---- Chapter 16 No.16 Aria POV: Lyra finally reached Kaelen, her hands clawing at the leg of his trousers, staining the fine fabric with wine and grime. He looked down at her, and for the first time, there was no trace of affection or protective instinct in his eyes. Only a vast, cold emptiness. With a sudden, violent movement, he kicked her away. His foot connected with her side, sending her sprawling back onto the marble floor. "You dare," he hissed, his voice a low, terrifying growl, "to talk to me about protection?" The betrayal in his eyes was a terrible thing to witness. It was the look of a man whose very soul had been ripped in two. "| did it for us!" Lyra shrieked, scrambling back, her face a mess of tears and desperation. "l knew Aria would never be good enough for you! | love you, Kaelen! Only you!" Kaelen laughed, a harsh, broken sound that held no humor. He kicked her again, harder this time. "Shut your mouth, you lying whore!" Lyra cried out, clutching her stomach, a look of utter confusion on her face. He had never, ever been violent with her. ---- He stalked forward and grabbed a fistful of her hair, yanking her head back so she was forced to look at him. His face was inches from hers, contorted with a pain so profound it was almost beautiful in its tragedy. "| gave you everything," he choked out, the words tearing from his throat. "When we were rogues, | starved so you could eat. | took beatings meant for you. | thought you were my family. My only family." He paused, his voice dropping to a tormented whisper. "You told me blood didn't matter. You said that loving each other was what made us family." At those words, a roar of pure fury erupted from across the room. It was Ronan, the Beta. His face was purple with rage. "She said that to me too!" he bellowed, shoving his way through the crowd. "That exact same line! Word for word!" A chain reaction went off. "And to me!" Jax shouted from the other side of the room. "She told me the same thing!" another warrior yelled, his face a mask of disbelief. One by one, the six warriors he had called brothers looked at each other, the horrifying realization dawning on all of them They weren't special. They weren't the 'one she truly loved'. They were all just her backup plans, her pawns, her fools. She had used the same lines, the same promises, the same seductions on every single one of them, playing them against ---- each other and against Kaelen. The love they felt for her curdled into a violent, murderous rage.