Chapter 147 : Torn Loyalties

Chapter 147 : Torn Loyalties

KAI’S POV

I walked the quiet corridor toward Liora’s rooms with a heart like lead. The castle felt colder than the grave. Every guard I passed offered a nod, but their eyes carried silent questions and doubts I could not answer. Two days had passed since Lucien’s body was pulled from the mud, and each hour added another stone to the crushing weight on my chest. I stopped outside her door, drew a long breath, and knocked softly.

A maid opened the door and quickly stepped aside. Liora sat near the window, wrapped in a thick shawl that seemed to swallow her small frame. Her eyes were red and swollen. She had barely eaten since the discovery. The loss of her child months ago, the kidnapping by her own mother, and now her husband’s brutal death had shattered something deep inside her.

“Liora,” I said gently.

She turned her head slowly. Fresh tears spilled down her cheeks. “He is gone, Kai. Lucien is really gone.” Her voice cracked and then rose with raw pain. “And the man who killed him sleeps under the same roof as my nephew. How can you allow it?”

I crossed the room and knelt beside her chair. “We do not know for certain what happened that night. Elias swears he remembers nothing after following Lucien into the storm.”

Liora grabbed my hand with surprising strength. Her fingers dug into my skin. “I cannot stay here while he walks free. Send him away, Kai. I cannot live in the same walls as the person who murdered my husband.” Her voice climbed higher, trembling with fury and grief. “He saved me once. He fought for me. But that does not erase what he did. I wake up every night hearing Lucien’s voice. I see his face. And then I remember Elias covered in his blood.”

I tried to keep my voice steady. “Elias has stood beside us through everything. He carried our son. He risked his life to bring you home. We owe him more than immediate judgment.”

She yanked her hand back violently and shot to her feet. “Owe him? Owe him?” Her face twisted with agony. “I lost my child. I lost my father. I lost my husband. And now I must smile at the man who took the last good thing from me?” She snatched a vase from the side table and hurled it across the room with all her strength. It exploded against the wall in a shower of porcelain. “Send him away, Kai. Or I will leave myself. I swear it on every ancestor we have.”

I rose slowly, heart pounding. “You cannot leave. Clara and Gavin are waiting out there for any sign of weakness. You would walk straight into their hands.”

Liora stepped closer until we were nearly nose to nose. Her face was a mask of grief and rage. “Then choose. Your sister or your mate. I will give you until tomorrow. Either Elias leaves these walls or I do.” She shoved my chest hard with both hands, forcing me back a step. “If you love me at all, you will do this for me. I cannot breathe the same air as my husband’s killer. I will not.”

I caught her wrists before she could push me again. “I love you both. This tears me in half. You are my sister. My blood. But Elias is my mate. The father of my child.”

She collapsed against me, sobbing violently. Her whole body shook as years of pain poured out. I wrapped my arms around her and held her tight while she cried. “I know you loved Lucien,” I whispered. “I know how much pain you carry. I wish I could bring him back. I wish none of this had happened.”

Liora pulled back just enough to look at me, eyes desperate and red. “He was good to me. Even if he had secrets, he tried. He made me feel safe. And Elias took him from me. Promise me you will send Elias away. Promise me, Kai.”

The words stuck in my throat like thorns. I had a child with Elias. We had built something real through fire and blood. Yet my sister stood completely broken in front of me. I swallowed hard. “I will handle it. Rest now. I'll give you my word.”

She calmed slightly at that promise. I helped her back to the chair and stayed until her breathing evened out. When I finally left her room, my mind spun in chaotic circles. I had just promised to remove my own mate from our home.

I headed straight to the council chamber. The elders waited around the long table, their faces heavy with concern. I took my seat at the head and spoke without delay.

“I have reached a decision. Until we fully investigate Lucien’s death, Elias must leave the main castle. He will stay in the eastern tower under guard. Not a dungeon. He deserves that much respect as Luna. But he cannot remain close to our son or move freely until we know the truth.”

One elder leaned forward. “Will your mate accept this?”

The door burst open before I could answer. Elias stormed in with our son sleeping peacefully against his chest. His face burned with pure fury. The air in the room grew thick with tension.

“You really want to send me away?” he demanded. His voice boomed off the stone walls like thunder. “That is your grand solution? You stand here deciding my fate without even speaking to me first? Like I am some criminal you can banish?”

The elders shifted uncomfortably in their seats. I stood slowly. “Elias, this is for everyone’s safety while we investigate.”

Elias let out a harsh, broken laugh that echoed with pain. “Safety? You mean your sister’s demand. I heard enough outside the door. You promised her you would remove me. After everything we have been through, you choose to cast me out like garbage.”

He adjusted the baby protectively in his arms. “From the beginning this bond was cursed. You bullied me in school. You took advantage of me that first night and proposed to another woman the next morning. Your father humiliated me in front of the entire pack and called me the worst names because of our relationship. You failed me as a mate more times than I can count. Yet we tried. We pleased the moon goddess and pretended fate knew best. Now look at us. Look at what you have done.”

His eyes blazed with white-hot anger and deep hurt. “I did not kill Lucien. I followed him because something felt wrong. I remember the rain and his strange behavior. Then nothing. Someone used that night to frame me. But you, my own mate, believe the worst of me without a fight.”

I stepped around the table, chest tight. “I am trying to protect the pack. Protect our son. This is temporary.”

“Temporary?” Elias’s voice rose to a shout. “You will not take my child from me. I leave with him or not at all. Try to stop me and see what happens.” Power flickered wildly around him. White light danced at his fingertips and crackled in the air. Several elders leaned back in their chairs, eyes wide with fear.

I raised my hands. “Elias, everything I do is for you. For us.”

“Bullshit,” he snapped, voice cracking with betrayal. “This benefits no one but your guilt toward Liora. I carried this child through pain and fear. I fought for this family with every breath. And you repay me by exiling me like a criminal.” He turned toward the door, shoulders rigid. “I will pack my things but I’m leaving with my son. And if you dare try to stop me, I swear you will regret it.”

Elias stormed out. The door slammed behind him with enough force to rattle the hinges and shake dust from the ceiling. A heavy silence fell over the council chamber.

I sank back into my chair. My hands shook uncontrollably. The elders watched me with careful, pitying eyes. I had just watched my mate walk away with our child and every reason to hate me. Liora’s grief pulled me violently in one direction. My love for Elias tore me apart from the other. Both forces ripped me to pieces.

I dismissed the council with a weak wave. Alone in the chamber, I stared at the empty doorway. The decision had been made. Elias would leave the main castle. But the look in his eyes told me I might have lost him forever.

I rested my head in my hands. The weight of leadership had never felt heavier. Somewhere outside these walls, Clara and Gavin plotted our destruction. Inside, my own family crumbled into dust. I saw no easy path forward, only painful choices and broken trust.