Like A Blade

Kade’s POV

I told myself I didn’t care.

The lie tasted like vinegar  the second it formed in my head.

I stood outside the door of her room longer than I should have. Long enough to hear her breathing shift. Long enough to register the way the bond tugged—tight, irritated, aware. She was awake. Alert, and still guarded.

Good.

I stepped inside the warm room without knocking. I was done asking permission.

The room looked exactly as I’d ordered it to be. It was very warm, very clean, very expansive.

No shadows deep enough to hide in. No bars. No chains. I made sure it was nothing that resembled a cell.

She stood near the center of it, wrapped in a robe, spine straight, chin lifted like she was daring me to say the wrong thing.

Her eyes hit me like a fucking blade.

Immediately I opened my mouth to speak, I heard when she called me an idiot.

I ignored the instinctive pull in my chest to respond immediately.

There was really nothing I could say to ease the hurt in her heart. I may never be able to wipe that feeling of great loss from her. I'll never be able to fix things.

So I waited and watched her speak. I watched the venom spewing from her heart as she spoke about her loss. About her family, about the child that died in her arms... and I could not say anything else but revert back to the room we were in.

.I needed her to stop hurting... Her pain filtered straight into the mate bond and straight into my heart.

It hurt to feel her pain. But nothing hurt as much as when she opened her mouth to say those damning words that seared my heart.

"If you really want me to feel comfortable,” she said, voice tight but steady, “you should leave.”

The words landed harder than I expected.

I studied her face, searching for hesitation... Something... Anything that would show that she did not mean what she had said, I searched her eyes, even the bond for a hesitation. There was none.

Fine. She needed me to leave, I would fucking leave! I nodded once. Turned toward the door, trying my best to control my emotions and body language. I would do me no good to be angry in front of her.

I needed control above all else.

But then I noticed him, my beta, Dorian was still in the room. Still leaning like he belonged there.

The bond twisted in my chest like a fucking knife.

“And he stays?” I asked, keeping my voice level.

She didn’t hesitate. “Yes.”

The answer cut deeper than any insult.

“Why?”

Her eyes met mine, cold and unflinching. “Because at least I like him.”

Something ugly surged in my chest. Jealousy... raw, unfiltered, unwelcome jealousy.

I said nothing else. Leaving before I said something irreversible.

But the damage was already done.

The courtyard air did nothing to cool me.

The bond pulsed, sharp and relentless, feeding my anger with every heartbeat. She chose him. Not safety. Not freedom.

Him.

I walked fast, irritation simmering just beneath my skin, every step echoing with the sound of her choosing someone else’s presence over mine.

Pathetic.

That’s what it was.

I was an Alpha. I ruled thousands. I’d taken territory through fire and blood.

And I was jealous because my mate preferred my Beta’s company over mine.

I rounded the corner sharply and nearly ran straight into Morgana.

She gasped softly, then smiled when she saw me.

“My Alpha” she said, relief softening her features. “I was hoping to find you.”

I did not slow down my steps.

“Morgana,” I said curtly. “You were instructed to remain in your quarters.”

She stepped into my path anyway. “I heard you were upset.”

That made me stop.

“I’m fine,” I said.

“You don’t look fine,” she said gently. “And I thought perhaps… I could help.”

Help. Of course. That was the new word she was using around me recently.

She moved closer, lowering her voice. “She doesn’t respect you,” she murmured. “Anyone can see that. She humiliates you, dismisses you, refuses the bond. Its just too much on you”

My hands curled into fists.

“She doesn’t understand you,” Morgana continued. “She doesn’t know what you’ve sacrificed. What you carry.”

I stared down at her. “And you do?”

“I’ve always been here,” she said softly. “I’ve never doubted you. Never fought you. Never rejected what fate...”

“Stop,” I said.

She flinched.

“I warned you,” I said quietly. “,this would not be the first time either”

Her breath hitched. “I was only trying to protect you.”

“By stealing my keys?” I snapped.

Her eyes widened. “I—”

“By disobeying a direct order?” I stepped closer to her now, my Alpha power rolling off me, heavy and suffocating. “By entering the dungeon and interfering with a matter that was never yours?”

“I thought...”

“That is the problem,” I snarled. “You thought.”

She dropped to her knees.

“I was trying to help you,” she said desperately. “I saw how much pain you were in. I didn’t think she deserved...”

“You do not decide what my mate deserves.”

The word echoed through the corridor like a fucking verdict because, fuck it, it was!

She sobbed softly. “Please forgive me.”

I looked down at her... at the woman who had crossed two direct commands, endangered my authority, and tried to manipulate my weakness.

“Return to your quarters,” I said coldly. “Do not leave them again without permission.”

“And my punishment? Will you still meth out punishment on me, Alpha?” she whispered.

My voice was ice cold when I responded. “You’ll receive it when I decide you’re worth my time. You are lucky your father was my own father's beta... That is the only reason you're not in the cell my mate just vacated.”

Her face crumpled.

She bowed deeply. “As you command, Alpha.”

She stood and fled quietly.

I stood there long after she was gone, anger burning low and steady in my chest.

Naya liked Dorian.

She hated me, but the bond didn’t care about pride or politics or timing.

It only knew one thing.

She was mine.

And I had never wanted something so badly that didn’t want me back.