54

Fifty four
*Freya*
I collapsed to my knees in the maze garden, sobs wracking my body as hot tears streamed down my cheeks. The image of Rafe kissing Jessica burned into my mind.
How could he do this to me? I thought as another wave of anguish crashed over me. He had taken me to his most secret, special place – the magical oasis glimmering with ethereal light. I thought we shared something special in that enchanted place, our souls connecting on a deeper level.
But it had all been a lie. The way I had seen him locking lips with Jessica in the receiving room, her eyes glinting with cruel satisfaction as she stared me down over his shoulder. The ultimate betrayal.
I had ran before Rafe could utter a word, Jessica’s malicious smile seared into my brain. I couldn’t bear to hear his excuses, there was no justification for shattering my heart into a million shards.
The scent of jasmine choked me as I wept silently, mocking the dream I desperately wanted to believe – that Rafe and I were somehow fated, destined to be together. I thought something had pushed me to meet him.
But I was a fool. He didn’t want me, not truly. Why else would he play with my affections, only to cast me aside for a Jessica who was his match? The truth burned deep inside me. I was not his match. I would never be.
I cried until no more tears came, until all that remained was an empty ache in my chest. The future I wished for slipped through my fingers, leaving me shattered and utterly alone in the darkness of the maze.
I knelt by the trickling fountain at the center of the garden, staring blankly at my reflection in the moonlit water. Rafe’s face swam in my mind unwillingly- those intense eyes that seemed to pierce my very soul, the chiseled planes of his jaw, the sensual curve of his lips. A fresh wave of anguish crashed over me.
Why did he have to be so devastatingly handsome, so magnetic and alluring? From the moment we met, Rafe got under my skin in a way no one else ever had. He challenged me, pushed me to be bolder than I thought possible. With every charged exchange, every heated glance, the pull between us grew stronger.
And now, with a painful jolt, I realized the awful truth – somewhere along the way, between stolen moments and fights, I had fallen hopelessly in love with him. The arrogant, infuriating Alpha king who would never truly be mine.
A choked sob escaped my throat. I was such an idiot. What did I expect, entering this ridiculous competition to be his breeder? I wasn’t here in search of love or a happily ever after. I only joined to get away from my wretched stepmother and vicious stepsister. The palace should have been my escape, my one shot at freedom.
But I got swept up in this ridiculous fairy tale, in Rafe’s thrilling pursuit, his defiant promises. I let myself believe, just for a moment, that I could be his Luna, that he would choose me above all the others.
Apparently, I was wrong. So very wrong.
Fresh tears spilled down my cheeks as I gazed up at the sky, my heart cracking wide open. “Mom,” I whispered brokenly. “I wish you were here. I’m so lost… so alone. I don’t know what to do.”
I yearned to hear her soothing voice, to feel her gentle arms around me. She would know how to help my shattered spirit, how to let go of this all-consuming, ill-fated love. But she was gone, and I had to stumble through this agony alone.
The burbling of the fountain mocked my childish fantasies as I cried, grieving for a forbidden future that slipped through my fingers, leaving me with nothing but heartache clenched in my fist. I couldn’t continue like this.
The sound of footsteps startled me and I spun around, my wet lashes flying up in shock. Rafe stood mere feet away, his towering frame tense, his face straight with barely leashed fury.
For an endless, charged moment, we stared at each other, the air between us crackling with hurt and anger and unspoken accusations. His crystal blue eyes, usually warm when he looked at me, were now hard as diamonds, glittering with icy rage.
I couldn’t bear it, his boring into me, seeing too much, stripping me bare. Wrenching my gaze away, I gathered my bruised dignity and turned on my heel, fully intending to walk away from him. I needed to be alone, to lick my wounds in private.
But I barely made it two steps before Rafe’s iron grip clamped around my wrist, halting my retreat. He yanked me back around to face him and I stumbled, colliding with his solid chest.
“Don’t you dare walk away from me, Freya.” His deep voice was low, deadly calm, but I could hear the growl rumbling beneath. “Why did you run off when I called you back?”
I tried to tug my hand free but he only tightened his grip, his eyes flashing hot red. “Let me go,” I gritted out, my chin tipping up in defiance even as tears clogged my throat. “You have no right to manhandle me.”
“Oh but I have every right,” he snarled, his sensual lips peeling back to reveal gleaming white teeth. “I am your king. Your Alpha. You will submit to me.”
“I am not one of your subjects to be ordered about!” I snapped, finally succeeding in wrenching my arm free. I stepped back, putting some much-needed distance between us before I did something foolish like throw myself into his arms and beg him to choose me. “You may be the Alpha king, but that doesn’t give you the right to command me, especially not after how you humiliated me.”
Rafe’s brows drew together in a fierce scowl. “Humiliated you? You think I deliberately made you see what you saw? You think that low of me?”
A harsh laugh scraped from my throat. “Don’t pretend ignorance, My king. I saw you with Jessica, saw her gloating triumphant eyes boring into me as she kissed you. And you let her!” The memory seared like a brand, the pain of it ripping me open again. “You made me believe… made me hope that I…” I broke off, looking away as hot tears spilled down my cheeks.
“Freya.” Rafe’s voice gentled, his anger seeming to drain away. He reached for me but I flinched back. Sighing, he dragged a hand through his hair. “That’s not what happened. Jessica tricked you – tricked us both.”
My head snapped up. “What do you mean?”
“She sent you that note, pretending to be me. It was all a ruse to lure you to the room at that precise moment.” His jaw clenched. “She knew you would see us together and assume the worst.”
I stared at him, my heart a wild drum in my chest. Pieces started clicking into place – the strange phrasing of the note, the way Jessica had been watching my direction… “But the kiss,” I whispered.
“She surprised me. I had no idea what she was planning, Freya, I swear it.” Rafe’s eyes burned into mine, willing me to believe him. “There is nothing between Jessica and me. She means nothing to me.”
My mind reeled, scarcely daring to hope. “Then why… why did you let her get so close?”
Rafe exhaled heavily. “I underestimated her scheming nature. I thought I could handle her on my own, but I failed to protect you from her malice.” He took a tentative step closer. “Freya, you have to know, you’re the only one I…”
He trailed off and an unsteady silence billowed between us. I could scarcely breathe, my entire being straining toward him, aching for the words I desperately needed to hear.
****