CRESSIDA'S POV
I couldn't stop thinking about him.
I had expected the monster to look like one.
In all the stories I heard, the ones whispered by servants or muttered by elders whenever his name surfaced.
The Black King.
The Bride-taker.
The Last True-Blooded Lycan.
No one ever spoke of his face.
And now, as I lay buried under my blankets it was all I could think about.
He was… beautiful, in a way that felt almost unreal. Dark hair fell in loose waves against his temples, his features sharp but not cruel, restrained in a way that made my chest tighten. But it was his eyes—those dark, consuming eyes—that unsettled me most.
They felt like an enchantment, a curse that was doomed to follow me.
Was that how he killed his brides? By enchanting them?
My mind hovered back to how he had stormed out of the room after.
How his eyes had narrowed in disgust before he had turned away from me.
Everyone had seen it.
They saw his displeasure.
His anger.
How he had slammed the doors shut as he left.
For a moment, the court remained stunned into silence.
Then the whispers began.
"Did you see his face?"
"I have never seen him look so angry."
"But what did she do to displease him?" another guest asked.
"Who knows? She won't last long anyway."
Tears warmed my eyes at their words but I braced myself not to let them fall.
My chin remained lifted with a polite smile on my lips, I refused to give them the satisfaction of seeing me shrink.
Even if I had never felt more confused or disregarded.
Why was he of all people so angry to see me?
Shouldn't I have been the one angry?
Nothing about King Alessio was as the stories promised and that unsettled me more than I liked to admit.
The whispers of the maids woke me up the next morning.
They stood at the door, placing the breakfast tray on the table.
"I can't believe it… this is the first time King Alessio is doing something like this," they whispered.
"—never seen him so furious."
"I heard they said he doesn't want her. This wedding may not even be held after all."
My eyes flew open immediately.
"What?" I demanded, sitting up and shoving the covers away from my face. "Repeat what you said!"
The maids turned to me surprised to see me awake.
"Um good morning," the maids greeted awkwardly.
"What did you just say? That the wedding will not hold?!"
The maids exchanged looks. One looked worried but the other didn't seem to care.
"We only heard rumors around the castle, we don't know anyth—"
"The king does not wish to marry you," the other maid said bluntly.
Her words stung harder than I expected.
"He is ordering that you are sent back to your home immediately," she said coldly.
He is sending me away?
My brain seemed to process it slowly.
Sent back home?
"No…" I croaked, unable to believe it. "That's impossible. The debt—"
The maid laughed. "A million gold pieces is nothing to his majesty. He would never demand it back."
"Do you really mean that?" I asked, feeling hope slide back into my throat.
"You are fortunate Princess," the first maid said. "This is the first time King Alessio is sending someone back."
My lips were trembling between disbelief and surprise.
I could go home.
I could go back to Stormhaven, I could rule over my people, expose Lady Dimitri for who she was.
I felt something dangerous bloom in my chest for the first time in days—hope.
Alicia burst into tears as soon as I told her, clutching my hands and sobbing happily.
We were going back home.
Then the summons came.
The elders requested my presence in court.
Maids dressed me in the ceremonial robe for what felt like the last time. I stared at my reflection in the mirror, trying not to smile.
The Luna Goddess had finally answered my prayer. After this, I was leaving this cold and terrible pack for good.
I walked into the court with my heart hammering in anticipation, waiting for it. The formal dismissal. The end of this nightmare.
As I entered, I found the elders seated on their high seats, in the midst sat King Alessio.
His eyes did not meet mine. He looked worse than the night before—tired, furious, uneasy. They seemed to be in the middle of a heated argument.
Uh-oh.
An argument was never a good sign.
"You misunderstand your position, Your Majesty," Lord Severin said calmly. "You were given one year to produce an heir. One."
"And I intend to abide by that, just not with…her," Alessio's smoke-like eyes glared angrily at me.
I felt a knot of annoyance. What was his deal?
What was so wrong with me?
"I am afraid that this is not a marriage you can back out off, an agreement has already been reached and she is already here," Severin interjected.
"You can always send her back!" Alessio argued.
Severin sighed, shaking his head like he was getting irritated.
"I am afraid that things don't work that easily, Your Majesty," an elder explained. "The scroll has been signed with a royal seal already, so if someone of your pedigree rejects her, she will be ruined in her pack, unable to find another man to mate her."
Those consequences seemed more manageable than death.
Besides, I didn't even want a mate. All I wanted was to rule over my people.
"I don't care if she is ruined forever, I refuse to marry this woman," Alessio yelled angrily, slamming his hand on the table.
I was stunned. Unsure whether to feel insulted or relieved.
"Rejecting this marriage doesn't just ruin her forever. If you reject her, you reject every family that has sacrificed a daughter to preserve this empire's stability. All the packs that have sent daughters will revolt against you," Severin's eyes hardened.
Alessio gave him an almost helpless glance. "I just don't want… her" he sounded weary, like he was tired of arguing.
"If you do not wed," Severin continued, his dark eyes narrowed at Alessio. "You will forfeit the throne."
I felt it then.
The helpless look in his eyes, it was the same way I had felt when Lady Dimitri forced me to accept this marriage.
Even the powerful King Alessio had to submit before his council.
The truth slammed into my chest, putting out the fire of hope aflame in my heart.
This wedding had never been about me. Not really.
It was about breaking a king.
Alessio exhaled slowly, fists clenched at his sides. He did not look at me—but I understood his anger now.
He had refused to marry me as if he had been trying to save me.
"The wedding," Severin announced slowly and deliberately, "will take place tomorrow evening."
The word tomorrow was a death sentence.
Echoing in my head like a bell, reverberating in my head until it was all I could hear.
I stood frozen, realizing with awful clarity that neither of us had ever had a choice.
The single thread of my hope had snapped into pieces.
The wedding was still happening and by tomorrow, my world was going to end.