“You returned from campingflauntingyourself, telling my family Teowulf was your mate.Icouldn’t say anything. My choice was to let you continue your charade, or break Teowulf’s heart. What choice did I have?”
Teowulf had returned from the trip floating on air, head in the clouds. Madly in love. Alpha Grier had mated them on the agreement they never told the pack. Afraid of what the revelation would mean. Keon would’ve been a monster to tell him, but to lie in bed at night and hear them had been torture. To know m’nuni had been Teowulf’s first time and he’d neverwanted totake part in Simeon’s orgy compounded the shame Keon lived with. Simeon’s admission he’d ‘bitched out’ of the orgy by being wasted, loyal to Vega, refusing everyone else, made it worse.
The words choked him, and he swallowed the tears. “He got sick andyouran away. You couldn’t bear to watch him suffer, but he asked for you every day and I lied for you. I nursed my brother, a year after my mother died, because you’re a coward.”
He was beyond sparing anyone’s feelings. Vega hadn’t earned the right to be protected. “Don’t spout your shit in this house. My mother died inmybedroom, because it had to be sealed to prevent infection. My brother followed her a year later, dying inmybed. I nursed them through every second. Where were you?” Keon demanded, body shaking at the memory of those painful days.
Surrendering his private space for a sick room. He’d been happy to give his mother a safe place to sleep, proud to care for her and spend precious time together. She could barely speak, in the end, but he spoke to her every day, telling her stories and sharing his dreams. Promising her the world for a smile.
When Teowulf got sick days after her funeral, his world crashed a second time. They’d thought him recovered, after months of careful treatment and isolation. Later, a year to the day his mother died, he collapsed, spending six weeks in Keon’s bedroom, growing weaker, unable to swallow. Watching Keon with eyes full of love and regret. Waking from fevered dreams, shouting for Vega, asking why his mate had abandoned him. Every time, Keon lied to protect him. To let Teowulf die without knowing the pain of betrayal.
He bore the pain, the burden, the fatigue from the beginning of their illness, when they grew weak, when he helped them to the bathroom and fed them. He bore the toll of seeing them wilt and fade. Hid the physical scars, when they tried to shift and their m’weko proved rabid, biting and scratching at anyone who came close. At Keon, when he tried to soothe and restrain them to keep them from escaping the house and hurting others.
That washistruth. He’d done his duty, as a son and a brother, and Vega had no right suggesting his cowardly escape was from pain. He didn’t know the meaning of the word. Teowulf had died too young, in pain, knowing in those last hours how his mate had abandoned him.
“I never meant for this to happen.” Vega hung his head and swallowed, but there were no tears. “I love you. Can’t you forgive me for the sins of my youth?”
“You say you love me, but you don’t know what love means. Loveburns. It hurts. It takes pleasure in pain.” He should know. He’d loved Vega, nine years ago. He’d loved his mother, his brothers, his father. He’d lost everyone. “Ican’tforgive you. For betraying me and Teowulf. For lying, for abandoning him when he needed you, for letting him die believing youlovedhim.”
“Keon.”
“NO!” The word roared from his lips, part man, part m’weko, as he stood. One hundred percent fury. Keon took a step, struggling to regain control. “You are not welcome in this house. You’re not my mate. You’re a betrayer and a lying bastard. You arenothingto me.” He had tried. Tried to be civil, to be a better man, to be strong and push aside his feelings, but he couldn’t do it. He wasn’t strong.
When the door shutting resonated through the silence of the house, Keon bellowed, “Weston!”
His Beta responded with his usual efficiency, like an apparition materialising in the doorway of the living room. “Yes, Alpha?” He sniffed, casting Vega a disapproving glance. “Oh,you’rehere.”
Keon could have kissed him. “West, see Vega is escorted home,” he said, taking a step to offer one last warning. He came nose to nose with Vega, as his supposed mate’s chest heaved with restrained anger. “You will pack your belongings, say goodbye, and await Farley’s arrival. You’ll move to a pack where no one will know your history, and no one will know who your true mate was or that I refused you. It’s more than you deserve, but I want you to know, and see, I’m a better man than you deserve.”
He held tall and proud, believing what Drew had spent a year drilling into his thick head. “Whoever I take as my mate will be proud to call me theirs. They will thank the Fates for me, and I’ll thank them for letting me know what a coward you are to prevent me from making the biggest mistake of my life by claiming you,” he said, gesturing to Weston, who stepped in to escort Vega from the house.
When he didn’t move, Keon growled his last order. “Get out.”
Impatient, Weston cleared his throat and smiled sweetly at Vega. “I believe you have packing to do.”
With eyes of steel, Vega drew level with Keon to brazenly meet his gaze. “You were always a pathetic, nosy brat. It’s clear you haven’t changed.”
“I have,” Keon promised, and he could feel it. He could feel the inner strength and belief missing from his youth. Baring his teeth, he whispered, “I’m a pathetic, nosyAlphabrat, and you can fuck off.”
His jaw ticked as Vega stormed out, slamming the door. Keon was glad it was over. He’d had eight months of reprieve from the mate bond, while Teowulf was alive. When he died, the mate bond died, reigniting the true mate bond Vega had broken by his actions. Keon hadn’t known peace in Vihaan since. Finally, an end was in sight.
Once he took his new mate and they fulfilled m’nuni, any bond he had with Vega would be eradicated forever. He couldn’t wait.
Weston cleared his throat, raising an approving eyebrow when Keon turned. “I believe your brother left cigarettes in the study. Top shelf of the bureau,” he said, turning in place. He took one step, paused, and added, “I’ll bring you a supply when I return.”
“I’m surprised you’d let me.”
Weston shrugged, amusement glittering in his eyes. “Every Alpha has a weakness. Grier liked whiskey. Simeon enjoyedallthe sins, and moderation wasnota word he understood,” he admitted, eyes growing fond as they locked with Keon’s. “If smoking is your only vice, it is one I can support. Cigarettes will never affect your leadership, and your m’weko will keep your organs safe. A practically harmless endeavour.”
The unspoken words rang loud and clear. He knew Keon needed it. Needed the calming influence, the routine, the familiarity of the act. Unaware it was a connection with Drew he needed to feel, more than anything else.
Clearing his throat, he stepped in and kissed Weston’s cheek. “You are a brilliant Beta,” he said, watching a flush rise on delicate, porcelain cheeks, “and a better friend.”
*
MILO
MILO HAD THEbarest of plans formulated. He would spend the next few days, until the Meskli’s arrival, plotting a route to safety, packing supplies, and preparing for the unfortunate consequence of his actions. If Alpha Keon refused to offer sanctuary, Milo would have no choice but to leave and make his way to Alpha Katarina’s pack, in the hope she could offer aid. If not, he would beg the Meskli for help. Anything would be better than returning to Thatcher, with him aware Milo had tried to bargain for his freedom.
