The Betrayed Princess Rising (Lylah and Ezra) novel Chapter 143

Cora’s POV

They appeared one by one.

And the moment their eyes landed on me, they hurried forward without hesitation.

“Cora! My darling!”

The woman rushed straight at me and wrapped her arms around my body as if we shared some deep, loving bond.

Her thin, poorly made clothes brushed against my dress, rough fabric scraping against silk. And the smell -gods, the smell. Sweat, damp earth, and stale smoke clung to her like rot. It was enough to make my stomach churn.

This place was reserved for high–ranking wolves only. What possessed them to arrive here looking like that–wearing rags, hair greasy and unkempt, skin still smeared with soil as if they had walked straight out of the forest?

Instinctively, I recoiled.

“Don’t you dare touch me,” I hissed under my breath, making sure only she could hear.

But she either ignored the warning or simply didn’t care.

“Oh, Cora, my sweet niece,” she cooed fondly, squeezing my shoulders. “Look at you now. You look like a Goddess.”

My skin crawled where her hands rested.

I lightly brushed the place she had touched, careful not to reveal my disgust too openly–because Thane was watching us.

“Cora,” he said with a gentle smile, “they’re your aunt, uncle, and cousin, right? It must have been a long time since the last time you all saw each other.”

I turned toward him and smiled sweetly.

But the moment my gaze slid back to the three strays standing before me, something cold and bitter twisted deep in my gut.

Relatives? Even if I lived a thousand lifetimes, I would never acknowledge them as such.

After Jax Stillward died, and whenever Vala had to travel for her duties, she would send me to their home on the outskirts of the Whitepine forest.

Home. The word almost made me laugh. It had been nothing more than a crumbling shack leaning against the trees. Yet Ulf and Scarlet always strutted around as if they were nobles owning some estate.

I would never forget those days. How they made me work from sunrise until long after the moon rose

until my knuckles split and bled. They forced me to sleep in the barn with the livestock.

They dressed me in a rags dress while their own son wore decent clothes.

And worst of all, there was him.

Erik.

His smile stretched wide across his face, revealing crooked, uneven teeth that made my skin crawl.

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