Chapter 17 A DREAM.
Venessa’s POV.
I tried to move my fingers, but they felt like they were frozen
My head throbbed and air around me didn't smell like the damp earth or the metallic scent of blood.
It smelled like expensive lavender and clean sheets.
I forced my eyes open.
The ceiling was high, it looked like it was in a room in the palace.
I wasn't fighting for my life. I wasn’t mourning my husband.
"She’s awake."
The voice was soft, but it made me flinch.
An older woman with silver hair and a kind, tired face leaned over me. She wore the white robes of a palace healer.
"Where am I?" I rasped. My throat felt like I had swallowed a handful of sand.
"You’re in the healer’s wing, Your Highness," she said, pressing a cool cloth to my forehead. "You gave us quite a scare. You fell from the North balcony the morning after the wedding.”
I blinked, confused. "The wedding?"
"Yes. You hit your head very hard. You’ve been in a coma for a month. It’s a miracle you woke up so soon.”
I laid back, my mind spinning.
For a month?
But I was just holding Dante’s dead body?
I blinked, my mind spinning. The wedding. The Lycan Prince. The rejection.
I also remembered the tunnels.
My mother being dead and coming back from the grave.
The First King.
I looked down at my wrist. A silver line was there, but it wasn't glowing. It wasn't pulsing with a strange energy.
It was just a mark from a childhood I barely remembered.
It must have been a dream. A long, dark, fever dream.
The heavy doors of the room swung open.
The scent of rain and dark wood filled my senses, making my wolf stir in the back of my mind.
Dante.
He walked toward the bed and his eyes—those piercing, icy blue eyes were fixed on me with zero warmth.
He didn't look like a husband. He looked like a man staring at an annoying problem.
My eyes just began to well. He was okay and standing before me.
He hadn’t died to save me.
"Get out," he said to the healer.
He didn't shout. He didn't have to. His voice had the kind of authority that made people move without thinking.
The healer bowed her head and hurried out of the room.
Dante stood at the foot of my bed, his arms crossed over his broad chest. He didn't touch me. He didn't ask if I was in pain.
"You’re clumsy," That was the first thing he
. "Falling off a balcony on your first day? My people are already saying I married a weakling."
It was so strange seeing him awake and well. Did someone find us in that room below the palace and was able to bring him back to life?
He looked healthy but I guess 1 month has been a lot of time.
I felt a spark of heat in my chest. "I didn't fall. We had..."
Dante leaned forward, cutting me off "I don't care if you deny your sucide attempt of not but you need to remember the treaty, Venessa.”
What? Was he back to acting this way?
"We are mates, Dante," I whispered, my voice trembling.
His face remained just as it was. "A bond is just an instinct, and I am a man who controls his instincts. I don't want a mate. I wanted a political alliance. Stay in this bed until you can walk. Then, stay out of my way."
He turned on his heel and walked out, the door slamming behind him with a thud that echoed in my heart.
I laid there for a long time, staring at the ceiling.
I wondered if I was reliving the same life over again.
I try to remember the details.
I am Veronica. I had been bullied and treated like a slave by my father for years. I had a sister who I became a substitute bride for. Dante loves…
The door opened again, and someone stepped in.
"Oh my god! You’re alive!"
A tall girl with long blonde hair and bright green eyes burst into the room. She was beautiful in a way that felt natural—like a girl who spent her days on a beach instead of a throne room.
"I’m Celine," she said, sitting right on the edge of my bed. "Dante’s sister. I’ve been dying to meet you. You’re much prettier than the girl in the paintings."
"I'm Venessa," I said, a bit overwhelmed.
"I know! And you're a werewolf! That’s so cool," Celine said, her eyes sparkling. "Don't mind my brother. He has the personality of a frozen rock and he has been a prick since the wedding."
"He told me I'm just a treaty," I said, looking away.
Celine rolled her eyes. "Dante thinks he can control everything. He thinks if he acts cold enough, no one can hurt him. But he’s stuck with you now."
The door opened for a third time.
A woman walked in. She was stunning in a way that felt different.
She had long black hair and eyes that looked like crystals and wore a red dress that was so tight it was scandalous.
But as she approached, my nose wrinkled. Under her perfume, she smelled off.
Like something rotting hidden under a pile of roses.
"
Celine," the woman said, her voice like poisoned sugar. "I didn't know you were in here."
"I was just leaving, Natasha," Celine said, her voice turning cold. She stood up and looked at me. "I'll see you later, Venessa. Watch out for this one. She doesn't like sharing her toys."
Celine left, leaving me alone with the woman.
Natasha walked over to the bed. She didn't sit. She stood over me, looking down like I was a bug she wanted to crush.
"So, you're the little wolf," Natasha said. She reached out and touched a lock of my brunette hair.
I flinched. "Dante told me you were small. He didn't mention you were so... plain."
"Who are you?" I asked, my wolf growling.
"I'm the woman who actually runs this palace," she said. "I’ve been his girlfriend for years. You might have the marriage thing , but I have the King. He doesn't want you, sweetie. He only needs you for an heir."
She leaned in close, her eyes narrowing. "Don't get comfortable. Dante is mine. And the moment you give him what he needs, I’m going to make sure you’re sent back to your father in a box."
I was shaking with rage by the time she left. I wanted to scream. I wanted to break something.
An hour later, an older woman entered. She didn't look like the healer. She was dressed in rich purple silk and had a crown of silver hair. She walked with a cane.
"Gracia?" I guessed. I remembered her not being present for our wedding
"The one and only," she said, sitting in the chair by my bed. "You look better, child. You have fire in your eyes. I like that."
"Dante was just here," I said softly. "He hates me."
Gracia laughed. "Dante hates himself, Venessa. He doesn't know how to be a husband. And Natasha... she is a weed that needs to be pulled.”
She patted my hand. "Don't let them break you. Win him over. Not because you have to, but because this pack needs a real Queen. I saw you at the ceremony. You’re different. You’re the only one who can handle him."
“I thought you didn’t attend?”
She laughed. “Dante doesn’t know I have eyes everywhere”
What’s that supposed to mean?
The next morning, I was allowed to return to my room. It was a massive suite that smelled of Dante. So different from the one I had stayed in.
My bags were there. Not unpacked but i did remember unpacking this.
I began to unpack, my heart heavy. But as I reached the bottom of my trunk, I saw a white envelope just like I did before.
It was a letter from my sister.
The sister who had run away and left me to be the substitute bride.
I opened it, my hands shaking.