it, Lyrielle—say you’re with me, or I’ll toss you back off that cliff myself!” My laughter erupted again. “This time, you will truly die!”