AT THE SAME TIME
JAXON'S POINT OF VIEW:
I dropped to my knees in the dirt, the shame finally too much to carry. The title was gone. My place in the royal line, gone. My mate bond was severed, my heart a hollow, echoing thing inside my chest. I had nothing. I deserved it. Every bit of it, even my father's cold heartless look as he walked away. The crowd slowly began to disperse, murmurs trailing behind them like smoke. As if my fall from grace was contagious. And then a familiar voice, brittle and fake sweet, pierced through the air like broken glass.
"You all act like I'm the villain here." Isabella scoffed, stepping forward, arms crossed. "I didn't force them to touch me. They came willingly, multiple times."
A sharp pain lit up the side of my skull. I flinched, but it wasn't physical. It was the memory. The realization. That none of it felt right. That my body had moved, but my soul had screamed no.
"You disgusting little-" Mira's voice snarled.
