The False Mate

(Neva’s POV)

“I have chosen Sloane as my mate and future Queen of the realm.”

Kaelen’s declaration hit like a physical hammer, shattering my world into jagged fragments. My breath hitched in my throat. The lavish ballroom blurred into an indistinct wash of glittering chandeliers, silk gowns, and rows of beaming noble faces. The applause began as a scatter of claps before swelling into an overwhelming roar that vibrated against the marble floor.

All I could see was Kaelen. He stood tall on the raised dais, his hand resting against Sloane’s waist. A proud smile curved his lips—the same smile he had pressed against my skin in the forest an hour ago.

Inside my chest, my dual nature buckled under the weight of the betrayal. Lyra, my wolf, curled into a tight ball, whimpering in agony. Xylia, my demon, hissed in cold fury, her dark claws scraping against my ribs. The male to whom I had surrendered my body and soul had discarded me before the dirt on our clothes had even dried.

King Vane nodded with stoic pride, clapping his son on the back. Princess Thalia wore an unreadable expression, but she kept her silence. No one objected. Sloane leaned into Kaelen's side, her eyes gleaming with victory as she soaked in the adoration of the court.

My knees turned to water. I swayed on my feet, grabbing the edge of a banquet table to keep from collapsing onto the polished floor. A scream built inside my lungs, hot and wild, begging to rip through the room and tear this celebration to pieces.

Queen Liora broke through the crowd, her fingers touching my forearm with genuine warmth. Her nose twitched, catching the lingering scent of cedar and pine clinging to my skin. Her soft eyes searched my pale face. “What’s wrong, dear? Are you feeling unwell?”

I parted my lips to speak, the truth balanced on the edge of my tongue.

Kaelen cut in before I could draw breath, his tone flat and loud enough for the nearby lords to hear. “It’s her mate. Silas. He upset her.”

The collective noise in our corner of the ballroom died instantly.

Silas froze beside Ryker, choking on his wine. He wiped red droplets from his golden cufflinks, his eyes wide with disbelief. “Excuse me?”

Kaelen did not flinch, keeping his focus locked onto me with chilling precision. “Neva discovered that Silas is her true mate. I suppose the revelation overwhelmed her senses.”

Gasps rippled through the gathering, followed by a rush of eager whispers. Noblewomen hid their smirks behind painted silk fans.

My blood ran cold. Kaelen was pinning me to his own friend, using Silas as a disposable shield to hide his indiscretion. He wanted to bury our intimacy, to erase the scent of me on his skin before the court could question his honor.

Silas set his goblet onto a silver tray with a sharp clatter, a dangerous spark flickering beneath his golden irises. “Well, that is certainly a revelation.”

Silas was the high-ranking heir of the golden wolf lineage and Kaelen’s closest confidant. Pinned between royal duty and the obvious lie, he chose his words with care, but his posture remained rigid.

My fingernails dug into my palms until the skin broke. The urge to expose Kaelen flared into a raging fire. I could not stand here and let him write my life away to protect his path to the throne.

I opened my mouth to shout the truth to King Vane and Queen Liora.

Kaelen closed the distance between us in a single stride, his shoulder grazing mine as he leaned down until his mouth hovered millimeters from my ear. “Go with it, Neva, or I will reject our bond right here in front of everyone.”

Rejection.

The word pierced through my chest like a jagged shard of ice.

The bond between true mates was woven by fate itself. Severing it by force would tear my mind open and leave me drowning in madness. For someone with fractured bloodlines, the severed bond could rip Lyra to pieces and drive Xylia insane. The dread of that agony paralyzed my throat. My defiance melted into terror.

I forced down the bile and tears rising in my throat.

Silas watched me from five paces away, his jaw tight. He was waiting for me to deny it. He was giving me the floor to call the prince a liar.

I could not do it.

Summoning every scrap of pride I possessed, I plastered a hollow smile across my face. “It’s true. Silas is my mate.”

The court erupted into fresh cheers and enthusiastic applause.

Silas stiffened. A faint muscle twitched beneath his cheek, but his courtly mask slipped back into place. He stepped forward and held out his hand, offering a practiced, charming smile to the room. “Well then, looks like I am the luckiest man alive.”

I placed my trembling hand into his. His fingers closed over mine, warm and steady, but devoid of the spark that tied me to Kaelen.

Around us, the celebration resumed with renewed vigor. Attendants poured more champagne, and guests crowded around Kaelen and Sloane to offer their blessings.

Kaelen did not look at me again.

The royal musicians struck up a slow, romantic melody. The center of the hall cleared as Kaelen took Sloane’s hand and led her onto the floor. He pulled her close, placing one hand on the curve of her spine while she rested her palm against his chest.

They swayed in rhythm, intimate and serene. It was the exact dance I had dreamed of sharing with him—the future he had whispered to me while kissing the hollow of my throat.

Watching them tore whatever was left of my heart into dust.

I dropped Silas’s hand. Without waiting for him to speak, I turned and slipped into the press of moving bodies. I kept my head down, gliding past silk dresses and embroidered coats until I reached the tall glass doors leading out to the veranda.

No one stopped me. No one even noticed my departure.

The storm broke the moment my slippers touched the wet terrace stones. Cold rain lashed against my face, drenching my gown within seconds. Thunder rumbled across the night sky, matching the tempest tearing through my chest.

I leaped over the terrace balustrade and sprinted across the muddy lawn.

As I hit the edge of the forest, the grief turned into something ancient and feral. For years, Aunt Vespa had forced me to suppress my demonic lineage with bitter draughts, warning me that demon blood meant execution if the High Council caught scent of it. Now, the dam broke.

Power surged through my veins like boiling lead. My bones cracked and lengthened. Sharp fangs pushed through my gums, and two ridged horns sprouted from my forehead, tearing through skin with a burst of heat.

Lyra and Xylia fused together in the dark, their shared torment igniting a monstrous transformation. My vision turned crimson. A heavy, domineering aura poured off my body, flattening the wet ferns beneath my paws.

I tore through the dark woods like a creature born of nightmares. Brambles shredded against my thick hide, healing before the blood could fall. Forest animals scrambled out of my path, whimpering as my aura rolled over the trees.

I ran until my lungs burned, breaking into the small clearing where my home stood.

The shift reversed the second my feet touched the front porch. The fangs and horns receded, leaving my skin slick with rain and sweat. I stood there shivering, my bare toes digging into the cold wood.

The cabin was silent. Aunt Vespa’s bedroom window remained pitch-black; she was sound asleep.

I crept through the door, climbed the creaking stairs, and locked myself inside my bedroom.

Pale moonlight filtered through the window, striking the mirror across from my bed.

I stepped in front of the glass.

The reflection belonged to a broken girl. Her dark hair hung in wet strands, her lips swollen, her eyes rimmed in red. She looked like the unwanted hybrid she had always been—the girl who gave her heart to a prince, only to be trampled in the dirt.

I gripped the wooden frame of the mirror, my knuckles turning white.

No more.

No more weeping in the dark. No more waiting for a prince to save me from my misery.

Kaelen made his choice when he traded me for a crown.

Now, I would make mine.

I would forge my beasts into weapons, rise above every noble in this realm, and take my revenge in blood.