73

“Did you think I was happy waiting for you? We had no timeline for marriage. You wouldn’t even kiss me. I’m a wolf, Reyna, I have needs. I can’t be told to wait.” Again, his eyes flashed as he looked at me, hunger and desire evident in his gaze. My wolf cowered, pulling away from him. “A wolf isn’t supposed to run from a fight,” he continued. “I won’t run from Daybreak to follow your flights of fancy. I’m meant to be a leader. An alpha. When I kill the king, I’ll take what I’ve always been owed.”

Under his burning gaze, I wasn’t sure if he meant the crown—or me. Nausea turned my stomach. This wasn’t the man I’d loved. Was this who Griffin truly was? Had everything we’d had together been a lie?

“You never loved me,” I said. “You just wanted a way into the court.”

“I do love you,” he said. “But you can’t run from who you are. You are a Lady of the Court, and now you will be queen.”

I’d never seen Griffin like this, bloodthirsty and single-minded. “I won’t be a part of this,” I said.

“I won’t help you destroy kingdoms for your own greed. Too many people will suffer.”

“And you think they don’t suffer under the Bloody King’s rule? Frasia belongs to Daybreak. Only under Daybreak can she prosper.”

“You don’t care about the citizens. You only care about the power.”

Griffin rolled his eyes. “I won’t argue anymore with you, Reyna,” he snapped. “There’s no stopping fate. It’s time for you to stop running from it.”

“Fate?” I asked. “None of this is fated!”

“The daughter of the Stars will marry the Bloodied King to bring back the Shining Ones,” he recited, then raised his eyebrows at me.

“Where did you hear that?” I stumbled back.

“You aren’t the only one who can do research,” Griffin said. “Your father was told of this prophecy when your mother first came to Daybreak. The Daybreak priests have kept it safe.”

I swallowed. I refused to believe it. I couldn’t believe it. “If that prophecy meant anything, the king would’ve chosen Adora of Starcrest,” I said.

“You can’t be serious,” he said.

“What?” I asked. “I am a daughter of Daybreak, not Starcrest.”

“And yet your hair shines blonde,” he said, “and your wolf’s pelt is white as snow, and her eyes glow silver.”

“And I am still a daughter of Daybreak.” My stomach dropped. “The prophecy has nothing to do with me.”

“You are of the Daybreak pack, but not by blood,” he said. “You are the bastard child your mother carried in her womb when she married the duke.” He shook his head. “I can’t believe you didn’t know.”

I was stunned to silence. My head spun. Surely, that wasn’t true. Surely, my father would’ve told me.

“This is your fate,” Griffin continued. “Yours and mine are intertwined. When I take the throne, I will be the Bloody King. And then, with the daughter of the stars at my side, we will bring back the fae to learn their magic. Together we will create a stronger race of shifters. Unstoppable wolves. Wolves whose blood sings with the power of the fae.” His eyes glowed with eagerness. “You wanted to see this world—together, we will conquer it.” “You’re crazy,” I whispered.

“No,” he said with a grin. “I am the future.” I turned on my heel and ran.

“You’ll see!” he called after me. “After the Challenge, you’ll see!”

He was crazy. He was crazy if he thought he could kill the king. He was crazy if he thought that old prophecy meant anything. It was just an old children’s story, something the nursemaids told the pups to get them to behave. Go to bed, or the Fae will come take you away! I was a daughter of Daybreak. He had no proof. There was no reason to believe him.

My father had never taken an interest in me. I reminded him too much of my mother. That was why —wasn’t it?

I shoved those thoughts from my mind. That didn’t matter. The prophecy didn’t matter. Even as it sat like a shard of ice in my chest. I made my way back down the narrow hallway, to the secret door into the tunnels.

So much for my escape. So much for our life together.

With the door to the dungeons sealed behind me, the cool air of the tunnels fell over me like a shroud.

Growing up in Daybreak, I’d felt isolated and misunderstood.

But now, for the first time in my life, I was really and truly alone.

22

T

he long incline back to my quarters left me sore and exhausted. It was dark in the hallways, and my room was empty when I got there. I reached up and grabbed the sapphire hanging around my neck, then tugged it so hard the latch broke. Griffin had given this to me as a promise—a promise he’d broken. I tossed the necklace carelessly into my trunk. At dawn, the challenge would begin. I washed the dust from my body and eased my aching muscles, but nothing could calm the turmoil raging in my mind. All I could do was try to steal a few moments of sleep.

As scheduled, Amity and Rue entered my quarters an hour before dawn. I dressed in a black and deep purple gown—the colors of Nightfall.

My heart ached as I looked in the mirror.

“Do you feel any better this morning, milady?” Amity asked. “Was yesterday restful?”

“Yes,” I said. “I’m looking forward to the wedding planning.”

Amity hummed in acknowledgment. The Challenge was exciting to the citizens of Efra, surely, but both my handmaidens knew this wasn’t easy for me. Even if my connection to Griffin wasn’t well known—he was still a wolf of Daybreak.