It was not even the kiss anymore that bothered Zuri. It was the way she looked at her triumphantly. Her blood boiled at the mere thought of it and now that she saw her again, the rage returned with double the force. She felt utterly humiliated and it was a feeling she couldn’t shake off easily.
“Xan… Alpha…” Faye whimpered, she corrected herself when Xaden gave her a stern look.
Xaden stood up and walked around his table to stand next to Zuri, while Faye was kneeling down before them. She glanced at Zuri and then lowered her head, apologized. It didn’t sound genuine, but Zuri didn’t expect anything genuine from this woman.
“Remember our conversation,” Xaden said. He put his hand on Zuri’s shoulder to remind her about his favor, but Zuri shook off his hand and walked out of his reach.
“Faye.”
This would be the first time Zuri addressed her by her name. She walked over and stepped on her fingers, which made her scream in pain. Her voice echoed inside the room and when Xaden was about to intervene, Zuri glared at him.
The alpha clearly still cared for his destined mate, despite the fact that he had rejected her. Zuri wanted to know how much he cared about her.
“I want you to cut her hand. You can choose which hand.” Zuri felt generous, but Faye didn’t seem to appreciate it, as she started to cry out loud. “Or, you can cut your own hand,” she said to Xaden.
Xaden grabbed Zuri’s shoulder when she said that and turned her body around harshly so he could look her in the eyes, but she met his gaze head on. The darkness in her eyes felt as if it could blacken him too.
“Don’t cross the line,” Xaden said. His voice was low and it was laced with rage.
Once again, Zuri swatted his hand off her shoulder. “What line did I cross?” She folded her arms in front of her chest, but she didn’t forget to step harder on Faye’s fingers. “You asked not to ban her from this pack. I didn’t ban her, nor did I ask you to kill her. She can live with one hand.” Zuri tilted her head and smirked. “Or you can live with one hand.”
As far as Zuri knew, Xaden was also well aware that the last option was not a choice at all. He was the alpha of the pack, losing a hand would show a weakness, especially for a woman who was a mere omega, and to top make matters worse, he had rejected her.
“Your choice, Xaden.”
Zuri walked back, she sat down behind Xaden’s desk, watching how everything would unfold. She intertwined her fingers to support her chin after propping her elbows on the desk.
The moment her fingers were free, Faye immediately started begging Xaden, her tear stricken face plastered against his leg. She was hugging his leg, begging for mercy, despite knowing it was Zuri, who gave her the punishment.
The room was filled with her cries and pleas, but the alpha still had not yet made his decision. He stared at the woman, who was crumbling around her leg and then at the woman, who was sitting behind his desk. His face twisted.
Time was ticking, but Zuri was not in a hurry. She could wait all day, but in the end, the end result was clear. Xaden was only wasting her time if he thought he could stop this.
And ten minutes later, after more pleas and cries, Xaden removed Faye from his leg. He lifted her up. Her face had turned so red, while snot and tears ran down her chin, but there was hope in her eyes, she thought the alpha would save her.
How wrong she was to think Xaden would put her first.
It happened so fast when Xaden’s claws elongated and he sliced them through her left wrist, cutting it off. It was a clean cut.
Blood spurted out of the cut off hand and Faye’s shrill screams echoed in the study room. The blood sprayed on the alpha’s face and shirt, but he looked unfazed. If anything, the beast within him was close to going feral upon seeing their mate’s current state.
Despite the rejection, some feelings still lingered.
Faye’s hand fell on the floor and Xaden picked it up. He clenched his jaw and walked toward the desk, where Zuri was sitting. He slammed the hand on the desk, making blood stain Zuri’s cold face, hands and dress. She frowned.
“Satisfied?” Xaden asked. He looked like he was going to cut her hands off this time.
The blood made Zuri frown, but she didn’t seem bothered. It only annoyed her because he dirtied her with that omega’s blood.
“Where are you going? I am not yet done,” Zuri said. She stood up, walked around the table, and swatted Xaden’s hands away as they reached out to help Faye up. He was about to call Sera to look at her hand.
As a shifter, Faye wouldn’t die. Xaden had seen shifters lose their limbs and then survive. But, he still needed the healer to check on her.
“What else do you want, Zuri?” His voice was very callous. It was so different from the man who talked to her that night when they shared their bed again for the first time. Seeing this omega in pain still upset him.
The answer to that question was a knock on the door.
“Come in.” Zuri gave the permission, but her eyes were trained on Xaden, while Faye was still crying. She didn’t need to turn her body around to know who came inside the room to join the fun. Their loud gasps and their scents were enough for Zuri to know that they came in time.
“Get out of here and call the healer!” Xaden hollered. He ordered Sarah and Esther, who trembled in fear at the sight of so much blood on the floor that came from Faye’s cut hand. They looked like they were going to faint.
“If you step out of the room, I will issue an order to cut off your legs.”
“Zuri!”
Esther and Sarah were crying now, they were shaking like leaves.
“Tell me the truth behind my miscarriage.” She took a step to the side, so they could have a clearer view of what happened to their dear friend. “What have you plotted with her?”
Just like Zuri had expected, both of them shook their heads, denying the accusation, but her mother had shown her how things like this should be handled. Karina had a lot of experience with her father’s mistresses.
“Abortion is illegal in this kingdom,” Zuri started, her black eyes trained on Sarah and Esther, who didn’t dare to even look at her shadow. “Therefore, the drugs to induce abortion are closely inspected. I can splurge money to find out who had bought those drugs.”
Since it was illegal, there would not be many people who would buy them, but it would still be recorded.
“We don’t want to waste time; I will find out who harmed me and my baby one way or another. Let’s be straightforward. It will be less upsetting for me.”
This was the peak of having great wealth. Money solves half of your problems.
With that statement, Sarah and Eshter banged their heads against the floor, immediately confessing all of their wrongdoings and this made the alpha see red. A guttural growl rumbled in his chest.
They killed his firstborn!
This revelation caused the beast within Xaden to go feral. He couldn’t care less about Zuri, but he cared for his bloodline.
“Your omega and her friends killed your firstborn. What are you going to do about that?” Zuri asked, as she turned around to face the enraged Xaden. His claws were elongated and he fought back the urge to shift into his beast and shred them to pieces.
As much as Zuri loved to watch how they would receive their retribution, she was not fond of witnessing any more blood before her lunch.
“Tell me your punishment for them, because I need to write to my father about it.” That was a threat, it was very subtle, but Xaden knew the meaning behind her words.
If Alpha Roland was not satisfied with Xaden’s punishment to those people, who had harmed his daughter and his future grandchild, it would jeopardize their agreement. Zuri took advantage of that fact.
Obviously, Xaden wouldn’t think thrice to punish Esther and Sarah harshly, but it was Faye, whom Zuri was curious about. What would Xaden do to her? She was the mastermind behind it, after all.
“I will see you at night, you can tell me the punishment then, so I can write it to my father tomorrow.” She informed him the deadline and then walked away from the room, leaving the alpha to deal with the three women.
All the warriors in the hallway straightened their backs and avoided looking at her. They could hear bits and pieces of their conversation and the screaming and screeching from inside the alpha’s study room.
One thing that they realized was; Their luna was ruthless!
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