The air in the secluded passage crackled with a tension that was both palpable and suffocating. Arin, her back pressed against the cold stone wall, watched as Roan stalked towards her, his eyes burning with a mixture of rage and a chillingly possessiveness. It had been months since he had cast her aside, months since his words had shattered her world, yet the memory of his rejection remained as sharp as shattered glass.

He had found her alone, a rare moment of solitude in the bustling citadel, and he had seized the opportunity to confront her. Jealousy, a venomous and unfamiliar serpent, coiled within him, fueled by the sight of her arrival alongside Alpha Zayan.

 Though he would never admit it, the unexpected image of her with anyone, talk more an Alpha gnawed at his pride, a stark reminder of his judgment.

"So," he began, his voice a low, menacing growl, "the whore returns."

Arin's chin lifted, her eyes flashing with a defiant fire. She refused to cower before him, to allow him the satisfaction of seeing her break. "I came with Alpha Zayan," she corrected, her voice steady, "at his invitation."

Roan scoffed, his lips curling into a sneer. "An invitation," he echoed, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "How convenient. I suppose you've been… entertaining him in exchange for his protection?"

He stepped closer, his imposing figure casting a long, intimidating shadow over her. "You always were good at selling yourself, weren’t you? First me, then whoever else was willing to take you."

He watched her, his eyes filled with a cruel satisfaction, as if he expected her to crumble beneath his insults. He wanted to see her break, to see her reduced to the trembling, humiliated woman he had left behind.

But Arin had changed. The pain of his rejection had forged a resilience within her, a strength she never knew she possessed. She had learned to value her own worth, to define herself outside of his judgment.

A slow, deliberate smile spread across her lips, a smile that held no warmth, only a chillingly detached amusement. "I would rather be a whore in a cheap bar," she said, her voice laced with a quiet contempt, "than be your whore, King Roan."

His eyes widened, a flicker of surprise momentarily breaking through his mask of arrogance. He had expected tears, pleas, perhaps even a desperate attempt to defend her honor. He had not expected defiance.

Arin whirled, the pestle slipping from her hand and shattering against the stone floor. "What… what do you mean? What Poision?"


She was certain that she labeled everything she used carefully and tried her hardest to not make mistakes because they could be fatal.


"Bring him closer so i can see what is wrong." Arin said as she got out of her seat but before she could take a step further, someone barked at her.


Arin noticed that behind the men who had just barged in, many more had gathered, their numbers swelling, their voices overlapping in a tide of rage. "He took your medicine, and now he bleeds from his mouth! Did you mean to kill him, girl? Did you?"


Arin shook her head, hands raised in disbelief. "No. no, I prepared everything as I always do! I swear it! Tell me what he took, let me see him…"


"She intends to finish what she started!" A woman screamed from among the crowd which had gathered.


Chapter 24 - Twenty Four