Crowned by Fate Chapter 108

Skye's POV

"I... I don't know," I admitted, the words barely audible. "I haven't felt any connection to anyone."

"The pain started suddenly?" Dr. Kingsley asked.

I nodded, thinking back to the moment in the bar. "Just a few minutes ago."

"And you were where, exactly?"

"In the hotel bar, talking with my brother."

Dr. Kingsley's expression grew contemplative. "Who else was present?"

I thought back to the crowded bar, trying to remember the faces I'd seen. "Many people. But..." I hesitated, reluctant to voice the name. "Leon was there. He came to our table, then left with some woman."

Understanding dawned in the doctor's eyes. "Alpha Leon? Your former mate?"

I nodded reluctantly.

"And you say he left with a woman? In what context?"

Heat rushed to my face as I recalled the scene. "She approached him at our table. They seemed... intimate. He put his arm around her and they walked away together."

"I'm not entirely certain whether your pain is due to Alpha Leon or possibly a Second Chance Mate," Dr. Kingsley said, his brow furrowed in contemplation. "The symptoms align with mate bond distress, but without further evidence..."

He turned to face me directly. "My recommendation is that you confirm this directly with Alpha Leon. If the mate bond between you hasn't truly been severed, your wolves will sense it immediately when you're in close proximity."

The doctor shifted his attention to my brother. "Beta Ethan, where is Alpha Leon currently? Would it be possible for you to ask him to come here and help us confirm this situation?"

Before Ethan could answer, an exaggerated feminine moan echoed through the wall—loud, theatrical, and unmistakable in its implication. The sound was followed immediately by a wave of pain so severe that I gasped, doubling over on the bed.

Ethan's face flushed deep red. "I'll, uh... I'll go get Alpha Leon in a bit," he stammered, avoiding eye contact with both of us. "I think he's... not available at the moment..."

The meaning behind my brother's awkward avoidance became instantly clear. Leon was with that woman from the bar. They were having sex. Right now. In the room adjacent to ours.

Another moan penetrated the wall, this one even more dramatic than the last, followed by the rhythmic creaking of furniture. Each sound corresponded with a fresh stab of pain in my chest, as though someone were physically tearing something from inside me.

"I see," Dr. Kingsley said quietly, his professional demeanor intact despite the obvious situation.

I pressed my hands against my ears, trying to block out the sounds from the neighboring room. Humiliation burned through me, made worse by the physical pain.

After everything that had happened between us—the public rejection, the years of separation—how could Leon still affect me this way?

The sounds from the neighboring room had finally stopped, but the pain in my chest continued to throb with dull persistence. Dr. Kingsley offered me a glass of water, which I accepted with trembling hands. My thoughts were a chaotic tangle of confusion, embarrassment, and growing dread.

"Is there any way to confirm this without involving Leon directly?" I asked, desperate for an alternative.

Dr. Kingsley shook his head. "I'm afraid not. Mate bonds are complex and highly individualized. Without direct interaction between the potential mates, we can only speculate."

Ethan paced the room, his expression troubled. After a moment's hesitation, he pressed his fingers to his temple—the telltale sign of someone activating a mind-link.

"What are you doing?" I asked, alarmed.

"Contacting Leon," Ethan replied, his focus elsewhere. "He needs to know what's happening."

"No!" I protested, but it was too late. Ethan's eyes had already taken on the distant look of active telepathic communication.

The next thirty minutes crawled by with excruciating slowness. I sat rigid on the edge of the bed, alternating between hoping Leon would refuse to come and dreading the confrontation that seemed increasingly inevitable. Dr. Kingsley busied himself with reviewing notes on his tablet, occasionally glancing at me with clinical interest.

When the knock finally came, it was sharp and decisive—three commanding raps that made my wolf stir restlessly beneath my skin.

Ethan opened the door, revealing Leon in the hallway. He had changed clothes since the bar, his hair still slightly damp as if he'd recently showered.

The realization of why he'd needed to shower sent another spike of pain through my chest.

Leon's cold blue eyes swept the room, settling on me with unnerving intensity. Before Dr. Kingsley could even begin to explain the situation, Leon spoke, his voice carrying the same detached authority I remembered from years ago.

"I believe our mate bond still exists," he stated flatly, as if discussing the weather. "Or perhaps it was broken when I rejected you, and you are now my Second Chance mate. I believe I've just verified that fact."

The clinical coldness of his declaration knocked the breath from my lungs. "What?" I gasped, struggling to process his words. "You had sex with that woman just to verify whether our mate bond exists? You're still the same heartless bastard you were four years ago!"

Pain mixed with indignation as I realized the full extent of his cruelty. He could have approached me directly, could have initiated a conversation like a reasonable person. Instead, he'd chosen the most brutal method possible to make his point.

Leon's lips curled into a cold smirk. "And when you were intimate with Adrian, was that not equally hurtful to me?"

"That's not the same!" I protested, heat rushing to my face. "I didn't know! I had no idea our bond might still exist."

"How could you not know?" Leon countered, his voice laced with skepticism. "Your wolf should have sensed it the moment we reunited yesterday. Mine certainly did."

I thought back to the strange sensations I'd experienced—the inexplicable heat in my chest, the restlessness of my wolf when Leon had walked away. Everything suddenly made terrible sense. But I'd genuinely never connected those feelings to our mate bond. After four years of believing it severed, how could I have possibly recognized the signs?

"So this was deliberate revenge?" I asked, my voice shaking with barely controlled emotion. "You were purposely trying to hurt me?"

Leon scoffed, his expression hardening. "Revenge? Against you? Do you really think I need to bother with such pettiness?"

The dismissive arrogance in his tone cut deeper than any insult could have. In his eyes, I wasn't even worth the effort of revenge—just a nuisance to be dealt with, a problem to be solved through clinical experimentation.

As we glared at each other, the tension thick enough to choke on, my phone's shrill ring broke the standoff. Adrian's name flashed across the screen. With trembling fingers, I accepted the call.

"Skye?" Adrian's warm voice filled my ear, instantly triggering a wave of guilt. "I'm outside the hotel bar, ready to pick you up. Are you still with your brother?"

I swallowed hard, suddenly aware of the enormity of what I needed to tell him. "I'm in Ethan's hotel room," I managed to say, my voice steadier than I expected. "There's something... something we need to discuss. I think it would be better to talk in person."

There was a brief pause on the other end of the line. "Is everything okay?" Adrian asked, concern evident in his tone.

"No," I admitted, watching Leon's cold eyes track my every movement. "But I'd rather explain when I see you."

"I'll be right there," Adrian replied without hesitation. "What's the room number?"