Chapter 6

　　Thalia's POV

　　It hadn't even been up to ten minutes since I was back in the place that was now my new home when the door opened and Caspian barged in.

　　I still had no idea how he always got past the guards stationed at the door. Did he bribe them, or were they just afraid of him?

　　"Thalia, I won't let you ruin this just because you're scared of the past." He reached for me, his eyes burning.

　　It broke my heart to push him away. Caspian had been my only refuge in this nightmare. Even before he had spoken the word mate, I had felt the pull the second he walked through that door twenty-two days ago.

　　Yes, I had been counting. What else was I supposed to do in a place like this?

　　"Here! He ran in here."

　　Eris' voice suddenly rang out, urgent and accusing. She burst into the room, followed by five royal guards.

　　"See? I told you he'd be in here with her!" she yelled.

　　"What are you doing?" I demanded, stepping defensively in front of Caspian.

　　Eris sneered, her perfect pale skin flushing bright red as her usual sweet facade twisted into something ugly. "You think we wouldn't find out you've been polluting the walls of this palace with this no-good healer? I told Adonis that keeping you alive was a mistake. He still thinks you belong to him." Her grin widened, dripping with malice. "I can't wait to see the look on his face when he finds out you've been fucking his pack doctor."

　　"What?" My eyes widened in shock. "That's not true! I've never…we've never… let go of me!"

　　The guards rushed into the cell on Eris's command and grabbed me. They slammed Caspian by the neck, dragging him out like a wild animal.

　　Caspian fought back hard. He grabbed one guard by the throat and smashed his head against the iron gate. The bars rattled as the guard sank to the floor with a groan.

　　"RUN!" Caspian screamed at me.

　　He tackled another guard on his left and threw him to the ground.

　　But I couldn't move. I just stood there shaking, completely trapped in a flashback from two years ago. The blood. The screaming. The violence. Panic hit me so hard I dropped to the floor, clutching my chest as it grew tight.

　　"Oh, spare me the drama!" Eris grabbed a fistful of my hair and pulled me toward her. "No amount of faking is going to save you this time."

　　As she dragged me out of the prison room, I could hear Caspian groaning in pain behind us. "Let him go! I'm the one you want! I begged.

　　But she didn't look back or stop dragging my hair. "I knew I should have done this a long time ago!" she hissed. "I've always hated you, Thalia, always."

　　How did I never see the signs from her? We have been friends for over ten years. How could someone pretend that long?

　　She yanked my hair harder, making me wince. "You think you're so special just because you were fated to Adonis?"

　　"Eris, let me go!"

　　She pulled me up and slapped me hard across the face. My cheek burned. "You were supposed to die two years ago! You shouldn't even be alive, but that fucking wolf who saved you." She kept dragging me down the hall toward Adonis's room.

　　What? So… she planned to kill me? Does that mean she was responsible for the attack two years ago?

　　Growing up, I knew Eris was greedy to the core. I knew how materialistic and selfish she could be, but I never thought in my wildest dreams that she would come for me and steal my entire life.

　　"You already have everything," I cried out. "My title, the pack, my mate. What more do you want?!"

　　"Tell that to Adonis!" she yelled. "He still panics every time your damn name is mentioned. He won't stop trying to find out what you're doing and who you're with!

　　She stopped abruptly at the entrance of his room.

　　I could hear Adonis' voice from the other side of the large door, and it wasn't pleasant.

　　"Every day it's Thalia this and Thalia that!" Eris continued nagging beside me. "He's stronger and faster than ever, but when it comes to you, he's nothing but a pathetic sap. I can't have an Alpha who has a weak point."

　　The moment Eris pushed the door open, Adonis threw a table across the room. "How dare that fucking healer touch what's mine!"

　　Eris ran straight to his side. "I told you, didn't I? She's nothing but a whore. She belongs to the streets."

　　Just then, the guards dragged Caspian's bloody body into the room.

　　"Caspian!" I screamed in horror.

　　I ran toward him, but before I could reach his side, Adonis was already on him. "You traitor," he growled, grabbing Caspian by the neck and lifting him into the air. "How dare you! How dare you touch what's mine?!"

　　What's yours? I wanted to scream the words at Adonis, but Caspian beat me to it.

　　"If she was yours..." Caspian choked out, blood spilling past his lips as he glared defiantly. "...you never would have discarded her in the first place."

　　Adonis's eyes flashed a dangerous red. He slammed Caspian to the floor, and without a word from him, the guards started beating him again.

　　"Stop it! She's lying!" I cried, throwing myself over Caspian's body. "Adonis, stop! He never touched me!"

　　"Liar!" Eris snapped, shoving me away. My knee scraped hard against the floor.

　　Adonis shot Eris with a terrifying look for putting her hands on me, which made her cower back in fear. Then he turned toward me, his dark eyes never leaving my body.

　　"I reject you, and the next thing you do is turn into a pack harlot?" He reached down to grab my arm, but before his hands could touch my skin, a scream tore through the room.

　　Caspian had grabbed a guard by the neck. Using some kind of reverse healing spell, he popped a vein inside the guard's throat. The man screamed and fell, and the other guards stepped back, their eyes darting in fear.

　　Everyone froze, completely shocked by what had just happened.

　　Caspian's hand began to glow with a warm yellow light as he healed his own broken ribs. He stumbled a bit, but forced himself up and took a fighting stance.

　　Adonis was boiling with rage. Whether it was the fact that Caspian had just killed one of his guards or that he had the audacity to stand on his feet to fight back.

　　"I was going to let you off with a tough warning because of your amazing abilities," Adonis growled. "But now, I'm going to make sure I break your fucking neck."

　　They lunged at each other, and the impact threw me on my ass.

　　Eris scrambled away, terrified by the brutality of the fight.

　　Caspian could barely keep up. All he could do was duck and dodge all of Adonis' hits because if just one of those blows touched him, he'd be a dead man in seconds.

　　But even in the middle of fighting for his life, Caspian looked at me and screamed, "THALIA, RUN!"

　　I shook my head as tears streamed down my face. "I can't leave you!"

　　A blow finally landed on him because he was distracted trying to save me.

　　"Caspian!" I shrieked.

　　"RUN!" he wheezed, coughing up a fresh amount of blood.

　　I wanted to help him. I desperately wanted to save him, but how? I was a burden, completely useless. I had no wolf. There was nothing I could do.

　　So, through blurry, tear-filled eyes, I turned around and ran.

　　"Where do you think you're going?!" Eris yelled, trying to grab my dress. I used every last bit of my strength to shove her to the floor, sprinting past her and the distracted guards.

　　Behind me, Adonis roared out orders. He threatened to kill every single guard if they didn't bring me back to the palace.

　　I didn't look back. I kept running until the palace vanished and the thick trees and bushes swallowed me whole. Then I heard them, heavy footsteps echoed right behind me. They were hunting me down like a scared rabbit. I kept running until I was gasping for breath.

　　Then I finally noticed where I was and stopped, my eyes darting around. The entire forest grew silent; the only sound left was the pounding of my heart.

　　I'd crossed into the Cursed Borderlands, the land of the rogues.

　　I clutched the torn fabric of my dress, my teeth clicking together from fear as I realized my fate. It was either the rogues killed me out here, or the guards dragged me back to Adonis.

　　Either way, I was dead.