Chapter 31 What’s Her Name?
Adrian’s POV
“Did you just call my Queen a corpse? And what the hell do you mean she’s not my mate? Speak…before I make you regret it.” My voice cracked through the room like a gunshot.
Her silence almost drove me mad and I lunged at her, claws fully extended, ready to tear the truth out of her throat. Thomas threw himself between us, arms out, barely stopping me from shredding her.
“Your majesty…” he said, as though begging me to calm down.
My hand flew to my neck on instinct, fingers clawing at the spot where she’d sunk her teeth into me yesterday.
Nothing. Completely gone. Like it had never existed.
The spot was now replaced by smooth skin. No raised mark. No scab. No trace of the fresh claiming bite that had been burning there hours ago.
Why does this keep happening?
Panic slammed into me so hard my vision blurred.
I can still feel her. I can still smell her. Her energy, though faint, is still wrapped around my wolf like a goddamn blanket. Derek is howling inside my skull, tearing at my bones, screaming MINE, MINE, MINE.
So why is the mark gone?
A wave of pure terror crashed over me so hard my knees almost buckled.
I spun back to Sheila, eyes glowing gold, fangs punching through my gums. “Explain. Right. Fucking. Now. Before I lose my goddamn mind.”
The old sorceress said nothing. She just moved to Abby’s side, pulled a bundle of black and white feathers tied with red string from her cloak, and dipped it into the bowl of mountain water the healers had abandoned. She flicked droplets across Abby’s face. They rolled down her cheeks like tears.
Sheila touched Abby’s bare feet, shook her head, muttered something under her breath, then drew symbols in the air that glowed sickly green before vanishing.
Then she turned to me. “Do you know your mate’s name, your majesty?”
I lost it and almost lunged at her. “What kind of stupid fucking question is that? Of course I know her name!”
She smiled softly and exhaled with a certain level of calmness that enraged me further. “Is that an insult? Are you in any way mocking me?” I snarled, stepping forward. Derek was clawing at my ribs, ready to rip out of my skin.
“Forgive me, Your Majesty,” she said calmly. “This is quite complicated. I am not allowed to tell you the full details yet.”
“Not allowed?” I barked a laugh that had zero humor in it. “I’m the king. I demand answers. Who the fuck is stopping you? Who dares restrict you from telling me what’s wrong with my mate?”
Sheila hummed, low and ancient. “The one who appointed me sorceress in the first place.”
My blood turned to ice.
The Moon Goddess.
“Why the hell is the Goddess hiding information about my own mate from me?” I screamed, punching the wall. Plaster exploded. My knuckles split open, blood dripping down my wrist. “What did I do?! What did I fucking do that she’s punishing me like this?!”
I don’t need anyone to answer that. I know what I did. The guilt still eats at me every single day. I failed to protect my woman. And now, I’m being punished for it.
Sheila cut me off before I could finish the thought. “All you need to know right now is this…you are hours away from losing her forever if you do not call her by her true name. I have done what little I can by buying you a little more time. The other one is already a corpse from the poison. Your mate is hanging by a thread. If you do not call her by name, that thread snaps. No oath, no blood pact, nothing will bring her back.”
I staggered back like she’d shot me and stared at her, brain short-circuiting.
The other one is a corpse? Why does she keep saying corpse?
Which other one?
What the fuck does she mean?
She walked backward toward the door, eyes locked on my mate, amused. I stepped forward, and she eased back with a smug little tilt of her chin…like she was daring me to chase her.
“Which other one? Who is a corpse? You don’t get to drop riddles and—”
I reached for her arm. My fingers closed on nothing but smoke. Her body began dissolving like ink in water, fading into nothing. Her last words echoed against the walls…
“Call her by her name or you lose her for real this time.”
Then she was gone.
I screamed, pain and frustration burning through my throat. “You don’t get to fucking leave Sheila! You don’t get to—”
But I was met with more silence. “Fuck!” I growled, the room vibrating with my rage.
I looked at the empty space, then at Thomas, then back at the space. My fists clenched so hard my knuckles cracked.
My entire body started shaking…rage, terror, grief, all of it boiling together.
I grabbed the nearest chair and hurled it across the room. It smashed into the mirror, glass exploding in a thousand directions.
“Get her back here, Thomas!” I roared, voice breaking. “Get her back right fucking now!”
Thomas didn’t move. “Your majesty—”
I spun, grabbed the front of his shirt, and slammed him against the wall. “Hours! She said hours! My mate is dying and that witch just vanished!”
I let him go and started pacing like a caged animal, claws dragging down my own arms, leaving bloody trails.
Thomas exhaled slowly. “We have to thread with caution, your majesty. She’s the goddess’s sorceress after all. We’ll figure the rest out piece by piece. Right now, just call the princess. Wake her up.”
I turned to the bed. My throat felt lined with sand.
What if…what if Levi was right yesterday when he screamed in my face that she was never mine?
I swallowed hard and looked at Thomas. “What if Levi was right?” My voice came out small. Broken.
“What if Abby…was never mine?”
Thomas stepped closer. “That’s bullshit, my king. I’ve never seen your wolf react like this over anyone. I’ve never seen you plant your feet and fight the entire palace, fight your aunt, for anyone. You let lady Margaret walk over you for years. You didn’t give a damn when Arabella first got here…remember? You let them drag her through the mud and you just watched. But the second that blood pact happened? The bond woke up. You fought. You relapsed into caring about someone. That’s the bond, your majesty. You pulled the princess back to life. The pact only works on your true mate… Remember? So why did it work on her if she’s not your true mate?”
He’s right. ‘Why didn’t I think of that?’ I thought as I exhaled in relief.
And he kept going, voice steady. “I’ve always suspected lady Margaret blocked the bond between you and the princess somehow. The blood pact must have ripped that block apart. Princess Arabella is yours. She’s always been yours. Call her.”
I nodded once, like he’d just shoved courage straight into my veins.
I leaned over the bed, brushed her hair back with shaking fingers.
“Arabella?” I whispered.
Nothing.
My heart slammed against my ribs.
I glanced at Thomas in panic. “Arabella?” I said louder, clearer.
Still nothing. Not a twitch. Not a breath change. Nothing.
I screamed again. Louder. Desperate. “Princess Arabella!”
Still nothing.
Panic clawed up my throat.
I shot to my feet, eyes wild. “Abby!” I screamed at the top of my lungs, the sound raw and animal.
“Wake up! Please…please wake up!”
Silence.
I grabbed the nightstand and flipped it. Wood shattered. The lamp exploded.
“Get me a fucking phone!” I growled at Thomas and he dashed out of the room as Derek surged forward in my head, eyes flashing gold.
Something's definitely wrong. If her name is not Arabella? Then what?
I was one second away from tearing the palace apart brick by brick when Thomas stumbled in, face tense, phone crushed against his ear so tight his knuckles were bloodless. His eyes were huge, wild, locked on me like he’d just heard that the world is ending in a few seconds.
He didn’t speak.
He didn’t have to.
The look on his face told me that I would not like whatever news he brought.
I froze mid-breath, claws dripping, chest heaving, blood roaring in my ears.
Thomas’s mouth opened. Closed. Opened again.
Then he whispered one word, so broken it barely made it across the room.
“Your majesty…”
The phone slipped from his fingers and clattered to the floor.
I was already moving.