Chapter 121: _ Mated Against My Will

"This isn’t about you, you pathetic idiot!" I screamed, panic beginning to claw at my throat as he trapped me against the stone. "This is about the markless girl! This is about..."

"Which one of them do you love?! Tell me, Vaela. Which one of those royal bastards are you spreading your mind for?!" Corvus interrupted, growling as he leaned down, face inches from mine.

"Do not disrespect me!" I shrieked, raising my hand to slap him again. "I am your princess—"

Corvus caught my wrist in mid-air.

"And I am your mate!"

All my life, I had never been more disoriented. My insides were churning, my head was banging, my chest was heaving, and most importantly, my heart was skipping multiple times per second.

What the hell was going on?

What in the world was wrong with this stupid errand dog of mine? What has gotten into him? Why is it right when I sent Corvus to Elira, he became rogue?

Elira No-One, what exactly is she? Why was she ruining my life? Why is she hell-bent on taking everything that is mine? Taking everything from me?

My eyes stung so badly, I had to blink rapidly to keep the tears from falling. I glared at Corvus, still unable to wrap my head around this ultimate betrayal.

"It’s over! Do you hear me, Corvus?! It is over! We are never meeting again! I am done with you!"

I yanked my wrist, turning to bolt down the stone steps.

I didn’t even make it two inches when...

Corvus lunged forward, grabbing both of my shoulders and slamming me back against the pillar so hard the breath burst from my lungs. Before I could scream, he pinned both of my wrists above my head with one hand and his body trapped me completely against the stone.

"Let’s see if it’s really over," Corvus purred darkly against my ear, "after I mark you."

What?

It was in this very moment that I realized what was going on... just how powerless I was...

Terror spiked straight through my bloodstream.

I looked at his mouth. His canine teeth were slowly elongating, lengthening into the deadly fangs of a dragon shifter ready to claim its mate.

"Corvus, stop!" I shrieked, thrashing violently against his grip, but his weight was that of a boy who had been pushed to his very limits. A determined boy. It was heavy.

"If you do this, my father will execute you! Remus will flay you alive! I will have you hanged in the central square—"

"Who is it?!" Corvus roared, his fangs grazing the sensitive skin right beneath my jawline, making me shudder in fear. "Who are you in love with, Vaela?! Tell me who you’re holding out for, or I sink my teeth into your neck right now and bind us forever!"

The threat of being permanently bound to a blacksmith’s son—of having my life and my status tied to Corvus d’Vael for the rest of eternity—completely broke my resolve.

"REMUS! IT’S REMUS! I’M IN LOVE WITH REMUS!" I screamed at the top of my lungs, tears finally bursting from my eyes.

Corvus froze.

The suffocating silence returned to the alcove, so thick you could hear the rain dripping off the roof tiles.

Corvus slowly pulled his head back, staring at me as if I had suddenly grown a second head. An incredulous laugh bubbled up from his chest.

"Remus?" Corvus repeated, shaking his head in disbelief. "Prince Remus? Vaela... he’s your brother. You’re trying to trick me with some sick joke—"

"He is my stepbrother! We share zero blood! My mother married his father! We carry no blood relation! I can have him! I have loved him for three years, Corvus! He is the only man I will ever want! So let me go!" I sobbed hysterically.

Here I was, screaming the very shameful secret I had never shared with a soul, not even my own sister. And why? Because my own mate, the same person who was supposed to protect me, has turned his back on me... he has turned rogue because of Elira.

Elira No-One has completely shattered my dignity. Tears of vengeance streamed down my face as I wriggled helplessly against Corvus’s grip.

Corvus stared at me. The shock on his face slowly melted away. He threw his head back and laughed. It was a loud, bitter, mocking sound that cut me deeper than any other disappointments in my glorious life.

"Sweet Flame God," Corvus wheezed, looking down at me with pity. "And you called me pathetic? You’re pining after your own stepbrother while he’s out there losing his mind over a markless commoner? You really are pathetic, Vaela."

"Shut up! Shut up and let me go!"

I used all my strength to shove his chest, managing to break his grip for a single second. I scrambled backward, turning to run toward the darkness of the corridor.

"Go ahead and walk out that door, Vaela," Corvus’s voice rang out from behind me. "Run along. But the second you step out of this alcove, I’m going to give the realm the show just as you want it this time. I will tell the entire academy—every student, every warden, and Prince Remus himself—that the Dragon Princess has been harboring a dirty incestuous obsession for her stepbrother while taking a blacksmith’s son to bed."

I froze. My foot hovered an inch above the top step.

The world seemed to stop spinning. I slowly turned around, staring at him in horror.

"Let’s see who gets humiliated then," Corvus added, taking a casual step toward me with a dark smirk playing on his lips. "You... or the markless girl?"

I couldn’t believe it. I genuinely could not process the reality standing in front of me. Corvus d’Vael—the weak, sniveling, desperate boy who used to kiss the hem of my cloak—had grown a spine. He was blackmailing me.

"What... what do you want?" I stammered.

Corvus stopped right in front of me. He reached out, his long fingers gently cupping my chin, tilting my tear-streaked face up to meet his intense gaze.

"I’m going to save you from your own stupidity, my sweet princess," he murmured softly, his thumb brushing over my lower lip. "You think you love Prince Remus because you’ve convinced yourself he’s some unattainable prize. But once our mate bond is sealed... once the magic settles in your blood... you’re going to love me."

"No—Corvus, wait—!" I gasped, realizing a second too late what he was about to do.

"You belong to me, Vaela," he whispered against my throat.

Before I could scream or even draw a single breath of dragonfire to protect myself, Corvus yanked me violently against his chest, tilted my head to the side, and sank his elongated fangs deep into the side of my neck!

A high shriek tore from my throat as an apocalyptic surge of golden lightning exploded behind my eyes!

"NOOOO!"