Chapter 69 CHAPTER 69

Chapter 69 CHAPTER 69
ALINA

I hadn't left my room in two days. The weight of everything that had happened pressed down on me like a suffocating blanket. I needed time to process the events, but staying cooped up in my room only made my anxiety grow. It crept into me whenever I closed my eyes and tried to sleep:

All I could replay in my head was that day and how everyone started to chant at me, like I was some abomination. No one also came to meet me, except for Kai. I wasn't sure if anyone else knew about it— the immediate family members. I was expecting Aunt Arya, Nina and Maria to come and meet me to at least but they didn't. I wondered if they were not avoiding me because of what they heard.

Did they really believe that I was a witch? The thought of that hurt me a lot, that they would just accept it and not come to find out by themselves. I thought we had developed a closer connection when we were locked up by Jaime but I guess I was wrong. Eventually, I forced myself to get out of bed and decided to explore the palace. Maybe a walk would help me clear my head.

As I made my way through the corridors, I noticed something strange -the staff had significantly reduced. The usual bustle of servants going about their duties had disappeared. The silence felt eerie, as if the palace itself had been drained of life. I wondered if this had something to do with Kai. Maybe he reduced the staff to keep me safe, to limit the number of people who could potentially pose a threat.

I knew people were going to try to come and kill me. I have been trying to practice magic, to see if it was truly possible for me to move things with my mind but it didn't work. It made me think I wasn't a witch after all, because I am supposed to be able to do things like that by command. I would not be able to protect myself if anyone tried to hurt me.

I sighed, running my fingers through my hair as I walked.

Everything felt off, and I couldn't shake the feeling that something bad was looming just over the horizon, coming to attack me. As I continued walking, my thoughts were interrupted when I heard soft voices familiar up ahead. I turned a corner and stopped dead in my tracks, my heart lurching in my chest.

Alex and Beck. The last two people I ever expected to see in this place.

They were standing in the hall, cleaning the floors like common servants. I blinked, certain that I must have been hallucinating. What in the world were they doing here? My ex-boyfriend, who betrayed me by sleeping with my step-sister, and Beck, the very same step- sister who had tortured me both physically and emotionally.

I didn't know what to say at first. Anger surged through me as memories of the past came flooding back-the pain, the humiliation, the betrayal. I thought I had healed but suddenly, all of the memories hurt my chest and they tugged at my heart. I wanted to cry. The last day I saw them was one of the worst days of my life, but it had led me to be here. With my mate, even though I was not completely happy and I wasn't sure if I would ever be.

I stood there for a moment, just staring at them, trying to wrap my head around how the tables had turned so dramatically. I used to be the one cleaning up after them and now they were cleaning up after. Who had even bought them here?

"Alex? Beck?" I called out, my voice sharper than I intended.

They both froze, their faces pale as they turned to face me. Beck's eyes widened with terror, and she immediately dropped to her knees, her hands clasped in front of her as if in prayer. “Alina, please!" she begged, her voice trembling. "Please forgive me! I know what I did to you was wrong. I've been paying for it ever since."

Her words felt hollow to me. Memories of the nights I cried myself to sleep, the cruel words she spat at me, all of the starving plus the sleepless nights because she wanted me to strip dance for her friends and the way she laughed when Alex betrayed me flashed before my eyes. I crossed my arms, staring down at her as she groveled.

"Forgiveness?" I repeated, the word tasting bitter on my tongue. You think you deserve my forgiveness after everything you put me through in my own father's house?"

"

Beck's lip quivered, and I could see the fear in her eyes. It was surreal, seeing her like this-reduced to a quivering mess in front of me. Once, she held so much power over me, and now she was begging at my feet. I'd be lying if I said I didn't feel a twisted sense of satisfaction.

If someone had told me back in my pack that a day like this would come, I would laugh in their face because I never thought I was going to have a day where I was ever going to be above her. Where Beck and Alex would be working for me. I was no one... or at least I used to be no one.

"No," I said coldly, taking a step closer. "I won't forgive you, Beck. Not now. Maybe not ever."

Beck began to cry, her sobs echoing in the empty hall, but I didn't feel any sympathy. I had suffered too much at her hands to feel anything but disdain. Alex, on the other hand, stood silently behind her, his expression unreadable.

It wasn't until he spoke that I felt a new surge of anger rise in me. He had used me so much and shattered my heart into pieces. I was never going to forgive him. Maybe I could forgive Beck, but Alex... He had promised me that he loved me and I foolishly trusted him because I so badly wanted to be with him and have security from all the cruelty I faced in my house.

At least Beck and my step mother did not try to lie to me and pretend they loved me.

"Kai killed your father," Alex blurted flatly, his eyes locking onto mine. "He killed my father too."

My breath caught in my throat. My father... dead. I had suspected things would come to this, but hearing it from Alex felt like a dagger to the chest. A part of me mourned the loss of the father I once loved, the man who had taken care of me before everything changed. But that part was buried deep under layers of pain and resentment. The father I loved had died the day he married Beck's mother and turned his back on me.

I swallowed the lump in my throat and met Alex's gaze with a steady glare. "Good," I said, my voice emotionless. "He deserved it."

Alex flinched at my words, and for a moment, I saw the slightest hint of regret in his eyes. But I didn't care. The pain he caused me would never be forgotten. Because in some way, I knew it shaped me to be what I was today.

I used to think of what I would be like if I was not subjected to that kind of torture with them. Would I still love myself? Would I have had so many issues that confrontation was hell to me? I had left so many times to avoid getting hurt that it has cost me so much— including my run in with the skin walkers and losing my baby.

Without another word, I turned away from them.

"Get back to work," I ordered, not even bothering to look at Beck as she sobbed harder. "I have bigger problems to deal with."

With that, I walked away, my mind racing. I heard Beck calling out to me and trying to get my attention, but I blocked her voice out. I also tried to not mourn my father, knowing that if I was the one in place of him he was not going to mourn me. Not when he had his perfect wife and daughter.

I started to wonder if he ever truly loved me and my mother and my throat closed up with grief. I wanted to cry, but I wouldn't let myself do that because I had things to do and unfortunately, I didn't have time to worry about the dead. My father was gone, and so was Alex's, but I had more pressing matters.

The accusations of witchcraft still hung over me like a noose, and I needed to find a way to clear my name before it was too late. Before someone eventually got into the gate, found me and put an end to my life. My life might not be happy and I might not be happy too, but I didn't want to die. My story had just started to Kai and I didn't want it to end just like this.

As I neared the main hall, my thoughts were interrupted again—this time by two guards who appeared out of nowhere, approaching me with quick, purposeful strides.

"Queen Alina," one of them said, his tone cold and formal. "You need to come with us."

My heart pounded in my chest as I stared at them, confusion

clouding my mind. "What's going on?" I demanded. "Where are you taking me?"

Without answering, they grabbed me by the arms. Panic surged through me as I tried to pull away. "Let me go!" I yelled, but they didn't listen. One of them clamped a gag over my mouth, muffling my cries, while the other tightened his grip on my arm.

They dragged me through the palace, and I struggled against them with all my strength, but it was no use. They were way stronger than me and no matter how I yelled, no one could hear me because of the gag. My mind raced as fear gripped my heart. Was it already happening? I knew someone was going to come and try to kill me, but goddamit I didn't think it would be this early!

My vision blurred as we reached the doors leading outside, the cool air hitting my face like a slap. The guards were silent as they pulled me forward, and my mind swirled with terror.

Where were they taking me?