Roman’s POV
"Don’t." A fragile voice trembled through the air, and we turned to see her standing there, small and scared.
Eira.
She was awake. She must have heard us speaking about her child.
"Please... don’t kill my child." Her voice cracked, eyes glistening with tears, her expression pleading. "He is innocent. You can kill me if you want, but please... leave him."
Lucian’s eyes narrowed as he turned to her. "Then tell me who your mate is. Where is he?"
"He is dead," she whispered, voice trembling. "All I had was his child. He didn’t even know I birthed his child. The child is only mine. Please... don’t kill him."
"Yeah, lie all you want." Lucian’s voice was cold, cutting. "Just wait until I drag your mate here with your kid and kill them right in front of you." His control had slipped entirely.
Eira sank to her knees as if it was the end for her, sobs shaking her frail frame. She pressed her hands together, begging, but there was nothing else she could do.
"Begging won’t work on us, so you better save it when you see them dead," Lucian spat out. "You whore, you enjoyed with your mate, had a son with him while you had taken away everything from us. You are truly vicious."
"No...I didn’t...." she sobbed loudly, words barely came out.
Liam moved quickly, kneeling beside her. "Eira, he is just angry. He doesn’t mean it," he said softly.
Her tear-streaked eyes snapped to him, burning with betrayal. The helpless woman now looked utterly angry as she raised her voice. "You told them. You said you won’t. You betrayed me as well, you bastard. I should have never trusted you. You all are the same. The monsters."
"Eira..." Liam started, but she pushed his hand away, her anger spilling over.
"Just go away!" she shouted hysterically.
Then her gaze swept over us, eyes red, brimming with hatred. "Go ahead—kill everyone, you fucking bastards. And I will pray you all get a gruesome death, rotting alive while you suffer, but you won’t die. You bastards don’t even deserve to die. Assholes! I regret... I regret the day I met you... You monsters..."
"You regret it?" Lucian’s voice was low, dangerous, laced with menace, as he stepped toward her.
"Lucian," we called, but he ignored us, his attention fixed on her.
In one swift movement, he grabbed her hand roughly and forced her to her feet. Her frail body trembled under his grip, and yet she stood, forced upright. His bloodshot eyes bore into hers, a storm of fury and obsession.
"Bitch, you killed my sister, my mother, and you say you regret meeting us?" Lucian spat the words through gritted teeth, his hands trembling with barely restrained fury. "I should be the one regretting ever letting you even see my sister, you murderer. Didn’t your conscience flinch even once before you killed her? What did she ever do to you? You were nothing but a lonely fucker, with no one to talk to, no one to care for you..."
"Yes, I killed her!" she shouted, hysteria lacing her voice. Instead of cowering, she stepped closer, daringly meeting his gaze. Her small frame seemed utterly fragile beneath his towering presence, yet the defiance and fury blazing in her eyes made her seem almost unbreakable.
"So what are you waiting for?" she challenged. "Why don’t you kill me to avenge your sister? If you had truly loved her, you would have done it already instead of thinking about fucking me. You don’t love your sister. You love your cock, which needs a pureblood to empty it. Your cock comes before your sister, you pretentious bastard."
"You bitch..." Lucian growled, his hand shooting up to grip her neck in a murderous strangle, his fury barely contained.
She did not flinch or struggle. Her voice was steady, almost mocking. "You... can’t kill me... you won’t..."
She was daring him, provoking him to act, and he could feel it.
I rushed forward and grabbed his hand. "Lucian, let go. She’s trying to provoke you into killing her..."
Lucian ignored me, his gaze fixed, every fiber of him coiled with lethal intent, as if nothing else in the world existed but ending her.
"Killing her would be the easy escape for her. That’s why she keeps provoking us," Rafe said calmly, stepping closer. "I’m sure you don’t want it easy for her, Luke."
At least Rafe was on my side to stop him.
Jason said nothing, as always aligned with Lucian, silent support for whatever his brother chose to do. If it were possible, he might have joined Lucian in ending her right here, right now.
Kael, on the other hand, stood tense, like a storm barely restrained within him, every muscle taut. He seemed to be fighting something inside, though it was impossible to tell whether it was anger, restraint, or something else.
"Kael, do you want her dead?" I asked, my eyes flicking to Eira as her breaths came in ragged gasps. I feared Lucian might crush her neck in the next heartbeat.
"Now entire werewolf world knows we have a pureblood. If she dies in his hands, consequences will be severe," I reminded him as killing a pureblood was gruesomely punishable crime. And I wouldn’t want any of my brother had to bears that punishment.
Kael finally seemed to snap out of his thoughts. His gaze hardened, and his voice deep and cold voice echoed in the room. "Lucian, let her go."
Lucian did not respond, his grip still tight and merciless. Kael’s voice thundered again, louder, echoing with authority and danger. "I said, now."
At last, Lucian’s hold slackened. Eira fell to the ground like a ragdoll, coughing violently as her lungs greedily sucked in air. She looked up at him, defiance and exhaustion mingling in her gaze. "See... you couldn’t kill me. You don’t love your sister."
"You’re right," Lucian snapped, his anger flaring intense than ever. "I love my cock more than my sister. So just wait. When I fuck you like the whore you are... I’ll make you regret every single thing you’ve done and said. You’ll regret every moment of your miserable life... and that bastard son of yours? I’ll tear him apart right in front of you."