Chapter 2 The Woman He Wanted

• [XENA]
• Axel asks, “So, you’re keeping her as some… some broken relic while you wait for your true mate to return?”
• Cassian confesses, “I promised Davina. And she decided to give Xena the knotgrass.”
• Axel mutters, “Really? I knew my Davina was cruel, but even after all these years, I still can’t believe it was she who sent the rogues after Xena.”
• "But it's true. Otherwise, why did I make Xena my Luna? I did it just to stop her from continuing her investigation and revealing the truth!" Cassian says calmly, but his words completely shatter my heart, "I can't let Davina's reputation be even slightly damaged."
• My entire body goes numb. My long-held suspicion is finally confirmed—that attack was indeed orchestrated by Davina.
• But I never imagined that my perfect love was also fake. The scroll slips from my hand, and I wrap my arms around myself, sinking slowly to the floor, fighting the sob clawing up my throat.
• Axel teases, “Why do you treat your Luna like this? Xena loves you. She worships the ground you walk on. I’d dare say she loves you more than Davina.”
• He doesn't sympathize with me; on the contrary, he’s mocking me. He has always preferred Davina and disliked me.
• “It doesn’t matter,” Cassian snaps. “She’s a good woman, but she’s not the woman I want.”
• “As for Davina, she just wanted to teach Xena a lesson, but it went too far. And Davina paid for it—seven years of servitude in the Moon Guild. An oath of celibacy.” A humorless laugh escapes him.
• “Paid?” Axel scoffs. “Hardly. She walked free into the Guild. She wears their sigil like a saint.”
• “And she’ll return to me in two years as a free woman. I’ll make her mine.”
• All this time, all these years, it was just a show… it was a lie. Cassian never moved on from Davina—my stepsister, and his fated mate. I let myself be blinded by him because he played the caring, loyal husband so well. And I fell like a fool.
• Davina knew that I liked Cassian since we were kids. I tried to deny it when Davina confronted me one night and received a slap in return.
• When she found out he was her true mate on her eighteenth birthday, she made sure to humiliate me in front of all the pack’s youth. I cried bitterly, snot running down my lips, but Cassian found me later, hunched up against a boulder in the abandoned mill. He wiped my tears and told me it was alright. He was still my friend, and he was flattered to know that I liked him.
• He was nicer to me after that. I often wondered whether he did it only to tease Davina. Whatever his intention was, it always made Davina furious. She retaliated by coming up with ways to humiliate and torture me, disguising them as games and pranks.
• Until that night, when my sister tied me up in iron shackles deep in the forest woods.
• “Turn into your wolf and free yourself, Xena,” Davina snickered.
• The others laughed behind her, and then they all left. Cassian was the last to retreat in the group.
• I struggled against the shackles, knowing I was a young wolf—just a week older than eighteen—and that iron suppressed our powers. Still, I begged my wolf, “Come forth, Vera.”
• But Vera couldn’t help me. It wasn’t long after that the rogues found me.
• When they were done with me, they left me there to die, soaked in my own blood, skin torn and jagged. I was barely breathing when Cassian found me.
• Soon after, while I was still recovering from my grave wounds, Davina manifested her abilities, showing she was Moon-blessed. The Guild recruited her, and she was sworn to seven years of servitude—the duration for which she’d need to remain celibate.
• Cassian’s proposal came out of nowhere. But I was too broken to refuse, too fragile.
• My parents suddenly hated me, and I learned that I wasn’t really their child. My father had rescued me from a village that had been torn apart by rogues when I was merely an infant, a scrawling, screaming babe. And my mother had just lost a child in a stillbirth. My arrival was seen as a blessing then.
• But after the rogue attack, I was called cursed. Many wanted me banished from the pack. They hurled rude words at Cassian for saving me. But then he ascended, and their voices were silenced.
• Our wedding was an intimate ceremony. Davina didn’t show up, claiming she was sick.
• Alpha Cassian, once the boy I secretly loved, claimed me and married me.
• But it was all a lie.
• Axel doesn’t notice my silently sobbing figure when he walks out of the chamber. Still, I clamp my mouth shut with my hand, failing to keep the tears at bay. My chest hurts so much that it feels like I will die of a broken heart.
• Why, Moon Goddess? Why didn’t you let me die that night?
• Davina ordered the rogue attack.
• And Cassian—he deceives me, betrays me, and even poisons me…
• Suddenly, the sound of footsteps fills my ears. I shift to the corner, hiding myself in the shadows.
• Astrid strolls in and goes straight into the study.
• I even out my breathing with some effort and then wipe my tears. When I stand on my feet again, I’m numb. Hiding the scroll under my sleeve, I straighten my shoulders and march straight into the study.
• The pair jerk apart like they’ve been struck by lightning. Cassian’s robe is halfway down his shoulder. Astrid pales until her face blends with the painted wall behind her.
• “Forgive me,” I say nonchalantly. “I didn’t know you were taking a healing session in your study.”
• Cassian grunts, pulling up his robe. “You shouldn’t show up unannounced, Xena.”
• “Forgive me,” I repeat.
• Astrid bows deeply and tries to walk out, but I grip her wrist before she can cross the threshold.