Chapter 274
Chapter 274
Chapter 274
KAEL
I stood there staring at Aria, my mind struggling to process what I’d just heard her confess. The words kept repeating in my head, refusing to settle into coherent understanding.
*I was the one who visited Damon’s cell. I was the betrayer p>
The name on Sera’s paper. The one she’d written down as proof of her cooperation, as evidence she could provide valuable intelligence if we’d just listen to her. The name I’d been reluctant to read because some part of me had suspected it would be someone I trusted, someone close, someone whose betrayal would hurt more than I wanted to acknowledge.
It had been Aria. My mate. My Luna. The woman I’d bonded with to break the curse. The woman I’d been trying so desperately to build a relationship with despite all the complications and the shadow of Ivory’s lost memories hanging over everything.
She’d visited Damon. The enemy. The man who’d orchestrated attacks against our pack. The one who’d rejected her publicly and humiliated her and sent her running into rogue territory where she’d nearly died.
And she’d gone to him. In secret. Against my explicit advice to stay away.
“When?” I asked, needing the timeline to make sense of this. “When did this happen p>
Aria was still staring at the ground, blood from Ivory’s eyes staining her clothes, her whole body trembling. “After-” she swallowed hard, forced herself to continue. “After we bonded. After you told me not to go. Some days after my failed execution. I got a note from him saying he wanted to see me p>
The words hit like physical blows.
Some days after her failed execution. When I’d been consumed with guilt about not defending her during the accusation period. When I’d been spending every waking moment trying to make it up to her, trying to show her that I valued her, that I wanted to build something real despite the circumstances of our bonding.
When I’d been patient and careful and respectful of her pace, giving her space to adjust to being Luna while also trying to establish the connection we’d need to function as Alpha and Luna pair.
1/3
And she’d been visiting her former mate in prison.
“So basically,” I said, my voice coming out harder than I’d intended, “when I was groveling and trying to take things at whatever pace you wanted, when I was being patient like a fucking dog waiting for scraps of attention-you were running to him p>
“It wasn’t like that,” Aria protested weakly.
“Then what was it like?” I demanded, anger finally breaking through the shock. “Explain to me how visiting your former mate in secret—against direct advice from your Alpha-wasn’t exactly what it looks like. Explain how that wasn’t a betrayal of everything we were trying to build p>
She had no answer. Just stood there trembling, unable or unwilling to defend her choices.
“When he attacked you during the council investigation,” I continued, the pieces clicking together with horrible clarity, “you seemed pretty eager to go with him before help came. I thought it was fear. Thought you were trying to survive until we could get to you. But maybe you wanted to go. Maybe part of you was still hoping he’d changed his mind about rejecting you p>
“No-” Aria started.
“And in Blackwood territory,” I interrupted, not ready to hear her denials. “When we went to investigate your background, when I gave you time to visit your old house, to reminisce. I waited patiently while you wandered around that place. Was it funny to you? Was I entertaining, playing the patient Alpha while you mourned the life you’d lost with him p>
“Kael, please p>
“Answer the question!” I shouted, loud enough that the assembled pack members fell silent, everyone’s attention fixed on us. “Did you even want to bond with me? Or was I just the convenient option when Damon rejected you? The political necessity you accepted-because
had nowhere else to go p>
you
The question hung in the air between us. The fundamental doubt I’d been carrying since the beginning, the fear that Aria had only accepted the bond out of desperation rather than any genuine desire to be with me. That I was second choice. Consolation prize. The Alpha who’d been available when her actual preference had proven impossible.
Aria’s face crumpled. Tears started flowing, mixing with the blood already staining her from Ivory’s collapse. “I don’t know,” she whispered. “At first-at first you were just political necessity. Just the person who needed a mate to break the curse. But then p>
“Then what?” I pressed, needing to hear whatever she was going to say even though I suspected
2/3
it would just hurt more.
“Then you
you were kind,” Aria said, her voice breaking. “And patient. And you tried so hard to make me feel welcome when I knew I didn’t deserve it. And I started to think maybe-maybe I could actually want this. Could actually want you. Could actually build something real instead of just going through the motions p>
“But you still went to Damon,” I said flatly. “Still visited him in secret. Still couldn’t let go of your past even when you claim you were starting to want a future with me p>
3/3
admin