(Adrnia)

When I come to my senses, he has me in his room on his soft bed, covered with a blanket that seems to have been soaked in his scent.

"Ada!" His whisper of love reaches me, making me lift my lashes and stare at his handsome face contorted with deep concern. "How are you feeling?"

He strides forward and comes to sit beside my head. His hand reaches out to softly caress my hair.

"Thirsty!" I tell him truthfully, trying to sit up. He helps me.

Picking up the jug from the nightstand he fills it up with the crimson liquid and aids me in drinking.

My parched throat is relieved as the liquid trickles down it. I drink until I am sated and tiredness leaves my body.

"I can’t apologise enough for my inadequacy, for not thoroughly investigating the death scam," he sadly says. "For leaving you there to be tortured for so long. Can you forgive me?"

I lean into him and he holds me to himself.

"I should have never left you. That decision cost me so much, especially my children."

His nose nuzzles into my hair. "Your son is alive. He is the one who came to me and told me about you."

A warmth spreads through, the one that I haven’t felt since my child was taken from me. My eyes find Hathial, wide and unblinking. My fingers fist against his royal garb.

"Rigel is alive?" My son, my Rigel, my Moonling, my reason to keep living—is alive.

I can’t wait to hold him.

"Yes, and he has grown up into a fine young man. Brave and intelligent." Hathial beams at me.

"Will you take me to him?" I ask in a shaky voice. The heartening news has dampened my eyes. 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

"Of course, but first will you tell me something truthfully?" He questions, delicately pushing away the stray strands from my forehead.

I offer him a nod but my heart clenches. I know what he is going to ask.

"Do you remember sleeping with me?"

I lower my gaze. Heat creeps up in my cheeks.

"I do, I wasn’t in control."

His shadows crawl under my neck and gently lift my chin.

"I hope you don’t regret it though because I don’t."

Knowing that Hathial is my real mate. "I don’t care now." This makes a smile descend on his thin lips.

"For me, you were the only woman." The back of his hand slides against my cheek. "Now it’s confirmed you are my mate. I am never letting you go."

I embrace him. "I want to be by your side."

"You will be. But first, tell me. Is Rigel my son?"

My muscles tense at his words. He captures my face between his hands. "He has shadow magic. You and Orion don’t possess that. It’s only in my bloodline."

Hathial is smart and his words also reveal that Rigel has activated his vampire gene and also possesses shadow magic. That can only mean he is indeed Hathial’s son.

"I always had a doubt and now I think yes. I didn’t know he had shadow magic."

Hathial’s smile widens. "He is our child, Ada. I could feel that in my blood when he came to meet me. My shadows descended on him, they don’t descend on just anyone."

His lips graze against mine, soft and firm and I soften under his touch, giving in.

Once he lets me go, he says. "Let’s eat and then you will tell me what they did so when I go to exact my revenge, I know whom to hurt and how."

There is this savagery in Hathial’s words. His gaze holds bloodlust for people who have hurt me.

Hathial bathes me himself, dresses me up and feeds me with his hands. He nurses me to health. There are no physical wounds on my body but emotional ones will take a lifetime to heal.

I tell him everything, I don’t hold anything back—wishing for every culprit to be punished.

Hathial tells me about his meeting with Rigel and Alnilam, and what they revealed to him, meaning they are aware of that woman’s truth.

We prepare ourselves and use the portal to arrive at Orion. A nostalgia hits me when I set foot into this kingdom again but there is no fear. I am going to face her without any fear. My mate is by my side and I am here to see my son.

But we learn, she has already fled and the State of Orion is in the process of healing. Meeting Orion is not as overwhelming as I had imagined it to be. At the very first glance, he understands I am not his mate. The curse which had bound us together has been lifted and we don’t feel any attraction towards each other.

His sons take me to meet Rigel. Every step forward, I feel my heart beating with immeasurable love and affection for him. But we halt outside a room and Alnilam faces me.

He grimly says. "Before we enter the room, there is something you need to know."

My heart sinks like a stone hurled into a lake.

Is my son well?

Has something happened to him?

"What is it?" My anxious breath comes out.

He passes a disturbing glance with his brothers. "You didn’t give birth to a stillborn baby. Instead, our mother switched him with a dead baby and gave Saiph to her maid to be raised and later made him her guard."

The ground not only shakes but slips entirely from underneath my feet.

"....Saiphhhh....my child is alive?" I stammer. My knees almost give way but Alnitak holds me by the waist.

"I am sorry...but he is no more." Alnilam fights back a sniffle. "He died protecting his mate, our mate..."

Tears brim in my eyes, blurring my vision. A dread falls over me, splitting me into two. My heart bleeds out for I have already mourned him, then seen him get abused and now to learn of his death.

Hidding my face in my hands I silently cry. Alnitak embraces me, letting me grieve into my chest.

"We are so sorry for our mother’s actions. Forgive us." He rubs my back. "He was our eldest brother, who always protected us but we couldn’t protect him."