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She instructed me to lie down on my back on her operating table.

I complied, watching as she began selecting bottles from the shelves and muttering to herself under her breath.

She grabbed the bowl and the pestle and returned to my side, pouring the herbs, roots, and bright-colored liquid into the bowl.

Then, she set about pounding it into a poultice.

“What will that do? ”

“What you say means that the contents of whatever potion was used on you were very specific,” the med witch said.

“If I were to guess correctly, and usually I am not wrong, the potion was a forbidden aphrodisiac meant to have you bonded to another outside of your fated mate.” She gestured at the bowl, a bright orange glow emanating from the contents within.

“I will put this salve along your chi channels. If they glow blue…then that means it is the forbidden spell.”

I swallowed thickly and inhaled a steadying breath. “Let’s get this over with,” I said, my voice hollow.

The med witch nodded. She rubbed the salve along my forehead; the texture was that of butter. She then moved on to my inner wrist and the insides of my ankles. Then, she stepped back. And we waited.

I slammed my eyelids shut, hoping, praying, with everything in me that it did not turn blue.

That Rosalana did not betray me. That would mean that she had maliciously tried to alter my mind, my will to her bidding.

That she had attempted to forge a bond that didn’t exist between us left a raw bitter taste at the back of my throat. I had trusted her.

And if she was the type of fae to resort to such actions…then I feared I didn’t know her at all.

Behind my eyelids glowed the salve. I opened my eyes. Crystal blue light shone into view.

My claws sliced out. “Stars damn,” I hissed.

“It is as I feared,” said the med witch.

“Yes,” I growled. Dark shadows of flame wafted around my body. “Rosalana poisoned me with a forbidden aphrodisiac.”

I stood in the throne room to my father’s right. The king sat on his throne, a dark, glowering figure, his anger palpable. Beside him sat my mother. Her thin, delicate brows slashed over her narrowed eyes; her incisors bared as we waited for the shadow fae female to be summoned.

Then the doors opened, and two guards entered, hauling along a dark-haired female with silver eyes. A fire ignited inside my gut as I caught sight of Rosalana.

“Let go of me!” She cried, writhing in the guards' steely grip. Her eyes found mine. “Drake,” she cried. “What is the meaning of this?”

“Oh, I think you know, Rosalana.” I approached her with slow, calculated steps. “You know why you’re here.”

Her eyes widened. I glared down at her, my heart twisting inside at having to look at her. “I’m giving you one chance,” I growled. “Tell me the truth. Did you use a forbidden aphrodisiac on me to forge a mating bond between us?”

Her mouth fell open, but no words rose forth. Her gaze shot to the king and queen, who sat like vipers coiled on their thrones, waiting to strike. “I… I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said.

I smiled at her. “Don’t lie to me!” My claws sliced out, and she flinched. “I trusted you, and this is how you repay me?!”

The king lifted a hand, calling for silence, and I snapped my mouth close, my jaw twisting as I stared at Rosalana. Her features had grown pallid underneath the weight of my glare. Then she licked her lips, shooting an anxious glance at the king.

The king slowly rose from his throne, stepping down from the dais as he approached. His body exuded power and strength. And even Rosalana had the sense to duck her head fearfully.

“You are not aware of this,” the king said. “But Drake has been tested by a med witch. She has found traces of a forbidden aphrodisiac being used upon him. Drake started developing symptoms only when he was in your presence at the bar. Do you care to explain, Rosalana?”

I knew my father. By the calculated gleam in his eye, he was laying a trap. And Rosalana stepped right into it.

“How can you say I did it?” Rosalana exclaimed.

Again, she struggled in the guards' grip, but their hold didn’t waiver.

“There were hundreds of people at that club; maybe the bartender spiked his drink with such a potion.” Silence descended over the throne room, the tension palpable.

The king eyed Rosalana for a long moment before he stepped forward and lifted his hand.

He drew a circle in the air, and several other smaller symbols, dark blue light flashed in the circle as if it was etched in royal blue with runes appearing.

Then the king gave a flick of his wrist, and the circle shot forward, rinsing over Rosalana’s form. She spluttered.

“Say that again,” the king said. Rosalana opened her mouth, yet a choking sound rasped from her lips.

She encircled her hand around her throat.

And the words poured forth. “I went to the library,” she said, “in search of the ancient spell books of potions and incantations.” Her eyes grew round as if she were aghast to be saying such things, yet the words poured forth with no sign of stopping.

Spewing from her mouth. “I found the forbidden spell and gathered the necessary ingredients, casting a spell in my room.”

She swallowed. “I then slipped the potion into the alcoholic beverages I gave Drake.” Rosalana's eyes widened impossibly further, and she shook her head.

But the words kept coming. “ He drank the potion, and I returned to the bar area to grab another drink, but when I returned, he was gone.” With that, Rosalana gasped as if her lungs were starved of oxygen.

She felt her knees, the guards releasing her to allow her to crumble to the floor.

“And there’s the truth of it,” the king said with a sneer.

“What…what did you do to me?” She rasped.

“I used a truth spell,” the king stated. "Now all has been revealed to me.”

My insides trembled with rage at Rosalana’s confession. I tore my gaze away, unable to even look at her as disgust churned low in my gut.

I faced my father. “The potion would have likely worked, sealing a bond between Rosalana and myself. But I found Ember instead and lay with her.”

The king nodded. I fisted my hands. “Now Ember is gone. She hates me. I am afraid, Father,” I admitted. “What if I forced myself on her?”

My father clapped a hand on my shoulder, his voice reassuringly calm as he said, “I know you, my son. Even with such a powerful potion, you would never harm your fated mate. Males are not able to harm their mates, not their true mates, no matter what.”

“Drake,” Rosalana said, lifting her head once she had caught her breath. “Drake, I can explain…”

My eyes glowed a vibrant lavender as I whirled on her. “Silence!” I hissed.

The queen rose from her chair and]strolled forward. She swept past my father and me to stand before Rosalana. Rosalana dipped her head in reverence .

“Your Majesty.”

Then the queen’s hand shot forward like lightning, catching Rosalana across the cheek. Rosalana cried out as her head whipped to the side.

“You bitch,” my mother snarled, her body vibrating with anger. The king rested a hand on my mother’s elbow, pulling her back, for it appeared as if my mother was not through with Rosalana—mere moments from lunging upon her again. I placed a hand on my mother’s arm.

“She is not worth it, Mother,” I said. A vicious growl tore from my mother’s throat. But she made no more moves to engage Rosalana.

The king then rolled his shoulders back, his voice booming with authority as he said, “Rosalana Draco. For the crime of wielding a forbidden spell upon the crown prince, you are hereby banished to the human realm. A curse mark will follow you wherever you go so that all will know of your treachery and will not grant you safe passage anywhere within the Lanair Realms.”

Rosalana gasped; tears pricked her eyes, spilling down her cheeks.

“No, no! You can’t do this. You can’t banish me.

” Her head whipped to me. “Drake, please! Don’t let him do this to me.

What about all the years we’ve known each other—all the moments we’ve spent together,” she cried as the guards hauled her to her feet.

“Do they mean nothing to you?” I approached her standing right before her.

“They meant the world to me,” I admitted, my voice ragged.

Then my tone hardened with steely resolve.

“Then you interfered between my mate and I. And I will not overlook that. I don’t know who you’ve become, who you are.

But I do know one thing.” Rosalana’s eyes were pleading as she gazed up at me.

I bared my incisors, “I never want to look upon your face again.” I shouted to the guards, “Get her out of my sight.”

With that, the guards hauled her away, Rosalana crying out to me. But I turned my back on her as she was dragged out of the throne room, the two heavy doors closed behind her.

“I've got to find Ember,” I told my parents. “I can’t leave things like this.”

“Where do you intend to go?” My father asked.

“To the werewolf kingdom,” I replied.

My mother nodded. “We will have a carriage prepared for you right away.”

The carriage ride to the werewolf kingdom passed by at a grueling crawl.

Muscles taut, I sat inside the carriage, my mind racing as I thought of Ember.

What would I say to her? How would I face her after all that I had done?

No matter; I had to see her. I only prayed it wouldn’t be too late to fix things between us.

The horse-drawn carriage crested the hill, the alabaster stone of the werewolf palace rising into view on the cliff side.

Shimmering waves crash along the shore— sea foam spraying the air like massive wings from a bird of prey.

When the carriage pulled into the courtyard, the sun had just dipped behind the horizon, leaving the moon rising in its wake.