Chapter 5

Walking out through Thorne Manor gates, I felt lighter than I had in years. Like everything that had gone wrong in the last three years dissolved the moment I stepped outside.

The Kingsley Palace looked exactly as it had when I left. Nothing had changed.

I rode back in the royal carriage to the Palace gates. I could see a flash of gold from inside before I had even gotten close.

I removed my outer robes and walked quickly. I knelt at the entrance.

"I greet my father, the Alpha King."

No response. I slowly raised my head.

Three years. My father's temples had gone gray. The lines around his eyes were deeper.

He didn't say anything. He reached out and grabbed my face.

"You still know how to come back?"

His voice was hard. His hands shook.

My father's eyes went red. "You've gotten thin. How did you get so thin?"

I couldn't hold it back. Tears came.

He let go of my face and pulled me into his arms. He held me very tight.

"You're home. We'll get you back to yourself."

I pressed my face into his shoulder and cried until I couldn't breathe. Three years of everything came out at once.

Tears soaked his robes. My father just kept slowly patting my back, the way he had when I was small.

After a long time I finally pulled back. My father looked at me, his eyes full of pain.

"Cain Thorne put you through all of this. He killed my grandpup. This cannot stand. I'll strip everything from Thorne Pack and throw him in the dungeons to wait for judgment."

"Father."

I grabbed his sleeve.

He turned. His voice was sharp. "You're protecting him?"

"I'm not protecting him. But killing him won't bring my pup back. Let him live. Living is a lot more painful than dying."

Besides, the pup in Celeste's belly wasn't even his. His only pup had been killed by his own hand. He and Celeste would spend the rest of their lives resenting each other. There was no good life ahead for either of them.

My father stared at me for a long time. Then he let out a slow breath.

"Then I'll strip Cain Thorne of his Alpha Heir status. Thirty lashes before the Pack Council. Thorne Pack forfeits their territory revenue for five years. A warning to the rest."

He walked away after that.

My father's back looked thinner than I remembered. But it was all right. I was home now.

I moved back into my old rooms. Everything was exactly as I had left it three years ago. The shelves had been dusted. Fresh flowers were on the table, and my favorite pastries.

"The Alpha King had your rooms cleaned every day. He was afraid you'd come home and find it strange."

Jade poured me tea and caught me up on the years I had missed.

"Your father came to sit in your rooms every few days. Your brother too. They both missed you a great deal."

I felt a pang. I had been selfish. All of this time chasing what I wanted, and I had come back with wounds all over myself and dragged my father and brother through years of worry.

That evening, the Pack Healer came.

She said the pregnancy loss and the forced tonic had done real damage. Combined with the exhaustion and grief, I would need careful recovery. Otherwise, carrying a pup to term in the future would be very difficult.

My father knocked over a cup and started cursing.

I was calm. I had known what my body was like these past weeks better than anyone. Even the best healer couldn't fully fix what had been done.

News of Cain being stripped of his Alpha Heir status spread quickly.

After the thirty public lashes, he retreated to Thorne Manor and hadn't been seen. Word came every day that he was drinking himself senseless. Celeste's betrayal was a wound he couldn't speak about, and every time he saw her they fought.

These reports came to me daily. I had stopped caring about any of it.

Jade walked in with a small tray. "Your Highness, Cain sent another letter asking to see you."

"He also said if you won't agree to see him, he'll kneel at the Palace gates until you do."

I took the medicine cup from her and drank it in one go, grimacing at the bitterness.

"He can kneel wherever he wants. No one's making him. What does that have to do with me?"

That night it rained hard. I lay awake, unable to sleep.

Jade sat by my bed. "Are you worried about something, Your Highness?"

"Cain is still out there on his knees in the rain. Personally I'm hoping it rains harder. Maybe he'll get a fever. Maybe his knees will rot."

I sat up and gave a quiet laugh.

Jade startled. "You're going to see him?"

I shook my head and touched my lower abdomen softly. "Go tell him that even if he kneels until he dies, I won't see him."

"Yes."

Jade turned and left.

The rain fell all night. Jade told me in the morning that Cain had passed out at the Palace gates and been carried back to Thorne Manor.

I looked out the window. All the suffering I had been through—it was right that he got to feel some of it.