Athena’s POV
I needed air. I needed silence. I needed to disappear from the palace’s suffocating walls before I shattered completely.
The garden welcomed me with stillness. Roses bloomed along the stone path, the scent sweet but distant. I sat on the low marble bench beneath the willow tree, head bowed, hands in my lap.
I shouldn’t have come here. I shouldn’t have stayed. But where would I go? My family had disowned me. My pack and my first mate had rejected me. I had nowhere and no one.
A tear slid down my cheek again, and I wiped it away quickly—just in time to hear footsteps.
“Athena,” a smooth, cold voice said.
I looked up and my heart stopped. It was Alpha Eryndor.
“What are you doing here?” I asked, instantly on guard.
He gave me that same smug, lazy smile he used to wear like armor. “Paid your Alpha King a visit. Formal business.” His eyes scanned me slowly. “Didn’t expect to find you here though. Alone.”
I stood. “I’m not in the mood for your insults.”
“Oh come on,” he chuckled, stepping closer. “So, are you gonna be his Luna? Or just a spare tire again? Like what you were to me?”
I clenched my jaw and moved to walk past him. “Goodbye, Eryndor.”
But his hand caught my arm. Before I could react, he pulled me back and slammed me gently but firmly against the garden wall. His fingers brushed the birthmark on my cheek. I flinched.
“You know what…” he murmured, his lips near my ear, “I kinda miss you. Kinda regret not being your first.”
My heart pounded in panic. I shoved at his chest, but he didn’t move. His hands dropped lower, uninvited and rough. He pressed closer, mouth trailing to my throat, my collarbone.
“Stop—don’t—please—I’m pregnant!” I cried.
He didn’t listen. I was frozen, powerless, screaming inside. And just when I thought he was about to—a growl ripped through the air.
Then everything happened at once.
Eryndor was lifted. Ripped off me like he weighed nothing. Varianth’s hand was around his throat, fury blazing in his eyes.
“I’ll kill you with my bare hands,” Varianth snarled, slamming Eryndor against a tree so hard the trunk cracked.
Guards burst into the garden, weapons drawn.
Eryndor coughed, trying to stand tall even as he was restrained. “She is my ex-wife, Your Majesty,” he said coolly. “I was merely trying to reconcile.”
Varianth’s eyes darkened like a storm. “Touch her again, and not only will I kill you—I'll burn your entire pack to the ground.”
Eryndor paled as the guards dragged him away. And then Varianth turned to me.
His hands reached for mine, but didn’t touch. “Athena… are you hurt? Did he—”
“I’m okay,” I whispered, voice shaking.
He looked like he didn’t believe me, like he wanted to tear the whole world apart for what nearly happened.
“I have to leave,” he said finally, his voice tight. “There’s a matter I need to handle—just for a few days. But until I return… please be careful.”
I nodded, not trusting myself to speak.
And as he left, I sat back down, heart racing, skin crawling.
But I wasn’t alone for long.
“You really think you belong here?”