Killian
I crack my knuckles so hard it feels like my fingers might snap clean off. I don't care. I need to do something with this frustration before it consumes me.
My room is a fucking disaster. The bedframe's broken in half, curtains and linens shredded to pieces, chairs splintered, shelves collapsed into heaps of wood and dust. I spent the whole night tearing this place apart like it was choking the air out of me.And now, even after everything, I want to do it all over again.
"Tsk."
I hear Lucien click his tongue behind me. I turn, and of course, he's standing there with that smug, unbothered smile plastered across his face. Like he thinks this is funny. Like he can smile.
"I don't envy your maids," he drawls, eyes skating over the wreckage. "Did you have to break everything in here? Where the fuck are you planning to sleep tonight?"
"Like sleep is what fucking matters right now!" I snap.
He backs off, lifting his hands like he's surrendering, the fake guilt in his expression making me want to throw something at his head.
"Well now," he says, voice light, too light for the shitstorm we're in. "We're going to see Father, remember? We need to decide what to do about this... issue."
Issue. What a fucking word. It's not an issue. It's a full-blown disaster.
But he's right. We need to decide something before this spirals out of control.
By the time I storm out of the room, Ronan's already ahead, leading the way down the hallway. He looks colder than usual—grim, silent, unreadable.
Which is never a good sign.
"I'll do the talking," he mutters as we reach the door to Father's bedroom.
We all nod. No arguments. Because honestly, I'm not even sure I can put a coherent sentence together right now without screaming it.
As soon as we step inside, the maid bows and hurries out like we're contagious or on fire. It pisses me off more than it should.
Everyone knows already.
Everyone fucking knows.
"Another visit so soon?" Father forces a faint smile. "You three spoil me—even before my birthday."
"Father," Ronan starts immediately, like the words have been choking him since last night. "Something happened after we left you yesterday. Something… bad. And I need you to brace yourself."
I watch as the old man tenses beneath his blanket. His frail body seems to shrink in on itself, the dark veins beneath his pale skin standing out sharper now, like his blood itself is reacting to the weight of what's coming.
"I'm listening," he says, barely above a whisper. His eyes flicker across our faces, scanning for answers before we even speak them.
"We found our fated mate," Ronan says, his voice thick with strain, though he's doing everything he can to keep it steady. "It's not Selene. It's… Karina."
The room holds its breath.
Everything stills, like the air itself has gone rigid.
Father doesn't speak. For what feels like forever, there's only the shallow rasp of his breathing, quick and strained, a fragile rhythm breaking the silence.
"Father, are you alright?" Lucien is the first to move, dropping to his knees beside the bed. He presses a hand to Father's forehead, his voice tight with alarm. "I'm calling the doctor—you're too pale, and your breathing—"
"No." The word is faint, barely formed, but it stops all of us cold.
Then, finally, his voice—thinner than I've ever heard it, shaking like a crumbling wall.
"I… What happened? How… how did you find out?"
"Selene was punishing Karina," Ronan answers, tone calmer now, but I know him too well—I can see it in his eyes. A storm still rages just beneath the surface, caged in only by willpower.
"And then it just… happened."
"Where is she now?" Something shifts in Father's expression—just a flicker—but enough to soften his usual sternness. For the first time in forever, he almost looks... concerned.
"She's in the medical quarters," Ronan answers. "Her wounds were too deep. She couldn't be left untreated."
Father frowns, and this time, the expression is full of fire. There's no mistaking the anger tightening his face. "Accept her as your mate."
The room falls silent again. Deadly silent.
The three of us freeze, our minds grinding to a halt as his words land like a slap across the face. No. He's losing it again. Another one of his confused spells. He has to be. He knows how we feel about Karina. Goddess, he hates her too.
"What the hell are you talking about?!" The fury explodes from my chest before I can stop it. My voice echoes off the walls. "Are you insane?!"
"Killian!" Ronan barks, snapping his head toward me, then turns sharply back to Father. His voice drops again, strained but controlled. "We can't do that, Father. You know it's impossible."
I don't know what to do with myself anymore. My body is tight with rage, and I whip my head toward Lucien, silently begging him to say something. To agree with me. But his eyes are locked on Father, his face so still it looks like it's been carved from stone.
"Accept her," Father murmurs again, softer this time. "Take it... as my dying wish."
His voice trembles at the end, and I see it—tears welling in his eyes, cutting through the last remnants of the unshakable Alpha he once was.
"Father, you know who she is!" Even Ronan breaks now, his voice rising, no longer so composed. "We can't be mated to her! Even without the bond, even if none of us had it—she ruined this family!"
He exhales sharply, like the words are ripping through him. "She killed our mother."
The moment my brother mentions Mother, I see red. That's right. For everything else she's done—every insult, every punishment, every disgrace—that bitch is the reason our mother is dead. She's the reason our entire family fell apart.
That bitch can never become our fucking mate.
"She..." Suddenly, Father's body jolts like he's been struck by lightning, and we all flinch.Then he grabs Ronan by the collar, his bony fingers clutching with a strength he shouldn't have. His eyes go wide, frantic, and heavy tears spill down his hollow cheeks.
"Karina..." His voice breaks, ragged and barely coherent. "She was not... the one... Her name... your mother..."
"What?" Lucien steps forward, eyes wide, flicking between Father and Ronan. "What's he saying? What does that mean?"
"Accept her," Father breathes again, softer now, like the life is draining out of him with every word. "You must... It's my final order..."
His body trembles once more—one last violent shudder—before his eyes close. Then, stillness.
Silence.
"What..." Ronan stares, frozen in place as the weight of it lands. Lucien drops to his knees, grabbing Father's shirt with shaking hands.
"Father! Father, wake up!" His voice cracks as he calls out again and again, as if yelling loud enough will undo what just happened.
But I can't move.I can't speak.I can't think.
Karina.As our mate.
No.
I want to fucking destroy something. Right now. Right here.