From Substitute To Queen novel Chapter 68

Chapter 68

I felt nothing watching this pathetic display.

I shouldn’t have let you see me with Camila like that. His voice shattered completely.

“Get up, I hissed. “You’re making a scene.”

He either didn’t hear me or chose to ignore me. “We can start over. Fresh beginning. I promise I’ll be better.”

His hands reached toward mine. I jerked back, but he managed to catch my wrist again.

*I’ll do whatever it takes to prove I’ve changed.”

That’s when he reached into his jacket with his free hand.

My heart stopped as a small velvet box appeared from his inner pocket. He flipped it open.

A diamond ring sparkled under the garden’s security lights. At least two carats, set in white gold, surrounded by smaller stones that caught the light like captured stars.

“Sable.” His voice shook with desperate hope. “This is the ring I bought for you.”

My mouth fell open. Words refused to form.

“You always talked about getting married,” he continued, still on his knees like some twisted fairy tale. “So let’s do it. Right now.”

The ring trembled in his unsteady grip. “I can mark you tonight. Make you my Luna officially.”

Something cold and sharp twisted in my chest. He thinks this fixes everything. Like three years of lies can be erased with diamonds and desperation.

‘I’ll give you the wedding you always dreamed of,” he rushed on, eyes burning with manic intensity. “Whatever you want. However much it costs.”

‘Just say yes. Say you’ll be mine forever.”

The proposal I’d fantasized about for three years. The moment I’d imagined a thousand different ways.

But instead of joy, all I felt was disgust.

My hand flew through the air before I could stop it.

SMACK.

The sound of my palm connecting with his cheek echoed through the night like a gunshot.

Darrell’s head snapped to the side. The ring box tumbled from his grip, clattering across the concrete.

He pressed a hand to his reddening cheek, staring at me in shocked disbelief.

“I hit you, and that’s still being gentle, I said coldly.

“Sable-

*Are you out of your mind?” My voice rose with each word. ‘Do you think I’m some kind of toy? Something you can discard when you’re bored and pick up again when it’s convenient?”

“That’s not-

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Chapter 68

“You threw me away for her! Called me worthless. Told your friends I was temporary.”

*Sable, please-‘

“I know you always saw me as Camila’s replacement. The admission burned my throat like acid. “A discount version you settled for when you couldn’t have the real thing.”

Darrell’s face went white. “That’s not true.”

“You spent money on her while treating me like an unpaid housekeeper.” I was shaking now with rage. “But now you wave a ring at me and expect me to forget?”

I gestured at the scattered ring box with revulsion. “This makes me sick.”

I spun on my heel, heading for the building entrance. But Darrell’s hand shot out, fingers wrapping around my wrist like a steel trap.

“Wait!” He yanked me backward with enough force to make me stumble.

Before I could regain my balance, his arms clamped around me from behind, pinning my arms to my sides.

“You’re not thinking clearly,” he panted in my ear. “You’re upset and confused and-”

I felt his canines extend against my neck.

He’s going to mark me. Force the bond whether I consent or not.

Pure terror shot through my nervous system. “Let go of me!”

I struggled against his grip, but he was stronger. His teeth grazed the sensitive skin of my throat.

“CAELAN!”

The scream tore from my throat with desperate force.

Darrell was ripped away from me so violently that I stumbled forward and nearly fell.

When I turned around, Caelan had Darrell pinned against the brick wall of the apartment building.

‘Don’t. Ever. Touch. Her. Again.”

Each word dropped like ice into the suddenly silent night.

Caelan’s eyes had shifted to molten gold. His fingernails had extended into razor-sharp claws. I could see his muscles straining beneath his shirt as he fought for control.

He’s partially shifted. That’s dangerous.

Darrell’s face was twisted with pain and rage. His own eyes flickered gray as his wolf responded to the threat.

‘Get off me! Darrell snarled, his teeth sharpening.

Caelan’s grip tightened. “You were forcing yourself on my mate.”

Darrell’s eyes blazed with manic fury. ‘She’s MINE!*

He broke free from Caelan’s hold and swung his right fist toward Caelan’s face.

Carlan ducked the punch effortlessly and responded with a devastating uppercut that caught Darrell square in the jaw.

2/3

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The impact lifted Darrell off his feet. He flew backward and crashed into a decorative planter, dirt and flowers exploding around him.

Blood poured from his mouth as he struggled to his hands and knees. “I’ll kill you!” he roared, spitting out what looked like pieces of broken teeth.

Rage transformed his face into something animalistic. He launched himself at Caelan again.

This time Caelan was ready. His claws raked across Darrell’s chest in one fluid motion, tearing through shirt and skin like paper.

Darrell screamed as deep gashes opened across his torso. Blood soaked through the shredded fabric as he collapsed to the ground.

“Enough!” I stepped between them before Caelan could finish what he’d started. “Stop it, Caelan. He’s not worth getting your hands dirty.”

Caelan’s predatory gaze fixed on Darrell’s prone form. I could see the killer instinct blazing in his golden eyes.

He wants to end this permanently.

I placed my hand on his arm, feeling the corded muscle beneath his skin. “Please. Let’s just go.”

For a moment, I thought he wouldn’t listen. The wolf in him wanted blood.

Then his gaze found mine, and some of the wildness faded.

“You’re right. His voice was still rough with barely contained violence. “He’s not worth it.”

I tugged on his hand. “Come on.”

We turned our backs on Darrell and walked toward the apartment building entrance.

Behind us, I could hear him struggling to sit up, gasping and choking on his own blood.

“This isn’t over!” he called after us, his voice thick and slurred. “She’s my mate! Mine!”

Caelan paused, every muscle in his body going rigid.