"This is just absurdly useless," Isaldora snapped, slamming the book shut with a loud thud.
She shoved it across the table and leaned back in her chair, glaring at it like it had personally insulted her.
"Not a damn word in here is that actually helps me," she muttered.
She'd been sitting in her room, flipping through the section about mates in the Aetherwyn book Edina gave her, hoping for some hidden loophole, some clever trick. Instead? Nothing. Nada. A whole lot of words that told her exactly what she didn't want to know.
Dragging a hand through her hair, she muttered a few colorful curses under her breath. "Of course. Of course it's all about how wonderful the mate bond is." She huffed with irritation.
She thought maybe—just maybe—she'd find something—anything— that would help her wriggle out of this mate bond mess. But of course not. Every page screamed the same thing, you can't avoid it.
She pushed up from the chair and began pacing the room.
Apparently, witches in her coven used to thrive off the bond, like it was fuel that made them stronger. Breaking it wasn't even on the table. And about what Edina told her? Yeah, she'd been right. If Isaldora tried to fight or damage the bond, she'd only end up wrecking herself in the process.
"Great. Just fantastic," she grumbled, sighing so hard it almost rattled the lamp on the table.
Her situation was a disaster from every possible angle. For starters, being mated to Kaelith was already a huge problemo situation—it was rare, ridiculously rare. Then there was the constant war inside her. Half of her wanted to give in, let the bond do its thing. The other half? Hell no. It was stubborn, refusing to bend. And above everything else was her vengeance—the one thing that mattered most, her oath and yet here she was, distracted and entangled by this bond nonsense.
Then there was her business as well even though before she came back after meeting Edina, she'd told Hyden to handle the company matters for a while and keep his eyes open for any leads on who else was involved in the massacre.
She still needed to talk to Kaelith about the conditions of her staying here, but she'd not stepped out of the room for past two days now ignoring Kaelith and any company.
Every omega who came that so much as knocked on her door got snapped at, and she made it crystal clear she didn't want anyone bothering her—no one, not even Kaelith. Especially him.
But what was odd—weird, actually—was that Kaelith hadn't come himself. Not once. Not that she missed him or anything. Please. But she was just...curious. Was he alright?
"Not that I care," she scoffed out loud, narrowing her eyes.
She moved to the window staring out at the vast territory, her jaw tightening as her thoughts darkened.
No. Enough of this. She couldn't waste time trying to make sense of something that couldn't be changed. The bond wasn't going anywhere, it was a wild goose chase. Fine. She didn't need answers anyway about the bond. What she needed was control. She won't fight the bond but she won't still give in.
Even if she was fated to be Kaelith's mate, that didn't erase what she had lived for. Her life wasn't built on fate or destiny. It was built by loss, rage.
——
Isaldora was walking down the almost silent hallway, finally deciding to step out of her room.
Her thoughts were more settled now, and now she needed to talk to Kaelith—to lay out her terms once and clear.
The sound of commotion stopped her close to what looked like a gathering hall—or whatever the hell it was—by the look of it, it seemed like a gathering or a meeting.
There were maybe ten, twelve people inside, and even without looking she could tell they held power and high rank. She could feel the weight of their aura pressing in the air. Not that any of them could match hers, but still—it was enough to catch her interest.
She couldn't make out what they were talking about but it seemed to be important.
The corner of her mouth twitched, almost amused, but she didn't bother to eavesdrop. She was about to turn away when one certain name stopped her in her tracks
Doomwitch.
Her head whipped toward the room and scooted closer.
"Turns out the Doomwitch has been the one pulling the strings of the rogues all along this time," she heard one of the person inside say.
Another voice chimed in. "The rogues we caught recently—after a pretty rough interrogation—they confirmed they were working on her orders."
Isaldora's brow arched slightly, surprise flickering through her face. Really? I didn't know I had rogues working as lackies for me. This is interesting. She smirked, scoffing at the ridiculousness of the idea. I thought I made quite a unique impression with my work. Guess gotta work on that.
Her eyes flicked toward the voices inside with mocking amusement. And these fools actually buy this shit? She wanted to laugh.
They sound like they've uncovered some grand truth—don't even realize that the Doomwitch they're so eagerly accusing is standing right under their noses.
"If you don't mind, Alpha Klade," Isaldora's thoughts cut short when she heard Kaelith's voice. She was eager to know his piece of mind. "I would like to interrogate those rogues myself. Not that I doubt what you shared, but I need to hear it directly from them as they have been denying such claims uptill now." she could hear the authority and weight in his voice. A smirk appeared at the right corner of her lips. Well my man has a brain. I mean someone.
She slightly stepped away her expression was now flat, no hint of humor, as her thoughts grew sharper. So the rumors finally have a head now? Lyna and Hyden had mentioned them to her before—the speculation being made that the Doomwitch was behind the rogue attacks. She hadn't paid it much attention then as she considered it something not worth her time.
But now? Now the rogues themselves were confessing they worked for her. Why would they suddenly make such a claim?
Her expression hardened. She have to start looking into it.
Beacuse ridiculous or not, the claim's dangerous. This wasn't a mere gossip now. That was a finely orchestrated deliberate move. She could've also believe that if she didn't know well. It was a well played move. Whoever set this up knew exactly what they were doing—using rogues as pawns, use my name, letting me take the fall while they stay hidden in the dark.
Her jaw tightened. Smart move. Careful. Calculated. But it won't save them once I find them.
She was still standing there, lost in thought, piecing everything together, when a sudden touch on her shoulder made her to jerk slightly. And then she felt a sharp jolt of tingles rushing across her skin, and she didn't need to look to know who it was.
She turned quickly, shrugging off his hand without hesitation.
Kaelith's jaw tightened at the rejection. But didn't mind to comment on it, though the slight hardening of his expression was enough to show he didn't like it. Still, he brushed it aside, his voice calm when he asked, "What are you doing here? Do you need something?"
He had been speaking with the council members inside when he felt her faint scent brushing the edges of his senses. The moment he caught it, he'd excused himself, stepping out only to find his beautiful mate whom he hadn't seen for two days—standing there with her back to him.
Isaldora's eyes cut into his, her voice cold as ice. "I wanted to talk to you. About something important." Her whole posture screamed irritation, every line of her body stiff with it.
Kaelith, however, seemed unfazed. He let her coldness slide right past him, a smirk tugging at the corner of his lips. "So you've been ignoring me these last two days… was there a particular reason?"
Her mouth curved into a mocking smirk of her own, sharper and colder. "Yes. I was busy scrubbing your touch off me. Took a lot of sanitizing."
The smirk on his face froze. His shoulders stiffened, a flash of heat flickering in his dark eyes. For a moment, his jaw clenched hard enough that a muscle ticked in his cheek, betraying just how much that line had affected him.
Isaldora saw it. She had aimed to wound, and she had hit the mark. Her smirk widened, slow and cruel. Well she couldn't reject him but doesn't mean she couldn't hurt him verbally.
Her voice dropped even lower, twisting the knife a bit more. "Don't flatter yourself, Alpha. You may think your touch is something women crave. But I despise it."
Kaelith's eyes darkened, his wolf raking for control, demanding he snap back, demand her submission. But he didn't move. He only looked at her—as if he could burn a hole straight through her soul.
For a split second, she had the urge to slip into his mind, and see what thoughts swirled behind those dark eyes. But she held herself back, keeping her distance. She didn't need to read his thoughts to know how much her words had cut deep. The flicker in his eyes was enough.
"Well, well, well…" A voice called out, rich with mockery, echoing behind them. "Isn't this quite interesting." The voice was loud enough to grab attention of a crowd.
Over Kaelith's shoulder Isaldora peeked at the person and her eyes turn cold.
Adrien.