Crowned by Fate Chapter 84

Nadia's POV

I have always given Adrian everything—my loyalty, my strength, my life. But there were two secrets I never shared with him.

The first was my feelings for him, so obvious to everyone except the man himself.

The second was that I had met my mate when I was eighteen.

Yes, I had a mate once, briefly.

He was a warrior from Stormhowl Pack—strong, capable, with potential to become the pack's next Beta someday.

Many females would have rejoiced at such a match. But to me, he was nothing more than a future rival.

When we caught each other's scent and the mate bond began to form, the disappointment I felt far outweighed any physical attraction.

That night, we had sex.

But it wasn't about love or even desire—it was merely my excuse to become a "woman." I closed my eyes the entire time, picturing someone else's face.

Someone forbidden to me.

Afterward, I dressed quickly, my body still tingling with the new sensations but my mind already calculating my next move.

My mate lay on the forest floor, watching me with confusion as I pulled on my clothes with methodical precision.

"You can't tell anyone about this," I told him, my voice steady despite the pain already beginning to bloom in my chest. "You can't tell anyone I'm your mate. And I'm rejecting you."

He sat up, anger replacing the post-coital haze in his eyes. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"I'm rejecting you," I repeated, more firmly this time. "I don't accept this mate bond."

"You can't just—"

"I can, and I am." I squared my shoulders, my decision already made years ago. "If you won't accept my rejection, we can settle this another way. I'm willing to fight to the death over this."

His expression shifted from anger to contempt. He laughed—a sharp, cruel sound that echoed through the trees.

"You think I'd actually want you?" He looked me up and down dismissively. "Everyone knows you used to be fat and ugly. And for the record, you're the worst lay I've ever had. Like fucking a dead fish."

The insults washed over me without effect. I'd heard worse from my own father.

"So you accept the rejection?" I pressed, ignoring his attempt to wound me.

He spat on the ground at my feet. "Gladly."

The pain intensified as our nascent bond shattered, but I walked away without showing any sign of it. Physical pain meant nothing to me. I'd been enduring it since I was old enough to enter combat training.

The agony of a broken mate bond was just one more thing to overcome, one more weakness to master.

I never told anyone about that night. Not even Adrian. Especially not Adrian.

***

Life has a way of changing course when you least expect it.

For me, everything shifted three years ago when Adrian's father died suddenly during a border dispute.

I still remember that day with perfect clarity—the somber silence that fell over Stormhowl Pack, the quiet scheming that followed, and the betrayal that came next.

Adrian's uncle Maxwell wasted no time. Within hours of his brother's death, he began rallying support among the pack elders, whispering promises and threats in equal measure. Adrian was too young, too soft-hearted to lead, he told them. Stormhowl needed a strong, experienced Alpha to maintain its power.

Adrian's own mother had chosen Maxwell over her son. Not just politically, but personally. She would become Maxwell's Luna, cementing his claim to leadership.

The pain in Adrian's eyes nearly broke me.

"I'm challenging him," I told Adrian that night, my fists clenched so tight my nails drew blood from my palms. "You're the rightful Alpha. I'll fight as your champion."

Adrian shook his head, his expression resolute despite the betrayal he'd suffered.

"No. That's what he wants—an excuse to eliminate any threat to his power. There would be bloodshed, regardless of who won."

"So we just accept this?" I demanded, pacing his small cabin like a caged animal. "Let him steal what's rightfully yours?"

Adrian's answer changed everything. "We leave. We build something better."

My father was livid when I told him I would follow Adrian. He backhandded me across the face, splitting my lip and sending me crashing into our kitchen table.

"You stupid girl," he snarled, looming over me as I tasted blood. "Adrian has nothing! No territory, no resources, no future. Maxwell is Alpha now. Accept it!"

I spat blood onto our pristine floor. "I'd rather starve as a free wolf than live fat and comfortable under a usurper."

He beat me that night, worse than ever before. But the pain only strengthened my resolve.

The next morning, with bruises blooming across my ribs and back, I met Adrian at the pack boundary with nothing but the clothes on my back and my unwavering loyalty.

Ryder joined us, of course—the headstrong pup had worshipped Adrian since he was old enough to walk.

Eleven others came too, mostly younger wolves without deep pack ties or older ones who remembered Adrian's father with fondness.

Thirteen wolves in total, leaving the comfort and security of Stormhowl for an uncertain future.

Those first months were brutal. We slept under the stars, hunted what we could, and kept moving to avoid confrontation with established packs.

Two of our company couldn't handle the hardship. I remember finding their goodbye note one morning—a hasty apology scratched on tree bark, their scent already fading as they returned to Stormhowl with their tails between their legs.

We weathered fierce storms huddled together in makeshift shelters. We ate whatever game we could catch, sometimes going days on nothing but berries and roots.

Once, when food was particularly scarce, Ryder attempted to catch fish with his bare hands, slipping on wet rocks and nearly drowning in the process.

Adrian pulled him from the rushing water, and we laughed until our sides hurt as Ryder insisted he'd "almost had" a giant trout.

Most packs would have fractured under such conditions. But hardship forged us into something stronger, more resilient. Adrian never complained, never showed doubt.

He carried the heaviest burdens, took the smallest portions, and kept our spirits alive with stories of the home we would build someday.

For me, those wandering days were a strange kind of paradise. Despite the hunger and exhaustion, I was happier than I'd ever been at Stormhowl. Because I was with him. Because every morning I woke to the sound of his voice planning our day's journey, and every night I fell asleep knowing he was nearby.

Then Adrian discovered the oasis—an unclaimed territory in the harsh Texas desert, with a hidden water source that could sustain life. It wasn't much, but it was ours.

We built Oasisborn from nothing, transforming barren land into a sanctuary for the broken, the rejected, the unwanted.

I should have known such happiness couldn't last forever.

The moment I walked into The Watering Hole and saw her-green eyes sharp with intelligence despite her fear—I knew.

I recognized the threat before Adrian did, before she did, perhaps even before fate itself realized what it had set in motion.