The pacing helps—each step across the marble floor, keeping me from completely falling apart. My ribs ache with every breath, the bruises on my throat throb with my pulse, but none of that matters now. Only the growing certainty that I'm about to destroy the most precious thing in my life.

This is the right choice, I tell myself, though my hands shake as I trace the same path for the hundredth time. Knox deserves the truth, no matter what it costs.

The door bursts open without warning, and Knox fills the doorway like an avenging angel. "My love, what's wrong?"

Those green eyes I love so much blaze with panic as they take in my battered appearance.

"Who did this to you?" He's across the room in three strides, his hands gentle but urgent as they hover over my injuries. "We need to get you treated immediately—"

"No." The word stops him cold. "I have something to tell you."

Something in my tone—the desperation, the broken quality—makes Knox step back slightly. I watch understanding dawn in his eyes that this isn't about my injuries. This is something bigger, something that's been building for weeks.

"Knox, I—" The words catch in my throat like broken glass. How do you confess to the person who means everything to you that it's all been built on lies? "I'm so sorry. For everything. For all of it."

Tears blur my vision, spilling down my cheeks in hot streams that sting the fresh bruises. Knox's confusion deepens, his brow furrowing as he tries to make sense of what's happening.

"Aubrey, you're scaring me," he says gently, reaching for my hands. "Whatever this is about, we can figure it out together. Just breathe and tell me what's wrong."

I pull away from his touch, knowing that if I let him comfort me now, I'll lose my nerve completely.

"You've fallen for the wrong person," I whisper, the words barely audible but carrying the weight of worlds. "Everything about me, about us—it's all been a lie."

The color drains from Knox's face. "What are you talking about?"

I force myself to meet his eyes, even though what I see there—confusion shifting toward something colder—nearly breaks me. "Coming to the castle wasn't a coincidence. It was planned. Orchestrated." Each word feels like swallowing poison. "I was sent here as a spy."

Knox goes completely still, his breathing shallow as he processes my confession. "A spy," he repeats, his voice flat.

"I was supposed to monitor the castle, report back on everything I learned." The words tumble out now, desperate and raw. "Your routines, your defenses, your family's weaknesses—all of it. I've been feeding information to someone who wants to destroy everything you care about."

"Who?" Knox's voice drops to something dangerous, barely controlled. "Who sent you?"

"Jax," I whisper. "I belong to Jax."

The words hit Knox like a physical blow. "My brother," he breathes, disbelief warring in his expression. "You're working for my brother."

"He's been planning this for years," I continue, hating myself with each revelation. "Everything—the political maneuvering, the strategic positioning, even finding me—it's all been leading to this. He wants to destroy the royal family and take the throne for himself."

Knox's laugh is hollow, brittle. "And you were his weapon."

"Yes." The admission tastes like ashes. "But Knox, I think he has something planned for today. That's why I'm telling you now. Whatever he's planning, it's going to happen soon, and I can't—I won't let innocent people die for his revenge."

Knox stares at me, the implications of my warning warring with the betrayal on his face.

"Today," he repeats hollowly. Then his expression hardens. "Why?" His voice cracks on the word. "Why would you do this in the first place? Why would you help him destroy my family?"

The pain in his eyes cuts deeper than any physical wound Jax could inflict.

"Because he saved me," I say, the words coming out in a rush. "When my pack was massacred, when I had nothing and no one—Jax found me. He took me in, gave me purpose, gave me a reason to live."

"So this was gratitude?" Knox's voice turns bitter. "You destroyed my life out of fucking gratitude?"

"I also believed your father ordered the slaughter of my entire pack," I say desperately, needing him to understand even if he can never forgive. "I thought King Alexander was the monster who murdered my family."

"My father?" Knox's voice is barely a whisper, shock replacing some of the anger. "You thought my father killed your family?"

"I don't know what to believe anymore," I whisper, my voice breaking. "The memories felt so real, so vivid. But now... Elder Lina thinks they might have been planted. Manipulated. I don't know what's true and what Jax made me believe."

"Lina was right about the memory manipulation," Knox says, his voice hollow. "She told me this morning - found evidence of it in your blood."

"What?" I stare at him in shock. "Knox, I—" He already knew?

"I knew someone had been controlling your memories," he says bitterly. "What I didn't know was that it was my own brother. That you were his willing accomplice in all of this."

"I wasn't willing," I say desperately. "Not really. The manipulation—" my voice cracks, the weight of my betrayal, clogging my throat.

"I wasn't willing," I say desperately. "Not really. The manipulation—"

"I don't fucking care because all I know now is that for months," he says, his voice rising with anger. "For several weeks, you've been planning this. Playing the long game, earning our trust, making us love you—"

"No." The word bursts from my chest with desperate force, and suddenly something clicks into place with devastating clarity.

Watching him in pain, seeing the betrayal and hurt written across every line of his face, feeling like my heart is being ripped from my chest—

Oh God. I love him. I actually love him.

The realization hits like lightning, illuminating everything with brutal honesty. This isn't just the mate bond, or physical attraction or gratitude for his kindness. This soul-deep agony tearing through me, this desperate need to take back every word and protect him from this pain—this is love. Real, devastating, complete love.

"Knox, what I feel for you—" My voice breaks as the truth crashes over me. "I wasn't supposed to care about you. I wasn't supposed to feel anything real. But I do. Moon Goddess help me, I do."

He stares at me, his green eyes searching my face. "Feel what, Aubrey? What exactly do you feel?"

The words stick in my throat, too precious and too late. "I—I care about you. More than I ever thought possible. More than makes sense."

Knox's laugh is sharp, broken. "You care about me? Is that what you call months of deception? Weeks of lies? Planning to betray me on our wedding day?"

"I tried to stop," I say desperately, the realization of my love making every word more urgent. "After I realized what you meant to me, I tried to pull back from the mission. But Jax—he has ways of ensuring compliance. Punishment for disobedience."

Knox's gaze finds the fresh bruises on my throat, and understanding flickers in his eyes. "He did this to you."

"When I refused to sabotage the Awakening Ceremony," I confirm. "When I chose you over his mission."

For a moment, something softens in Knox's expression. But then the walls slam back up, harder than before.

"You chose me?" His voice drips with sarcasm. "Is that what you call months of deception? Weeks of lies?"

"I'm telling you now," I plead, taking a step toward him. "I'm confessing everything, risking my life to warn you about what's coming."

Knox stares at me for a long moment, his green eyes searching my face like he's looking for any trace of the woman he thought he knew. What he finds there must disappoint him, because his expression hardens into something cold and final.

"I can't," he says simply. "I can't stand to be around you right now."

The words hit like a physical blow, and the full weight of what I'm losing crashes over me. Not just Knox, but this love I've just discovered. This precious, perfect thing I found too late to save.

"Knox, please—"

"Don't." He doesn't turn around, doesn't look back. "Just... don't. I need time to process this. To figure out what's real and what's been manipulated, and I have a castle to save."

Then he's gone, the door closing behind him with a soft click that sounds like the end of everything.

I stand there for a moment in the silence, surrounded by the wedding dress I'll never wear, the life I've just destroyed, the love I discovered just in time to lose it forever.

Then my knees give out, and I collapse to the marble floor, sobs tearing from my chest like they're trying to claw their way out.

I love him, the truth echoes through my mind like a funeral bell. I love him, and I've lost him forever.