Pain greeted her even before she opened her eyes.

The pain was all over her body, an aching throb. Her throat was dry, and her skin burning. Somewhere deep inside her, something stirred, buzzing even.

Adina groaned softly as her eyes fluttered open. She blinked twice, the room coming into focus.

Where was she? What was this place?

The thoughts drained from her head when she saw him. He was sitting in the chair beside her bed, arms crossed, back rigid, gaze fixed on her. His expression was cold and intense.

"Alpha?" she rasped out, voice hoarse from disuse. She didn't even think of the word; it simply spilled from her lips.

Thorne's jaw twitched, he stood up, "I'm not your alpha. I'm your king," he said flatly, then walked out of the room without another word.

Adina blinked, stunned. His words filled her head, his voice was sharp and brutal. She was wrong to have called him her alpha, but the rejection in his voice. The detachment. It shouldn't have mattered. But it did. Gods, it did.

She took a deep breath and sat up, feeling thirsty. She sighted a bottle of water across the room and stood up to get it, but immediately regretted it. A sharp pain shot through her ankle and up her side. She let out a small cry as her body collapsed forward.

But she didn't fall.

Someone caught her, "Careful," Thessara murmured, helping her back onto the bed gently. "Your body's been through more than it was meant to handle."

Adina clung to her weakly, vision swimming again. Her throat was parched. "Water…"

"Already prepared," Thessara reached for a small glass and helped her sip it slowly.

Only when Adina leaned back did the older woman study her. The girl was lean, with long dark hair that reached her waist. Her skin was pale even though inflicted with bruises. "Do you remember anything?" Thessara asked.

Adina opened her mouth to say no… she wanted to say no—but her breath caught as something crashed into her memory.

The cage.

The growl.

The chains.

The beast's blood-red eyes.

Fangs sinking into her throat.

She gasped.

Her hands flew to her neck. "No…" she breathed, scrambling out of the bed, wobbling toward the nearest mirror.

Thessara moved to stop her, but Adina was already there.

Her breath hitched when she saw it. The mark. A crescent of jagged wounds, still red, just by her neck. It wasn't a scar. It was a mate bite.

She stared at it like it would disappear if she just blinked hard enough. But it stayed, unmoving.

The beast marked her.

Her knees weakened, and she fell to the ground. Thorne's eyes on her, he was in the pace of the beast—no, he was the beast. His eyes were filled with something broken, staring down at her.

Her hand rose slowly to her throat, trembling as she touched the mark. Her mind reeled.

The beast is the king?

The king… is my mate?

Thessara rushed to her side. "Easy," she murmured, sliding an arm around Adina's waist and guided her back to the bed. "You're not strong enough yet."

Adina didn't resist. Her mind still swirled with disbelief.

The king is my mate.

It didn't make sense. It couldn't make sense.

Back on the bed, she sagged against the pillows, her fingers still trembling where they hovered near her mark.

"You need rest," Thessara said gently, smoothing a strand of hair back from her damp forehead. She didn't understand how the girl was alive.

Adina's lips parted, "But I—"

"Hold your questions," Thessara interrupted, her tone sharp. "You've been marked by a beast you should've never seen. That mark will keep pulling at your strength until your body finishes adjusting to it. Rest, or you'll collapse again."

Adina bit her lip but nodded.

Thessara moved toward the door, then paused. "I'll have a maid bring food. Something hot. You'll need your strength if you're going to survive what comes next."

Adina nodded, watching the woman walk out of the room. It was only then she realized she wasn't even wearing her own clothes but Thorne's.

—————

Thorne~

The ink on the report blurred in his eyes.

Thorne sat at his desk, a hand loosely curled on the desk. His mind had been blank for the past hour.

He hadn't touched a quill.

He hadn't spoken since he walked out of the room.

Caelum stood in front of him, watching. He'd been expecting a reaction from the man ever since but gotten nothing yet.

Caelum took a step closer, mouth parted to speak but he doesn't get to as the door opened, revealing Thessara. She stepped in, gaze settling on Thorne sharply.

"My king." She bowed then straightened.

"How is she?" Thorne asked.

"She nearly fainted getting out of bed. If only you waited a moment longer, then—"

"Then nothing! I did what you asked. I spent the night with her," Thorne snapped.

Thessara glared at him, she'd hoped the gods wouldn't be so cruel to give Thorne another mate. Not when the new mate would only live in the shadow of the past one.

"She could've bled out before I got there. But now the bond is stabilizing."

Thorne stood up and walked towards the window. His hands clenched at his sides.

Thessara stepped forward, "You didn't consummate your bond with her." She spat out accusingly. "I don't know how, but even without you doing your duty. She's okay."

"You expected me to have sex with an unconscious woman."

Thessara's eyes flashed red. "I expected you to fulfill your duty as her mate!" She snapped. "You made a decision to mark her in your beast, and it was up to you to make her whole again."

Thorne turned to face her, his jaw clenched hard. "I stayed with her all night. I held her in my arms, I—" he paused, chest heaving. "I did what I could, Thessara."

The woman scoffed, "Excuses! How long will you stay in the past, Thorne? That woman in there… in that room. She's your redemption. Not only did the gods give her to you. She was chosen by your beast."

"THESSARA!" Thorne growled, the sound reverberated through the room.

His chest heaved heavily, eyes red with anger. "I want to break the bond with her. This should've never happened. This thing between us. It's a mistake that never should've been. I don't accept her as my mate!"

Thessara glared at him, then suddenly she smirked. "Well, that's too bad. The bond you share with her. It's unbreakable." She stepped closer, eyes locked on his. "Did you forget? You didn't bite her as yourself but rather as your beast. You also gave her your Lycan blood to heal her." She stepped much closer to him. "You cemented her as your mate. Whether you like it or not."