“You have a way with your words.” Xaden glared down at her and then walked away from the room, he seemed not to want to spend another minute with Zuri.

And the moment he stepped out of the room, Zuri’s legs gave away, she felt her heart beating so fast when she felt this emptiness without his presence.

The mate bond between them worked wonders, but unfortunately, Xaden was hellbent on denying it. He refused to let the bond control him.

Therefore, it left Zuri with this pain.

She clutched her chest and started to cry. The rejection was so clear, even though he didn’t say the words and rejected her directly. Severing the ties between them.

“I can’t do this…” Zuri shook her head, she tried to stop herself from crying, but her heart was broken into pieces when Xaden didn’t even deny it when she asked whether or not he would meet with his omega.

Meanwhile, outside the door, the alpha didn’t immediately leave. He could hear her cries from behind the door and stood there for a while, before he decided to leave. He had important things to handle and the alpha meeting was around the corner. He was going to leave the pack again.

Later on, Zuri slept throughout the night, she skipped both lunch and dinner, while breakfast was long forgotten. She woke up with a headache and called for Esther to bring something for her to eat.

“You look awful, Luna,” Esther said, but Zuri didn’t say anything. “Do you want me to prepare a bath for you?”

“Yes, please,” Zuri replied. She ate her meal and then dipped herself in the warm water to relax her muscles. She felt drained and sleepy. She didn’t want to wake up.

“Luna, do you want me to add more warm water?” Sarah asked.

At this moment, she had dipped herself for more than two hours.

“Yes, please.” Zuri liked this feeling of warmth, because she couldn’t get it anywhere else. Her life was too cold. “I want to stay for a while…”

Zuri felt sleepy, she started to drift off, but was suddenly woken up when boiling hot water was poured on her shoulders. She was too stunned to scream, as the pain rendered her unable to breathe.

Her skin was burning, her ears were ringing and Esther and Sarah freaked out, screaming for help.

“No…” Zuri said weakly, she curled herself inside the tub, trying to hide her nakedness when Esther and Sarah called the guards to help them to get her out of there. “No… don’t call them.”

It was a humiliation for them to go into her bathroom and find the Luna naked like this. No matter how painful it was or how panicked they were, they shouldn’t have called the guards to come and help her when she was naked.

“Help! Come here! Hurry!” Sarah urged the guards to enter the bathroom, but the two of them immediately halted.

“What happened?” They asked vigilantly. They didn’t want to see something they shouldn’t.

Meanwhile, inside the bathroom, Zuri cried because of the pain and the impending humiliation. The two guards were only a few steps away from seeing her naked. She was unable to get herself out of the tub, her shoulders and chest were burning, it would take some time for them to heal.

“No… don’t come. Don’t come here…” Zuri said weakly.

“What happened here?!”

All of them were startled when they heard this familiar voice boom inside the room and the alpha’s figure appeared before their eyes.

Sarah and Esther hurriedly lowered their heads, looking afraid when they noticed the alpha’s eyes fall on them.

“Why do you want the guards to enter the bathroom?” Xaden asked, his voice dripping with venom. Not to mention Zuri, even the guards knew it was something inappropriate to do, let alone the alpha.

Despite their conversation the other day, he was not going to let anyone tarnish the pack name and he had made himself clear about that.

“The Luna is inside the bathroom? What are you doing here?” Xaden didn’t raise his voice, he didn’t have to, because they could feel his wrath as clear as day.

“Alpha… this…” Sarah then explained what happened, how she accidentally poured the hot water on the luna and now they needed to ask for the guards help to carry the luna out, because there was no way for the two of them to do it by themselves. “I didn’t mean it, Alpha. I am sorry. I am truly sorry.”

Sarah and Esther immediately knelt down, they begged for the alpha’s forgiveness instead of the true victim, who was still inside the bathtub.

Upon hearing that, the two guards looked mortified. They thanked the heavens that they didn’t immediately barge in and had been cautious enough.

“We didn’t think straight, Alpha, we are very sorry for what we have done. Please, forgive us…” they said in a small voice full of remorse.

“Leave,” Xaden said in a deep voice. “Call the healer here.”

The two guards immediately went out of the room, scolding Esther and Sarah on their way out because the two of them almost made them get killed by the alpha.

“There is no way the Alpha will kill you,” Sarah retorted quickly once they were out of the room and the alpha couldn’t hear them. “The Alpha doesn’t care about his mate. He doesn’t love her. Don’t you know? The Alpha actually went out of the pack for a month right after their ceremony!”

“That’s because of the monster hunt.”

“Yes, but after that, they had never shared a bed,” Esther chimed in.

“You should be careful with what you say, or else, you will be punished for that loose tongue one day.” The guards looked at them disapprovingly, but Esther and Sarah scowled at them and walked very slowly to call for the healer.

The guards could only shake their heads to see the way they treated their luna.

Meanwhile, Xaden went into the bathroom and found Zuri was still inside the tub, her shoulders looked very red, as she curled herself up, trying hard to hide her nakedness.

“No…” Zuri said weakly, thinking it was the guards. “Get out of here… get away…”

“It’s me,” Xaden said. His deep voice made Zuri open her eyes and she stared at the cold alpha, but there was no word that was exchanged between them, as Xaden grabbed a towel and carried her out of the tub.

This was not the first time he saw her naked body, therefore, there was no need to be embarrassed about this, but still, Zuri couldn’t help but feel exposed under his sharp eyes.

“Why are you here?” Zuri asked, after Xaden helped her to wipe her body and put on some clothes. The burns on her shoulders and chest were still visible, though. It would take some time for them to heal.

“This is my room too,” Xaden replied nonchalantly.

Not so long after, Sarah and Esther came with the healer, she checked on her, while the two maids immediately knelt down again to ask for the alpha’s forgiveness.

Zuri’s eyes turned cold at the sight of them. Instead of asking for her forgiveness, since she was the victim here, they were conveniently asking that from the alpha.

At this point, she wouldn’t be surprised if they actually did that intentionally and wanted to harm her.

“Shouldn’t you beg for the Luna’s forgiveness instead of mine?” Xaden narrowed his eyes at the two of them, he could smell something was fishy here. The way the two of them acted was too strange.

Sarah and Esther immediately apologized to the luna, but it didn’t sound genuine after their apology to the alpha.

“I am really sorry, Luna. I didn’t mean to pour the hot water on you.” Sarah lowered her head, she didn’t dare to look in her eyes.

“Yes, I can understand, you can mistake my head for my feet. It happens.” Zuri replied coldly, her words dripping with sarcasm.

Meanwhile, Esther didn’t say much, instead, she let Sarah do the talking.

“That’s foolish of me, I am really sorry.”

Xaden said nothing, so didn’t Zuri. She didn’t make them stand up either, nor did she say that she forgave them. She would deal with them later.

However, aside from the burns on her shoulder and chest, the healer had something else to announce to them.

“I will give you an ointment for the burns on your shoulders and chest, Luna,” Sera, the healer, said. She looked so young, probably only two to three years younger than Zuri. “But…”

“But?” Zuri narrowed her eyes. “Is there something wrong?” She knew that no wounds could leave scars on a shifter’s body, so her own body wouldn’t have any scars either. If the opposite was the case, her skin would be littered with them by now.

“Let me check more thoroughly this time,” Sera said. She looked more serious, her brows squinted and her eyes narrowed.

She checked on Zuri for less than five minutes before her eyes lit up and she looked at Zuri, beaming.

“Heavens!” She exclaimed, excited. “Congratulations, Alpha! Congratulations Luna!”

Zuri’s heart skipped a beat when she realized what the healer was going to say and she was right about that.

“Luna! You are pregnant!” Sera announced it excitedly, as she smiled ear to ear.

“What did you say?!” Faye screamed when she heard the news that Sarah just told her. “How… how could she be pregnant?! Didn’t you take care of it? Didn’t you give her that drink to prevent that?!” She was screaming right now.

Faye was the woman that was supposed to be the alpha’s mate, but because of her low status, she couldn’t be with the alpha. Not only that, she had been rejected by the alpha as well.

However, they still met here and there and she believed that she could win him over again. After all, they were destined mates for a reason.

“I have given the drink to her, but I don’t know why she is still pregnant,” Sarah said. She was also equally mortified when she learned about this.

For now, the alpha and the luna wanted to keep this pregnancy a secret, until they were ready to announce it, but of course, Sarah and Esther immediately went straight to Faye to inform her about this.

“No way… there is no way this would happen…” Faye was in denial.

“There is a possibility that she can still be pregnant after she drinks the potion, but…” Esther’s words hung in the air and this made Faye become impatient.

“But, what?” She narrowed her eyes on her.

“But, there is another possibility too…”

“What is it?”

“Probably, she got pregnant after she drank the tea that could prevent the pregnancy.”

“There is no way that could happen, the Alpha went to hunt the monsters the very next day of the ceremony.”

“In that case…” Esther didn’t continue her words and this let their imaginations run wild.

“No way. That woman had tricked the Alpha.” Faye immediately stood up and wanted to meet with Xaden right away, but Sarah and Esther stopped her, because they would be in great trouble if the alpha learned Faye knew about Zuri’s pregnancy.

“We need to know who the man is first…” Esther suggested instead.

“What now?” Zuri asked, she stared at the floor, her head was spinning.

They only did it once, but she didn’t think she would get pregnant right away like this, therefore, she didn’t know what to do, not to mention the relationship between her and Xaden was not good at all.

“Keep the baby, that’s not even a question. The baby will be my firstborn. There is no question in there.” Xaden changed his clothes, he came here because he had to go somewhere else and he needed to change his attire.

“That’s it? That’s the only thing that you will say to me?” Zuri lifted her head to look at Xaden, she bit her lip.

“What else should I say?” Xaden turned around and looked at her. “I have made it clear before. You can do whatever you want as long as you will not tarnish our pack name, I don’t mind it at all.”

Zuri bit back her words, she knew there was no point in talking to this man right now, but her heart hurt so bad in the face of his ignorance, not to mention how callous he was.

“Where are you going? Will you meet with that omega again?” Zuri asked sharply. She couldn’t hold back her anger.

“That’s none of your business.”

After saying that, Xaden walked out of the room, leaving her alone there, but he glanced at her neck and saw his mark there. The skin around her shoulders, neck and chest were still red, but it would heal in a few days based on what Sera said. There was nothing to be worried about.

With that being concluded, Xaden left the room.

Later that night, Sarah and Esther came again to bring dinner for Zuri, where they apologized to her again and acted very remorseful.

“It’s okay,” Zuri replied, because she was tired, while they kept pestering her to forgive them when she didn’t feel like it.

However, they assumed Zuri’s curt answer was a sign that she forgave them, thus they dropped their sad expressions and started to pester Zuri to take a walk in the garden.

“It will help with your indigestion. It will help with the baby too,” Esther persuaded her.

Zuri was too tired to argue with them, more so she felt like she needed some fresh air, as she felt stifled to be inside her bedroom all day long.

She felt sad for her baby because of the unstable relationship between her and her mate. More so, the thought of Xaden being with another woman and thinking about his destined mate only suffocated her.

“Here, you need to wear this cloak, the wind outside must be pretty cold.” Esther was being thoughtful. She draped the cloak on Zuri’s shoulders, even though she knew that she was just injured there.

However, the pain was more bearable now and Zuri was in dire need to be away from this room that felt like a jail to her right now.

After that, they walked aimlessly in the garden, they watched the beautiful moon in the night sky, enjoyed the flowers and the sweet scent that the wind carried.

Sarah and Esther would talk to her from time to time, but it was easy for Zuri to tune them out, because most of the time, they just talked to one another.

Zuri was quite enjoying this walk, she would do it more often, but when she thought it was enough, she decided to go back to the bedroom.

Esther suggested they take a different route.

“You have not yet seen the magnolia flowers over there, Luna, let’s go there.” Esther tugged her hand, so did Sarah.

They finally walked in a different direction and found the beautiful magnolia flowers in full bloom, but it was not only the flowers that were blooming brilliantly right now, because an affair was blooming all the same.

Right before her eyes, Zuri watched in disbelief when she saw a woman talking to Xaden. She was being emotional and suddenly, she hugged and kissed him.

“Oh, you shouldn’t have seen this, Luna,” Sarah said. She was surprised, but she did not attempt to prevent Zuri from seeing the scene before her eyes in any way.

It was very obvious what they were trying to do here, but Zuri couldn’t care less about that right now, because all she wanted to do was to separate that adulterous couple.

Her beast roared angrily because of this betrayal. She was seeing red when she marched toward the two of them, while Faye was still kissing Xaden. With her arms wrapped around his neck, the girl forced him to bend his body, so he could accommodate her height.

Zuri must be crazy, because she watched how that woman opened her eyes and was fully aware of her presence, yet she continued what she was doing anyway.

“What are you doing here?” Zuri asked darkly, her eyes were ablaze with anger, and the two of them finally separated. She glared at the woman, who just kissed Xaden and had the audacity to pretend to be afraid, as she hid behind the alpha’s body.

“I- I am sorry, Luna…” she stuttered. She looked like she was about to cry, as she knelt down in front of Zuri. “I am really sorry, Luna. Please forgive me.”

Zuri wanted to laugh. There were so many people, who kept apologizing to her today and she wondered why they kept doing wrong to her.

“Zuri,” Xaden called her name, he looked calm and this made Zuri mad. How could he be so calm after what happened? After what she just witnessed?!

“Is this what you wanted to tell me about ‘mind our own business’?!” Zuri was livid. This was a humiliation for her and she couldn’t accept it.

“Zuri, go back to your room,” Xaden said. He didn’t look remorseful at all, only a little bit annoyed.

“Go back to my room?” Zuri narrowed her eyes. “Do you think I am a child?!” He did not only humiliate her, but also insulted her by saying something like that in front of the servants. “Is this your omega mate?”

“That’s none of your business.”

Zuri was fed up when she heard the same sentence come out of his lips again, she raised her hand and slapped him hard across the face.

Her pride didn’t allow her to be trampled upon like this. This man didn’t have any shame to say those words to her face after what he had done.

There was no apology, nor was there any remorse, not even an explanation.

“I, Zuri Arandelle, reject you as my mate. May our bond be severed for good,” she said, her voice was calm and collected, but the moment they could feel the mate bond between them snap off, Zuri groaned and fell to her knees with an audible thud. She could feel this burning sensation on her neck when her mark disappeared because of the rejection that she made.

She was not the only one, who felt this pain, but Xaden as well, he groaned dangerously and then snarled at Zuri.

“What do you think you are doing?!”

However, no matter how he wanted to protest, there was no saving it. He couldn’t prevent Zuri from saying the words.

The burning sensation that he felt inside his heart was enough to bring him to his knees.

Yet, Zuri felt something else was wrong, because along with the pain of the severed mate bond, she felt another pain, this sharp pain that came from her stomach. She felt like her insides were being twisted and stabbed.

“Ah!” Zuri bent her body, as she held her stomach.

“What happened, Luna? What happened?!” Sarah immediately approached Zuri, as did Esther, while Xaden was too angry about what Zuri had done to care about her.

“My stomach…” Zuri said between her tears. This was even more painful than when Xaden marked her, or when Sarah poured the hot water on her shoulders. This was more painful than any of that.

“Call the healer!” Xaden hollered when he realized what happened. Despite the pain, he approached Zuri and carried her in his arms.

If she felt pain in her stomach, it must be because something was wrong with the baby. Xaden wouldn’t bet on the safety of his baby.

Therefore, despite the pain, he carried Zuri back to their bedroom.

“I- I will call for the healer,” Esther said. Yet, when the alpha had disappeared from their sight, she didn’t immediately do that.

“Did you put that thing in her food?” Faye asked, her facial expression changed. She was livid that Xaden had chosen to take care of Zuri instead of staying behind with herself, but she could understand.

“Yes. I put it in excess to make sure it will be more effective.”

Faye nodded in agreement. She smiled. “Take your time to call Sera. She must be resting now.”

The pain was there, but then the pain was gone and when Zuri opened her eyes, she felt exhausted, as if she had not just woken up from her deep slumber, but was run over by horses.

She looked around her and found a few familiar faces that she recognized.

It was her mother and father. The two of them were bickering with each other, but the moment they realized their daughter had woken up, they stopped.

Alpha Roland approached his daughter, while Zuri pushed herself from the bed into a sitting position.

However, the first thing that Alpha Roland did when he was close enough to Zuri was to slap across her face so hard, she felt her ears ringing painfully.

“Stop this! Don’t do this here!” Karina, the Luna of the River Creek pack tried to stop her mate.

“How dare you reject him?!” Alpha Roland was livid. “How dare you ruin this important union!?”

Zuri shook her head lightly and then faced her father. “He cheated on me. I saw with my own eyes how they kissed each other.”

“So what?! That’s not enough reason for you to reject him!”

Zuri pressed her lips tightly. She just told her father that her mate, the very man he had chosen for her, had cheated on her. He kissed another woman right before her eyes, but her father wouldn’t even give a shit about it?

Roland was not a good father and Zuri knew that, so there was no surprise here.

However, it still shocked her the same and her brain must not be working properly, because Zuri started cackling, which made Roland look even angrier.

“You didn’t drink your medicine,” he stated darkly. He was about to approach her, but Karina held his arm to stop him, which he brushed off and the woman stood there with a blank expression because she knew what was going to happen next.

This was not the first time and even though Zuri had been mated to alpha Xaden, it didn’t mean this would be the last. Women would always be in the clutches of men and at their mercy in this world.

“Why are you so angry father?” Zuri was still cackling. She thought her life was a tragedy, but as it turned out, it was a complete joke. “You always believed that I was crazy. There is nothing new here.”

A harsh slap landed on Zuri’s face again, but instead of stopping, she laughed even harder, until her whole body was shaking. She looked crazy. Zuri felt crazy.