The Princess's Revenge Chapter 59

Valencia’s POV

The words sent ice through my veins. I took a step backward and gripped the dagger tight.

"He said Logan gave him special orders," she continued, her voice getting colder with each word. "To keep you safe. To make sure nothing happened to precious little Valencia."

"Amara," Dr. Vance said carefully, "you need to rest. You're in shock—"

"No," she interrupted, her eyes suddenly snapping to mine with terrifying focus. "No, I'm thinking clearly for the first time all day."

She stood up slowly from where she had been kneeling on the stone ground. Her movements were deliberate. "My brother died protecting you," she said, her voice rising with each word. "IT'S YOUR FAULT HE'S DEAD!"

The scream that tore from her throat made everyone freeze.

"Amara, that's not true," I said quickly, backing toward the castle wall. "Xander died fighting Dorian. He died protecting the pack."

"LIAR!" she shrieked, drawing her sword in one swift motion. "HE DIED BECAUSE OF YOU!" She lunged at me with the sword raised above her head. I threw myself to the side, rolling across the stone ground as the blade crashed down where I had been standing. Sparks flew as metal struck stone.

"Stop!" Dr. Vance shouted, but Amara was beyond hearing.

She spun toward me, her sword cutting through the air. I scrambled backward on my hands and knees, the blade passing inches from my face.

"You cursed bitch!" Amara snarled, advancing on me. "Everything you touch dies! My brother would be alive if Logan had never brought you here!"

I managed to get to my feet. My dagger felt pitifully small compared to her sword, but it was all I had.

She attacked again, this time thrusting straight for my chest. I twisted away, but not quickly enough. The sword point caught my left arm, tearing through the fabric and slicing a burning line across my skin.

"Ah!" I gasped, feeling warm blood run down my arm.

"AMARA, STOP THIS!" Dr. Vance roared, but she ignored him completely.

She pressed her attack, swinging the sword in wide arcs. I could barely keep up with her speed. Each swing came closer to taking my head off.

I tried to counter with my dagger, but she was too fast, too strong. Her training as a Gamma warrior showed in every movement. She knew exactly how to use her reach advantage, keeping me at the perfect distance where her sword could hit me but my dagger couldn't reach her.

The blade caught me across the shoulder, opening another wound. Then across my thigh, soaking my chemise with blood. My blood ran cold.

"You're going to die screaming," Amara said, her voice filled with satisfaction.

Dr. Vance had disappeared from the doorway. I could hear his voice echoing from the courtyard outside.

Three warriors burst through the entrance. "Drop your weapon!" the lead warrior commanded, his own blade already drawn.

"Stand down, Gamma Amara!" another shouted, moving to flank her.

Amara's head snapped toward them, her eyes blazing red with fury. For a moment she looked like she might attack all of them at once. Her sword trembled in her grip, my blood still dripping from the steel.

"This doesn't concern you," she snarled.

"It concerns us when pack members attack each other," the lead warrior replied firmly. "Lower your weapon."

Reluctantly, Amara sheathed her sword. But her red-rimmed eyes never left mine, and the hatred burning there made my blood turn to ice.

"Fine," she said, her voice deadly quiet. "I'll wait for our challenge."

She stepped closer to me. "I'm going to kill you," she whispered. "In our challenge, I'm going to tear you apart piece by piece. You're going to pay for what you did to my brother."

My heart sank like a stone in my chest. The fight had shown me exactly how outmatched I was. Her speed, her strength, her decades of training- I couldn't compete with any of it.

I can't beat her. Maybe I really am going to die. The thought made panic flutter in my chest like a trapped bird. Maybe all this hope, all these people I care about - maybe I'm going to lose it all again.

"You have no idea what real pain feels like," Amara continued, her voice filled with venom. "But you will. I promise you that."

The despair was crushing, heavier than any physical weight. I had tasted friendship with Delphine, had felt Alpha Logan's protection, had finally experienced the praise and recognition. And now it was all going to be ripped away from me.

Amara turned away from me and faced Dr. Vance, who had entered behind the warriors. Her voice was cold. "Take me to see my brother's body," she demanded.

Dr. Vance nodded slowly, his face heavy with sorrow. "Of course, Amara. Of course."

Before leaving, Dr. Vance approached me, his eyes filled with concern as he examined my wounds. The cuts weren't deep, but blood soaked through my chemise in several places.

"Go upstairs and stay with Alpha Logan," he said gently, his voice meant only for me. "Clean your wounds and rest. He needs you right now."

I nodded heavily, feeling the crushing weight of my situation settling over me like a burial shroud. "Yes, Dr. Vance."

His weathered hand briefly touched my shoulder in a gesture of comfort. I watched as Dr. Vance led Amara away. The three warriors remained in the hall until they were gone, then slowly dispersed back to their duties.

Alone now.

My heart felt like it was made of lead as I climbed the stone stairs. Each step reminded me of how helpless I had been against Amara just minutes ago. The cuts on my arm and shoulder throbbed, but the physical pain was nothing compared to the crushing weight in my chest.

She's going to kill me. I can't beat her.

Decades of training versus my few days with Dragon Claw. It wasn't even a fair fight.

I could still see the hatred burning in Amara's eyes. Why does she hate me so much? The question made my chest tighten with frustration. I didn't kill Xander. I didn't ask Logan to give him orders to protect me. None of this is my fault.

But even as I thought it, doubt crept in. Maybe she was right. Maybe I really was cursed. Maybe everyone who got close to me was destined to suffer.

My luck has been shit since the day I was born. I pressed my hand against the stone wall to steady myself. Abandoned as a baby. My pack slaughtered. Enslaved by the man who murdered my parents. And now this.

I've cursed the Moon Goddess so many times, I thought bitterly. Why do you hate me? What did I do to deserve this? Why did you abandon me?

My feet carried me upward without conscious thought. The faces of everyone who had shown me kindness flashed through my mind - Delphine's warm smile, Nestor's gratitude, Kael's helpfulness, Dr. Vance's gentle concern, and Logan's protective embrace.

Why give me hope just to rip it away? Tears burned behind my eyes. Why let me taste friendship and belonging and maybe even love, just to watch it all get destroyed again?

What if this is all just Moon Goddess playing with me? What if I actually died at Marcus's funeral, tied to that stone pillar, and this is just some sick fantasy my dying brain created?

The idea made perfect sense. Of course a wolfless slave couldn't survive rogue attacks, couldn't walk through fire unburned, couldn't catch the attention of the kingdom's most powerful Alpha. It was all too impossible, too good to be true.

I found myself standing outside the great hall. Cheerful voices and laughter drifted through the air, as if the pack had already returned to normal after everything that had happened.

I thought of Kai's innocent face, the way he used to follow me around asking endless questions. I thought of my adoptive parents, who had loved me like their own blood despite knowing I was wolfless.

Tears gathered in my eyes, hot and heavy. I looked down quickly, not wanting anyone to see me cry.

My chin bumped against the iron collar around my neck. Fcuking colllar.

The cold metal against my skin was like a slap across the face. A reminder of exactly what I was. What I would always be.

This is my destiny, I thought, the tears starting to fall. Pain. Suffering. Death. The collar was right all along.

A sob escaped my throat, then another. The laughter from inside the hall covered the sound, and somehow that gave me permission to let go completely.

I pressed my back against the stone wall and slid down until I was sitting on the floor. The tears came harder now, years of suppressed grief and fear and loneliness pouring out of me like a dam had burst.

The unfairness of it all crashed over me in waves. I cried for my parents, for Kai, for Xander, for Clarence, for everyone who had died because of circumstances beyond their control.

I cried for the friendship I was going to lose with Delphine, for the kindness I'd never be able to repay to Dr. Vance and the others.

Most of all, I cried for Logan. For whatever we might have had together if I wasn't cursed, if I wasn't destined to bring death to everyone around me.

My sobs grew louder, more desperate. The laughter from the great hall seemed to mock me, reminding me that life would go on perfectly fine without Valencia the wolfless slave.

"Valencia?"

The gentle voice made me freeze. I looked up through my tears to see Delphine standing in the hallway, her face filled with concern.

Shit. I quickly wiped at my eyes, trying to hide the evidence of my breakdown. "I'm fine," I managed to say, though my voice came out broken.

Delphine's expression softened. She approached slowly. "It's dinner time," she said gently. "I thought you might be hungry. I asked Nestor to save some of the good stuff for us - I wanted to share it with you."

She held out her hand to me, her smile warm and genuine.

I stared at her in confusion. "I'm not hungry," I said, my voice still choked with tears. "Alpha Logan is—"

"I know," Delphine interrupted, her voice patient. "Macsen told everyone that Alpha Logan came back. He's resting now. You should eat something while you wait."

She kept her hand extended, waiting for me to take it. The simple gesture of friendship made fresh tears gather in my eyes.

"Come on," she said softly. "You'll feel better with some food in you."