Chapter 74 Lost the right
~ Kael's POV ~
I had always paid little attention to Dagan’s facial expressions whenever we spoke, whether we were in agreement or locked in disagreement. His face had never seemed important enough to study, never worthy of more than a passing glance.
That morning, however, when he stepped into my office, I took my time. I watched him closely. I observed the lines of his face, the tension in his jaw, and the subtle expressions he tried, and failed, to hide.
I had ignored him for far too long. After the reports I had received about his actions, his overreach, and his continuous defiance both in my presence and in my absence, it was time to address the problem directly. It was time to set him right.
“Good morning, Kael. Welcome back to the house. How was your trip?” he greeted, his tone polite enough, but his face betrayed him. The attempt to mask his disinterest was thin and poorly executed.
“Good morning, Dagan,” I replied evenly. “My trip was fine, but unfortunately, it was cut short because you could not adequately handle the affairs of the house.”
The mask he had been holding onto slipped instantly, as if my words had knocked it clean off his face.
He stared at me as though he had just heard the most unbelievable thing in his life.
“What do you mean I could not handle the affairs of the house?” he demanded. “Did you return to find the place in shambles, in disarray, or on fire? Or is your favorite prisoner missing again?” he asked, irritation rolling off him in waves.
“My favorite prisoner?” I repeated, one brow lifting slowly in genuine surprise. I had not expected that, and certainly not from him.
“Its no longer news, Kael,” he said, half rolling his eyes. “Dont act like it is.”
I nodded slowly. I had no intention of denying it. Lyra was, without question, my favorite prisoner in every sense of the word.
“Then perhaps you can tell me,” I said calmly, “why my favorite prisoner has not had any food for two days.” The thought of Lyra starving, saved only by the supplies in my room, made my hands itch with the urge to strangle someone.
“You should be questioning the person you put in charge of her welfare, not me,” Dagan replied, his voice maddeningly nonchalant. “I did not lock the kitchen.”
I was boiling inside, anger pressing hard against my ribs, but I forced myself to remain calm. Losing my temper in that moment would not help anyone, least of all me.
“And yet,” I continued evenly, “you specifically instructed the kitchen staff not to let anyone take food upstairs unless it was Taren, and to have him arrested the moment he showed his face. Is that correct?”
“That is correct,” he answered without hesitation.
“Why?” I asked.
“Because there was a serious allegation on the ground,” he replied coolly, “and he was needed for questioning. Instead, he chose to evade it with the help of your guards.”
“And it did not occur to you that this was something I should be informed about,” I pointed out calmly, though there was a sharp edge beneath my restraint.
“And that is precisely the problem, Kael,” Dagan shot back. “If you truly left me in charge, then why should I come running back to you every time something happens, especially when it is something I can handle myself? Unless, of course, my authority was limited to a few corners of the house instead of the entire place.” His voice was controlled, but the suppressed fury seeped through every word he spoke.
“I left you in charge of the entire house apart from my quarters,” I replied steadily. “Yet it appears your interest is centered almost entirely on that very part of the house. Tell me, Dagan, why do you want me out of the picture so badly?”
“What are you talking about?” he asked, his brows drawing together in a frown.
“You know exactly what I am talking about,” I said. “Dont insult my intelligence by pretending otherwise.”
“You are taking this too far,” he snapped. “I didn't inform you because it was a minor issue, one I believed I could handle. Dont make a mountain out of a molehill.”
“You consider a situation that resulted in a prisoner being starved, a prisoner who risked her life to save an important member of Iron Fang, a minor issue?” I asked, genuinely baffled by his line of reasoning.
“She was not sick, Kael,” he retorted. “If she were sick, she would have been in her cell, not in the archives assaulting a little pup who was only playing.”
“What are you talking about?”
“You see, you don't know the full story,” he said quickly, shifting into defense. “So you should not be siding with anyone yet.”
“I have not sided with anyone,” I replied coldly. “I merely pointed out your incompetence, but you chose to deflect and once again turn the issue toward someone else.” At that, a flicker of realization crossed his face, the look of a man who knew he had stepped too far.
“Listen, Kael—”
“Alpha, not Kael,” I cut in sharply. “You seem to have forgotten your place. Do not ever call me by my name again. You lost that right the day you decided to undermine my authority.” I hated that it had come to this, but I also knew it was the only way to restore order and sanity within my cabinet.
“Are you serious right now?” Dagan asked, disbelief ringing clear in his voice.
“Go and get the pup and his parents,” I said, ignoring his question entirely and keeping my expression void of emotion. “You will all report back to my office in no less than twenty minutes.”
He lingered for a few seconds, clearly trying to decide whether I was joking. When it became obvious that I was not, he turned and left without another word.
Moments later, Kaitlyn’s voice reached me through the mind link.
“Alpha, there is a small problem.”
“What is it?” I asked.
“One of the items on the list is not available, and I cannot get a replacement immediately,” she explained. “Its going to take about three hours.”
“No worries, Kaitlyn,” I replied calmly. “Dont bother about the items anymore. Let us switch back to plan A.”
There was not a trace of panic in me as I gave her new instructions regarding Taren and Lyra before disconnecting the link.
Exactly eighteen minutes later, Dagan returned to my office with three people, two of which I recognized immediately, and a little pup who I assumed to be theirs.