CHAPTER 57: MAKING HER MATE WAS NEVER ON THE LIST

Kael’s POV

This woman had always been a fucking nuisance, and the only reason I ever tolerated her shit was because she used to my mother’s friend. But after my parents passed away, she turned into a goddamn pain in the ass.

I was being patient these years out of the respect for my mother, but now? Now this woman’d crossed a fucking line by daring to insult my brothers.

My brothers—Roman, Lucian, Jason, and Rafe, not blood related, but they are everything to me. They are my backbone, the reason I still have a goddamn grip on sanity. The only reason this pack isn’t burning in the flames of my rage.

Six years ago, when I lost everything, I was ready to set the whole fucking world on fire. I didn’t care who got in the way. But these four? They stood beside me through every second of hell. They bled with me. They fucking suffered with me. They’re my real family—my world.

And this old bitch dares run her rotting mouth and spit filth about them in my home?

Fuck no.

Time to put her in her place. Permanently.

"Meryl Katz," I said, my voice icy and full of threat. "One more fucking word against any of my brothers—just one—and I swear on my dead parents, I’ll butcher every one of your sons, those bastards you’ve bred for those Alphas like the pack whore you are."

Her face drained of color, and her body started to tremble. Good. She knew I wasn’t bluffing.

Meryl might be a pureblood, but her mother had her married off to a fucking hybrid just to keep her daughters dominance over her husband. Meanwhile, Meryl spread her legs for every high-ranking Alpha that came sniffing, popping out sons for them like a bitch in heat.

And with that pathetic hybrid husband? She managed to squeeze out only one daughter—Sophia—before her useless womb dried up.

Even now, she was still selling herself to Alphas who wanted a pureblood to fuck and knot, though she couldn’t breed. The bitch made a fortune from it, whoring out her bloodline like it was business. The perfect whore with a noble label.

I turned to her husband, Bruce, who had knelt there like a useless fucking statue.

"Bruce Katz," I said, my voice like ice. "You’ve made enough money whoring out your wife to every Alpha who needed to blow off steam. You really want to lose all that now—because this bitch can’t shut her mouth?"

"Alpha... I..." he stammered.

"She’s still your wife, isn’t she?" I sneered. "Then shove your limp fucking cock down her throat and shut her up the way a man should. Or is it too soft for that now?" My eyes dropped deliberately below his waist, "Should I send word to those Alphas—tell them to stop being gentle with her and fuck her throat until she can’t speak another goddamn word?"

Bruce and Meryl both paled, their bodies trembling under the weight of my words.

On the side, I could hear Jason whispered to Lucian, "He doesn’t talk much, but when he is pissed, his mouth can be more poisonous than yours, the worst I must say."

Lucian chuckled, "And how it feels like a melody to my ears. So rare, and I can keep listening him forever."

These two, even in this situation, couldn’t forget to find their own entertainment. But I preferred them just like that.

"Please forgive her this time," Bruce said, his voice barely holding together.

I shot him a glare. "Instead of opening your shitty mouth to beg, you should’ve used it earlier and told your bitch of a wife to shut the fuck up before she spat the shit."

"I’ll keep that in mind, Alpha," Bruce muttered and turned stiffly to Meryl. "Apologize to Alpha and his brothers. Right now."

The old hag clearly didn’t want to—probably cursing me to hell in that rotten little head of hers. But what the fuck could she do now? She was backed into a corner, trembling like a leaf in a storm.

She looked at me, then my brothers. "I apologize for what I said."

I narrowed my eyes. "That’s it? A few hollow-ass words for the bullshit you just spewed like it was gospel?"

She stiffened, swallowed, and bowed her head. "I deeply apologize. This home belongs only to Alpha and his mate-brothers. Sophia is no one here. She will not be Alpha’s mate."

"So pretentious," I muttered, then looked at my brothers. "Want anything else from her?"

"I’d rather go deaf than hear another word from that wrinkly-ass whore," Lucian snapped, pure disgust dripping from his voice. "Get them the fuck out of here before I claw my own eyes out."

I hummed, turning my gaze back to the disgraceful pair. "Did you hear that? My brothers have spoken. Now get the fuck out—and don’t even think about setting foot near this estate again unless you want to vanish from this world without a trace."

I dropped the Alpha aura I’d been pressing on them, and both of them nearly collapsed like spineless sacks of bones, gasping like fish out of water.

"Leave," I said coldly. Just that. One word. And they fucking ran. Legs trembling, hearts in their throats. Gone in seconds.

"Damn you, Kael," Lucian muttered, pleased grin. "You almost made me fall for you today."

"Fuck off," I grunted, standing up from my chair, heading upstairs to my room to freshen up.

Lucian, the bastard, chuckled behind me like he didn’t just stir shit.

"Hey, we’re mate-brothers. Nothing wrong if I fall for you," he called after me, the teasing tone annoying as ever.

"You can save that twisted love for Rafe," I shot back flatly without looking at him.

"Rafe? That bitch is already mine," Lucian laughed.

This bastard and his damn mouth. If Rafe had been here, we’d be breaking up another full-blown fight—one trying to strangle the other while throwing insults like wild dogs.

Good thing Rafe wasn’t here to listen what Lucian said.

But then I recalled something and looked around. "Where is Rafe?"

"There," Roman said as he signalled me to look at the glass wall showing the view of the side house. Rafe was standing outside under the patio, his back resting on one of the wooden poles supporting it.

"I sent him to watch over the side house when I was here to deal with the Katz couple," Roman explained.

I hummed and walked to the staircase, only to hear Lucian again. "Kael, you truly don’t love Sophia? She was your girlfriend..."

"Do we need to love someone to fuck around?" I asked, somehow not pleased with the question, and walked upstairs.

Seeing my bad mood, they didn’t ask anything more.

As I entered the room, I thought about what he asked. Sophia... who was she to me?

Definitely not the one I loved.

Back then, I had to keep her around because my mother insisted, and in her mind, Sophia was the perfect partner for me.

My mother, the only person in this world, I dearly respected and loved. Out of love and respect for my mother, I kept Sophia around. It also helped me keep other women from approaching me.

Then... that night happened, and Sophia was admitted to the hospital because I knotted her, and she barely survived. My mother insisted I be responsible toward her, and I obeyed.

After my mother died, I felt compelled to keep my promise of being responsible toward Sophia. It made me feel like I was still connected to my mother through that promise.

There was one person in this world, I dearly respected and loved- My mother. She was a great woman.

Also, the fact that she carried my child—my blood—I had to be responsible. That’s why I had been doing everything to save her.

But, marking her and making my mate was never on the list.