Chapter 179: The Weight of Choices II

Azura’s POV

I told them about the pendant, the invisible curse of the secondary bond, and the secret, desperate deal my biological mother had struck with the Dragon King while I was still wrapped in swaddling clothes.

I explained the razor-sharp dragon scale locked away inside the metal casing, and the real reason I had abandoned the heirloom in a dusty drawer for years without wearing it.

When my voice finally drifted off, no one made a sound.

They just sat there, staring at the polished wood as they tried to process the madness.

"So..." Genevieve began, her voice slow, deliberate, and heavy with a deep sadness.

"You were officially betrothed to him from the moment you were little?"

She turned her head, her sharp gaze landing heavily on the Dragon King.

He had positioned himself directly beside Liona, his massive frame practically eclipsing her small chair, though he was careful not to crowd her space.

On my other side, Rhydor sat dangerously close to my shoulder.

His handsome face was completely tight, his features locked in a mask of worried anticipation as his eyes scanned my face for any sign of distress.

Genevieve leaned forward, fixing the Dragon King with a hard glare.

"Why on earth would you ever force a newborn child into a volatile bond like that?"

"From every single thing she just revealed to you..." the Dragon King replied, his voice completely calm as he leaned back in his chair, unbothered by her judgment. "You should already perfectly understand why I took those measures. Wolves are inherently treacherous creatures. You cannot be trusted."

He paused, his grey eyes softening by a fraction as he slid his gaze over to Liona’s rigid profile.

"Except for you, my princess," he added, his voice dropping into a shockingly tender tone.

Liona’s forehead creased into a deep, furious frown.

"Do not call me that," she snapped sharply, her fingers digging into the edge of the table.

The Dragon King ignored her outburst entirely, keeping his focus locked on the grander issue.

"Even from the story your Luna just told you... Her mother ultimately could not keep her side of our sacred bargain. That is the exact reason I anchored the scale into her life. I needed insurance. But as you can all plainly see... the magic did not work the way it was intended."

He turned his head back to me, a spark of genuine, cold curiosity flaring in his eyes.

"How exactly did you manage to survive that purge, girl? Your parents were slaughtered. The entire pack was wiped from existence. You should have died with them."

"Before that horrific day arrived..." I whispered, my gaze dropping to my folded hands as the phantom sound of screaming echoed briefly in my ears.

"My mother foresaw the darkness. She spent weeks secretly carving out an escape route for me. She sent me away into the deep woods with a trusted guard before anything could go completely wrong. She sacrificed everything to make sure I got out alive."

The Dragon King gave a slow, respectful nod of his head.

He didn’t push for any more painful details, recognizing the boundary.

I lifted my chin, staring directly into his grey irises across the table.

"Since it is completely obvious that neither of us actually wants this artificial bond hanging over our heads... what do you think we should do to break it?"

"Obviously, the weaker link between the two of us is you," the Dragon King stated flatly, his brutal honesty sending a cold chill through the room. "Even if your latent powers are finally waking up from their slumber... You are not fully awake yet."

"Your body is far too fragile to handle or control the catastrophic blast of raw magic that would be released if that dragon scale were to be forcefully destroyed right now. It would tear your soul to pieces."

He leaned far back in his wooden chair, crossing his massive arms over his chest.

"But there is another way," he continued, his voice slow and precise. "A traditional way to permanently sever the attachment. Without anyone in this room getting mutilated or killed."

Every single person around the table leaned in closer, holding their breath as they waited for his answer.

"You simply need to mate with your true, fated match," the Dragon King stated smoothly.

He slid his eyes over to Liona, a small, incredibly smug smile curving his lips as he watched her reaction.

"This specific magical loophole only works from the female side of the bond, unfortunately."

"If a male’s true mate could break an artificial attachment from my side... I promise you I would have severed this annoying link with Azura a very long time ago."

Liona fixed him with a completely flat, murderous look.

"Do not look at me like that," she muttered, her voice dripping with venom.

Across the table, Genevieve was nodding her head in slow agreement, a wave of visible relief washing over her maternal features.

"Well... that actually sounds like a perfect way to end this entire nightmare once and for all."

"You can finally mate with your true match, Azura. The moment you accept him fully, the lingering bond between you and the Dragon King will shatter into nothing. Everything will finally go back to exactly how it was meant to be."

I felt Rhydor’s body go completely rigid beside me, his breathing stopping entirely as he waited for my response.

"No," I said.

The single word fell into the center of the table like a slab of solid ice.

The entire room went dead silent once again, the collective breath of the group catching in their throats.

I turned my head slowly, forcing my eyes to lock directly onto Rhydor’s tight, frozen face.

"I know every single person sitting around this table desperately wants this exhausting drama to come to an end," I stated, my voice completely firm, steady, and devoid of any hesitation. "But that does not mean I am suddenly ready to hand my body and soul over to your son."

Rhydor’s mouth parted slightly, a desperate plea forming on his lips as he reached a hand out toward me.

"Azura, please.. "

"No," I cut him off ruthlessly, my voice turning razor-sharp as I refused to let him speak. "He made my life a literal, living hell for months, Genevieve. He hunted me down, he locked me away, and he broke me in ways I am still trying to fix."

"I will absolutely not force myself to be with a man like him just to clear up a political mess."

Rhydor closed his mouth slowly, his broad shoulders sagging as he sat there, completely defenseless against my words.

"I am actively trying to fix every single mistake I made," he whispered quietly, his rough voice cracking with an intense amount of raw sorrow.

"I am trying so hard to make things better between us, Azura. I am trying to show you that I can change."

"You are trying," I agreed, my tone turning completely cold and unyielding. "But your current effort does nothing to erase what you have already done to me. It does not erase the scars, and it does not fix what you tore apart between us."

Rhydor went completely quiet, lowering his head as he ran out of arguments.

I tore my eyes away from his broken posture and looked straight back at the Dragon King, my jaw set in determination.

"I will end this artificial bond between us, your Majesty. I promise you that. But I will not do it using the method you just laid out."

"I will find another way out of this trap. I will dig through every ancient text and search every cave until I find any other way to shatter it."

I shifted my gaze back to Rhydor’s profile one last time, my voice steady and unmoving.

"And that means I do not have to force myself to mate with him."

Rhydor’s stoic expression did not change, his face remaining a blank, rigid mask as he stared down at the wooden table.

But because the true mate bond was humming violently beneath my skin, I saw it anyway.

I felt it clearly.

The profound, agonizing flash of pure heartbreak that shone behind his dark eyes.

The crushing weight of a deep, suffocating sadness that he was desperately trying to hide from the rest of the room.

And then, it hit me.

Through the newly awakened connection in my chest, his raw emotional pain came slamming directly into my own soul.

It pressed heavily against my ribs like a massive, suffocating weight, making it suddenly difficult for me to draw in a full breath.

For the first time in my life, I could actually feel the exact magnitude of his suffering, tearing through me like a physical blade.

I knew exactly how much my rejection was hurting him.

I could feel the agony of his soul ripping at the edges of my own mind.

But as I sat there, forcing my heart to turn to solid stone against the phantom ache, I reminded myself of the past.

Compared to the absolute living hell he had put me through, the heartbreak he was feeling right now was absolutely nothing.