Kael’s POV
The bitch smirked. "Alpha Kael, I have been with several Alphas all these years. Just by the frown on your forehead I can tell what you are even thinking."
I simply stared at her; the smugness in her was infuriating. Only if she wasn’t Roman’s mother...
"You are thinking of killing me, I know," she said with a smug smile playing on her lips. "Go ahead. I hope you will be praised for killing a woman who is already at the door of dying."
So, the bitch was going to die. Very well. So I wouldn’t have to lift a finger and live with the guilt of killing the one who my brother once called a mother.
"Do you know why Roman never hurt me despite whatever I did?" she asked.
Of course I knew as that’s what held all of us back even now.
Still, she went on.
"Before he died, his father asked Roman to always protect me, no matter what. Then he bound him with an oath to never hurt me," she said, as if rehearsing a sermon. "If he breaks that oath by hurting me, you know what will happen to him."
I clenched my teeth. If Roman broke that sacred oath, it will hurt his wolf and he will end up losing it.
This bitch knew it well, and she was always going to be a thorn in his life. What if I plucked it out right away? Would it be considered that Roman failed to protect this woman and failed his last promise to his father? And that too because of his brother.
"Do you still want to kill me?" she taunted. "I am sure Roman will never forgive you for failing him from obeying those precious words from his dead father," she scoffed. "That bastard pretended to love me even when he was dying and forced a little kid to protect me." She laughed then, sharp and brittle. "Pitiful, isn’t it?"
The way this bitch acted, no one could ever believe she was the one who gave birth to Roman. She didn’t deserve to be a mother.
"Say what you are here for and leave, before I truly fail my brother’s promise," I warned her coldly, my gaze darkening. "Don’t dare mistake my leniency for weakness. If you have been with various Alphas, you should know their tempers as well. Especially the temper of a top-tier one. It won’t take me a moment to forget everything and snap your neck."
Finally there was a tinge of seriousness on her face and that smugness wiped away. She knew I was tolerating her because of Roman at my own will, but she shouldn’t mess with the Alpha beyond the limits.
She finally got to the point. "As I said before, I am sick. I need the right treatment to get better. And that treatment includes the blood of a pureblood newborn child. As Roman is my son, I have a right to ask him to do it for me to repay me for bringing him to this world."
"I am afraid your wish won’t be fulfilled," I declared. "So you better choose the way to die and go to hell."
She scoffed. "You can’t stop me. Remember, he promised to protect me, and if he doesn’t, he will break his oath. Also, it’s not like we will kill the child. I just need its blood."
"Blood that is drawn from the fragile spine and can leave the child paralyzed and without a wolf for life?" I asked.
"At least the child will live, and so will I," she replied. "All you need to do is to let Roman have a child with that pureblood first and everything is solved."
That was it. I had enough. This bitch needed to die.
Just as I was about to snap at her, Lucian entered the room. "Kael."
I snapped back to my senses and looked at him angrily.
"This bitch is not worth wasting time," he said to me, then looked at her. "And you, Layla Ashborn, you better leave, if you want to keep living."
She had felt Kael’s killing aura even if it was just for a moment before I stepped in. She stood up quickly as she understood Kael wasn’t going to let it slide.
But before leaving she said, "Roman is my son, and he will do what he is supposed to. You can’t stop him..." she smirked as if she had something in mind already, "...I will see you soon," and left the room.
"Why did you stop me?" I asked Lucian.
"You would have regretted it later," he told me. "Think about it. Think about Roman."
I could only clench my fists and step out of the room, and Lucian followed me.
Outside, the woman stopped and suddenly looked at the garden.
There, Eira had come out with Raven and her pets.
Though the garden was far from here, the sight of werewolves and that of a pureblood, could help us see distant things clear.
And it was already too late to block her gaze. I could only curse why they had to come out of the house at that moment. Weren’t they sleeping?
"I was right. That’s the pureblood bitch I saw with Roman," she stared in that direction with a smirk.
Eira seemed to have sensed something and looked toward her. Maybe a mother’s instinct, but she quickly hid Raven behind her.
Rafe hurried and blocked the woman’s view as well.
Jason must have been inside, stopping Roman from coming out to see this bitch.
"Whose child is that?" she asked, turning to look at us.
"Get lost," Lucian snapped at her before I did.
She scoffed. "Don’t worry. That child is not of my use. All I want is Roman’s newborn child, which I will get for sure. See you."
The bitch walked toward the car, sat inside, and left.
"From where does that confidence of hers come?" Lucian asked as he glared at the moving car.
"By holding on to the weakness of her own son and by warming the beds of rich Alphas," I answered. "And when those Alphas included council members as well."
"Is she going to the council now?" Lucian asked.
"Must have already been there, but just came here to show her dominance in front of Roman and us," I replied, knowing well how these people could dare to play with the rules once created to safeguard the werewolf world.
"Shall we kill her before something serious happens?" Lucian asked.
"We will, but in a way that’s ethical. We can’t let Roman face the consequences of it, and he won’t have any remorse," I replied.
"We are already on the council’s radar. They will use every opportunity to trouble us." Lucian asked. "What’s in your mind?"
"Nothing yet, but let’s see," I said as we walked back toward the home.
One thing was sure: this was the time to get rid of that woman from Roman’s life, and I wouldn’t miss it — without creating any trouble for any of us and our pack.
"This bitch is the reason Roman hated entire woman kind," Lucian mumbled, "Anyone would have if the mother is such a bitch."
I agreed to it. Among us five, all of us had loving mothers. Even Rafe, whose mother died when he was just a kid, he still had good memories of her as she loved him dearly.
But, Roman....it was truly sad when one’s mother was nothing less than a monster.
We strode back into the house, where Roman was restless and Jason was keeping an eye on him.
"What was she here for?" Roman asked as he stood up.
I explained everything to him as he needed to know it.
He clenched his fists. "That bitch is a real monster. I shouldn’t have spared her for the sake of that shitty oath. I’ll just teach her a lesson this time," he said, and started to walk off, but...
My hand landed on his shoulder to stop him.
"Kael... you know that bitch can’t be taken lightly," he said angrily. "I don’t care anymore now..."
"But I do. I can’t lose you," I offered him a steady but assuring gaze. "Trust me, you won’t have to tolerate her for long. Just be patient."
His expression finally calmed; his gaze showed that he trusted me.
"But if you fail, promise me—none of you will stop me," his gaze was resolute as he meant it.
"We won’t," I assured him.
Finally he calmed down and looked toward the garden through the wall-size window. His gaze settled on Eira, who was standing to the side, watching Raven petting Fluffy.
"She had lost her child once; she doesn’t have to face it again. I’d rather not mate with her and have a child with her ever," he said.
We understood his sentiments — anyone of us would have thought the same. Now, Eira was the priority for every one of us.
Now everything was in place. I said, "I am going to meet Liam. All of you stay home and take care of them."
"Raven’s test reports are there?" Lucian asked.
I hummed.
"Go ahead," Roman said. "And that other bitch who keeps calling you frequently like a madwoman?"
"I’ll shut her up for good," I assured them and prepared to leave.