Chapter 2 First, Take Away His Heir's Badge
“What did you say?”
Adrian jerked his head up.
Rowan stood before the throne, his gaze fixed on Adrian’s chest.
“I said you are unworthy of inheriting the Silver Fir Pack.”
Adrian instinctively covered the silver badge.
“Your Majesty, this is my marriage. Nora’s refusal to accept my decision only proves she does not understand the rules. You cannot strip me of my position because one woman lost her temper.”
“Did I make you betray your engagement?” Rowan asked.
“Of course not.”
“Did I make you humiliate her in public and call the position of second mate a gift?”
Adrian opened his mouth.
“I was only trying to give her a way to survive.”
“She already refused.”
Rowan raised one hand. Two royal guards immediately descended the steps.
“Remove his heir’s badge.”
Adrian’s expression changed sharply.
“Your Majesty!”
The guards seized his shoulders. He tried to rise, but a crushing force descended from the throne. His knees slammed back onto the floor, and he could not even lift his head.
One guard tore off the badge and delivered it to Rowan.
No one in the hall dared make a sound.
Celeste finally panicked.
“Your Majesty, then what about my marriage to Adrian? I am the daughter of the Silver Fir Pack’s Beta. I should become its Luna.”
“He is no longer the heir,” Rowan said. “Whom you marry is none of the royal court’s concern.”
Celeste went pale.
Adrian, however, turned and glared at me.
“This is all your fault. If you had obediently agreed, I would not have lost my position.”
I looked at him kneeling on the floor.
Even now, he still believed I was the one to blame.
“The demands came from your own mouth,” I reminded him. “And the badge was taken from your chest.”
“Shut up!”
Rowan stepped forward.
Adrian immediately lowered his head, no longer daring to curse at me.
He feared the Lycan King, yet still saw me as an orphan he could crush whenever he pleased. He probably thought Rowan was merely defending the rules of the royal court.
After the council ended, I returned to the territory with the Silver Fir Pack’s convoy.
The engagement was over. I only wanted to gather my belongings and leave as soon as possible.
It began to rain on the way back. By the time our carriage stopped outside the packhouse, water was pouring from the sky.
I had barely entered the hall when a loud crash came from upstairs.
A wooden trunk flew through a window and landed in the mud outside.
It was mine.
I rushed upstairs. My bedroom door stood open, and Celeste was beside the window, throwing my clothes out one piece at a time.
“What are you doing?”
“Clearing out my room.”
“I live here.”
“You are no longer Adrian’s fiancée.” She threw the last dress out the window. “Adrian’s punishment is only temporary. Once he becomes the heir again, I will still be the mistress of this house.”
I walked to the window. My clothes, shoes, and trunk were all soaking in the rain.
Celeste brushed past me, went downstairs, and stepped into the courtyard.
She planted one foot on my dress, pressing it deep into the mud.
“Kneel.”
Pointing at my scattered belongings, she ordered me with a smile,
“Pick them up for me. One by one.”
