My Fated Mate Can Have Her-Chapter 144: Absolute Authority

Kael

The power that erupted from her may not have been as devastating as it was during the eclipse, but it was just as oppressive.

Her influence seized everyone in the hall, wrapping around their very consciousness as it commanded obedience with a force so absolute, so primal, that resistance wasn’t even a consideration.

I felt it brush against me, but it didn’t take hold.

My eyes tracked to Rowan across the platform. He sat frozen in his chair, not from the command but from pure shock. His face had gone ashen, his eyes fixed on Violet with a mixture of awe and shock.

Much like I had experienced the first time I witnessed such raw power.

My chest tightened and I gripped the edge of the table.

So much was happening at once, and with this...

She looked like something out of legend. Ancient and powerful and absolutely terrifying.

Her glowing gaze was fixed on Palisa with an intensity that made even me flinch.

And beneath her skin, along her arms and neck, I could see veins of faint white light pulsing.

Her skin seemed almost translucent in places, lit from within by power too vast to be fully contained.

She was magnificent.

And completely unaware of the damage she was doing to herself.

Blood trickled from her nose in thin, dark lines. As I watched in growing horror, another rivulet appeared from the corner of her mouth. Then her ears.

And her eyes.

Crimson tears streaked down her cheeks, mixing with the blood from her nose to paint horrific trails across her skin.

She didn’t notice.

Or perhaps she simply didn’t care.

"Violet..." I whispered, but she didn’t respond.

I could care less about Palisa’s conniving schemes. Violet needed to—

Another wave split through the air and I witnessed the way wolves in the audience actually slumped in their seats, their bodies unable to support their own weight under the crushing force of her will.

And Violet herself...

"Violet, stop this!"

I leaned forward, ready to race to her when her stare pinned me in place. A strange sensation washed over me.

She didn’t want me to intervene...

More blood was now flowing freely from every orifice. Her eyes wept crimson tears that left dark stains on her dress. But she returned her glowing gaze to Palisa.

No... She needed to.

I drew in a sharp intake of breath and spun around to face Palisa. Would Violet relax if I—

I stopped short.

She sat frozen in her chair, and for the first time since I’d known her, she looked genuinely, deeply afraid. The smugness that usually defined her had been wiped away, replaced by wide-eyed panic and desperation.

Her mouth opened and closed soundlessly, her chest heaving as she struggled to draw breath against the crushing weight of what Violet was subjecting her to.

"Why not?" Violet hissed. "Why not?!" Her voice cracked like thunder. "Who killed those children? Did you do it?!"

Palisa’s face twisted. "Rogues," she forced. "Rogues attacked... They had already killed them months ago... It... wasn’t... me..."

Palisa was trying to move. From the strain in her muscles, to the way her fingers twitched against the armrests, she was still trying to break out of the hold even now. Likely because of the telling strain on Violet.

Anyone could see she might not be able to hold on for much longer.

"Entertainment. You did this for entertainment!" Violet repeated, each word precise and cutting. "You manipulated a grieving mother. Accused me of killing children. All for some sick entertainment!"

Violet took a step back. Her hands were shaking.

She turned to face Calder, who remained frozen, his face pale with shock.

Blood continued to streak downwards, staining her dress and dripping onto the polished floor beneath her feet. My heart ached from the torment she felt.

Her entire body was trembling now, shaking with the effort of maintaining such absolute control particularly over the other Supreme Alphas.

But her voice remained steady and unwavering.

"There!" She pointed between Palisa and Damon with a blood-stained finger while facing Calder. "There is your answer! She is guilty! They are both guilty!"

She spun toward where Damon stood frozen, his eyes the only part of him that could move, tracking her approach with dawning terror.

One moment she was in the center of the hall. The next, she was directly in front of Damon, her arm already mid-swing.

The slap echoed through the silent hall, the impact of her palm against his cheek sharp enough to rip his skin.

His head snapped to the side with such force that his entire body followed. He flew backward, blood spraying from his mouth in a wide arc as he crashed into the floor with a sickening crack that I felt more than I heard.

His head bounced once off the stone. Twice. Blood pooled beneath him immediately, spreading in a dark stain as his body trembled.

Violet stood over his crumpled form, her glowing eyes fixed on his painfully twisted face.

"Stay away from me," she hissed, "Do you hear me, Damon? Stay away! Don’t look for me! Don’t speak my name! Don’t even think about me! If you ever come near me again, I will end you!"

Then she straightened and turned away from him.

Her eyes swept across the frozen hall one last time, taking in the Supreme Alphas locked in their seats, the wolves slumped in the audience, and finally... me.

A glimmer of pain flashed through her features and she turned around and ran.

Her footsteps echoed in the terrible silence, and grew fainter as she fled out of the space.

Within seconds, the pressure in the air vanished and every wolf in the hall let out a collective sound of desperate relief as they dragged air into their lungs. Some of the wolves in the audience collapsed forward, clutching at their chests and throats.

Palisa fell to the table with a crash, coughing and gagging. Her hands flew to her throat as she retched, gasping for air.

Finally, Calder’s voice broke the moanful silence. It was hoarse, shaking, and utterly devoid of the authority it had carried before.

"What... what in the moon’s name was that?"