CHAPTER 5

Ariana’s POV

I couldn’t stop smiling as I made my way back home, the cool night air brushing against my skin. My heart felt lighter than it had in years, a strange mix of relief and joy coursing through me. My mate. I had finally found him. The one person I thought I would never meet.

When I stepped through the door of the small, dimly lit house, my mate’s face flashed in my mind—the way he had looked at me by the stream, the way his lips had brushed against mine. A blush crept up my cheeks as I thought of his touch, the warmth in his hands, the power behind his kiss. I gently touched my lips, remembering the spark that had ignited between us. He had been so careful, so gentle.

But that moment had passed too quickly.

I glanced down at my arms, expecting to see the cuts and bruises from earlier. For a second, confusion clouded my mind as I saw smooth, unblemished skin. The injuries… they were gone. Completely healed. I frowned, wondering if I had imagined them in the first place, but the memory of the pain from earlier was too fresh, too real.

Dropping the bundle of tea leaves onto the table, the very ones I had been beaten for, I sighed. Sabrina had been talking about the Lycan king earlier today, gossiping as usual. And now I couldn’t shake the thought from my mind. Could it really be him? The Lycan king? He looked exactly like my mate.

The possibility made me smile again as I moved to my small bed, tucked away in the storage room. The wooden boards creaked under me as I lay down, exhaustion starting to pull me under. But instead of worrying about what tomorrow would bring or the hunger gnawing at my belly, I closed my eyes with a smile, thinking of him. His face, his voice, his kiss. Nothing else mattered.

The next morning, I was rudely jolted awake by a cold splash of water hitting my face. I gasped, sitting up in shock as the old woman standing in front of me shouted, “Lazy girl! Why are you still sleeping? Get up!”

I wiped the water from my face, shivering from the chill. My heart sank, and the memory of last night seemed so far away as I quickly climbed out of bed. “I’m sorry,” I mumbled, hurrying out of the storeroom. My body still ached from the constant beatings and the lack of food, but there was no time to think about that now.

I made my way to the kitchen to prepare breakfast for everyone, my thoughts drifting back to my mate. I hadn’t expected to feel this way, so full of hope. But before I could begin, something made me stop in my tracks.

There he was.

My mate stood in the sitting room, his eyes fixed on me. I froze, my heart pounding in my chest. I hadn’t expected him to come here, not so soon. But there he was, standing in the middle of the room, and I couldn’t help but smile.

But something was wrong.

He wasn’t smiling back. In fact, his expression was cold, distant. The warmth I had felt from him last night was completely gone. My smile faltered as I wondered what could have happened. Had I done something wrong?

Ignoring the others in the room, he walked straight toward me, his gaze never leaving mine. His presence made the air feel thick, heavy. My pulse quickened as he reached out and gently held my face in his hands. His touch, which had felt so comforting just hours ago, now felt strange. Foreign.

“What’s your name?” His voice was low, almost a whisper, but there was no tenderness in it.

I swallowed hard, my heart suddenly tight in my chest. “Ariana,” I whispered, my voice barely audible. “Ariana Blackwell.”

He stared at me for a long moment, and then the words I never thought I’d hear escaped his lips.

“I, Lycus Stormborn, reject Ariana Blackwell as my mate.”

The pain was instant, like a knife twisting deep inside my chest. My breath caught, and I felt as if the world had crumbled around me. My vision blurred, and I gasped for air as the agony tore through me, ripping me apart from the inside out.

The last thing I felt before the darkness swallowed me whole was the unbearable pain in my chest, like my heart was being torn into two.