Chapter Four

Valerie

She dodged the punch I was about to throw at her and tackled me to the floor before I could react. I hit the ground hard, drawing shocked looks from the servants around us.

“Excuse us,” Olivia said to the servants.

They immediately left the hall. Olivia extended a hand toward me, but I shoved it aside and got to my feet myself.

“You ruined my life,” I said, my voice shaking with anger. “You convinced me to play that stupid game, abandoned me in the middle of it because you wanted to fight someone, and then left me to take the blame for crimes you committed. And while I was suffering for what you did, you were out here living your life as though none of it ever happened.”

She didn't look anything like someone who had spent even a single day behind bars. Instead, she was standing before me as one of the palace's top supervisors.

“Listen to me, Val. The position I have now wasn't something I planned or expected. I was simply fortunate,” she said. “Just calm down and let me explain what happened.”

But there was no calming down.

I began pacing across the hall, barely able to contain the anger burning through me.

“While I was rotting in prison, being beaten day after day, you were all out here living normally?” I demanded. “Do you have any idea what it means to be a supervisor in this palace?”

It was practically a dream position for most people. Some Alphas from certain packs didn't even earn as much as a palace supervisor. It could take more than ten years of hard work and climbing through the ranks to reach such a position, and Olivia had somehow obtained it.

“Listen to me!” Olivia yelled. “You weren't the only one who was punished that night. Just as you were sentenced to prison, I was sentenced to work here. And the only reason I escaped prison was because your parents lied and claimed that Angel and I were underage. Instead of sending me to prison, they sentenced me to spend the rest of my life working here. It was hard labor, and I wasn't paid for it.

“But a little over a year later, I saved the King's mother when someone attempted to poison her. That was how I earned this position,” she said.

I ran my hands through my hair, trying to process everything she had just told me.

“What about Angel? What happened to her that night?” I asked.

Olivia shook her head.

“I honestly don't know. Something about Angel that night was completely different. It was almost as though she wasn't herself. She asked me to follow her outside the club, and I had no idea why. When we got outside, the King's fiancée was on a call, and Angel suddenly attacked her.

“I tried to stop Angel, but everything spiraled out of control. We eventually ran from the club, but she forced me out of her car in the middle of nowhere. I didn't make it home until several days later.

“By the time I returned, your parents had already threatened my parents. They told them that if I was questioned, I was supposed to say that I was sixteen and that you had convinced Angel and me to attack the woman because you wanted Beta Anderson's attention,” she said.

I fell silent for several minutes, my mind racing. There was clearly a mystery surrounding everything that had happened. Angel had attacked that woman deliberately, and I had already been positioned at the club from the beginning, almost as if someone had planned for me to take the blame.

I had been framed and  now, I needed to uncover who was behind it and why.

Olivia and I continued talking for a while about everything that had happened to us and how differently our lives had turned out. Then, without warning, a sharp pain shot through my lower abdomen.

I winced, immediately pressing a hand against my stomach.

“Are you all right?” Olivia asked.

I nodded, but another wave of pain hit me before I could say anything.

“You clearly aren't fine. Have you eaten anything today?” she asked, moving closer to me.

The pain suddenly intensified. A strange heat began spreading through my body, starting from my stomach and slowly consuming me.

Olivia's eyes widened. “You finally found your wolf?” she asked excitedly. “Val, you are  going into heat.”

My eyes widened in disbelief, that was impossible. I didn't have a wolf. And as far as I knew, only wolves could go into heat. “I don't have a wolf, Olivia,” I said, clutching my stomach.

The heat suddenly became unbearable. It surged through my entire body until I felt as though I was burning from the inside out. Sweat broke out across my skin, and I struggled to remain standing.

Olivia immediately grabbed my hands. “This is bad,” she said urgently. “You don't have a mate, which means your scent could attract unmated male wolves. You need to leave immediately. Go to the forest behind the palace. Run as far and as fast as you can.”

She took my hand and hurried me toward the entrance, then  we heard the first growl.

Olivia froze. “Damn it. They have already picked up your scent. Come on.”

I followed her as she hurried me toward the back of the pack grounds. We had barely gone any farther when an incredibly loud and powerful growl suddenly shook the air.

I stopped dead in my tracks. The sound seemed to reverberate through the entire palace grounds.

Olivia's face went pale. “Holy shit, Val. That's the Lycan King,” she whispered. “Your scent must be driving them wild. Run, and whatever you do, don't let him catch you.” She tightened her grip on my hand. “He may not show you any mercy, especially after everything that happened.”

I didn't need to be told twice, I bolted into the forest, running as far and as fast as my legs could carry me. Behind me, I could hear the growls getting louder. The sound of the King's growl was unmistakable, and it was getting closer with every passing second.

There was no way I could outrun the Lycan King, especially with my weight. Then I heard his powerful growl directly behind me.

My heart dropped, I knew I was doomed.