Kaelon
I was torn.
Sascha and Edrei have given me two different stories, two very different perspectives.
As Alpha, I couldn't side with Edrei without good reason. It wouldn't be fair to the rest of the wolves in my pack if I continuously sided with my mate. I needed to be fair and just, that's why I wanted to hear Sascha's side of things and she was very convincing.
Looking at Zoron to give me a helping hand on the situation, I motioned for him to add his opinion.
"I don't doubt Edrei's version of events. Mae confirmed the scent of the herbs to what females use to cleanse their wombs," my first commander said and it was all I needed to take my mate's side.
As I'm about to lay down Sasch's punishment, the she-wolf started crying. Tears streamed down her face as she sobbed loudly.
"I can't hold it in anymore! It's going to eat me up inside if I don't say anything now," she wailed, sobbing uncontrollably. "Please forgive me Edrei, but we need to come clean!"
I tensed up immediately. What did Sacha mean when she said 'we'?
"Edrei was the one who asked for those herbs!" She cried, eyes watery as she stared into my eyes. I searched them, finding nothing but truth.
Anger exploded inside me. I glanced at Edrei, eyes furious.
She stood next to me, brows slightly furrowed and lips parted in surprise shock.
I guess she wasn't expecting Sascha to spill their secret.
"She told me she was going into heat and ordered me to prepare them, but I couldn't do that to you or the pack, Kaelon. That's why I purposely missed a few ingredients."
A growl erupted from me as I thought about their cunning plan. My eyes were still on my mate as I watched anger rise in her.
Sascha was always loyal to the pack, always putting Orion first and sacrificing her time every morning. She had always been a role model, someone the pack looked up to when they needed an Alpha female.
And she might've been, if I never found Edrei.
"You little liar!" Edrei screamed before turning to me, cheeks slightly red from embarrassment. "Kaelon I would never-"
"Please don't throw me under the table Edrei!" Sascha begged, desperately wanting to relieve herself of guilt. "You told me before that you never wanted to give up being a commander- having a baby would force you to step down. Remember? You planned on going through your heat with Kaelon, then drink the herbs so you'll lose the baby. You said it was the only way for everyone to be happy!"
My heart smashed into tiny pieces. The truth finally came out and it fucking hurt.
I gritted my teeth together, trying to push down my wolf who wanted to be let out right here and now.
Sascha always blurted out the truth when she was stressed. It was something she did ever since we met.
I didn't doubt anything that just came out of her mouth, especially when Edrei herself had told me before exactly that.
How did Sascha know if Edrei didn't tell her herself?
In the corner of my eye, I see Edrei starting to shake as she slowly lost control of her wolf.
Dark brown fur sprouted from her body before she transformed into her wolf.
She didn't take more than a second to lung at Sascha, but I was ready for it. Tackling her into the floor, I pinned her down.
Squirming and snarling at me, Edrei tried her hardest to escape my hold. My patience was already wearing thin and this was pushing it. "Control yourself!" I ordered, conjuring up the Alpha inside of me.
Immediately she relaxed, submitting to my control over her. I lifted myself off her, giving her room to transform back into her human form.
"Get off me," She growled. I reached for her, wanting to pull her up but she slapped my hand away.
My wolf growled at the insubordination, demanding that he be let out to deal with our mate's disobedience.
Face hard, and body tense, I tried to control the urges to reprimand her.
"Is it true?" I growled to Edrei, unable to manage the harshness of my voice. My wolf was on the verge of losing control.
Adrenaline was rushing through me, my heart was beating a thousand times faster than normal, and my heart was broken, filled with nothing but betrayal.
How could she think of doing this to me? To us? To our family?
There was a part of me that didn't want to believe Sascha. The part of me that prayed that what she had said were lies but I couldn't bring myself to listen.
I had always known Edrei was a warrior- determined to prove herself in combat. Getting pregnant went against all she knows.
Fuck. Why didn't I see this before?
All that Sascha had said made sense. It was an unbelievable and conniving plan, something that I could've flown over my head if no one had said anything.
The brilliance of it made the anger inside me boil all over my veins.
I also noticed that Edrei barely defended herself, probably because she had nothing to defend herself with.
My thoughts swirled out of control, rising the wolf inside me.
Edrei's scoff was the last straw. She pushed herself up from the floor, attempting to storm out of the study.
Never turn your back on an Alpha who was on the verge of losing control.
My hands quickly caught her before she was out of reach. With only red in my vision, I picked her up and threw her onto my shoulder.
Storming out of the study and into her bedroom, I threw her into her bed, knowing the furs and woolly blankets will soften her landing.
She chose a good time to start being defiant.
Edrei scrambled up the bed, trying to get away from me. Her eyes revealed her anger as she glared at me, taunting me to lose control.
Grabbing her by the ankles, I pulled her down, forcing her to be in my presence.
She struggled against my hold, growling and carrying on, unable to accept the consequences of her actions.
She was furious that she was caught.
"I will not accept any threats to my family, not even those coming from you," I growled, leaning into her.
Her body shook underneath me, hands pushing and pounding against my chest. I grabbed them, pinning them down above her head so that she couldn't hurt me anymore, but I could still feel the ache in my chest.
The pain I felt drove me forward, calling for her to be punished.
My canines slowly extended in my mouth as I leaned into her forearm. When my lips touched the soft skin, I opened my mouth, biting down and giving her a second mark.
It was my punishment.
I could hear the scream bubbling in her throat but she never vocalised it, instead, she kept her eyes hard and jaw locked shut.
Most wolves would've screamed. The pain of a second mark was almost unbearable to some, only used in extreme betrayals like this. The mark inflicted pain, equivalent to the one I felt from her actions- it was the ultimate punishment that a mate could give.
But with Edrei, it was hard to tell if it even affected her. She seemed more or less unfazed as she stared at me in hatred, shattering what was left of my heart.
How was she not affected by what I was feeling?
The rage I felt after that thought scared me. I pulled myself off her, feeling my control melting away and the pain inside me consuming every inch of my body. I knew I needed to leave before my wolf did something I could not take back.
Storming out, I made it outside just as I felt my transformation surface. I bolted into the forest, trying to get away from her.
Holding back the transformation as much as I could, I pushed on. My eyes slowly rolled back as my wolf gained control.
What happened afterwards was a mystery. I had completely blacked out, consumed by my wolf and the emotions that egged him on.
When I finally came to, I was in a bed, sweat slightly coating my naked body.
Blinking to adjust my eyes in the darkness, I found that I was in my hunting cabin- the one I brought Edrei to when she was going through her heat.
The smell of fresh blood was pungent as I looked around the cabin.
Lying on the floor next to the bed was a dead deer, eyes wide open, throat slashed and bloody. I looked at my hands, realising the moisture on them wasn't from sweat, but from the doe.
Pushing out of bed, I went to clean myself up and put on some clothes.
The moonlight streaming into the cabin illuminated my surroundings. Washing the wet blood off my hands, I picked up the deer and lifted it on my shoulders.
I hung the deer on a nearby tree, gutting it and draining its blood.
Walking back inside the cabin, I cleaned up the bloody mess on the floor.
The moon was setting by the time the deer's blood had been fully drained. With it on my shoulders, I hiked back to the packhouse.
The building was empty by the time I arrived, getting there just before the sun peaked out of the horizon. Walking into the kitchen, I threw the carcass onto an empty table before making my way upstairs.
I glanced at Edrei's room, feeling the pain resurface from the events of yesterday. The door was broken, wood splinting in all directions, barely covering the room. My nostrils flared, wondering who managed to do that.
Carefully pushing the pieces of wood aside, trying to not make a sound, I found that Edrei wasn't inside. My face went white with anxiety, overriding the heartache I felt.
Bolting to my bedroom, I swung the door open before relief washed over me.
Edrei was there, wrapped up in the blankets, eyes closed and pink lips slightly parted. Her small breaths filled the room as her chest moved up and down.
How does someone so beautiful cause so much pain?
Hesitating, I walked to her and sat on the edge of the bed. She moaned in annoyance, feeling the bed dip.
She rolled away before stretching herself awake, freeing her arms from the woolly blankets.
My heart dropped when my eyes landed on her.
Darting my hands out, I pulled her forearm to me, dragging her onto my lap.
"Wha-" Edrei growled before realising it was just me, she relaxed slightly before tensing up again. Her eyes became hard, staring at me as she tried to free herself from my grasp. "Do you want to give me more?" she spat.
Ignoring her protests, I turned her arm around, counting the marks I had inflicted on her.
One.
Two.
Three.
Four.
Five.
Fuck. I did this?
My fingers softly caressed the skin, trying the soothe the pain but I knew it was already too late. How the fuck did I mark her five times and not notice? Was I that far gone?
"Edrei..." I managed to breathe out, shocked by my actions and my lack of memory. I could've sworn I only bit her once. That was punishment enough. I wanted to apologise, but I couldn't find the words, shock holding my tongue in place.
"Don't," she warned, ripping her arm off me. "Don't you dare say you're sorry."
"Edrei," I repeated, trying to push out my apology. I pulled her back to me, regret dousing my entire body.
I held her tightly in my arms while she tried to struggle out of them. Eventually, she collapsed on me, sobbing into my chest.
"I hate you," she sobbed, tears drenching my shirt.
"I know," I replied, cradling her. But not as much as I hate myself. "I'm sorry."
Smoothing down her hair, I rocked her back and forth. She cried into my chest as she let go of the pain she felt.
Tears of regret rimmed my eyes, threatening to fall. Trying to blink them away, I focused on Edrei, giving her the comfort she needed.
She cried against me, letting all the tears she had bottled up fall. I felt her anger, her disappointment and her fury evaporate into the air around us.
Edrei cried until she couldn't anymore.
"I'm still mad at you," she whispered, playing with the sleeve of my shirt. My hands smoothed down her hair, softly caressing her head as I watched her.
"You have every right to be," I told her, softly kissing the top of her forehead. "I'm sorry Edrei, about the marks. I only meant to give you one."
My little mate pushed herself up from me, eyes unnerving as her lips softly trembled. "And what about Sascha? Are you sorry for believing her?"
My feelings haven't changed when we were last together. What would Sascha gain by lying?
Noticing my silence, her eyes went hard and her jaw clenched in anger. "I don't believe this," she growled. "How can you believe her instead of me? I am telling you the truth, Kaelon, I would never do anything like that."
Sighing away her anger, she took my hand, pressing my palm against her womb. "I would never do anything to harm what we made together. I meant what I said when I told you to stay, otherwise, I would've told you to leave."
Her eyes met mine, searching for anything that would tell her that I believed her. As much as I desperately wanted to give her want she wanted, the doubt was still eating away at me.
Edrei bit her lip, putting on a cold exterior as she slid off the bed. "Alright then," she continued. "I guess there's nothing more to say."