My Fated Mate Can Have Her-Chapter 35: Complicit

Kael

"Oh, come off it." I glowered down at her, my voice coming out quiet. Too quiet. "You nearly killed her. Just because she’s weak?"

Astrid’s eyes flashed. "Are we really going to discuss this again? I didn’t nearly—" She stopped herself, jaw clenching. "Don’t act so obtuse. She disrespected me. A Luna. In front of witnesses. She needed to learn—"

"Learn?" I took a step closer. "What you did wasn’t teaching, Astrid. It was torture. You tried to wreck her and you caused so much pain I could sense it miles away! She lost consciousness. For days!"

"She challenged my authority! And of course, guess where she got that audacity from?!"

"I understand dealing with wolves challenging your authority. That is fine!" I yelled, spreading out my hand in a wide swing. "Challenged authority or not, you know what you did. You went too far. You always go too far!"

My control was fraying now, heat building behind my eyes again. "And why would you, unprovoked, call her something she is not?! You know I do not keep any Omegas as servants!"

Astrid’s mouth opened, then closed. Blood still stained her lips, making her look almost feral.

"But that’s not really what this is about, is it?" I continued, my voice dropping back to that dangerous quiet. "This is about your disdain for weaker wolves. Especially omegas. You have always been like this since we were children."

Her eyes narrowed.

"You are cruel. Always unnecessarily cruel to weak wolves. You would find reasons to diminish them. Punish them. And you still haven’t changed."

Astrid threw her head back and started laughing. With a final sigh, she pushed herself off the bed, swaying slightly but staying upright through sheer will. The bleeding had stopped, and the area around her nose and mouth had crusted over with dried blood.

For a moment, she just stood there, breathing hard. Then something shifted in her expression and the cold fury in her eyes mirrored mine.

"I am cruel?" She chuckled and jabbed a finger in my chest. "You think you are any different?" Another jab came. "Such a thing never bothered you in the slightest." Another. "Now all of a sudden you have a heart?" And another.

I glared at her, unable to say a word.

Her eyes bore into mine with a sharp intensity that paired well with the sharp jab of her nail against my skin.

Her finger dug deeper.

"Don’t think you’re any different," she hissed, "when you have always conveniently looked the other way."

"Astrid—"

"Why, you just said it yourself moments ago. ’You know I do not keep any Omegas as servants’."

I stilled as she mockingly mimicked my words back to me.

She scoffed. "I see right through you, you hypocrite. You are just as complicit." Each word was deliberate. Cutting. And all I could do was stand and stare.

I had said that...

She continued. "We are two sides of the same coin. Omegas have NEVER even existed to you. Never! Even the ones you would meet out on the trips and hunts with father, you would disregard them. Every time I disciplined a weaker wolf. Every time I enforced hierarchy. Every time I reminded omegas of their place. Where were you?!" Her lips curled into something bitter. "Looking away. Ignoring their pain even when it was right in front of you. Letting me do all the dirty work while you maintained your pristine reputation as the fair Supreme Alpha."

The truth in her words stung more than I wanted to admit. 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

"Astrid." I gripped her wrist, and my hand hung there, unable to will myself to take her finger off my chest.

Her nail had broken into my skin, drawing blood.

Or did I think I deserved the pain?

"You are turning twenty-nine soon. Been Supreme Alpha for the past decade, have you ever once in your life even considered there might be Omegas within your Capital?"

I clenched my jaw, harder. My hand quivered.

I did not take my eyes off hers.

She still continued, her words cutting like knives. "Hell, I am very sure you never even thought once to ’consider’ their kind. And now you suddenly care? Because one of them is your mate? A mate you chose? Now all of a sudden you think you are better? If it were another omega, you would have done and said NOTHING!"

I forced myself not to look away even as shame crawled through my chest. "You’re right," I spat out.

’No...’

’Why am I ashamed? I shouldn’t—’

"I know what I’m doing, Astrid." My tone shifted, becoming more measured. I drew her hand away from my chest. "You should leave... Now." I walked away from her, smearing away the trickling blood on my chest.

Now wasn’t even the time to let her know what Violet was.

’Is that really what you’re concerned about.’

I continued. "When you’re fully recovered. When you’re thinking clearly, I will explain the reason behind my decision properly."

Her footsteps were loud, sharp, and stiff, her usual grace completely absent. When she reached the door, she paused, her back to me.

"We will talk later." Her voice was flat as she spoke. "You are not the brother I know. He would never do something so foolish."

"You need some rest—"

"What I need," she said, finally turning to look at me with eyes that still glowed faintly, "is for my brother to come to his senses. I should even find out what sort of hold she has on you and—"

"Don’t," I warned. "Do not go anywhere near her. Don’t even try it! Am I clear?"

Her expression hardened into something cold and distant.

"Crystal clear," she said, her voice flat.

I thought she might say something else. Argue. Apologize. Anything.

But she just yanked the door open and walked through it, closing it gently with a final click that somehow felt worse than her having slammed it shut.

I stood there in the silence of my room, staring at that closed door, and clutching my bloodied chest.

’You are just as complicit.’

I felt worse than I had ever felt in a long time.