Chapter 5 Wasn't it, Mate?

EVELYN

By the time I finished trimming the branches, lunchtime had long passed and there was nothing left to eat in the kitchen. Or at least, that’s what the timid-looking cook told me. She was evasive and hesitant when she spoke, her eyes constantly flitting toward the doorway. I saw Daniella standing there, glaring at me with menace. She must have threatened the cook into denying me food. Daniella was as skilled at bullying as she was at gossiping.

“I’ll make you pay for slapping me, and lying about the spy.” Daniella shoved me in the shoulder as I walked past her.

I met her glare with a flat stare. “Only a fool can be fooled by that,” I replied. “And if threats like yours could kill me, I’d have died a long time ago.”

Her glare burned like fire. Perhaps it was the exhaustion that made it easier to drop the meek mask I’d worn so long. I ignored her and brushed past without another word.

My stomach ached with hollowness as I trudged back to my room. I thought about stopping by the washroom to rinse off, but fatigue won out. And I no longer cared about how I looked.

There had been a time I obsessed over fine gowns and flawless appearances, and bask in compliments like every pampered highborn lady. That life had crumbled only two years ago, yet it felt like an eternity. Now, I could hardly imagine myself in a gown like the one that noblewoman wore earlier.

I locked the door behind me and stepped into the dim quiet of my cramped room. Crossing to the bedside drawer, I pried loose the base plate. There was a hidden compartment where I kept the things that mattered most – the things that I couldn’t risk anyone finding.

A paring knife, stolen from the kitchen.

A blood-stained family sigil of House Caddel, torn from my brother’s lifeless chest, the only thing I kept of my past.

And a bundle of dried, bitter herbal leaves wrapped in crinkled kraft paper.

The day Flynn Hart pulled me from the exiles and told me what the Alpha King intended use me, I asked for the herbs.

The Hart family managed the medicinal system in Hescor. They knew every potion, poison, and remedy—and, certainly, the noblewomen’s secret to avoiding unwanted pregnancies. Flynn hadn’t spoken a word when I made my request, but a week later, as we crossed paths in the King’s Quarters, he shoved the bundle into my hand.

“Take it every time after,” he had said curtly, and walked away without a second glance.

I could tell that he despised speaking to me. He despised the idea of helping me. But he loathed the thought of me bearing the King’s child even more. So, he helped anyway.

I chewed the leaves dry, grinding them between my teeth before swallowing the bitterness down. Then I moved to the bed and lay on the thin mattress.

I pressed my lips together to stifle the groans. There was always pain that followed.

I should have taken them last night, or this morning. But there had been no time. I could only hope the delay wouldn’t weaken their effect.

Staring up at the mold-eaten ceiling, I imagined the leaves taking effect in my belly. I imagined them slicing through the seed he had left inside me, like blades hacking at roots. My mind blurred from the tiredness and the dull throbbing pain in my stomach.

Then sleep came, and with it, the nightmares returned.

I hadn’t had a peaceful dream since the trial. Sometimes, I relived the King hammering the final nails into my coffin. Other times, I found myself back in that damp, rotting cell where I was imprisoned for months before being dragged to the palace. But most often, I returned to that night—the night of my wedding and my eighteenth birthday.

It had been a beautiful evening, bathed in full moonlight. A night the Hescorians called sacred. But instead of a blessing, I received a curse.

That night, my brother Conner died. Cole, whom I had just realized was my fated mate, stood before me with his hand slick with my brother’s blood. He gripped my wrist as he demanded I leave with him.

“I can’t go with you,” I had said, twisting free of his grasp. Jack’s soldiers had surrounded him, claws extended, swords drawn, ready to kill.

He had laughed then. It was the coldest laugh I had ever heard in my life.

“You’re a betrayer, Evelyn Caddel,” He had said, his obsidian eyes burning into mine. “I swear to the Full Moon, you’ll regret the choice you made tonight. I will kill your husband. I will cage you. And when I do, you will beg me for mercy, every day and every night.”

Then the scene before me began to twist and distort. I found myself lying on the grand bed in the King’s Chamber. Cole’s hands gripped my arms tightly as he pounded into me. I teetered between pleasure and pain, my moans louder than any whore in Hescor.

“Are you enjoying it? It was supposed to be punishment, Evelyn.” he sneered darkly above me. “It seems my brother never satisfied you. Maybe he was impotent. He didn’t even mark you before he died, did he? Well then, let me fulfill that duty for him.”

He bent low, his canines flashing under the moonlight.”

“Take it, and you’ll never run from me again.” He growled lowly. The next instant, I felt the sharp tips of his canines pressing against my neck.

“No –”

I startled to wake up at the sound of a knock at my door. Gasping for breath, I wiped the sweat from my brow and moved to answer it.

It was a maid I didn’t recognize. A new face. She looked nervous and fidgety.

“Mrs. Porter wants you to clean the washroom,” she said, wringing her hands.

I narrowed my eyes. The sky outside had already darkened. I’d missed the entire afternoon. If Mrs. Porter had found out, she would more likely have come to rail on me herself.

The maid grew more anxious under my silence. She glanced down the corridor, then looked back at me. “You need to hurry up,” she said, her voice trembling as if she were about to cry.

I followed her glance into the corridor to see what she was looking at, but it was empty.

I considered for a moment, then gave her a calm smile. “Just a moment. Let me braid my hair.”

She nodded quickly. I walked to the tiny vanity in the corner of the room, picked up the comb, and began working through my hair. As I faced the mirror and saw she was no longer looking at me, I quickly stepped toward my bed, opened drawer, and slipped the paring knife into my stocking, hidden beneath my skirts.

I didn’t know if it was a trap that the Circle of Gossip set for me, but I needed to be cautious.

After securing my braided bun, I followed the girl out.

The washroom was silent. I slowed as we approached –

Hands seized me. I was yanked inside and slammed against the tiled wall.

A basin of water was dumped over my head, soaking me to the skin.

I coughed, blinking the water from eyes. The maid who had led me here shrank into the corner like a whipped dog – and, of course, there was no Mrs. Porter in sight. Daniella stood in front of me with a malicious smirk.

“Well, Evelyn Caddel,” she sneered. “Who’s the fool now?”

I struggled, but the man pinning me was a brute. He leered at me.

“Behave,” he growled against my ear. His hot, foul breath made my skin crawl.

“Goddess, she smells sweet. Can I have a taste?”

Daniella shot him a sharp glare. “Be patient. You’ll get your turn.”

The man chuckled low in his throat. I noticed then – he was wearing the uniform of the palace servants.

“You won’t get away with this,” I said, trying to keep my voice level. “Someone will find out. Let me go now.”

Daniella slapped me hard across the face.

“Who the hell do you think you are?!” she spat. “Still think you’re a highborn lady? Think His Majesty will come running to save you? You foolish, blind slut. He’s enjoying himself with a real lady tonight. No one’s coming for you.”