He Stole My Children I Refused His Crown Chapter 03
A chill late-autumn wind poured through the open terrace doors.
Queen Helena’s old illness suddenly flared, and the royal Healer whisked her away to the medical wing. The betrothal announcement was canceled, and the banquet dissolved into a storm of whispers.
Maya supported me as I limped toward the underground parking garage, my ankle throbbing. She still couldn’t make sense of it all.
“You trained for that dance for three months. You finished the entire performance on a sprained ankle.”
“Prince Lucian might like Celeste more, but the Queen had already chosen you. If you’d accepted, the Ironvale army would be bound to the royal family. You would have been queen one day.”
“Why did you refuse?”
Because Lucian hadn’t changed his mind at the last minute.
He gave the badge to Celeste first on purpose, waiting for me to react, to fight for it, just so Queen Helena could publicly overrule him.
In my last life, I thought the Queen had been defending the rules. I thought Lucian eventually accepted me because he had feelings for me.
In truth, they just wanted every pack to witness my supposed arrogance—and, by extension, Ironvale’s.
Once I became the alliance consort, my father would be forced to keep Ironvale in line, or we’d be accused of using the northern army to interfere with the succession.
There was another, more important reason.
Living in the royal castle, I would become a hostage—leverage the royal family could use to keep my father and Ironvale Pack from ever rebelling.
In my last life, my public support for Lucian had made King Adrian deeply wary of Ironvale.
He had written it into the succession papers: the moment Lucian took the throne, my father’s command of the northern allied forces would be revoked.
The day I went into labor with my first child, my father surrendered his military command. A few days later, he drowned at a royal banquet.
Elliot was sent to the most dangerous borderlands for years, never to return to the capital.
By then, I had lost my pack’s protection and was trapped in the royal castle, forced to watch as Lucian did whatever he pleased with my children.
It all started the night I accepted that betrothal.
Lost in thought, I stepped on a loose stone.
My injured ankle gave way, and I pitched forward.
Strong hands caught me just in time.
The moment I was steady, he let go and took half a step back.
I looked up into the face I’d been thinking of right before I died.
“Elliot…”
Elliot Vaughn, Ironvale Pack’s combat commander, the boy my father had brought home to raise twenty years ago.
Everyone treated him as my older brother, and I had always thought of him that way, too.
His gaze swept over me, head to toe, before settling on my swollen ankle.
“Was it worth it? Injuring yourself like this for Lucian?”
Seeing him again after what felt like two lifetimes, my eyes stung, and I threw my arms around his neck.
“No. It wasn’t.”
I buried my face in his coat, my voice muffled.
“Not at all.”
Elliot’s body went rigid. A hand started to rise, then froze in midair, hovering there for a long moment before falling back to his side.