Chapter 130
LUNA AQUAMARINE’S POV
&
E
65 vouchers
I stood at Clifford’s door longer than 1 should have. My hands wouldn’t stop shaking. My chest was tight, and even though I told myself over and over that I needed to do this, I still wanted to turn back.
But guilt was heavier than fear.
I pushed the door open.
He was awake, leaning back against the headboard, bandages strapped across his chest. His skin looked pale, his shoulders thinner, but his eyes were the same–hard, sharp, cutting into me before I could even speak.
“Clifford…” I whispered, stepping inside. “I came to see you. I just-”
“You just what?” His tone was flat, but the anger underneath it bled through. “Came to see how the man your mate nearly killed is doing?”
I swallowed, throat dry. “I wanted to apologise.”
His laugh was bitter, sharp. “Apologise? For what? For standing there while he broke my ribs? Or for letting the entire pack watch you get fucked on the balcony like some spectacle?”
I flinched, my stomach twisting. “What? The entire pack?”
“Oh, please.” His laugh was dry, bitter. “Don’t act like you didn’t know.”
“That’s not true.” I stepped closer, hands trembling. “I never wanted that to happen like that. Alexander–he thought you and I—”
“Oh, don’t lie to me, Aqua.” His mouth twisted. “You knew. And if you didn’t, you didn’t care. You let him take you in front of everyone, and you didn’t stop him. Don’t act like some innocent flower now.”
“I swear I didn’t know,” I said quickly, stepping closer. “I never would’ve-”
You are,” he cut me off, his jaw tight. “You defended him when he dragged you away. You defended him when he accused us of something that hadn’t even happened yet. And now, after he humiliated me, humiliated you, humiliated what you stand for–you’re still here, standing in my room, apologising on his behalf?”
“That’s not true,” I whispered.
“Isn’t it?” He shifted, pain flickering across his face as he sat up straighter. “Don’t stand there and defend him again. You always defend him.”
Tears burned my eyes. “I’m not apologising for him. I’m not defending him now–I’m here because of you. I wanted to say I’m sorry. Because of me, he-”
He looked at me like I was something pathetic. “You didn’t stop him because you were scared he’d kill me. You stopped him because you didn’t want his people to see his true form.”
17:18 Mon, Sep 22
Chapter 130
The silence pressed down on me, crushing, suffocating.
50 voucherd
He was right and wrong at the same time. There was no way I would let anyone see Alexander’s true form. And I highly doubt Clifford really knew what Alexander really is.
His stare pinned me down. “You had every chance to push him away. Every chance to fight back. But you didn’t. You gave in to him, and then you let the pack watch while you screamed his name.”
I flinched, heat crawling up my neck, my cheeks. “Clifford-”
He leaned forward, voice sharp. “Do you have any idea what that did to me?”
I opened my mouth, but nothing came out. My throat closed, chest heavy with shame. How do I tell him that Alexander might have done that because he thought we were having an affair and acted out of fury?
That Alexander had confessed something to me, something raw and vulnerable, and I had fallen into him. That it wasn’t about the pack, or proving anything–it was about us. About me and him.
But the words stuck in my throat. Because how could I explain that to Clifford without sounding like I had chosen Alexander despite everything we agreed on?
Silence stretched between us.
But even as I tried to form the words, Clifford’s glare burned the truth into me–he wouldn’t listen.
“Next time you want to pretend you care, don’t bother. I see you for what you are now. You parade like some damsel in distress, but yet you crawl back to lick your own vomit.”
I swallowed hard, but no words came. My throat burned, my chest ached, and I hated myself for not being able to explain what I didn’t fully understand.
I turned to leave, but his voice followed me, cold and sharp. “You disgust me, Aqua. Your methods- disgust
me.”
My heart dropped to my stomach and my lips trembled.
Did he just call me disgusting?
I thought I had found a friend in Clifford. I thought maybe, we’d help each other while the Moonstone pack is still under my possession.
But now, since he clearly hates me, what should I do? How would I change his mind about me?
Before I could take a step, the door slammed open. Guards stormed in, seizing me before I could move.
“What are you doing?!” I yelled, thrashing against their grip. No answer. Their hands were iron on my arms, “Let me go!”
Clifford’s confusion mirrored mine as they hauled him beside me, his face twisted with anger and pain. “What the hell is this?” he barked, but they ignored him too.
17:18 Mon, Sep 22
Chapter 130
The guards didn’t ask questions. They didn’t even speak. Their hands were iron around my arms, dragging me through the halls like a criminal.
We were dragged through the corridors, down the steps and even out of the castle.
Cold air slapped me when the doors burst open. The square was packed, every pair of eyes turning on me as though they’d been waiting. Murmurs rose, sharp and cruel, like knives pressed to my skin.
Eyes, legs and chants followed us till we reached the gates.
And then I saw him.
Alexander. Standing tall at the centre in his full glory. His eyes locked on me, hard, unyielding. The man who had held me every night for weeks, who kissed me until I forgot how to breathe–now looked at me like I was dirt under his boot.
Why was he looking at me like that?
“A–Alex,” I gasped. “Why? What’s happening?”
He didn’t flinch. His voice carried over the crowd, sharp as a blade. “Tell me, Aquamarine- the day I met you, what was that one thing your people warned me about?”
I blinked confused. “Warned? I don’t- I don’t understand.”
The words ripped the air. My chest caved in. Clifford went still beside me. The crowd hushed.
I couldn’t breathe.
Then I saw him.
Warned?
What is he saying?
Why is he doing this here, now, in front of everyone?
“I…I don’t understand,” I whispered, chest pounding so hard I could hardly hear myself.
“They warned me you were barren.” His words landed heavy, merciless. “That your womb was cursed. That you would never give me an heir. And I was fool enough to ignore them.”
Barren.
The word rang in my skull like a bell tolling my death.
My lips trembled. “No–no, that’s not true,” I cried, my throat raw. “Alex, please, you know me. You know that isn’t-”
But he didn’t soften. His eyes were steel. His voice cracked through me like a whip. “Do I? For weeks I’ve waited. Hoped. And nothing. No change. No sign. Just emptiness.”
17:18 Mon, Sep 22
Chapter 130
I couldn’t breathe. Every word gutted me, deeper than any blade.
Is this what he was searching for, all those nights his hands wouldn’t leave my skin?
When he held me, when he kissed me like I was the only thing in the world–was he just waiting? Counting? Measuring my worth by what I could give him? Right after the writing on his back?
Tears blurred my vision, burning trails down my cheeks. “I don’t believe this,” I whispered. “Not after everything we-‘
“Enough! Not another word, Aquamarine.” His roar thundered through the square, silencing every sound but the roar in my ears.
“Alex…”
My head snapped, vision swimming. Fiona stepped forward.
“She carries my heir,” Alexander declared, still watching me, his voice steady and cruel. “She is my true mate.”
My lungs seized. My body convulsed again.
Pregnant? True mate?
The words hammered into me one after the other, breaking me until there was nothing left to hold together.
The pack erupted–gasps, cheers, murmurs all blending into a deafening roar. But I barely heard them. My heart was already shattering too loudly inside me.
How is Fiona pregnant with his child? Why?
How long have they been-
I fell to my knees, clutching my chest, gasping for air that wouldn’t come. My vision swam, spots of black creeping at the edges.
“Stand her up,” he ordered coldly.
The guards yanked me upright, my legs useless, my body shaking violently as tears streamed down my face.
The crowd stared, some whispering, some smirking, some just watching like it was a show. This has got to be another cruel phase I must pass.
Yes, maybe he found out that I’m still shifting to a dragon and is making me hate him again.
Because there is no way-
“I, Primus Alexander, reject you, Aquamarine of the Theriakon pack, as my mate and my Luna.”
17:18 Mon, Sep 22
