Chapter 126
I had hoped—perhaps naively—that my regeneration abilities would handle the alcohol in my system. I’d lost count of how many glasses of wine I’d consumed. Despite that, I was sober enough to wave off Kenzo’s offer to carry me to my room. Determined, though unsteady, I navigated the stairs myself, focusing harder on each step than I’d like to admit. Once I closed the door and reached my bed, I thought, finally, I could rest.
But then, my gaze fell on the bedside table—and my phone. The very one I hadn’t so much as glanced at for two days.
A lump formed in my throat as I picked it up, my hands trembling slightly. I already knew I’d messed up. The screen confirmed it: thirty missed calls and seven unread messages. With a deep breath, I forced myself to look at the details. Most of the calls were from Freya, and three were from Varen. Guilt hit me like a wave. I’d been the one asking them to keep in touch, yet here I was, ignoring them completely.
The messages were even worse. Freya’s texts ranged from worried to frantic. In the last one, she flat-out asked if I was still alive. I could feel her concern—and her anger—through every word.
It was 3 a.m. Too late to call, though ignoring them any longer wasn’t an option. I settled on sending a quick text:
"I’m alive. I’m sorry. A few things happened, and I was away from my phone. I’ll call you in the morning."
I set the phone down and began undressing, preparing for bed. But just as I slid off my shirt, the phone buzzed in my hand.
“In the morning, my ass!” Freya’s voice thundered through the line the moment I answered. “What the hell happened? Start talking. Now!”
There was no point in delaying the inevitable. I lowered my head and told her everything—how Kenzo had tested me, how the Royal Army pledged loyalty to me instead of him, and the chaos of the party. When I finally finished, Freya’s sharp tone softened.
“Are you sure you’re healed?” she asked hesitantly.
“Yes,” I replied, chuckling weakly. “Hazel, the pack doctor, says I have super-regenerating abilities.”
“That’s good... Maybe you’d survive even if she succeeded...” Freya mumbled, almost to herself.
“Survive what? Succeeded who?” I pressed, confusion creeping into my voice.
Freya hesitated before continuing. “You remember Isla? That younger girl who came with me from the castle?”
“Yeah. She brought me meals a couple of times. What about her?”
“She was bribed by Selene to poison you.”
“What?!” The world tilted slightly, and I gripped the phone tighter.
“Isla put incense in your room—poisoned incense. You were breathing it while you slept. King Hadrian found it behind your bed the night you left,” Freya explained cautiously.
“This is insane...” I muttered, struggling to process her words as panic clawed at my thoughts.
“The King lost it,” Freya continued, her voice taut with anger. “He ordered the palace searched top to bottom, and they found more of that poison in Isla’s room. If I’d known—if I’d even suspected—I never would’ve let her near you.”
“This isn’t your fault, Freya,” I said firmly, trying to calm her down. “What happened to Isla?”
Freya sighed. “She’s dead. She was killed before she could testify or implicate Selene.”
Of course. My lips twisted into a bitter smile.
“I should’ve known it would end like that.”
Frustration burned in my chest. Selene. Who was protecting her, ensuring she faced no consequences? Hadrian had an army, and he was systematically cutting off her allies, yet she still slipped through every net. The thought chilled me. If I’d stayed at the palace any longer, would I even be alive now?
“Anyway, it’s good you’re safe—and that you have Icarus by your side,” Freya said, her tone shifting.
“He’s only here for a few days,” I replied bitterly. “And in less than a month, he and the warriors will head south to fight my father.”
“Aren’t you going with them?” she asked.
“What?” I blinked.
“Don’t tell me you’ve never thought about marching into your father’s territory and taking him down.”
Her words caught me off guard. I’d never allowed myself to seriously consider it. For years, I’d been too weak, too powerless. But things were different now. And as the idea settled in, a new thought surfaced—my mother.
I had no idea what had become of her. If I went to war, would I find her? Would she fight for my father, or would she choose me, her daughter?
“I should go, shouldn’t I?” I laughed nervously.
“I don’t want you to go to war,” Freya said, her voice cracking.
“What? But you just said—”
“I said you’d regret it if you didn’t,” she cut in, sighing. “If I’d had the strength to crush my father, nothing would’ve stopped me.”
Her words reminded me of her story—how her mother had been raped by a noble vampire. I’d never asked for details, but now I ventured cautiously, “Did you ever... get revenge for her?”
“King Hadrian did it for me,” she said quietly. “My mother worked as a nurse in his family’s hospital, and years later, after she died, he found me and gave me a job. When he discovered the noble who hurt her, that man was dead within a week—ripped apart.”
“How? He couldn’t punish a noble, could he?”
“He took a risk and covered it up,” Freya said simply, admiration threading through her voice.
Her story painted Hadrian in a new light, one I hadn’t seen before. Maybe if he’d been honest with me from the start, I could’ve understood him better. Maybe even forgiven him. But there was no going back now.
“He misses you, you know?” Freya said suddenly.
“God, you sound like Icarus,” I groaned.
“Because it’s true! He’d go to the Blue Moon Pack and take you if he had to.”
“Even against my will,” I muttered with a dry laugh.
“No!” Freya snapped. “He wouldn’t force you. He’d fight for you. Do you know why? Because even though the bond is broken, his feelings haven’t changed. That means he loved you before the bond.”
Her words struck me like a blow. My chest tightened, my heart fluttering against my will. But no matter how much my emotions betrayed me, the past couldn’t be undone.
Still, I wondered—if Hadrian stood before me now, asking me to return, would I truly have the strength to say no?