Chapter 88 Something wrong
~ Taren's POV ~
That finally got her attention, but the way she looked at me was far from reassuring. There was a sharp edge of suspicion in her eyes, the kind that warned me clearly that if I did not tread carefully, I would only sink myself deeper into trouble.
“You were scared he was going to hurt me?” she asked slowly. “Did you know about this?”
“No,” I answered honestly. “I don't know what happened between you and Alpha. I am shocked to see you like this. Can you please tell me what happened?” I said instead, carefully steering the conversation away from myself and toward safer ground.
She let out a heavy sigh and shook her head. “Even if I tell you, there is nothing you can do about it,” she said, deep sorrow saturating her voice.
I hated how right she was, but I reminded myself that I was here to comfort her and gather information, not drown in my own helplessness.
“You may be right,” I replied gently. “I might not be able to do anything about it, but talking to someone about what is troubling you can help ease the burden. They say a problem shared is a problem half solved.” I paused, then softened my tone even further. “But I will understand if you are not ready to talk about it yet.”
She sniffed and lowered her head once again.
“I want to leave Ironfang,” she said quietly but bitterly. “I want to go back to Dorhaven, back to when I was living in our little townhouse with my aunt.”
My heart squeezed painfully in my chest at her words.
“If you are talking like this, then it means Alpha hurt you very badly,” I said, unsure what else to say. The pain in her voice was affecting me more deeply than I had expected.
“Tell me, Taren,” she said, lifting her face to look at me, her eyes glossy with tears. “Is it common practice in Ironfang for a mate to be kept as a prisoner?”
“No,” I answered immediately. “That is not a practice here at all. I have never heard of such a thing happening before.”
She nodded slowly, biting down on her lower lip as if holding back even more emotion.
“When you eventually find your mate and truly accept her completely,” she asked softly, “would you hesitate to mark her and claim her fully?”
It was a question I did not need to think about.
“That would be impossible, my lady,” I said firmly. “There is no way I would find my goddess given mate and not claim her immediately, unless I deliberately chose a different mate, and even then I would still mark her without hesitation. It is almost impossible for a werewolf to find the mate they are satisfied with and resist the urge to mark her.”
As I spoke, pieces of a troubling picture began to come together in my mind, though I was not yet fully certain of what it all meant.
This time she shook her head slowly, as though regret itself had weight and was pressing down on her.
“I am a fool, Taren,” she said quietly. “I am a very big fool for actually believing Kael. I thought he loved me. I thought he would change, but instead he was deceiving me and I fell for it.” Her voice was bitter, thick with disappointment and self reproach.
“Okay, Lyra,” I said, frowning deeply, my concern unmistakable. “I am going to drop the formalities now so you can feel more comfortable talking to me.” I took a careful breath before continuing. “First, you are not a fool, and I will not stand here and listen to you call yourself such horrible names. Second, I need you to tell me exactly what happened. You know I am on your side. Even if everyone in Ironfang turns their backs on you today, I will stand against all of them as long as I am standing with you. I cannot watch you sink into this kind of sadness and despair alone. Please tell me exactly what happened and let me share in your pain.”
As I spoke, I moved closer to her until only a few meters separated us. I lowered myself into a squatting position so she would understand that I meant every single word I was saying and that I was not above her or judging her in any way.
Thankfully, she did not hold back. She told me everything, starting from the moment Alpha came to her room the previous night with the dress and the wine, all the way to the moment she heard him and another woman calling her a naive and stupid witch.
Hearing that made my stomach tighten in disbelief because it was completely unlike Alpha. I had never heard him speak in such a cruel or careless manner, not even on the rare occasions when he had taken too much alcohol.
“Alpha said that?” I asked her, still struggling to process it.
She nodded immediately, then frowned as if reconsidering her answer. “I did not actually hear his voice,” she admitted. “But the woman was speaking to someone, and they both went into his room, so it could only have been him.”
I let her finish the entire story without interrupting again. By the time she was done, a heavy certainty settled in my chest that something was very wrong somewhere.
“There is only one woman I can think of who would be capable of doing something like this,” I said carefully. “But everything you described is completely unlike Alpha.”
She looked like she was about to argue, but I spoke before she could. “Wait. I am not absolving him of anything. I just need you to give me some time to look into this properly. Let me investigate and I will come back to you with everything I find out.”
She looked at me as if to say there was nothing to investigate, that her mind was already made up. Since she did not openly argue with me, I took that as permission to proceed on my own.
If Alpha truly said those things, then why would he act as if he had no idea what was making Lyra so angry this morning? None of it made sense, and the pieces refused to fit together.
As I turned everything over in my mind, a small and unholy thought crossed it, urging me to take advantage of the situation and drive a wedge between them so I could have Lyra to myself.
But no matter how tempting that thought was, I respected Alpha far too much, and I respected the mate bond even more. I would never be the one to break them apart.