Rejected By The Prince, Hunted By The Lycan

Kimberley Oliver POV:

A foul stench of sour ale and stale sweat slammed into my senses the exact second my eyes snapped open.

A heavy, suffocating weight crushed my ribs.

My skull throbbed like someone had driven an iron spike straight into my brain, but the sharp surge of adrenaline instantly wiped away the haze. A hulking body was pinned over mine on a sagging, damp mattress.

Rough, calloused hands gripped the frayed collar of my linen tunic, ripping the fabric down with a violent jerk.

"Hold still, you little wolfless bitch," a man grunted against my neck, his hot breath thick with the rank odor of cheap rotgut. "Second Madam paid me good coin to ruin you tonight, and I aim to get my fill."

In this kingdom, being born wolfless was considered worse than being a common slave. Without an inner beast, you had no strength, no mind-link, and no status in a wolf pack.

Memories flooded into my mind in an instant-the deeply buried memories and all my skills fully awakened within me at that moment.

My uncle's greedy second wife had taken charge of the estate while my parents were missing, and tonight they sent an executioner to strip me of my last shred of dignity.

Before my conscious mind even had a chance to finish processing the thought, my instincts took over everything.

I did not scream.

I did not plead.

I drove my right knee upward with every ounce of force this scrawny body possessed, aiming directly between his splayed thighs.

A wet, sickening crunch echoed in the tiny bedroom.

"Aaargh!"

The man, Cletus-a low-ranking rogue thug hired by the second branch-screeched like a slaughtered pig. His face went instantly pale, his grip tearing free from my shirt as he tumbled off the bed. He hit the stone floor in a pathetic heap, curling into a tight, shuddering ball with both hands clamped between his legs.

I rolled off the wooden frame, landing on light feet, my gaze sweeping the room like a thermal scope.

Standing by the foot of the bed was Brenda.

She was the personal maid assigned to me, an Omega servant who had traded her loyalty to the second branch weeks ago. In her trembling hand, she clutched a long, wicked silver needle meant to pierce my pressure points and keep me paralyzed for the assault.

"You... you filthy cripple!" Brenda shrieked, panic morphing into vicious fury across her pointed face. "How dare you fight back!"

She lunged at me, driving the needle straight toward my carotid artery.

The silver glinted in the gloom.

I did not flinch. I did not step back.

I waited until the needle was two inches from my flesh, tilted my head a fraction to the left, and watched the thrust slice harmlessly through empty air.

"Die already! Second Madam said you must be disgraced before the Crown Prince arrives!" she snarled, clawing at my face with her free hand.

A cold, razor-thin smile pulled at the corner of my mouth.

My right hand shot out like an iron clamp. I seized her wrist, twisted her arm outward against the natural hinge of the joint, and wrenched downward.

Crack.

The clean sound of breaking bone snapped through the silence of the room.

Brenda did not even have the breath to scream. Her jaw dropped in silent agony, her eyes bulging as her wrist folded backward at an unnatural angle.

Before the needle could hit the floorboards, my left hand snatched it out of midair. I drove the blunt silver point deep into the numbing node beneath her collarbone.

Her eyelids fluttered, her knees liquefied, and she dropped to the stones like a sack of grain, unable to muster more than a wet whimper.

Behind me, the floorboards groaned.

Cletus was staggering back to his feet, eyes bloodshot with murderous rage. He dragged one foot, drool leaking from his lips as he scooped up a broken table leg from the debris.

"I'll tear your throat out, you cunt!" he roared, lunging forward with a clumsy swing.

I watched his telegraphed strike with detached precision.

As the wood descended, I dropped low beneath his guard. My heel whipped around, kicking hard into the side of his right knee.

The joint popped out of alignment with a dull thud.

Cletus crashed downward onto both knees, his heavy momentum driving his chin straight into the path of my rising boot.

Three blood-stained teeth flew across the dark room.

He slammed onto his back, gasping for air as my boot pinned his throat against the cold stone, pressing just hard enough to crush his windpipe without snapping it entirely.

"You're... you're not her..." he wheezed, terror finally overtaking the madness in his pupils. "The wolfless trash... can't move like this..."

I leaned down until my eyes were inches from his.

"You got it wrong," I whispered softly. "I've always been Kimberley."

I picked up the splintered table leg beside me and brought it down hard against the side of his skull.

His eyes rolled back, and his body went limp.

I tossed the wood aside, wiped the grime from my palms onto my pants, and stood up straight. My lungs burned from the exertion; this body was severely malnourished and weak, but the neural pathways of a veteran operative were entirely intact.

My aunt, Gertrude Oliver, had orchestrated this ambush. She had laced my evening broth with a heavy sedative, intending to catch me in bed with a common street thug so my betrothed, Crown Prince Jovanni, would have every legal right to tear up our royal marriage pact.

I walked over to the tarnished bronze mirror hanging on the rotting plaster wall.

The reflection showed a pale face with sharp cheekbones, tangled silver-white hair, and violet eyes that burned with absolute venom.

I murmured to the glass. "Every single debt they owe me, I'm collecting in blood."

I turned back to the two unconscious bodies sprawled across the floor.

A brutal, satisfying blueprint formed in my head.

If the second branch wanted a scandalous show of illicit lust to present to the royal family tonight, I was more than happy to stage the performance for them.

I knelt beside Cletus, seized the collar of his grease-stained woolen shirt, and ripped it completely off his torso.