Mike’s POV
The mont those words left my mouth, I knew I had crossed a line I shouldn’t have.
The dining hall went silent following that and all eyes turned towards us.
They moved from where I was sitting to Valerie and back.
Valerie’s expression didn’t change at all. However, I base the crack that she tried hard to hide.
She was hurt badly by my words and I felt it.
The sharp, uncomfortable twist in my chest that felt as if a knife was continuously being twisted and slicing my heart.
But it was already too late to turn back.
I couldn’t take back the words I had already said.
"You heard ," I added, my voice harder now. "This entire situation is already a problem. The last thing I need is more complications."
She lowered her head slightly when I spoke again.
She didn’t argue or say anything to defend herself.
But for so reason, I wanted so much for her to say sothing.
Even if it’s just to tell to stop. I would have stopped.
However, she remained silent and the pain in my chest increased.
I knew that if I was feeling this kind of pain through the mate bond, then she would be in even more pain.
I should have stopped.
But I didn’t, because the frustration had already gotten the better of .
"Do you have any idea what this looks like?" I continued. "An Alpha with a Luna who hasn’t even shifted?"
The words echoed throughout the hall. I knew they were getting crueler, but I just couldn’t stop myself.
"With the council watching? With the pack questioning?" I added. "Do you know what that does to my authority and power?"
I could see her hands clenched in her lap. Even so, she still said nothing.
"It makes look weak," I said.
I knew this was selfish but I never really planned to accept her as my mate in the first place.
If my father hadn’t forced to accept her and make her Luna, I wouldn’t be in this situation.
I didn’t want others to think I was weak. Or to think that there was sothing wrong with , which was why the moon goddess paired with a wolfless Luna.
"I won’t tolerate that for even a mont." I added with a hardened expression.
Valerie still said nothing. She had stopped eating and was looking at the food on the plate in front of her as if it was the most interesting thing in the world.
A soft laugh broke the deadlock.
I looked to the other side of at Innocent, who had just laughed.
At tis like these, I wanted to strangle her for seeking attention in the wrong monts, but I just remained silent.
She leaned back slightly, her gaze sliding toward Valerie with thinly veiled amusent.
"Well," she said lightly, "it’s not entirely her fault."
My jaw tightened when she said that, but I didn’t stop her and I didn’t interrupt.
And that was the second mistake I made that night. A mistake I would probably regret.
"She was never ant for this position," Innocent continued smoothly. "Everyone knows that."
Valerie still didn’t move, nor did she react.
However, I noticed how her shoulders suddenly tensed and her breathing changed a little.
I realized that she might act unaffected, but in fact, she wasn’t.
But what did I expect when I let the person who had tornted her for years gain the upper hand when she was already down.
I knew I was kicking her while she was down, but I just didn’t have it in to stop Innocent.
Or rather, I wanted Valerie to submit and beg for my help, but she just remained silent and that made angrier.
"She doesn’t have the strength," Innocent went on. "The presence, nor the... qualifications."
There was a brief pause before she spoke again. And this ti, she crossed the line.
"If the Moon Goddess had chosen more wisely, this wouldn’t be an issue."
My chest twisted painfully at those words and I knew that most of the pain wasn’t mine.
It was the pain of humiliation Valerie was suffering, but I still said nothing.
I knew that a part of really wanted Valerie, but there was another part that refused to acknowledge her because she was too weak.
I didn’t want to be stuck with such a mate for life.
Valerie finally looked up. Her eyes t mine and my heart nearly stopped at what I saw in those usually beautiful and bright eyes.
I didn’t see pain, or her usual defiance. It wasn’t even the hurt I had expected.
Instead, what was in those eyes was sothing far worse.
It was the look of soone who had been broken.
I looked at her for a mont before looking away because I couldn’t bring myself to accept that I had done that to her.
I did nothing and that was the biggest mistake of my life.
She finally spoke. Her voice was so soft it was almost a whisper.
However, everyone in the hall was a werewolf, so they heard her clearly.
"I see."
What unsettled was how calm her voice was.
It was as if everything that had been said didn’t have an effect on her, but I knew it did because I could feel the pain.
"Then I won’t take up any more of your ti."
She stood slowly after saying those words.
Her actions were so careful like every movent took effort.
It was as if she was holding sothing back.
As if she had turned into sothing fragile.
Sothing that would shatter if she moved too fast.
"Enjoy your al," she added before she turned around and walked out.
She didn’t look back until the doors closed behind her with a click.
The silence that followed almost suffocated to death.
And it was at this mont that my mind finally cooled down and I realized that I had made a mistake that could not be undone.
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