Crowned by Fate Chapter 151

Skye’s POV

I stared at the coffee cup in Nadia's extended hand, watching thin wisps of steam curl into the dank dungeon air. My fingers trembled as I reached for it.

The weight of my guilt pressed down on me like the stone ceiling above. All those months of carrying the burden of her death, of stepping into her role beside Adrian, of wondering if things could have been different...

I drew in a deep, shuddering breath.

My wolf stirred uneasily within me, sensing danger, urging me to throw the cup away and run.

"This Nadia is fake! Have you forgotten? Your task is to escape the maze within an hour. Adrian is waiting for you!" my wolf reminded me.

But I couldn't.

I owe her this.

"If this is what you want," I said, "then I'll drink it."

Relief flooded Nadia's face, softening her features into the warm expression I remembered so well from our training sessions and late-night conversations.

"Skye," she said softly, "I knew you weren't ungrateful. I knew the guilt you carried was real."

She stepped closer, her hand briefly touching my arm.

"Don't worry. I'll not only help Adrian win the election. I'll stay by his side forever. I'll protect him, love him the way he deserves."

I nodded, a strange peace settling over me.

Yes, what was there to worry about?

Nadia's love for Adrian had always been as fierce as mine, perhaps even stronger. She'd loved him longer, known him better. She'd be the Beta he needed, the companion he deserved.

Without allowing myself another moment of hesitation, I raised the cup to my lips and drank.

The liquid burned down my throat, bitter and acrid, nothing like the sweet hazelnut coffee Nadia used to make at the pack house on Sunday mornings.

Nadia watched me intently as I lowered the empty cup.

"Do you have any message for Adrian?" she asked, her voice gentle now, almost sympathetic.

I opened my mouth to speak, but no words came. My tongue felt thick, heavy.

A tingling sensation spread from my throat outward, like ice crystals forming in my veins.

So it begins.

The cup slipped from my nerveless fingers, shattering on the stone floor.

Nadia's figure began to blur at the edges. She turned and walked toward the dungeon entrance. I watched her go, unable to call out, unable to move.

The wolfsbane worked faster than I expected.

Fire and ice warred in my bloodstream, each heartbeat pumping the poison deeper into my system. My knees buckled, and I collapsed onto the cold stone, gasping as pain lanced through my chest. It felt like claws tearing me apart from the inside—my own wolf turning against me as the poison attacked our bond.

My wolf.

I could feel her weakening, her silver light dimming. She who had come to me so late, who had made me complete—I was killing us both.

My vision swam, the dungeon walls rippling like water. Colors bled together, then separated into impossible patterns.

A lot of Butterflies.

Through the haze of agony, thoughts drifted like autumn leaves.

This ending... maybe it's not so bad.

At least the guilt would end. At least Nadia would have her chance.

But my parents.

Oh, my parents.

Another promise broken, another disappointment delivered. I'd sworn to visit them after the election, to return to Frostshadow Pack and show them I'd survived, thrived even. Mom would wait by the window, watching for me. Dad wouldn't call me his little warrior anymore, he'd call me a real warrior.

I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.

And Adrian... My heart clenched with a different kind of pain.

There were so many things I'd never told him. How his laugh made even the darkest days bearable. How his determination inspired me to be stronger. How I'd choose him again and again, mate bond or no mate bond.

I wanted to tell you, I thought desperately, as if he could somehow hear me across the miles and through the maze's magic. “My choice was always you. From that first night in the bar, through every trial, every danger—it was always you.”

But none of it mattered now.

My wolf whimpered once, then fell silent.

Is this what death feels like? This gradual erasure, this slow dissolution of everything that made me *me*?

Butterflies.

So many butterflies swirling around me, so beautiful. I felt the pain slowly fading, my body becoming weightless, as if I might float away with them into the endless sky.

"Skye!"

The voice cut through the fog like a blade. Someone was calling my name, urgent and desperate.

"Skye, hold on!"

With monumental effort, I forced my heavy eyelids open one last time.

A face swam into focus above me, features sharpening as my vision cleared momentarily.

Not Adrian.

Not Nadia.

Leon.