#CHAPTER 2: A Memory Hits Me
- LILLY'S POV *
I spent my entire life under the threat of Edgar. My uncle is Gloria's father, and from a young age, he became the monster that haunts my nightmares.
After my mother died and my father fell severely ill, Edgar was appointed my legal guardian and managed my life. He also managed to make my life a living hell in every aspect.
While Gloria was raised to enjoy the finer things in life, like beautiful clothes, delicious food, and expensive jewelry, I've only ever known rags and leftovers. While she was out attending pack events with all the nobles, I was forced to stay inside and tend to the house. I was like Cinderella, a servant girl trapped in a house with barely a window to the world.
But my happily ever after is never going to happen.
A few days after my wedding, I decided to take a morning walk through the woods in the town, enjoying the freedom of fresh air.
As I walk, I consider the best course of action for my current predicament. I'd denied Adam and upset him, but what could I do? How can I possibly resolve this mess without hurting the man I've secretly loved for so long?
"Lilly," a voice interrupts my thoughts, and I stop in my tracks. My heart drops as I turn around to see my uncle Edgar behind me.
"Uncle," I mumble, lowing my head in greeting even as my eyes dart around my soundings. There is no one around us in the lovely woods this morning and no chance of escaping him.
"You don't look too pleased to see me," Edgar notes, and he crosses his arms with disapproval in his eyes. "Why do you look so nervous, little nightshade?"
I flinch at his nickname for me. That's all I am to him: a pretty, poisonous flower he can use to serve his own agenda.
"Sorry," I apologize, though I hardly mean it. "I… I didn't sleep well last night, so I'm a little jumpy."
"Right," Edgar says, his blue eyes narrowing at me as he takes a step forward. "Let's skip the formalities and do away with the excuses, shall we? I noticed the Alpha King walking around today. He seems… fine. It's been a few days already. Is there a reason he remains unharmed, his wolf still alive?"
I gulp down my fear. Edgar is on to me. I need an excuse as to why I haven't let myself be marked by Adam. I have to lie somehow to explain why I couldn't bring myself to expose Adam to my blood.
The idea strikes me like lightning, and I try to conceal the relief from my face as the perfect excuse comes to mind.
"He didn't want me, uncle," I lie, and I lower my gaze sadly. "On our wedding night, all Adam could think about was Gloria. I'm nothing. But a stand-in for her, a consolation prize. But he says I'm nothing like her. He doesn't want me like he wanted her."
"So he did not touch you? Did not mark you and complete the ceremony to mate with you?" Edgar asks, aghast.
I shake my head. Before I have a chance to reply and further explain, my uncle brings his hand up and slaps me right across the face so hard I stumble backward a few steps. A cry of pain escapes me before I can bite down on my lip to hold back. Tears spring from my eyes, and the stinging is shocking but familiar. The impact triggers a distant memory, and for a moment, I lose myself in a flashback.
I must have been barely ten years old the first time I met Adam. I was only a child when my father fell ill and younger still when my mother died. My uncle considered me more of a slave or experiment than a niece, and he'd drain my blood for its poisonous properties and experiment on me whenever I wasn't forced to work and clean his estate.
One night, I'd been drained of blood and denied any sustenance to help me recover. Weak and starving, I'd wandered out in the night and dared to rummage through the trash of a nearby establishment. I'd only taken the leftovers, but when the owner of the business found me, he was enraged. He'd beaten me for dirtying his doorstep and called me a rat, throwing me onto the streets.
That's where Adam found me, hungry, bruised, and filthy. He was a few years older than me, in his early teens. He was a prince at the time, but already he looked the part of a future king; so clean and strong. His hazel hair, soft pale skin, and warm amber eyes framed by sharp and handsome features were enough to make me wonder if he was an angel.
He'd picked me up from the dirt with a gentle smile and brought me some food from the nearby shop. He even got some candy for me. It was the kindest thing anyone had ever done for me. The sweetness and excitement of the encounter erased the pain of having been beaten.
But that was long ago.
"You useless thing," Edgar snarls, snapping me out of the memory and back to the present. His eyes are wide with rage. "You had one job, one purpose, and yet you failed. I gave you simple instructions. I made myself clear, and yet…."
"I'm so sorry," I apologize, this time more desperately. I raise a hand to my face, wincing at the swelling in my lip from where he struck me.
"Sorry? What the hell am I supposed to do with 'I'm sorry?' Your apology is as useless to me as you are. Sorry is not going to be enough."
My uncle's voice cuts through me as harshly as his slap, and I can't help but tremble at his rage, knowing full well just how much he can hurt me if I cross him.
"Unless you want your father to suffer, you will seduce Adam, my little nightshade," Edgar says, his voice dripping with venom and condescension. "Make him want you as much as he wants Gloria. I don't care how you do it. Just do it. Make him mark you. Even someone as incompetent as you should be able to manage that. All it takes is one bite, and your blood will work its magic."
I panic at the very thought. I've never been very good at standing up for myself, but I have to at least try to stand up for Adam.
"I-"
"Don't make me regret entrusting this task to you. Remember that I'm the one who arranged your marriage to the Alpha King," Edgar interrupts in a low and threatening voice. "Gloria-"
Suddenly, a crunching sound snaps through the silence of the woods and interrupts our conversation. I quickly wipe my tears away and straighten out as much as I can. I turn to find my husband approaching us, and my heart thunders.
Adam is here, walking through the woods like a handsome knight.
"What might you two be talking about?" he asks, his tone suspicious and intimidating. His eyes narrow on my uncle, seemingly sensing the tension between Edgar and me. His gaze bears into us as though compelling us to reveal the truth to him.
Edgar looks as embarrassed and panicked as I feel. He waves his hands in the air, trying to appear casual as he brushes off the tense atmosphere.
"Oh, nothing worth troubling you, my king. Lilly and I were just having a little chat, that's all."
Adam seems unimpressed and unconvinced, looking at my uncle and then at me.
"It's a pity I can't believe a single thing you say. Either of you. We are family now. I wish I could trust you," Adam says, his tone casual in spite of the weight behind his words. He shrugs his shoulders easily, changing the subject.
"I heard you mention Gloria. Have you heard from her lately?" he asks.
"No," Edgar replies, shaking his head, the corners of his mouth twitching. "Not a word. It's as if she's disappeared from the world. Such a shame. I miss my daughter terribly."
Adam sighs, a trickle of sadness creeping between the cracks of the walls he's built around himself.
"I've sent a unit of my best men to dig around. I will do everything in my power to find her and bring her back. Believe me. No harm will come to her if I have any say in it."
We all fall into a brief, contemplative silence, reflecting on Adam's words. Edgar's exaggerated expression for his missing daughter seems over the top compared to Adam's sincere but quiet concern. There's something tender about the way he worries about her, and I can't help but feel a pang of envy toward my cousin. No one has ever looked at me the way Adam looked at Gloria. If I were to go missing one day, would he also try to find me? Would he worry about me at all the way he worries about Gloria?
While I struggle with. My grief, Edgar gives a sudden nod. It's not much of a bow or a thank you, but Adam merely watches as my uncle unceremoniously excuses himself. Adam stares after him as Edgar walks away. Once his footsteps have faded, the Alpha King returns his attention to me. I gulp anxiously as his amber eyes peer into my soul.
"What were you two really talking about before I arrived?" Adam asks, and for a second, I feel as though those beautiful eyes could see right through me. I gulp anxiously as his gaze shifts down to my lips, my heart pounding furiously.
"You look like someone with a secret, Lilly. Tell me, what are you hiding from me?"