Aire blinked slowly.
Her certainty wavered for the first ti since the vision ended.
The room suddenly felt too quiet.
Mabel’s words remained suspended heavily between them.
The words, "Didn’t Nate attack you?" replayed in her head over and over again, as she finally thought of it.
Aire’s throat tightened faintly. He did.
No matter how much softer things had beco between them now, and no matter how gently Nate touched her lately, or how fiercely he had defended her afterward, that truth still existed.
He had looked at her like a monster once.
He had nearly killed her, and fate had still chosen him for her.
Aire’s expression shifted slightly with confusion.
The contradiction unsettled her deeply.
Mabel noticed imdiately.
Aire had always been easy to read emotionally whenever sothing wounded her heart. Her silence changed first, then her eyes, and Mabel had taken her ti to study Aire.
Mabel saw the exact mont doubt entered her.
And inwardly, she smiled. She prepared herself, to nudge a knife deeper into an already bleeding wound.
"You see?" Mabel asked softly.
Aire looked up at her again.
Mabel tilted her head faintly. "The bond does not make monsters kind."
Aire’s brows tightened slightly. "Mabel...."
"Fate chooses carelessly sotis." Mabel interrupted quietly. She almost exposed her mate being an oga, but she swallowed those words.
The softness from earlier remained in her voice, but underneath it was sothing colder.
Aire suddenly felt uncomfortable.
Mabel stepped closer.
"Nate hurt you," she whispered. "And still, you stay beside him."
Aire swallowed once. "Mabel..." she called again, hesitating with her warning.
"You want to judge for surviving?" Mabel asked quietly.
Aire stared at her silently now.
Mabel’s expression softened deliberately again. "He frightened you too."
The chamber doors burst open the mont those words left her lips. The sound slamd violently through the room.
Before Aire could even turn properly, Nate crossed the distance toward Mabel so fast it barely looked human.
One second Mabel stood near the bed and the next second, her body hit the wall hard enough to shake the nearby shelves.
Aire gasped sharply.
Nate’s hand wrapped around Mabel’s throat instantly with pure instinct.
His eyes had darkened completely. The control he normally forced onto himself around Aire lately was gone now.
Mabel’s back pressed against the stone wall as Nate held her there with terrifying ease.
The shock alone nearly stopped her heart.
Nate’s chest rose harshly beneath his shirt.
His wolf had surfaced violently beneath his skin. "How dare you," he snarled directly into Mabel’s face.
The entire room seed to tense around his voice.
"You money-brained maggot." He cursed. His grip tightened slightly.
Mabel made a small choking sound. However, her lips curved into a sly smile only Nate could see.
The smile disturbed him instantly.
Mabel leaned closer despite the hand around her throat. Her voice ca out strained, but amused.
"Listen carefully," she whispered, only for his hearing.
Nate’s eyes narrowed dangerously.
Mabel’s smile widened faintly. "Aire will ask you to let go before I reach three." She inford.
Nate’s jaw flexed sharply.
Mabel’s gaze flicked briefly toward Aire behind him before returning to his face.
"I’ll count."
Nate’s grip tightened harder. He said nothing, just rage.
Mabel smiled again. "One."
Aire’s breathing had already beco uneven behind them. She stared at Nate holding Mabel against the wall exactly the way he had once held her.
The mory crashed into her instantly. She rembered his claws near her throat, the silver chain, and her dears.
Her chest tightened.
Nate looked terrifying right now. Completely terrifying.
His wolf was too close to the surface again.
Mabel saw the fear flicker through Aire’s eyes, and smiled wider.
"Two—"
Aire cleared her throat, and finally spoke. "Let her go, Nate." she ordered softly.
The room went silent instantly.
Mabel’s eyes glead triumphantly. Slowly, she turned her face back toward Nate and mouthed very silently. "She chose ."
Nate’s expression changed instantly. The rage inside him went completely cold.
His hand released Mabel violently. He was violently enough that she stumbled hard against the wall before catching herself.
Mabel inhaled sharply, coughing once.
Aire imdiately straightened from the bed. "Nate."
However, Nate wasn’t looking at her. His eyes stayed locked on Mabel with a level of hatred that made the room feel smaller.
Mabel rubbed her throat slowly, then smiled at Nate. She arranged the layers of her gown, and stood straight.
Aire watched her smile like she had wanted this to happen.
Nate noticed it too. His wolf reacted viciously beneath his skin. Every instinct inside him scread that sothing was wrong with her, and that she should be torn apart.
Mabel adjusted her sleeve calmly. "You should work on your temper, Alpha Nate," she said softly, taunting at him
Nate took one step toward her instantly.
Aire moved before thinking. Her fingers wrapped around his wrist, stopping him.
Nate froze.
The room shifted quietly.
Aire’s hand remained around him carefully, as she grounded him.
Nate looked down at her fingers briefly. His breathing remained rough.
Mabel watched the interaction carefully. Her expression softened into false innocence again when her eyes landed on Aire.
"Aire," she said quietly, "I only ca to check on you."
"You manipulate her again," Nate warned, "and I’ll forget she considers you a friend."
Mabel’s eyes flickered briefly. That was the first thing Nate had said that sounded genuinely dangerous.
Aire looked between them uncertainly.
The atmosphere in the room had beco unbearable, and heavy.
A knock sounded suddenly against the chamber doors.
Everyone turned imdiately.
A nervous maid stepped inside carrying a tray with trembling hands. The mont she sensed the tension in the room, she nearly dropped everything.
"H-honey water," she whispered shakily.
Her eyes flicked toward Nate first, then toward Mabel, and then imdiately downward again.
The poor girl looked seconds away from fainting.
Nate stepped back from Mabel first. His gaze never left her.
The maid hurried toward the table and placed the tray down so quickly the cups rattled loudly.
"I also brought the ginger tea, Alpha Nate."
"Leave it," Nate said flatly.
The maid nodded rapidly. Her eyes dound Aire, and then, she escaped the room almost imdiately.
She shut the door behind her.
Mabel smoothed her hair back calmly before looking toward Aire again.
Her voice softened. "You should rest."
Aire stared at her. For the first ti since she t Mabel, she really stared at her. Mabel had looked entertained, and it gave Aire goosebumps.
That realization unsettled Aire more than the vision itself.
Mabel noticed the shift in her expression imdiately. She looked toward Nate one final ti.
"You should be careful," she said softly.
Nate’s eyes narrowed.
Mabel tilted her head slightly. "You frighten her more than you realize."
Aire’s fingers tightened faintly around Nate’s wrist at those words.
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