KAMILA'S POV
I wake up on a bed.
My entire body hurts as if I've been seared by flames hotter than the sun, coupled with the deafening silence echoing from within me.
The place where the bond used to occupy, a space I never noticed before, feels like an empty gash expanding with every second I breathe, consuming me entirely. I feel weak, sickly, tired, with no strength in my body.
I'm like a husk of what being a werewolf should feel like, barely able to feel a connection with my wolf and panicking with every sensation coursing through my body, every reminder of what has happened and what I have lost.
My bond is broken; I was rejected by my own mate, a fate almost as terrible as death, and yet I had to face it.
I had to stare at the man who meant the world to me at some point and watch him rip out a piece of me in front of everyone, in front of her. She's finally won me; she finally has everything I always wanted.
She's happy while I suffer the aftermath of losing a mate, of being rejected.
Hot tears gather in my eyes from the anger within me. I squeeze my fists together, barely able to muster up enough strength in my hands.
The weakness in my body only makes me more frustrated, and I break into sobs, crying pathetically, hating that wench.
Footsteps draw closer to my door, silencing me from fear that it might be my father, getting ready to tear me up for my own embarrassment.
I close my eyes and pretend to sleep until I hear voices just outside my door. In the next second, the king bursts into the sitting room I'm in, with father following him seconds after.
"How is your daughter? She must be suffering from the aftermath of rejection. I hear it's an ugly sight, literally sucks the life out of you until you form a new bond with someone else," he begins walking into my room.
My father walks in closely behind him, and I open my eyes only slightly to watch them, gauging their expressions. Father looks livid, on the verge of losing it but maintains his posture.
"With all due respect, your majesty, what was the meaning of that?" Father starts once the door is shut behind him, in a cool tone that sounds as chilly and as deadly regardless.
On cue, the entire atmosphere gets colder, icy, thicker, and harder to breathe in. King Silvan settles on a couch in the room, looking up at him.
"The meaning of what?" He says casually in an almost playful tone.
I can literally hear the smile in his voice, imagine the playful glint in his eyes at my own expense, like he didn't just ruin my life.
A low growl vibrates from father and terrifies me in the process. I remind myself to stay still, having unwillingly been invited into this conversation at this point.
"We had a deal, and not just any flimsy deal that can easily be forgotten. One we made years ago through unspeakable means to serve your wishes. After that, I have been in service to you, supporting your family in any way I could because of our agreement concerning the merging of our families," he explains, and the King simply chuckles at the words like they mean absolutely nothing.
He gets up from the chair, drawing closer to father.
"Well, my dear friend, your duty as my subject is to serve, regardless of whether a deal is made. So, I'd say you were simply doing what you would have done, and you will continue doing what you must do because I am your King." He places a hand on his shoulder, wanting to brush off the entire event of tonight as nothing.
Father stares down at it with so much anger flashing in his eyes before he gently brushes the hand off, maintaining a very stoic expression.
"Your majesty, your actions, deciding now to pick a human over my daughter, over my family with the kind of reputation it has, will indirectly jeopardize the respect we've earned on the council. It is an insult, a mockery of our pack."
"I guess you can see this as an opportunity to practice humility. You always seemed a bit too cocky about your pack's military power and the kind of influence you wielded over everyone. You're never too old to learn a thing or two." He mocks him again.
His frown deepens with rage barely being held back from the continuous disrespect.
He loses it.
"Silvan."
The King does a double-take; the smile on his lips falls off easily. I've never seen father openly display his dissatisfaction with anyone else.
Usually, he's the epitome of calm and levelheaded, taking decisions without ever having to break a sweat or put a crack in his outward disposition, but now, now he seems to throw all care to the wind, daring to challenge a man that should not be trifled with.
"We had a deal. You must honor the deal we have." He insists.
"It seems you have forgotten your place, and so I must remind you. I am your King, the one whom you bow to and serve." Alpha King Silvan responds harshly, squaring his shoulders with more intent, glaring him down.
"What you should be doing is begging for mercy. Don't think I'm not aware of your schemes; using your newly found influence as in-laws to royals to make illegal human slave trades, falsifying documents under my name to give yourself more influence." He throws documents on the center table.
"See this both as a punishment and mercy, a reminder that if you fly too close to the sun, you might get burned."
Proofs of the accusations he lays out for him, and father grows silent, simply staring at them with nothing left to say, no argument left to offer to them.
A knock on the door quickly breaks the rising tensions in the air, before the door opens, and a servant walks in taking a bow.
"Your majesty, a call just came through. An emergency concerning the Queen's current state." His voice trembles as he passes the message.
Silvan's annoyed stare turns cold and terrified in only seconds, just as his shoulders flinch from the news. It takes a moment for him to take it in before he nods.
"Get the car ready for us to leave right now." He orders, walking towards the door.
Before he can leave, however, father's inability to lose a fight settles in, and he opens his mouth once more.
"Do you think that the choices you've made so far will please her majesty if she ever has the chance of waking up?"
He freezes just as the words echo from father, and he slowly turns to face him, his face curled up in blind, furious rage, an immediate cause for me to shiver.
His venomous, choking aura oozes out of him almost instantly, restricting airflow for any wolf with close proximity to him, including father and me.
I press my lips together to stop myself from making any sounds while I bear the pain, whereas father, the direct victim, stands his ground for a few seconds.
His body stiffens at first, trying to bear with the weight of his blood-thirst, until he becomes no match. The pressure forces him to fall on both knees in less than a minute, conquered by his raw power.
"If you ever dare to mention Coraline in front of me again... I will kill you with my bare hands."
"Forgive me, your majesty. It was but a moment of weakness. I will remain your humble servant and accept your wishes." He yields.
King Silvan walks out, saying nothing else, and I watch father remain in the position for only a second more before he gets to his feet, seemingly calm until he picks up the table and flings it across the room with a deathly yell.
I gasp, flinching from the sound out of fear by nature and revealing my state of consciousness in the process.
I close my eyes shut, hoping he hadn't heard it and I could pass as an unconscious girl again, but I hear his steps drawing closer to me.
"Get up." He commands.
I don't dare waste a second more, sitting up from my bed now that I've been caught.
I lower my head, waiting to be struck for pretending to be asleep and eavesdropping on a conversation like the one I just witnessed, yet he seems more absorbed in fuming over his conversation with the king, pacing back and forth in the room.
"How dare they, that pathetic father and son duo, screw me over like this, ruining years of planning?" He yells, pausing to scatter the room by ripping through the furniture just as he had done the table very violently.
I flinch and cower, pressing my lips together to stop myself from making a sound in the middle of his outburst, lest I become the object of his disdain.
"What does he dare to know about power and ruling a kingdom when he has no control over his impulsive and unruly brat of a son, a disgrace to our kind! Sleeping with colluding human rats when we are far more superior beings." He refers to Sera, our newest obstacle.
I share in this disdain with father, hating the people who have done nothing but shame me after years of love and service to them.
"How dare he take what should be mine, the power I should possess after everything I've done for him, all the dirty sacrifices made for a fool that has no place being king of anything." He suddenly comes to a halt, facing me now, as though he's remembered just how much I've disappointed him.
He covers the space between us, grabbing my hair before I can evade him.
"You heard that bastard, didn't you? Looking down on me. This is all because you couldn't do your job perfectly well. All you had to do was seduce that imbecile of a boy."
I'm pulled down from the bed regardless of my weak disposition and tossed to the other side of the room against the broken desk in the corner.
"Because of you, I had to stand there and be insulted, take it because of a power he possesses that I don't, all for being a descendant of Cyrus."
"I'm sorry, father," I apologize, but he seems to care little for it, resuming his pacing and his tantrum, delving into his rage to listen.
I dare to speak.
"Father... I want to be of use to you, I want to join you and take revenge on every one of them for what they have done to us."
"You speak as though your addition could change anything. You've been useless up until this point. What could you possibly offer?" He waves me off again, as always.
But this time I'm prepared, ready to be a useful tool in his hands and win his favor.
"I know enough about the human girl, Seraphina. I know her friends and I know how to find her weakness and how to infiltrate her group."
He finally looks at me again, eyes telling me that he's actually considering it, though he remains severely doubtful.
So I sell it.
"Her most recent obsession is a book, one she took from The Obsidian Library, under the forbidden section of the Astria demons." I blurt out.
His features turn shocked and slowly morph into amusement before a slow smile forms on his lips. His interest finally piqued.
He settles on the sofa, reclaiming his calm countenance once more.
"Continue..."