I step forward. “What do you really know about her? Where did she come from, Kade? Who are her parents?”
Kade opens his mouth and speaks.
It’s all gibberish.
“Alpha?” Jax comes forth, trying to help him but he has no idea how to.
His eyes widen as realisation dawns. Kade coughs, clamping his mouth. He tries to speak again, of Izel, but it is still gibberish. “What is going on!” he growls in frustration.
Without awaiting an explanation, he storms out of the hall. I follow him, and Rowan and Jax tail behind me.
Izel is waiting in her chamber, sitting elegantly on her vanity chair, staring out of the window. She rises when we enter. Her lips spread into a hesitant smile.
Kade’s question slams through the air. “Who are you?” he says, voice shredded.
She reaches for him with practiced tenderness. “Kade, love—”
He grabs her shoulders and shakes her as if by force he can dislodge the lie. “Did you poison me? Did you—my children—”
Izel’s eyes flash. “I have done so much for you. Did you forget? I lied for you. Ikilledfor you. Do you not love me anymore, Kade?” she coos.
“It was never love,” Kade spits. “You tricked me.”
Izel pauses, watching his face for a long time. Her gaze darts to me and to Rowan before it returns to my husband. She laughs. “Ah. So, you see the game finally?” She drops the sweet voice, and her next admission is a blade. “It was difficult to poison your food,” she says, almost regretful. “Healer’s tests. So, I—” she lifts her chin—“slathered it on myself. My body. Your hands couldn’t resist me. You couldn’t help but… touch me.”
My stomach folds in disgust as the thought takes form in my head.
Kade’s face goes hard. “How dare you?” He lashes out, his hands closing around Izel’s throat.
She struggles, fingers clawing at his grip for a beat, then she throws back her head and something like wind explodes from her palms. It slams Kade aside as if he were a reed. He topples like a felled tree and scrambles up, eyes dazed and furious.
Jax charges forward, growling, but Izel knocks him out with another gust. His head hits the wall and he falls to the floor, unmoving.
“Jax!” I scream, rushing to him.
“Thane is wrong,” Izel blurts, voice high. “We’ve waited long enough. Your father used my mother, discarded her, and you, Kade—” she spits the name like a curse—“you would have done the same. You used my magic to your pleasure. Got rid of your enemies by deceit. Conquered all those packs easily. You goteverythingyou wanted without as much as a blink. And now—now you strangle me, you fucker!”
Rowan steps in front of me, his sword drawn.
Kade roars a feral sound and launches himself at Izel. He moves with claws bared; whatever charm held him slackens now into raw rage.
Izel answers with witchfire. It erupts from her open palms, a blinding, burning green that hits Kade right in the face. He stumbles back, screaming.
The blasting heat engulfs me, shutting my eyes. My hands rise to cover my face, but then the warmth soothes. I force my eyes open and see Rowan holding his sword against the fire, throwing it back—creating an invisible barrier in between.
Izel groans, and another gust of wind rips through the chamber. When the dust settles, Izel is gone.
Kade drops to his knees where she had stood, growling like a beast. “I will kill her!” he declares with fury.
Jax wakes up, blinking, wincing as he touches his head. “Where did she go?” he asks, confused.
I stand there, stunned, still reeling from the confession.Kade used her for her magic. He knew.
“You knew she was a witch,” the words escape my mouth as my feet move backward on their own. I fall back into Rowan’s chest, and he steadies me. “I don’t even know who you are anymore,” I tell him, cutting the last thread that held us together.
Kade falters, rising to move closer to me, but I hold my hand up, stopping him. “No,” I say. “No.”
I leave him there with his burned hands and the taste of the ultimate betrayal on my tongue.
