Chapter 152

“Please, Keith,” Clay’s voice followed soft and hollow. “I’m begging you… Scarlett isn’t your mate, and this is wrong. You’ve already hard a mate you we had your time with love. Don’t take this from ds. She’s our mate, and she belongs with us. Please, this… this is just greed.” His voice faltered, and I could hear the desperation beneath his words. My heart tightened, hearing the quiet, vulnerable side of Clay I had rarely seen.

But Keith didn’t relent.

“Greed?” he said, his tone almost scornful. “I never left her tied to a pole, hoping she’d freeze to death. I didn’t lock her in a dark cell, starve her, ot work her to exhaustion. I never betrayed her trust or put her enemies before her. All of that-that was on you three. Don’t you think you’ve done enough damage? Besides, I know about the war in the East. Shouldn’t you be worrying about defending your territories instead of chasing after a mate who doesn’t men want to return?”

”

I leaned closer, hardly able to believe my own ears. Keith’s words cut through the air, fierce and unyielding, filled with a protective rage that I had never felt anyone direct toward me. Yet, hearing him list the things I’d endured, I felt the buried pain flare up, raw and vivid.

There was a long silence, thick with the weight of regret and unspoken words.

Then, Lucian spoke, his voice strained and hoarse. “I don’t care about my title or the North, Keith. None of it matters anymore. If it’s my share of the North you want, take it. I’ll give it all up if it means Scarlett will return. Nothing in this world has any meaning without her.” His words broke, and I could tell he was struggling, each word coming from a place of deep agony.