Alpha's STOLEN Mate Chapter 138

Kaius

Silence stretched between us like a knife edge.

Morgath's masked face tilted, studying me with an intensity that made my Lycan skin prickle. I could feel her suspicion coiling in the air, could sense the question forming behind that silver surface.

*Fuck.* I'd pushed too hard, played my hand too aggressively. She was about to ask again, about to demand specifics I couldn't provide because I'd made the whole thing up.

Think. *Think.*

Then it hit me—her hatred. That venomous contempt she held for all wolves, the way she spoke about my kind like we were inferior creatures. The disgust that dripped from every word when she mentioned my father. She didn't just hate individual wolves. She hated the entire species with a passion that bordered on obsession.

As if wolves had personally wronged her. As if we were beneath her.

I dropped my gaze, letting my voice go low and hesitant. "My lady... I dare not speak the words aloud."

Her posture changed instantly. The confusion vanished, replaced by something sharper, hungrier.

"Speak!" The command cracked through the air. "Tell me, Kaius! It's hatred that's kept me alive all these years! I don't mind adding more fuel to the fire!" Her voice rose, trembling with barely contained rage. "Nothing can hurt me more than I've already been hurt!"

I took a breath, committing to the lie.

"He said all witches are fools. Trash. Worthless scum that could never compare to wolves."

The effect was immediate and devastating.

Morgath shoved me away with surprising force, stumbling backward until she collapsed onto a nearby stool. Her hands gripped the edges, knuckles white beneath pale skin.

"Fuck!" The word tore from her throat. "Fuck! Fuck! FUCK!" Each repetition grew louder, more unhinged. "Aldric! You haven't changed at all! If I'd known you were *laughing* at me all these years—mocking me—I should have killed you!"

She was spiraling, lost in whatever ancient wound I'd accidentally torn open. I stood perfectly still, maintaining the blank, bestial expression even as my eyes began to scan the room.

The gemstone. It had to be here somewhere. Hidden, protected, but here.

My gaze swept across ornate furniture, shelves lined with bottles and books, tapestries hanging on crystal walls. Where would she keep something so precious? Something that controlled her entire domain?

"Of course!" Morgath's voice yanked my attention back. She was laughing now—a bitter, broken sound. "Of course Aldric would despise witches! He's the *Alpha King*! He never saw us as anything more than tools! Servants!" Her voice dropped to something raw and aching. "That's why he stopped me from being with a wolf. Why he—"

She choked on the words, her hands clenching into fists.

"He *killed* my child! Murdered my baby! FUCK!"

My heart stuttered.

*What?*

My father... killed her child?

The revelation crashed over me like ice water. Was *this* the root of everything? Some ancient tragedy involving my father that had metastasized into this nightmare?

But even as shock rippled through me, another part of my mind remained cold and calculating. Even if my father had done something unforgivable—even if he'd committed some terrible sin—that didn't justify *this*. Didn't justify kidnapping and transforming innocent wolves. Didn't excuse what she'd done to Elowen.

Past wrongs didn't make present atrocities righteous.

Morgath's hands moved to her face, fingers pressing against the mask's surface as if trying to soothe pain beneath it. The gesture was compulsive, desperate.

I watched, pieces clicking into place.

Her face. Whatever lay beneath that mask was connected to my father. The way she touched it, the way she hid it even from her own servants... those weren't just scars. They were a reminder. A brand of some past trauma.

Burns, maybe. Severe enough to disfigure. Severe enough to haunt her for decades.

She began to calm, the storm of emotion receding. When she stood, her movements were deliberate, controlled. She crossed the distance between us until we were close enough that I could hear her breathing beneath the mask.

"But Aldric never imagined this, did he?" Her voice was soft now, almost conversational. "He never thought that one day, the pain he inflicted on me would come back to him." She reached up, trailing one finger along my jaw. "Years of agony. Decades of suffering. And now I'll make him taste every drop of it."

Revulsion churned in my gut, but I kept my expression neutral. Empty.

She studied my face, searching for... something. When she spoke again, there was a testing quality to her words.

"You're not excited by my plan?" Her head tilted. "After all, he murdered my husband. So shouldn't we kill Aldric's mate in return?" A pause, weighted and dangerous. "Your mother?"

My blood turned to fire.

Every instinct screamed to rip her throat out, to paint these crystal walls with her blood. But I recognized the trap immediately. This was a test. If I agreed too readily to kill my own mother, I'd seem inhuman even by Lycan standards—too controlled, too calculated. The spell would be broken.

I had to walk a razor's edge.

"I don't care." The words came out flat, devoid of emotion. "I don't care about your feelings, or what method you use to punish Aldric. I don't care if you use my mother to ease your pain." I let my voice drop into something darker, something absolutely certain. "The only thing I care about is your survival. But if anyone threatens you—if anyone tries to harm you—I'll slaughter them without hesitation."

I met her masked gaze directly.

"Even if those enemies are my own parents."

The words tasted like ash, but they were perfect. Cold enough to be believable. Protective enough to seem genuinely enchanted.

Morgath's laugh rang out—delighted, genuine.

"Kaius! *Kaius!*" She grabbed my arms, fingers digging into muscle. "You surprise me! So ruthless, so perfectly positioned!" Her voice dropped to something almost tender. "You know, if you'd said you'd gladly kill them—been *eager* about it—I'd have wondered if you'd fully regained your mind." Another laugh. "But this? This removes all my doubts!"

Relief flooded through me, carefully concealed.

*Fuck.* She was cunning. Paranoid. Every word was a test, every reaction scrutinized for signs of deception.

She released me and moved toward her bed, her movements languid now. Satisfied. Her hands rose to the mask's edge, fingers working at hidden clasps.

"You can leave now, Kaius. I need to rest."

The mask came free.

I caught a glimpse of her face—truly saw it for the first time—and something in my chest constricted.

Burns. Extensive, horrific burns that had melted and twisted the left side of her face into a landscape of scar tissue. The flesh was puckered and discolored, frozen in an eternal expression of agony. Her left eye was clouded, possibly blind. The damage extended down her neck, disappearing beneath her collar.

She set the mask aside with casual indifference, as if she'd forgotten I was there. As if she trusted me completely now.

*Bitch.* My inner voice was ice-cold. *You'll die on these claws soon enough.*

I turned to leave, but my head shifted slightly—just a fraction—as I scanned the room one last time. The gemstone had to be—

"What are you looking for?"

I froze.

Her voice was casual, curious, but I heard the undercurrent of suspicion. My mind raced, searching for an explanation that would—

My body chose for me. I began to squirm slightly, an uncomfortable shifting of weight. My claws scratched lightly at my sides.

"I just... I'm just..."

"Oh, my good Lycan." Morgath's voice filled with understanding and amusement. "I know your form makes you... *restless*. Like an animal in heat." She laughed, and the sound was indulgent, almost fond. "You want to fuck a woman, don't you?"

I said nothing, letting my silence confirm her assumption.

"I know where your mind is," she continued, settling back against her pillows. "You want to go find Elowen. Play with her. Dominate her." A pause. "But no. Not tonight."

I felt my jaw tighten but kept my posture submissive.

"Tonight, our dear Elowen will be quite... occupied." Her voice took on a amused, knowing tone. "She'll have companions coming to 'visit' her. And when they do..." A dark chuckle. "Make sure they never leave."