“She protected me and this pack by accepting blame for my actions.” The words rang with self-loathing and admiration combined. “While I raged and condemned, she held the truth that would have destroyed us all. Her silence protected the pack from a kinslayer king.”
“I wrongly banished the one person who showed me loyalty beyond reason.” His voice broke slightly on the words. “I carved the mark from her throat, sent her into exile, condemned her family to the outbacks. All for a crime I committed in mindless rage.”
The pack’s reaction was immediate and visceral. Some called out in shock, others in anger. Questions flew from every direction, how could this be true? What proof did he have? What would happen now? But Damon stood unmoved by the chaos, waiting for the initial storm to pass.
“If you demand justice for Laziel’s death, it’s my head you should call for, not hers.” The offer hung in the air like a blade, sharp with possibility.
The chaos of voices suddenly cut off as Lucinda rose from her seat with the controlled grace of a predator preparing to strike. The matriarch’s perfect composure cracked like ice under spring sun, revealing raw fury beneath. She moved toward us with deliberate steps, each click of her heels against marble counting down to disaster.
The assembled pack parted before her, everyone recognizing the danger radiating from the grieving mother. She stopped directly in front of our table, close enough that I could see the hatred burning in eyes that looked so much like Laziel’s. For a long moment, she simply stared at us, taking in our joined hands, Damon’s protective positioning.
“You’re whipped by this omega whore!” The vulgarity erupted from her perfect lips with enough venom to poison the entire room. Several pack members gasped at hearing such language from their dignified matriarch.
“You killed your own brother over a piece of tail that’s already been passed around!” She turned her fury on me, eyes raking over my form with disgust that should have burned. “Look at her, sitting there like she’s won something.”
“Mother, you will not speak of my mate that way.” Damon’s voice carried a warning that would have stopped anyone else, but Lucinda was beyond caring.
“Your mate? She’s the reason Laziel is dead! She’s poisoned your mind!” Spittle flew from her lips as her control shatteredcompletely. “My beautiful boy, torn apart because you couldn’t keep your cock out of this calculating bitch!”
“I take full responsibility for my actions. Rhea is innocent.” Damon stood slowly, power rolling off him in waves that made nearby alphas step back. But Lucinda held her ground, mother’s grief overriding survival instinct.
“Innocent? She orchestrated all of this! Lured my sweet Laziel to her room, knowing you’d follow. She wanted you to kill him!” The accusations grew wilder, more desperate, as Lucinda tried to reshape reality into something bearable.
“Enough.” Damon’s alpha command should have silenced her, but grief gave her strength to resist.
“No! I’ve been silent too long, watching you moon over this nothing omega while my son lies cold in the ground!” She whirled to face the assembly. “Look at your king! Enslaved by his desires, admitting to fratricide for pussy!”
“You will stop speaking now.” Damon’s control hung by threads, his wolf rising to defend his mate against these attacks.
“Or what? You’ll kill me too?” Lucinda laughed, the sound sharp as breaking glass. “Go ahead! Show everyone what you really are, a monster who murders family!”
The hall held its breath, waiting to see if their Lycan King would indeed strike down his mother. I felt Damon trembling with the effort of restraint, his need to protect me warring with the taboo against harming one’s mother. But Lucinda wasn’t done with her verbal assault.
She turned to me with eyes that promised retribution. “You think you’ve won, little whore? You think carrying his whelps makes you safe? You’re nothing but a breeder, a convenient hole that happened to catch his knot at the right time.”
“I said ENOUGH!” Damon’s roar shook the windows, full alpha power behind it. Lucinda finally stopped, though hatred still burned in every line of her body.
“Mark my words, son, that bitch will be the death of you, just like she was the death of my Laziel.”
37
— • —
Damon
The great hall still trembled with the echoes of Lucinda’s exit, her final curse lingering in the air like smoke after a battlefield fire. No one moved. My mother’s departure had left a crater in the room, an emotional vacuum that sucked all breath and certainty from the pack’s gathered leadership.
Then they turned to me.
“What proof do you offer for this confession?” Yates was first to speak, his voice carefully modulated with caution. “We cannot accept royal guilt on word alone. You ask us to believe you killed your brother in a blood rage... for what? For touching an omega?”
I did not flinch. “I ask you to believe the truth. I lost control. I smelled my mate in distress, followed it, and found Laziel inher quarters, uninvited, aroused, and making demands. My wolf reacted. I didn’t think. I didn’tchoose. Iattacked.”
Several council members exchanged glances. Whispers stirred. The term alpha rage wasn’t new. But to admit it publicly, with no attempt to soften the truth, was rare enough to silence even Hampton, for the moment.
“I did not intend to kill my brother,” I continued. “But I did. And I tried to cover it up without realizing. That, too, is mine to own.”
A hush fell, broken only by the heavy double doors swinging open. Carlton entered with the measured precision of a soldier carrying live explosives. He held a secure folder in one hand, a holopad in the other.
