Chapter 34 Pain Beyond Anything
CHAPTER 34: Pain Beyond Anything
Seraphine’s POV
The pain should have been the first thing I felt!
My ribs screamed every time I breathed andy head throbbed. Blood was drying on my skin, pulling tight, sticky and uncomfortable. My body felt like it had been thrown off a cliff and dragged back up again but none of that hurt as much as the look in Aric’s eyes.
I looked straight at him, searching for something... anything... that said he believed me, that said he trusted me, that said I mattered even a little.
I didn’t find it.
“No,” he had said. It can’t be Sardor.
That was it. Just one sentence. Calm, certain and final.!
Something inside me went very quiet.
I didn’t argue. I didn’t shout. I didn’t even try to convince him again. I just nodded slowly like I finally understood my place.
So this was it.
I had been stupid and foolish enough to think he was different. Foolish enough to believe a Lycan King could ever truly stand beside a human without choosing his own kind in the end. All Lycans were the same!!
I swallowed the lump in my throat and looked away from him before he could see anything else break on my face.
“Take her to the infirmary,” Aric said, his voice distant and official like I was just another injured soldier. “Make sure she’s treated.”
Beta Caspian stepped forward.
“I’ll send a unit to search the forest,” he said. “If Grimhowls are still nearby, we’ll find them.”
Grimhowls.
I almost laughed as the word sat bitterly and sharply in my chest.
The soldiers lifted me again and I felt Aric’s gaze on me heavyily burning, but I refused to look back. If I did, I might lose the fragile hold I had on myself. I kept my eyes forward, my jaw tight and let them carry me away.
Whatever we had imagined between us, whatever lies I had let myself believe, it ended here!!!
Aric’s POV
The moment she was gone from sight, something in my chest twisted hard.
I stood there unmoving with my face carved from stone while inside me everything burned. Her pain still echoed through my bones sharply and suddenly like my body had taken the blows with her. It wasn’t imagination. I knew what it was.
The mate bond!
It had grown stronger. Strong enough that when she bled, I felt it. Strong enough that when she broke inside, something cracked in me too and I hated it!
Not her though. Never her.
I hated that I couldn’t protect her without destroying everything else. I hated that every choice felt like betrayal no matter which way I turned.
For my people, I kept my face cold and I kept my voice steady. A Lycan King could not afford softness.. not now. Not when the pack was already restless, already looking for reasons to doubt me.
I turned sharply and headed for my quarters, my guards falling in behind me without a word.
“Aric,” Lyrin said as she rushed to my side. “We need to talk.”
I didn’t slow.
“I’m listening.”
She didn’t waste time.
“You know she could be telling the truth.”
My jaw clenched.
“She’s bluffing.”
Lyrin stepped in front of me, forcing me to stop.
“No. You know better than that and you felt it, didn’t you? If it was Grimhowls, her wounds would look different!”
“Enough,” I snapped.
“She also warned you before, didn't she?” Lyrin pressed. “About the Grimhowls. About someone pulling strings and now this...”
I turned on her, my eyes blazing.
“Do not side with her.”
“Why?” she shot back. “Why are you being a jerk now? You’ve never been blind like this.”
Something ugly rose in my chest. Power surged without me calling it ancient and absolute.
“Leave,” I roared.
The Alpha command washed over her at once. Lyrin staggered back with her face pale and her body bowing before she could stop it.
Her eyes burned with anger and hurt but she turned and left without another word.
The door to my quarters slammed behind me as I entered and I lost control.
I grabbed the heavy table and flipped it with wood shattering as it hit the wall. Cups and papers flew everywhere. I dragged a hand through my hair, breathing hard, rage and fear tangling together until I could barely tell them apart.
“Bring me Sardor,” I ordered the guards outside. “Now. If he isn’t here in the blink of an eye, heads will roll!”
It took minutes before Sardor entered with a bow as calm as ever like he hadn’t just been accused by a bleeding woman who had barely survived his attack.
“Your Majesty,” he said smoothly.
“Where were you,” I asked coldly, “in the last thirty minutes?”
“With Lady Vespera,” he replied easily. “On orders from her father. I was assisting her with arranging troop support for her birthday celebration tomorrow night.”
A lie.
I stepped closer.
“You attacked Seraphine.”
His eyes widened.
“What? Of course not. I would never...”
The door opened again and Vespera walked in like she owned the room. How fucking convenient!
“Sardor is telling the truth,” she said coolly. “He was with me.”
I stared at her.
“Then explain why she named him. And what are you doing here?”
“Because she’s human,” Vespera snapped. “And frightened.. and desperate.”
I waved Sardor away. I already knew who to face.
“Leave us.”
He bowed again and slipped out, far too quickly. The moment he was gone, Vespera turned on me fully.
“You’ve lost your mind,” she said. “Letting a human come between you and your people. This is a taboo, Aric. You’re embarrassing the crown.”
I growled.
“Watch your tone.”
She stepped closer instead.
“Everyone sees it. You’ve fallen for her.”
“That’s not true.”
Vespera smiled coldly.
“Liar!” She snapped. “You want honesty? I sent them.”
My breath stopped.
“I roused the riots,” she continued calmly. “I made sure the pack knew exactly what you’ve been doing with her. And yes, I sent Lycans after her!”
Rage exploded through me and I moved without thinking with my hand curling into a fist with power surging...
I didn't hear her next words clearly but I caught enough to make me freeze with my hand barely touching her…