Chapter 260: Crown of Guilt

A heavy, breathless silence fell over the great hall. Both Felda and Tovanna stood frozen, the words hanging in the air like a sudden chill. Neither of them had any intention of moving an inch.

Tovanna stepped forward, her young voice ringing out, sharp and desperate. "No, father. We can't leave you alone. I want to know you. I want a family."

King Daze stared down at his daughter, his jaw clenched so hard a muscle twitched in his cheek. His voice was raw, weighed down by years of bitter regret. "I'm not fit to be your father, Tovanna. She’s capable of taking care of you, and I’ll give you both everything you want from afar."

Tovanna shook her head fiercely, refusing to back down. "No! We don't want anything from you except for you to actually be here! I'm not going anywhere."

A cold shiver went down her spine just thinking about it. She refused to go back to the freezing, dark forest, constantly looking over her shoulder and jumping at every snap of a twig, terrified of the rogues that might hunt them down again. No. She wouldn't go back, and she sure as hell wouldn't let her mother go back to that nightmare.

Felda took a hard step closer to him, squaring her shoulders as she braced herself against the suffocating aura of the Alpha king. "I'm not going either. I'm not leaving you, and I'm not running away from you anymore. I want to be right here, Daze."

A collective murmur rippled through the pack members gathered in the hall. Whispers broke out like dry leaves in the wind... she had called the Alpha by his given name. To them, it was an act of utter madness. She spoke to him with a dangerous familiarity that hinted at a bond far deeper than anyone in the room had ever guessed.

Felda didn’t look sorry at all. She had used his name on purpose. It was a conscious choice because she was done hiding.

King Daze didn't roar in anger, either. In truth, a strange, quiet warmth sparked in his chest whenever she said his name like that, stripped of all titles and fear. But the raw, stubborn defiance burning in her eyes threw him completely off balance.

Why would she stay? After every cruel thing he had put her through, after all the years of pain and exile, why would she willingly walk back into his shadow? Is this what the elders whispered about? Is this what they called fated love? He blinked hard, instantly trying to shove the ridiculous thought away. Felda couldn't possibly be his second-chance mate. Could she?

He forced his expression to harden, reigning himself in. "You can't stay here after everything I've done to you. I've given you the freedom you always claimed you wanted. You're free to go."

Felda’s chest heaved, her face flushing with anger. "Freedom, huh? Is this what you call freedom?"

With a trembling hand, she reached up and pointed straight at her bare neck. The jagged space where the collar of a slave had once chained her to misery was exposed for the whole hall to see.

She took a sharp breath, her voice trembling with years of suppressed agony. "Do you think stripping away my slave collar magically makes me free? What about my heart? What about my well-being? What about your own daughter? Did you ever care about her, or were you too busy punishing me all these years just because of who she was?"

She blinked rapidly, fighting back the hot tears stinging her eyelids.

King Daze clenched his fists so tightly his knuckles turned paper-white. A sharp, searing pain twisted inside his chest. He couldn't bear to keep them near him, not just because the guilt of his past cruelty felt like a branding iron on his soul, but because of the dark, bloody war he had already agreed to fight.

His plan had been brutal and cold: he would announce Celeste's judgment and send Felda and Tovanna away safely before the storm hit. He needed them far from the bloodbath, far from the approaching enemies, so no harm could ever touch them again. But he couldn't tell them that. He couldn't let them know the danger breathing down his neck.

He looked down at Felda, his voice flat and heavy. "I'll give you everything you both need. A house, wealth, protection. You don't have to worry about a thing..."

SLAP!

The sharp, stinging crack echoed off the stone walls, slicing right through the tense air of the hall. It was a loud, shocking sound that stunned every single wolf into dead silence.

Felda stared down at her own hand. It was still raised, having just slammed hard across the king's left cheek. She hadn't even thought; her body had moved faster than her mind. Hot tears spilled uncontrollably down her cheeks as she looked up at him, fully expecting him to snap her neck or throw her into the dungeons.

Instead, King Daze didn't even flinch. He didn't look mad, nor did his eyes flash with Alpha rage. He slowly turned his head back, his jaw tight.

"I deserve more than that," he muttered, a statement so painfully honest it sent another wave of shock through the crowd.

Felda stared at him, the fog in her mind finally clearing. In that split second, she understood. She saw the crushing weight on his shoulders, the deep, silent grief eating away at him for every scar he had left on her. He wasn't pushing them away out of hatred; he was pushing them away because he thought he was poison.

Tovanna rushed forward, grabbing her mother's hand. Felda’s arm was still frozen in the air, paralyzed by the sheer terror of what she had just done to the most feared Alpha in the territory. Tovanna pulled her arm down gently, keeping her wide eyes fixed on the king in case he changed his mind.

Felda looked right into his eyes, her voice cracking. "That is not how you fix things! If you want to make it right, you ask for forgiveness properly! You don't just sit there, grieve in silence, and push us out like stray dogs!"

"But I don't deserve your forgiveness," he shot back immediately, his voice thick with self-loathing.

"You don't get to decide that for me," Felda snapped back, her voice firm, though she secretly doubted whether she could ever truly mend what was broken between them.

Without waiting for another word, the king raised a hand and signaled two royal guards who stood waiting near the heavy oak doors, loaded bags resting at their feet.

"Let these guards lead you both to your new quarters," the king commanded, his voice strained.

Felda didn't even glance at the guards. With a sudden burst of desperation, she lunged forward, grabbing a fistful of King Daze's rich royal tunic. "No! I'm not going anywhere with them!"

"Me neither!" Tovanna cried out, instantly copying her mother by grabbing the fabric on the opposite side of his coat, clutching him as tightly as she could.

King Daze let out a long, exhausted sigh at the sheer, unbreakable stubbornness of the two women. He gently reached down, prying his daughter's fingers loose, and then moved to untangle Felda's grip.

The moment his hand left her, Felda’s eyes rolled back. Her knees buckled completely, and she slumped forward, her body going entirely limp as she collapsed right into his arms.

The king’s heart leaped into his throat—a spike of pure panic shot through his veins. "Felda!" he shouted, his deep voice cracking with sudden terror.

He jerked his head up, scanning the stunned crowd. "Someone get the healer! Quick!" he roared at the nearest guard, who bolted instantly toward the inner corridors.

He looked back down at the unconscious woman in his arms, his chest tightening painfully. "Yes! What are you all standing around for? Clear the hall! Leave now!" he bellowed at the pack members.

Slowly, the gathered wolves began to shuffle toward the exits, whispering and murmuring in low, stunned tones. None of them had ever witnessed such a scene in all their years at court, leaving the great hall echoing with shock.