The Agony

Bree’s POV

Pain exploded through my chest and I screamed in unimaginable agony.

My hands flew to my neck as the mark Adrian had given me burned like fire beneath my skin. It was absolutely horrible.

“No!”

I collapsed onto my knees.

The pain was unbearable. It felt as though someone had reached inside my body and was tearing something out of me piece by piece.

I could feel my mate bond disappearing.

The connection I had spent years dreaming about was being ripped away from me.

I looked up at Adrian through my tears but he didn't move, he simply watched with a bored look on his face.

“Please,” I whispered. “Don't do this.”

His expression didn't change then I felt the final thread of our bond snap and I screamed again until the pain stopped.

Silence followed and I touched my neck. My mate mark was gone.

I had spent years believing that once I became Adrian's mate, nothing could separate us, but I had been wrong.

Adrian turned away from me.

“Sandra.”

My sister stepped forward. She was actually smiling.

I stared at her in disbelief as Adrian reached for her. Sandra placed her hand in his and the moment their skin touched, a new mark appeared on her neck.

A golden crescent spread across her skin then a gasp traveled through the hall.

Adrian smiled.

“My true mate” he said.

My heart broke all over again but Sandra lifted her chin proudly then she looked at me. There was no guilt in her eyes anymore, only triumph.

“You really believed we loved you,” she said softly.

I stared at her.

“What?”

She laughed and Adrian slipped his arm around her waist.

“We never loved you, Bree” he said.

My entire body went numb then Sandra stepped closer to him.

“You were useful” she said.

I looked at her in confusion.

“Useful?”

“Yes” She glanced around the hall. “For years, we believed Adrian and I couldn't be together because of the rumors.”

The whispers in the hall grew louder. Everyone knew the rumors.

Sandra had supposedly been cursed at birth. The royal seers had claimed she carried a fertility curse which meant she would never bear a child.

Because of that, Adrian's parents had never considered her a suitable mate for the future Alpha King.

A Crown Prince needed heirs. He needed a Luna capable of producing the next generation.

“So you used me,” I whispered.

Adrian nodded.

“You were the perfect distraction” he said.

Sandra continued.

“Everyone thought Adrian had chosen you because you were his mate. Nobody questioned why we were always together.”

My stomach twisted.

“All those years…”

“Were an act,” Adrian said.

I stared at the man I had loved for years. He didn't even look ashamed.

“You were convenient,” he continued. “You gave us time.”

Sandra placed a hand over her stomach.

“And now we don't need you anymore” she said.

My eyes followed her hand and I froze.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

She smiled.

“I'm pregnant” she said.

The room erupted.

“What?”

“Pregnant? That can't be possible!”

“I thought she was cursed!”

“She's carrying the Crown Prince's child?”

The whispers became deafening and I stared at Sandra's stomach.

My sister was pregnant. And suddenly everything made sense.

The times she had disappeared, the nights Adrian had claimed he was busy, the way Sandra had always defended him, the way they had looked at each other when they thought nobody was watching.

They had been lovers all along and I had been the fool standing between them.

Adrian placed his hand over Sandra's stomach.

“My heir” he said.

His words made the entire room fall silent. The Alpha King and Luna Queen looked completely stunned.

The Luna Queen's face had gone pale.

“This is impossible,” she whispered.

Sandra smiled.

“The curse was never real” she said.

The Alpha King stared at both of them.

“You lied to us? You two were always together?” He asked.

Adrian nodded.

“I had to. I knew you would never allow us be together.”

The Luna Queen closed her eyes.

For several seconds, she looked as though she wanted to object, but then she looked at Sandra's stomach, at the heir growing inside her.

Whatever anger she felt disappeared beneath the reality of the situation.

Finally, she sighed.

“If she is truly carrying the Crown Prince's child…”

“She is,” Adrian said.

“Then the royal family will recognize your union” the Luna Queen finished.

Sandra smiled and my heart sank.

They had won. Despite everything they had done, they had won.

I tried to stand but my legs trembled beneath me.

A guard immediately stepped forward.

“Take Bree away” Adrian ordered.

I stared at him in shocked.

“You're locking me away?”

“You are no longer my mate,” he said coldly. “You have no place in this mansion.”

Two guards grabbed my arms and I struggled.

“Let me go!” I yelled.

Nobody helped me, not even my sister. They simply watched.

Then a deep voice thundered through the hall.

“Leave her!”

The guards froze, everyone turned to see Alpha Lucien standing several feet away. His expression was terrifying.

“I said,” he repeated, “leave her.”

The guards immediately released me and I stumbled backward.

I looked at him in confusion as he walked toward me. Every step silenced the room.

Adrian frowned.

“Brother, this doesn't concern you” he said.

Lucien ignored him. His eyes remained fixed on me then he stopped directly in front of me and I looked up at him.

For years, I had known one thing about Alpha Lucien. He hated me. So why was he standing between me and everyone else?

“Bree is not going anywhere” he said.

Adrian's face darkened.

“Then why are you interfering?” He asked.

Lucien's jaw tightened then he said the words that changed everything.

“Because she is my mate.”

The hall went completely silent and I stopped breathing.