Chapter 219: Chapter 219 Heartbreaking Truth
Phoebe’s POV
We embraced for what felt like forever before finally pulling apart, and then Marcela shared the news she’d been dreading to tell me.
"I know you won’t want to hear this, but your body isn’t strong enough for this pregnancy." She gripped my hands tightly. "Please, Phoebe. The king thrives when you’re by his side—don’t put yourself and him through this."
I pulled my hands away, refusing to listen.
My stubbornness was taking over.
But Marcela wouldn’t back down. She’d examined me earlier and knew exactly what she was talking about. There was no room for denial anymore.
Every day we delayed made things more dangerous for me.
"Phoebe, forgive me for being blunt, but I examined you this morning." Marcela’s head shook with regret. "This pregnancy will kill you. I’m so sorry. Your life is at stake." Then she delivered the cruelest blow yet. "You won’t survive the delivery—hell, you won’t even make it to full term. If you both die, what good does your sacrifice do?"
I bit down hard on my lip, desperate to argue with her.
I wanted to insist I could handle it. That I’d survive. But somewhere deep inside, I knew she was right.
Marcela would never joke about something this serious. She wouldn’t lie to me. Well, she had once, but only to spare my feelings.
"I’m sorry. I’m so sorry..." Marcela pulled me close as I sobbed against her chest. "I’m sorry. I wish there was something I could do to fix this. I wish I could make it better for you. I’m sorry I can’t help. I’m completely useless."
I shook my head, not wanting her to blame herself. This wasn’t her fault.
"I’m sorry I lied to you and caused you this heartbreak with my poor judgment." Tears streamed down Marcela’s face too. She felt my anguish, though she could never truly understand its depths. She wasn’t walking in my shoes, so it would be wrong to claim she did.
But I couldn’t stop the tears. My chest felt crushed, and even though exhaustion consumed me, I couldn’t let go. The weight of it all pressed down on me.
——
Fiona’s pregnancy earned her a special exemption—she didn’t have to wear the silver bracelet since it would harm her baby.
Honestly, Fiona didn’t care. She wanted to get rid of whatever was growing inside her as quickly as possible.
But this was their insurance policy. They could use the baby as leverage against Allen when needed, but without it, they’d be powerless—nothing left to negotiate with.
Right now, they were staying at Alpha Murphy’s pack house in Whitestone Pack. Tomorrow they’d march on the palace.
The warriors were housed in the warriors’ quarters, but treated like prisoners. The other warriors stared at them with open hostility since they came from Valerium kingdom.
"Don’t go wandering around tonight," Allen warned before leaving Reginald and Fiona alone in her room. Alpha Sterling had taken the room next door.
"This place is... worse than the omega quarters back in my pack," Fiona said, eyeing the bed suspiciously. Several wet stains dotted the sheets. "Have you ever been to this kingdom before?"
"Not really. Not this far in." The furthest Reginald had traveled was the border—the empty stretch of land between kingdoms.
"Let’s just rest. We’ll figure this out later."
Reginald was too drained to think about anything else. He wasn’t even sure he could stay standing much longer.
Everything felt crushing.
"But the bed..." Fiona shuddered. She’d thought the boat’s bed was rock bottom, or maybe the makeshift cot at the hut.
This bed was in a league of its own. She could only imagine what those wet stains were.
"Don’t overthink it."
Reginald walked to the bed, stripped off the sheet, lay down, and fell asleep almost instantly.
But Fiona couldn’t bring herself to lie down, even next to Reginald with the sheet gone. It didn’t help at all.
She looked around desperately, trying to find a way to sleep better, but found nothing. She had to choose between sleeping on this disgusting bed or the floor.
"Ugh. I hate this..." Fiona felt tears threatening as the mattress touched her skin. She shuddered thinking about what people had done here without bothering to clean up afterward.
She tossed and turned, unable to sleep, her skin crawling with disgust.
"Reginald..." She tried waking him, but he was out cold. He didn’t even stir.
So she left him alone, seeing how exhausted he was.
Instead, she got up, planning to find clean sheets in another room. She’d seen several empty rooms down the hall—one had to be decent enough.
With that plan in mind, Phoebe slipped out.
Allen had warned them not to wander, but she couldn’t help it. Besides, she wasn’t going far.
Once outside, Fiona headed to the nearest room to check the bedding, but was shocked to find an omega and a warrior there.
They were having the time of their lives.
The only reason Fiona hadn’t heard them before was because the omega was gagged.
What shocked Fiona even more was spotting a second warrior. Both of them were taking turns with the omega.
