Kaidon's POV
"Why aren’t you banishing her?" Amelia asked, her brows furrowed. "The girl… you didn’t mark her yesterday when you found out she was wolfless, and now you’ve given her a place here in the palace. Why?"
My expression didn't waste a single second to darken, my patience already wearing thin. Rowan's fury began to boil, amplifying my irritation at her question.
Slowly, I reached out a hand, grabbing her chin and forcing her gaze upward to meet mine. She noticed the rage in my eyes, and her body started to shiver with fear.
"Amelia," I said, my voice as cold as the stone floor beneath her feet. "Do you truly think you're entitled to question my decisions?"
Her face went as white as bleached parchment paper, but she didn't dare to look away, and I gladly continued.
"Throughout the years, I've tolerated your jealousy, your possessiveness, even your little accidents. I've tolerated them all. Mistresses don't just ‘disappear’ without a trace, do they?”
She trembled, but I held her chin firmly with an iron grip. "I may have turned a blind eye and looked the other way, Amelia, but do not play with my restraint. I know you were the reason they vanished."
Her eyes widened with horror, and her lips parted as she struggled for words that wouldn't form.
"Now." I leaned forward, my voice dropping even lower. "Let me make this crystal clear. Serena is off-limits. If she so much as stubs her toe because of you, if she vanishes, falls ill, or meets any unfortunate ‘accidents,’ I will end you. Personally. Swiftly."
Rowan's rage bled through me, and my eyes flashed a dangerous crimson as I continued to speak. "But before I do that, I’ll take my time and hunt down everyone you've ever known, loved, or even smiled at. I will raze the pack you came from to ashes, and you'll watch it all burn before I send you to join them."
A violent shudder coursed through her entire body, and she was trembling so badly that she could barely stand. She opened her mouth again, but the words died on her lips before she could say anything.
I released her chin, letting her stagger back and shrugging off my fury like a cloak, gazing at her calmly.
"Now. If Serena remains unharmed, you may do as you please. Are we clear?"
She continued to stare at me, standing still like an ice statue. I tilted my head impatiently and arched an eyebrow.
"Amelia. Are we clear?"
"Yes… Alpha," she managed to stutter, her voice barely above a whisper.
"Good," I nodded. "You're dismissed."
She stumbled back with unsteady steps before spinning and practically fleeing from the throne room.
I sighed, sinking back into my throne, mentally exhausted. It wasn't even afternoon, yet I was this exhausted.
You did well warning that bitch. If she knows what's good for her, she'll stay away from our mate, Rowan growled in my subconscious, but I was too tired to even respond to him. The strain of resisting the mate bond and Rowan was starting to get to me, and I began to wonder whether this was another form of punishment the moon goddess had designed just for me.
If it was, then I gotta hand it to her. It was exceptionally creative.
I groaned, my thoughts drifting back to the girl named Serena. I had always thought I could summon the will to send her away from here. At least I would be spared of this torment I was currently facing.
How many times had I told myself to send her away, to put as much distance between us as possible? Every rational part of me knew it was the only way to protect her from the storm that was me. Yet each time I resolved to do it, all it took was one look from her to strip away every ounce of my resolve.
I recalled her staring at me with those crystal-clear blue eyes, tearing up in a plea to be allowed to stay here.
By the goddess, her eyes… they were no ordinary blue. They were the deepest part of the ocean on a moonlit night, reflecting stars I had thought I’d forgotten how to see.
When she looked at me, I felt as if I could drown in that gaze forever and still never reach the bottom. That gaze broke down every wall I’d built, leaving me bare, my defenses in shambles.
How could one look unravel the Alpha in me, bringing out the man beneath, the one I had almost forgotten existed?
I rose from the throne, pacing the length of the throne room, trying to get my mind off her, but I just… couldn't.
By the goddess… was this what it felt like to be completely enthralled by another person? To have every guarded thought breached, every defense torn apart with nothing more than a glance? It was unbearable. But more than that, it was terrifying. I couldn’t give in to this temptation and let myself fall into the trap of marking her. The curse that lay on me would kill her almost instantly.
If she died because of this… because of me…
An icy dread clenched my heart. I didn’t know how the mate bond worked, not really, but I knew enough to understand that if she died, something in me would die as well, leaving behind a shadow that would haunt me for eternity. I couldn’t let that happen.
My thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the throne room doors swinging open with a heavy thud. I turned, my expression hardening as my Beta strode in.
“Alpha,” he greeted, inclining his head with respect. His name was Thorn, a solid, loyal man, unflinchingly devoted to the pack, and the only one who had stood beside me through every trial we’d faced. “I have news on the Valkar pack.”
My brows rose with interest, and I settled back on my throne. “Speak.”