Chapter 672

That small action from Alaric brought a bit of warmth and activity into the room. Of course, Roman immediately reached for the dish, shoved the leaf into his mouth, and let out a moan while nodding in fierce approval.
Griffin, a foodie through and through, couldn’t help himself. He took a bite and his eyes widened the moment the flavor melted across his tongue.
He said, “It’s as if I’m eating caramelized honey combs blended with vanilla citrus,” he said in awe. “Like the fancy holiday desserts in the human realm only this blows them all out of the water.”
Violet didn’t even realize she was smiling. There was something warm—almost proud—about watching her mates enjoy something from the Fae realm. Her realm.
Her gaze shifted to Asher, who finally, reluctantly, took a bite as if only to verify his brothers weren’t exaggerating. Unlike the others, whose reactions were loudly expressive, Asher’s face remained a perfect blank slate. Violet stared, waiting. And waited. And waited.
“So?” she demanded at last.
“So?” Asher echoed, straight-faced, as if he truly had no idea what she meant.
Violet narrowed her eyes. “The food? What do you think of it?”
Asher took a sip of water, completely unfazed. “Too sugary. Not a fan.”
Violet nearly groaned. Was Asher born allergic to sweetness, or had Henry beaten the joy of sugar out of him? How was she supposed to fix that?
Before she could contemplate rehabilitating his taste buds, she caught Roman in the corner of her eye greedily stuffing more of the crystallized leaf salad into his mouth.
“Roman, enough,” she scolded. “We just detoxed you from Fae sugar, remember?”
“Aww, man Roman slumped, looking genuinely heartbroken.
It was for his own good. Or so she thought until she saw him discreetly pocketing several more leaves.
“Roman!”
Roman winked, absolutely unbothered. “Relax. I’ll have them in my shifted form. Raccoons don’t get diarrhea, do they?”
Goddess help her. She was so done with him!
Alaric burst into loud, unrestrained laughter at Roman’s raccoon comment. But halfway through it, the leaf he was chewing slipped the wrong way and his laughter cut off abruptly.
Then came the choking.
Alaric lurched forward, hand flying to his throat as violent coughs tore out of him. His pale skin flushed an alarming red, climbing fast from his neck to his ears.
Griffin shot up from his seat. “Goddess, he’s choking!”
Chairs scraped loudly as everyone — except Queen Seraphira, who watched calmly — jumped to their feet.
“Give him water!” Asher barked, already circling the table.
Violet’s hands moved before her mind did. She grabbed the nearest glass, filled it in a flash from the pitcher, and pressed it to Alaric’s lips.
Alaric didn’t just sip, he practically devoured the water, gulping frantically until the glass was empty.
“Another,” he rasped, his voice raw.
Violet refilled immediately and shoved the next glass into his hands. He drained it too, his chest heaving, and breaths coming in harsh, desperate pulls. His hand pressed hard over his sternum, and rubbed it as if he was trying to force air back into his lungs.
“Alaric Violet leaned closer, worry tightening her features.
He coughed once more, then managed a strained, “I’m good now.”
It was only then Alaric realized he wasn’t in a chair at all. He had dropped to his knees beside the table during the choking incident.
Roman let out a low whistle. “That was a close one, brother.”
Griffin cut him a look sharp enough to decapitate. “Not another word, Roman.”
The warning was wrapped in pure Alpha authority and for good reason. There was a chaotic energy that clung to Roman like a curse and that had a way of dragging everyone else straight into trouble.
Roman wisely shut his mouth.
Violet finally exhaled, her shoulders slumping in relief. One by one, the room settled again, each of them returning to their seats with the kind of tense, rattled silence that followed a near-disaster.
Then Violet felt the weight of her mother’s gaze pinning her from across the table.
She turned. “What?”
Queen Seraphira studied her with an expression caught between curiosity and astonishment.
“I have witnessed countless mate bonds among my people,” the queen said slowly, “yet I have never seen one as chaotic and still as profoundly united as yours. It is as though the goddess could not decide whom to gift you to, so she simply gave you all of them and hoped you would sort yourselves out.”
Then Violet blurted, “Is that why you didn’t want us together? Is that why you created me to kill them?”
The words hit the table like a crack of lightning.
Queen Seraphira’s throat bobbed. And for the first time since Violet arrived in the realm, she saw real, raw guilt crack beneath her mother’s regal composure.
“Violet, listen—”
“No, you listen,” Violet cut her off. “For once, just listen to how your decisions affected me.”
She looked toward Asher, voice trembling. “Do you know the first time we had sex, I nearly killed him?”
Queen Seraphira opened her mouth to defend herself. “I didn’t—”
“Do you know what it feels like to almost kill the man you love?” Violet’s voice rose, fierce and breaking at the edges. “He had a brain aneurysm because I was born—created—for the sole purpose of killing him. Killing all of them. I would have killed them too if we weren’t mated!”
Queen Seraphira’s lips pressed together. This time, she said nothing and let Violet’s hurt fall where it may.
“And even now Violet’s voice cracked. “I can’t even have him without the matebond.”
The next words came out in a whisper.
“What if the matebond never comes Then the prophecy rang in her mind and she corrected herself with a tremor, “What if it takes tears to form? How long do you expect him to wait?”
Emotion thickened her voice. Get full chapters from
“Do you know how hard it is for him? Being the only unmated one in our harem? Do you know how much Asher has sacrificed for me?”
She shook her head, a tear slipping free.
“And I can’t even be with him the way I want to. The way he deserves.”
Violet’s voice broke fully.
“That’s how much you hurt me, Mother.”