h4Chapter 290: Never Laid A Finger On Her/h4

    "What?"

    "I know what you are thinking." Killian traced the seams of her lower lip. "That mates are supposed to make each other happy. But I assure you that’s just the theory; I had no interest in making her suffer or in seeing her in pain. It felt just so wrong, but she never stopped."

    "You were not happy with her at all, were you?" she guessed.

    "No, I wasn’t," he admitted.

    Inez frowned. "But you were true mates; how could you not be happy with her when you were destined to be with her?"

    "And that is why Fenric always says that I took all the sanity and the light while Lyra was left with nothing but insanity and darkness. After all, matesplement each other, he med me for who she was when she grew up," Killian exined.

    "You mean—"

    "I neverid a finger on her."

    Inez’s brows drew even further in confusion. "But my sister said that she was badly bruised."

    "She was. She always was."

    "Killian, I am afraid I do not understand what you are trying to say."

    Killian sighed and sat up straight, resigned to the fact that he had to tell Inez this twisted tale that he never wanted to disclose to anyone. "Lyra was never truly there, bubbles. She was unhinged, and it became even more intense when she found those she called her people. They were an unsolicited group of people. I am half sure that they were not even legal. And I don’t know what their deal was, but every time she returned, Lyra would return with a bunch of bruises all over her body." Seeing her perplexed look, he smiled weakly. "I don’t really understand myself, but she said that it was something they did for the Great One. It was necessary, but I knew that she enjoyed it. She didn’t like the pain; she just liked to suffer. And by acting that way, she made everyone suffer around her."

    Wow. Nothing he said could have stunned Inez more than this.

    "You might think that I was the one who left my previous pack, but it’s not like that. Back there, Lyra knew that everyone thought that was abusing her, knew about the whispers and rumours, but she didn’t care. I tried to help her, but I couldn’t because she didn’t want my help. She didn’t till the day she died. I don’t know whether she loved me or not or whether she needed my help or not, but I don’t really think that we had the kind of feelings that mates would have for one another. She didn’t want to be loved."

    "I did try to push my way into her life; Morrh begged me to love her, told me that all that Lyra needed was my love, and she would be fine as long as she had that. And I did try to love her as much as I could because somewhere I felt guilty because of Fenric’s words. I thought that maybe it was really because of me that she was like that. But it wasn’t that — she loved the pain and she loved the sympathy that overflowed for her when she came to the pack looking like a constant victim."

    The pain and rejection in his voice made her siren whine. She didn’t like that he was upset because of another woman, but she also didn’t like that he was rejected and wronged like that. Even Inez felt a bit annoyed—no, a lot annoyed. How could Lyra even allow others to wrong Killian like that? He was her mate. Shouldn’t she have defended him when he needed her?

    Wanting tofort him but not knowing what to do, Inez sat up straight. She ced her hand on top of his, and he threaded his fingers through hers and squeezed gently.

    "When she left the pack for days, I was relieved because no one woulde to me and say, ’Youi need to treat her well. I know it’s hard for you, but you cannot take it out on her. ’It’s your mother, Kill. Not Lyra; you need to calm the fuck down. ’Do you think you are the man just because you can beat your mate like that if you want a fight,e with me.’ ’You are the alpha, Kill. You need to get your act together.’ /i With her gone, at least I had some peace, but I also dreaded hering back to the pack."

    "Because I knew the second she came back, those stares would start again, people would start questioning me, and Morrh woulde begging me to let it all go. Tears and all. And when she returned, it was just as I expected. Covered in whip marks, burns and cuts. I don’t even know what kind of cult she even joined. I just knew that it was just as crazy and unhinged as her."

    "It must have been hard." Inez almost groaned to herself when she realised that she couldn’t even say anything nice tofort him well enough. But what was she supposed to say in a situation like this? That he did not deserve it, but–if that was the case, then why did the Moon Goddess destinate him to a mate like that?

    "One time, it got so bad that I asked Morrh to lock that woman up. When she didn’t listen to me, I did it myself. I locked Lyra up, but it didn’t work because I found her cutting her arms and legs." He had snatched the de from her, but Lyra had gotten angry at him, saying that he had disrupted her very important ritual. It hadn’t been thest time that such a thing happened.

    "Did she do it because she was trying to attract attention?"

    Killian shook his head. "There was indeed some satisfaction involved when others treated her as if she were a damsel in distress. But she also liked the pain and the humiliation that came with the beatings and the injuries. And Morrh let her. Instead of helping Lyra, she begged me to stay silent—asked me to stay quiet and let everyone believe that I was abusing her daughter. She didn’t even let me tell it to Fenric and Nyx."