Page 135 of The Alpha's Cursed Queen

“I am the queen!” Willow shrieks. “I’m the only one allowed to bear your child! That bastard child is not yours. It cannot be the heir! I’ll kill it before I let—”

Without thinking, I grab the front of Willow’s dress and pull her up against the bars, baring my teeth at her. “Never insult my daughter again. I told you that day that you may be the queen in name, but that is all you will ever be. My heart has always belonged to Alice. Despite everything you did, you never succeeded in ripping us apart.”

Willow’s eyes fill with tears. “You don’t mean that. You love me. I know you do. No matter what you do, I know a part of you will love me. Father said so. Father said you will love me.”

“Your father lied,” I growl at her. “Did you think I would give another female my heart and my body when my fated mate was alive and well?”

I see the flicker of hatred in her eyes, the madness tainted with pure loathing. “Your fated mate? That bitch is a dark witch! She’s not worthy of being queen! Don’t you dare give her my place, Darian! Alice deserves to be put down like a dog! She’s not better than me! She can never be better than me! Don’t you dare make her the queen! I’ll kill you all! I’ll kill her and that bastard child!”

Enraged, I shove Willow backward into the cell. “She is better than you. And she will be my queen. You and your father will pay for your crimes. I know Thomas sent you to her office. I know the plan was to distract me and get to my daughter. Whether you knew about our child or not, I can’t say for sure. But you were part of the attempt to kidnap a member of the royal family. And that is a crime punishable by execution. You are no longer the queen, Willow. You are nothing. You tried to take Alice’s rightful place for seven years, and your hands were still empty. They will remain empty.”

She stares at me for several seconds, her eyes wild. “No. No! You cannot make her the queen! She can’t be queen! Not that orphan bitch! She can’t be better than me! I’ll kill you first!”

She launches herself at me, but the bars get in the way, not that they stop her from trying. Her arms extend through the bars as she tries to reach me, her mouth frothing. “She can’t be better than me! She can’t be!”

I take a step back, pitying her and repulsed by her. I don’t know when she began pitting herself against Alice, but it hasconsumed her. This desire to outdo Alice has driven Willow into madness.

One of the Black Arrows approaches me. “What should we do with her, Sire?”

“Alice doesn’t want her in the mansion. Remove her to another location. Guard her.”

As I walk away, I wonder if Thomas fueled his daughter’s madness. What kind of father does that?

Chapter 27

Alice

“I’m fine, Darian.” I remove my persistent mate’s arm from around my waist. “Stop trying to pick me up and carry me everywhere.”

“What, taking care of you is a crime now?”

“It is when you hover over me like this,” I retort. Seeing the hurt look in his eyes, however, I feel guilty. “I’m okay, really. Mary has healed me most of the way. I’m just not used to people worrying about me like this.”

He takes my hand and holds it to his cheek. “I’ll always worry about you. That’s my job as your mate. I would rather you weren’t even here right now, and if you weren’t so stubborn—” I narrow my eyes at him, and he cuts himself off, backtracking. “Did I say stubborn? I meant determined.”

“Nice save,” I say dryly, feeling my heart flutter at the wicked grin on his lips. “You’re lucky you’re so good looking. That really helps your case most of the time when you put your foot in your mouth.”

He kisses my knuckles. “And I’m lucky my mate is so shallow when it comes to looks.”

“You bet your ass I am.”

He lets out a bark of laughter.

Seeing him laugh makes me want to smile. He’s always so tense. The more time I spend with him, the more I notice that Darian has changed. The man I remember, even if I knew him for just a few weeks, was lighthearted and relaxed. The man I met seven years later has a constant strain in his eyes, and he’s always careful, always walking on eggshells around me. At times like this, when he completely lets go, I feel happy.

“There she is.” Darian straightens up. We’re standing outside the gates of the mansion, and I follow his gaze to see a cloaked figure approaching us. I immediately tense up. My experience with cloaked figures hasn’t exactly been the best.

On reaching us, the woman removes her hood, and I come face to face with the dark witch who is known as the archive keeper. She stares at me and then smiles softly. “You’ve grown up. You have your mother’s hair.”

I start at her words. “What? Do you know me?”

All she says is, “Follow me.”

“Wait…”

But Nara has already begun walking. She heads in the direction of the forest, and Darian shakes his head when I shoot him a frustrated look. She knows about my mother. There is no denying it.

“Later,” Darian cautions me.

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