Chapter 5: The Choice They Never Gave Her
1392 Words
Chaos had a sound.
It sounded like fifty wolves talking at once, chairs scraping marble, servants pretending not to listen, and nobles whispering loud enough to be heard.
Destiny stood exactly where the Alpha King had left her.
Hands cold.
Mind blank.
The hall spun around her in fragments.
We leave at sunset.
You may refuse.
But you will not.
She should have felt triumphant.
The same wolves who laughed at her rejection were now staring with shock, envy, fear.
She should have enjoyed it.
Instead, she felt exposed.
Again.
“Destiny.”
Mara’s hand clamped around her arm hard enough to bruise.
“Move before I lose my job because of you.”
Destiny let herself be dragged into the servant corridor.
The moment the doors closed behind them, the whispers outside dulled—but the tension sharpened.
Mara released her abruptly.
“What did you do?”
Destiny blinked. “Nothing.”
“Do not lie to me.” Mara paced once, wringing her hands. “Kings do not cross territories for servant girls. Kings do not demand rooms for nobodies. Kings do not look at omegas like—like that.”
Destiny flinched.
“Like what?”
Mara stopped.
“As if they matter.”
The words hit harder than the insult probably intended.
Before Destiny could answer, three servant girls rushed into the corridor.
Mira among them.
Their eyes went wide seeing Destiny.
“Well,” Mira said slowly. “The dead return.”
“Enough,” Mara snapped, though weakly.
Mira ignored her.
“One night ago, rejected trash.” She smiled thinly. “Now suddenly royal interest?”
The other girls exchanged looks.
Jealousy had already replaced mockery.
Destiny was learning they wore similar faces.
“I don’t know why he spoke to me,” Destiny said honestly.
“That may be the first true thing you’ve said in years,” Mira replied.
Destiny should have stayed quiet.
That had always been safest.
But something in her had shifted since last night.
Maybe pain burned fear out of people.
“Then we agree on something,” Destiny said.
The corridor went still.
Mira stepped closer.
“You think one glance from a king changes what you are?”
“No,” Destiny said softly.
“It changes what you can no longer say to me.”
Even Mara stared.
Mira’s hand lifted as if to slap her.
A sharp male voice cut through the corridor.
“Touch her.”
Everyone turned.
Adrian Blackthorn stood at the entrance.
His expression was carved from fury.
Mira dropped her hand instantly and backed away.
The girls scattered like frightened birds.
Mara bowed and fled after them.
Leaving Destiny alone with the man who had broken her.
For several seconds, neither spoke.
He looked immaculate as ever.
Dark clothes.
Controlled posture.
The same face women sighed over.
Yet something was wrong today.
His control looked forced.
“You’re enjoying this?” he asked at last.
Destiny frowned. “Enjoying what?”
“The attention.”
She almost laughed.
Instead she said, “You think this feels good?”
His jaw tightened.
“You know what I mean.”
“No,” she replied. “I don’t think I do.”
He stepped closer.
“That man arrives, speaks to you once, and suddenly everyone forgets who you are.”
The cruelty of it stunned her.
“No,” Destiny said quietly. “They remember exactly who I am. That’s why they hate it.”
Something flickered in his eyes.
Regret?
No.
Possession.
Worse.
“You should refuse him.”
Destiny stared.
The audacity was almost impressive.
“You rejected me publicly.”
“I know what I did.”
“Do you?”
His nostrils flared.
“You don’t know him.”
“And I knew you?”
The words landed cleanly.
He recoiled as if struck.
Good, a cold part of her thought.
Let him feel something.
Adrian lowered his voice.
“You’re angry.”
“Yes.”
“You’re hurt.”
“Yes.”
“So don’t make decisions out of emotion.”
Destiny took one step closer.
“For years, men like you made every decision about my life without asking me once.”
His breathing changed.
She noticed because she noticed everything now.
“This one,” she said, “will be mine.”
She walked past him.
He caught her wrist.
Instantly.
The corridor air snapped tight.
Destiny froze.
The contact sent no bond warmth.
Only memory.
“Let go,” she said.
Adrian’s grip loosened but did not release.
“I made a mistake.”
The words were rough, reluctant.
Not apology.
Ownership under stress.
Destiny looked at his hand on her wrist.
Then at him.
“You made a choice.”
She pulled free.
This time he let her.
She continued walking without looking back.
Her legs trembled once she turned the corner.
But she kept going.
---
By afternoon, the pack house transformed again.
Rooms were cleaned at frantic speed.
Royal guards inspected entrances.
Cooks prepared meals no one would eat because everyone was too tense.
Destiny was given a chamber on the second floor usually reserved for visiting nobility.
Fresh sheets.
A private bath.
A wardrobe larger than her laundry room.
She stood in the doorway unable to move.
This was not kindness.
It was disorientation.
Old Nora entered carrying folded clothes.
“Well,” she said. “I’ve always believed injustice should at least come with better pillows.”
Destiny laughed despite herself.
Then unexpectedly burst into tears.
Nora set everything down and crossed the room.
“Oh, child.”
Destiny covered her face.
“I don’t know what’s happening.”
“No one ever does when life finally changes.”
“He said we leave at sunset.”
“Then sunset is ambitious.”
“What if this is a game?”
Nora’s expression sharpened.
“Then he is a fool. And I have not heard fools described in fear for twenty years.”
Destiny sank onto the bed.
“What if Adrian is right?”
“About which wrong thing?”
“That I don’t know the King.”
Nora sat beside her.
“You don’t.”
“Then how do I choose?”
The old woman was quiet a moment.
“Perhaps stop choosing between men.”
Destiny looked up.
“Choose between versions of yourself.”
The room went still.
“The girl who stays where she is unwanted,” Nora continued, “or the girl who walks toward something unknown because she deserves the chance to know more than suffering.”
Tears slipped silently down Destiny’s face.
No one had ever spoken to her future as if it existed.
A knock sounded.
Two royal attendants entered and bowed.
“His Majesty requests your presence in the west courtyard.”
Destiny’s pulse jumped.
“Now?”
“Yes.”
Nora stood and straightened Destiny’s sleeves.
“Go.”
“I’m terrified.”
“Good,” Nora said. “Means you’re awake.”
---
The west courtyard was quiet, edged by stone fountains and late sunlight.
Kael Draven stood beside the far archway, coat removed, sleeves rolled once at the forearms.
Even relaxed, he looked dangerous.
He turned as she approached.
Royal guards remained far enough away to pretend privacy.
Destiny stopped several feet from him.
“You asked for me.”
“I did.”
Neither moved.
Birdsong filled the silence.
Then Kael said, “Tell me one thing you want.”
She blinked.
“What?”
“One thing,” he repeated. “Not what others expect. Not what survival requires. What you want.”
No one had ever asked her that question.
Not once.
Her throat tightened.
“I… don’t know.”
He studied her face.
“That answer tells me more than most truths.”
She hated how close tears felt lately.
“Why me?” she whispered.
His silver eyes held hers.
“When I know fully,” he said, “I’ll tell you.”
Not a lie.
Not enough.
Yet strangely more honest than she expected.
The sun dipped lower.
Shadows lengthened.
Sunset approached.
And for the first time in her life—
Destiny realized a door was opening.
Whether it led to freedom or ruin, she would soon choose herself.
- Writer
