Chapter 103

Chapter 103

I whimpered, writhing in agony from all the feelings pounding inside of me, and I hated that Derrick may actually believe them.

I broke past the warrior blockade because the enchanted shield I had built to protect others around me was never intended for myself. Once I stepped outside the protective bubble, the feral wolves came bounding towards me as I walked through the enchantment. Until my mother told them to stop, they tore through my garments and scraped at my skin.

"Don't do this." Even though I knew she wouldn't hear me, I still made the plea.

She gripped my face in her hands and laughed at me, her hand closing around my throat as she turned me in the direction of the shield, preventing my mate from following. He yelled my name angrily as I glanced at him, and I felt him thud against the barrier.

"Your magic wouldn't hold up for much longer if I killed you right now." For a brief moment, I closed my eyes and felt the sharp edge of her claws piercing the muscles in my throat. Right now, death was the easiest way out and would mean that I could no longer defend those who mattered the most to me.

"She is mine." When I opened my eyes to see the dread on Derrick's face, his words resounded across the vast space. "Hurt her, and you will never know the end of my fucking wrath." When my mother heard my mate's absolution in a shocked tone, her hand slackened momentarily.

"It's no wonder you haven't taken his mark, or why your mate bond hasn't translated into his hatred for you—you haven't even told him the truth." My mom muttered as if she were now understanding something. "It's a good thing I'm here to tell him everything for you." I fell to my knees in front of him, my hands scraping the dirty floor as she shoved me forward.

She turned back to the king with a menacing expression, and I felt a knot in my stomach.

"Alpha, I'm shocked you still don't understand who I am. You are staring into the very eyes of the one who murdered your parents, I would have thought that someone like you would have known, but then again, you've been playing house with the witch blood wolf that delivered the killing blow." Seeing his body tense up and his hands clenched into fists by his sides made me feel sick to my stomach. "Tell him, Kylie—tell him how you helped me kill the former wolf king and queen, how your magic was a key element to their deaths." My wolf howled with the painful memory as my magic scorched against me and the wind picked up pace all around us.

I mostly remembered the fallout from that night, not much else.

I recalled the agony and the scene of their lifeless bodies.

It must have been true, as she claimed. Like a mother to her kid, I was a born killer, and I've been running away from it ever since.

I never meant to injure anyone, Derrick, and I couldn't have done it. Please, I beg you. I have no idea how to resolve this." I had no right to be falling apart, but I was. The disgust on his face was too much for me to process, but I could feel it pressing down on me like a ton of bricks. I was certain now that he despised me, if he hadn't before.

"Kylie, I'm going to offer you one final opportunity to be by my side; if not, I'll leave you to rot here. Now that he is aware of what you did, your partner will not show you pity." I shook my head; being with my mate was still preferable to her plan, even after she had given my mate every reason to kill me.

My will to cast magic was waning as my hands trembled.

"Kylie," he cautioned, his voice hinting at the sadness that seeped into my pores.

My mother didn't seem to be upset despite appearing surprised by my rejection.

"Your loyalty to a man who would not have hesitated to kill you if you were not his mate is abhorrent." Gazing at my mate in front of me, I felt empty inside and out.

I was ready for this to happen, as I knew it would from the start.

"I've accepted that he can exact his retribution on me, but I'll never allow you to touch me again. I would rather die at his hands ten times over than have to go through even a fraction of the suffering you caused me to experience all those years ago." I stated that out of resentment.

Puzzled and unable to solve any of this, Kyle took a step toward her.

"Very well, I will wait for him to kill you, and then I will come back to claim my throne—this is your warning to you, alpha king, so that you may have a fighting chance." She responded to my power with a blast of her own, and I watched in slow motion as she vanished, taking all her wolves with her, and fell away from the clearing.

As soon as she was gone, the barrier broke down, and the fatigue kept me on the ground by locking my bones. With silent tears flowing down my face, I grabbed at the grass.

"Look at me." I raised my head in response to his demand.

Though they were not visible on his face, I could sense them building through the mate bond.

"You will be given the courtesy of a trial for your crimes, and when you are found guilty, you will be executed. Do you understand?" I nodded in response to his calm voice, and a few of his men moved to lift me up.

We both had broken hearts, which were made of glass, and the anguish was unbearable. When I was being hauled away, he didn't look at me and remained silent while Vera cried out for me to be freed. I had been waiting for this moment for years; it was my inevitable fate. All I could do was find solace in the fact that, although my mother had failed to muuder me, he would now succeed in doing so.