Chapter 3

Camille POV:

I snatched the oldest, most threadbare gray cloak off its peg and threw it over my head, yanking the hood down to shroud every inch of my face in shadow. My hands were still trembling.

Then the tower doors were shoved open with brutal force, sending decades of dust billowing into the entry hall.

Steel-plated boots thundered in. Torchlight ripped through the quiet I'd known for five years.

I pressed my back to the inner archway, fingers wrapping tight around the three venom-coated needles in my sleeve.

Diego strode in, swatting cobwebs aside with one hand while still holding the girls by their collars. He set them down none-too-gently onto the worn rug.

"Let us GO, you stinking monster!" Juliette shrieked, kicking at his greaves.

Diego ignored her, golden eyes sweeping over the clean shelves and neatly stacked dried lavender.

"Seems you've been living quite comfortably in this rat hole, Camille." His deep voice dripped disdain.

I took a slow breath and stepped from the shadows, head bowed low.

"To what do I owe the honor of the Alpha King invading my exile?"

The moment Adell heard my voice, she bolted across the floor and threw her arms around my legs, burying her tear-streaked face in my skirts.

"Mommy... he's scary..."

Juliette darted to my side, puffing out her chest like an enraged little wolf pup, glaring up at the giant with every ounce of loathing she could muster.

Diego's entire demeanor shifted at the word 'Mommy'. His jaw locked, eyes narrowing to razor-sharp slits, his suffocating Alpha aura bearing down on me.

"Look at me." Authority rang in every syllable.

I kept my gaze fixed on the mud-caked toes of his boots.

"A ruined, disfigured woman has no desire to offend Your Majesty's delicate eyes."

"I SAID. Look. At. Me."

His gloved hand shot out, snatching the edge of my hood and ripping it backwards.

The heavy fabric fell away.

A waterfall of luminous silver-white hair spilled over my shoulders, gleaming like liquid moonlight beneath the torchlight.

Diego froze.

All the fury drained from his face, replaced by sheer shock. His pupils blew wide, the gold nearly swallowed whole.

No rotting sores. No twisted scars. No ruin whatsoever.

Before him stood a woman of ethereally flawless beauty. Porcelain skin, high sculpted cheekbones, ice-blue eyes blazing with frigid defiance.

He stumbled back half a step, breath catching audibly in his throat.

"Your face..." he rasped. "That's... impossible."

A cold, mirthless smirk tugged at my lips. I met his stunned gaze unflinchingly.

"I apologize for disappointing you, Your Majesty. Not only did I survive your poison... my face healed quite nicely."

His gaze dropped from my face to the two little girls clinging to my skirts. The shock morphed into volcanic rage.

"Five years ago, I poured wolfsbane down your throat myself!" he snarled, jabbing a finger toward Juliette. "You could NEVER bear young! Your womb is dead!"

My heart thundered, but I kept my expression carved from ice. Let him cling to his arrogance. It would blind him all the more.

"The facts are standing right in front of you." I shifted to shield my daughters behind me. "They are my flesh and blood."

"WHOSE are they?!"

Diego lunged, massive hands clamping onto my shoulders with bruising force. He shook me hard, face inches from mine.

"Tell me, you shameless creature!" he roared, making the rafters rattle. "Which filthy wanderer did you spread your legs for in this ruin?! Whose BASTARDS are these?!"

Every ounce of pain from that night came roaring back tenfold. The cold chalice. His sneer. Five years of isolation.

"Let. Go. Of. ME!"

He only tightened his grip.

I didn't hesitate.

I drew back my right hand and slapped him. Hard.

The crack of palm against cheek echoed through the stone tower like a whip.

Diego's head whipped to the side.

The two guards by the doorway froze in absolute horror.

Not once in the history of the Western Wilds had anyone dared strike the Alpha King and lived to speak of it.

Slowly, Diego turned his head back to me. A vivid red handprint blazed across his chiseled jaw, his golden eyes igniting with murderous intent.