I walked into the room to see my best friend's head between my alpha's legs. I should have knocked, but the door was left open like nothing happening there was meant to be hidden.
The tray slipped from my hands before I could stop it, hitting the floor a loud clattering noise. They heard it but didn't even stop to care about it.
My best friend, Eve, was on her knees.
Her head was between my husband's thighs.
And he was moaning.
Damien was my mate… my husband.
With shaking hands I bent down to pick up the red Virelain thread that I had been carrying on the tray, the proof that I was pregnant with his child.
I couldn't move or breathe, my legs rooted to the spot trembling under the weight of what I was seeing. I could taste blood, I had bitten my own tongue.
I heard a loud groan escape his throat as he reached down, cupping Eve's face in his hand and pulling her mouth off with a sticky, obscene sound.
"That," he said smiling, "was the best I've had in a hundred years."
Years.
I staggered back.
They still hadn't looked at me. Still hadn't stopped.
They knew I was there, but it didn't seem like they cared.
I blinked in tears, hoping this was some kind of nightmare. That I would wake up in our bed, wrapped in his arms, warm and safe and loved.
But then Damien looked at me.
Really looked.
His lips tugged into a savage smile that filled me with so much fear.
"Eve tells me you have good news for me." His voice didn't leave any trace of guilt or regret. It was mockery.
I stood frozen in the doorway like the tongue-bite had sealed my mouth shut.
"Come here." he ordered, but my body obeyed before my brain knew what it was doing.
My feet moved numbly toward them, toward the man I loved and the woman I trusted. Eve's lips were wet, swollen. She looked up at me with that same venomous smile I'd once thought was charming. Her eyes sparkled with triumph.
I raised the thread to him with trembling hands. He didn't take it.
Instead, he glanced down at it with disinterest. "What's that?"
I swallowed thickly. "It's the Virelian thread," I whispered. "It... it turned red. I'm carrying our pup."
The silence was heavy until Damien laughed. A hollow, cruel sound that scraped across my skin like broken glass.
My eyes darted to Eve. "You said you'd tell him! You said you'd tell him the truth—"
"The truth?" Damien's voice darkened as he rose to his full height, towering over me.
"You think I don't know you've been spreading your legs for the servant boy I assigned to watch over you?"
"What?" I choked out. "No—what are you talking about?! I've never—!"
"She told me." He nodded toward Eve, whose arms were now folded, her lips were curled into a satisfied smirk. "I guess your friend even seems to be loyal to her King than you are."
What? Loyal?
"You're lying," I screeched, turning to her. "This isn't what we agreed, you said you'd help me! You told me you'd tell him I was pregnant—because it's his! It is his!"
"So," Damien interrupted, his tone frigid, "you admit you're pregnant."
"Yes! You know it's yours, Damien, I—"
"Come in," he called suddenly, looking past me.
The door creaked open.
The servant boy stepped in, head bowed. He was the quiet one who cleaned the west wing. I didn't even know his name. I had barely spoken to him.
"Tell her," Damien's voice remained cold. "Repeat what you just told me."
The boy refused to lift his head and his voice was low. "I... I slept with her."
I stumbled back. "No! Who put you up to this?! Tell me!"
He wouldn't meet my eyes.
"Look at me," I pleaded.
When he did, I saw his guilty eyes hiding away behind his cowardice.
"I told you we shouldn't," he muttered. "But you insisted..."
"Lies!"
A slap landed across my face causing my ears to ring. It was Damien.
"You whore, we haven't even mated." Damien spat.
I stared at him through a blurred vision. "Impossible. You said I bled for you that night…"
"And you said you were a virgin," he sneered. "Guess we both lied. How do you expect me to mate with a monstrous pig like you."
His words stabbed me deeply. I raised my trembling hands to my face, covering the ugly face I had lived all my life with.
The doors burst open, guards filing in at his command. Everything was unraveling.
Damien turned to them. "Bring the pack. I want everyone here."
"What are you doing?!" I screamed. "Damien, please! Don't do this—!" I fell to my knees grabbing his leg and begging for mercy.
"You think the human kingdom can pawn off some womb-warmed whore and call her a princess? Not in my pack. You'll face your punishment." he threw a sharp kick to my ribs.
His inhumane force hurled me towards the wall in the blink of an eye. It slammed my belly against the wall where a loud scream ripped out of my throat.
I sobbed, unable to move, still clutching the bloodied thread in my hand. "Please… Damien."
The guards grabbed me, dragging me out of the doors.
"Take her to the dungeon."