The Luna He Betrayed, The Queen He Claimed

Chapter 3

Annelise's Pov

“Why? Because I'm the one who poisoned you, Annie. Your sickness is because of me.”

“W… What?” The words hit me like a physical blow, more devastating than the impact of when the doctor told me I was sick. I stared at him, my mouth agape, "You..." I tried to speak, but a metallic taste suddenly flooded my mouth. I buckled over, a violent spasm racking my lungs, and a spray of bright red blood splattered onto the rug. My vision swam with dark spots.

“I don't understand what you're saying. Are you… are you just trying to throw me off and get me out of here? Because if that's what you're trying to do, then it is not funny. It's not!”

“Oh, Anne. You must be so in love with me that you're willing to deny the truth even though it's right in front of you, coming from the mouth of the very person who poisoned you.”

I shook my head frantically. “Kayden, stop. Stop talking. Stop talking!”

"It's such a pity.” Kayden said, his voice smooth and devoid of an ounce of guilt. "But it's masterwork, really. A slow-acting silver distillate that mimics the exact markers of Lupine Necrosis. I administered it to you very slowly, over time I found out about your lies. All those morning tea, evening drinks, all of them were spiked. And you didn't find anything off about them because of the feelings you had for me.”

My hands trembled, the corner of my eyes filled with tears. I had tried not to cry earlier, but now, it was impossible. I looked at Seraphina, who was now stepping off the bed, wrapping the silk sheets around her body like a queen's robe. She looked down at me with a sickening mixture of pity and amusement.

"Don't look so heartbroken, Annie," she said, her voice a cruel lilt. "You won't have anyone to miss you, so just die without any regrets.”

“I won't have anyone to miss me?” I snapped. “Are you f*****g crazy?! How dare you do this to me?! We were married! We have children together! How could you…?”

“Oh don't be so dramatic. It’s not like you were ever a real mother anyway."

My heart stopped for a different reason then. "What... what did you say?”

Kayden let out a sharp, jagged laugh. He leaned down, his face inches from mine, his eyes gleaming with a terrifying secret. "Oh, Annelise. That’s the best part. Did you really think those beautiful, strong Alpha-blood children came from an 'Omega' like you?"

"I gave birth to them!" I screamed, the effort sending another wave of blood up my throat. "I was in labor for eighteen hours! I saw them! I held them!"

"No," Kayden hissed, his grip on my hair tightening until I felt my scalp begin to tear. "You gave birth to a corpse. Your child, the one you carried, was a stillborn. A weak, pathetic thing that died before it even took a breath. Just like you're doing now."

The world tilted. My memories of that day, the pain, the first cries, began to fracture. "No... that’s a lie. You’re lying!"

Seraphina walked over, standing behind Kayden and placing a possessive hand on his shoulder. "It was so easy, really. I was pregnant at the same time you were. We had hooked up months before your 'conception,' and when my children were born healthy and yours was a silent lump of flesh, Kayden just made a switch. We needed a way to give my children the status of the Alpha’s heirs, and since you were the 'legal' Luna, you were the perfect person to shield the relationship between Kayden and me."

I felt my soul shatter. The twins, my Liam, my Maya, the children I had sung to, the children whose scraped knees I had kissed, whose very existence was the only thing keeping me fighting against the pain, they weren't mine? They were the spawn of the two people who had spent a decade dismantling my life.

"They... they're yours?" I whispered, my voice disappearing into a gurgle of blood.

"They are mine in every way that matters," Seraphina smirked. "And once you're gone, I'll take my rightful place as their mother. They won't even remember your name, Annelise. To them, you'll just be the 'sick lady' who used to live in the guest wing."

“Shut up! Shut your f*****g mouth!” I lunged forward at her, my hands stretched into claws. I wanted to tear the smirk off Seraphina’s face. I wanted to wrap my fingers around her throat and make her choke on every word she had just spat at me. But I never reached her.

Before my fingers could even graze a strand of her hair, legs were slammed into my ribs. The force was enough to lift my weakened body off the ground. I flew backward, my spine colliding with the solid dresser with a sickening c***k. The air vanished from my lungs. I collapsed into a heap, my face pressed against the cold floor. A fresh wave of blood surged up my throat, and I retched, coughing up thick, dark clumps of blood that stained the white rug beneath me. Each hack felt like my internal organs were being put through a meat grinder.

"Know your place, Omega," Kayden’s voice boomed. I looked up, my vision blurring, and saw him standing over me. "You're a liability now, Annelise," he said, his voice dropping to a terrifying, calm register. "I was going to let you have those last sixty days of peace. But you just couldn't stay quiet, could you? You had to come home and ruin the mood."

He stepped closer, the shadow of his massive frame swallowing me whole. "Since you already know our secret, then you have to die. Now." He tilted his head, a sadistic glint in his obsidian eyes. "Since you're already going to die anyway, why not die a little earlier? Save us all the trouble.”

My eyes widened as I immediately scrambled to my feet, my hands slipping in my own blood. I didn't look back. I lunged for the door, I just needed to get out of the house. I was two inches from the handle when a hand clamped around the back of my neck. With a grunt of effort, Kayden spun me around and slammed me against the door. Before I could even draw breath to scream, his massive hand moved from my neck to my throat.

He lifted me. My toes dangled inches off the floor as he pinned me to the wood. "K… Kayden..." I gasped, my fingers clawing uselessly at his wrist, my nails drawing thin red lines in his skin. "S… Stop..."

Beside him, Seraphina walked over, her eyes wide with a sick pleasure. She reached out and stroked my cheek, her touch feeling like a serpent's scales. "Shhh, Annie. Just let go. It’s easier this way."

I fought. I thrashed my legs, my heels drumming desperately against the door. The oxygen in my brain began to fizzle out. Kayden’s face was the last thing I saw, cruel, and devoid of the years of history we shared. He squeezed harder. The sounds of the room, Seraphina’s soft giggling, the wind outside, the frantic thudding of my own heart, all began to fade into a high-pitched ring. My strength left me. My hands, which had been fighting so hard to pry his fingers off, fell limp at my sides.

Everything went dark. I stopped breathing. My heart gave one last, shuddering thump, and then... nothing.