“Yes, and that’s precisely the problem. She needs to find someone better suited for her childish games. Someone who will actually appreciate her unsavory qualities, such as her boldness and her misplaced confidence.”
I gave him a look.Who are you trying to convince here? Me or you?I asked, switching to a mental conversation to save my voice.
Fuck off,he groused back. “My point is, I’m not the one hung up on an Omega, mate. I just happen to have one who is annoyingly persistent.Youhave one consuming your focus. Those are very different situations.”
“If you say so,” I drawled. But my mind instantly returned to Kyra, just to check and make sure she was okay.
“You fed me information about Kieran, knowing I would recommend him to Quinn,” she was saying. “That’s betrayal, Fritz.”
I couldn’t see the Omega male in her thoughts but overheard her analysis of his facial expression.
Playful Omegawas her chosen description.
Fritz’s voice then echoed in her mind, their conversation flowing as though I were right there with them.
“Some would call that accurate matchmaking,”he told her.
“Yeah?”she replied.“And what about that bullshit murder story you concocted? What do you call that?”
That appeared to strike a nerve, or so she deduced via his clenching jaw.
It seemed she was trying to analyze both his mannerisms and his words, just to see if they matched. Mostly because she was still convinced that there was something odd about his behavior. She was adamant that he would never do what he’d done to Quinn; his decisions didn’t make sense to her at all.
“A necessary trial”was his succinct response.
“A trial for what?”she demanded.
He’s running his fingers through his hair,she noted.A nervous tell. Or an exasperated one.
“We both know Alphas can be evil, Kyra. I was trying to steer her away from the mating games by making her wary of them all.”
“While also driving her toward Kieran,”she pointed out.“Because I knew he was good for her.”
“And all the others were bad for her?”
“Some of them are,”he hedged, his cagey response making Kyra wonder what he was hiding from her.“But Kieran was meant to be hers. They’re perfect together.”
“Okay, Mister Matchmaker,”she drawled, unimpressed by his finagling.
“You and Lorcan are pretty good together, too,”he added, making her give him one of her infamous glares.
“Are you trying to convince me to kill you? Because I gotta tell you, Fritz, I’m already halfway there. You might not want to push me much further over that line, or I’m liable to put a blade in your heart.”
He apparently grinned at that.“Flirt.”
A nostalgic sensation trickled through her thoughts, her admiration for the male Omega palpable. Yet, aloud, she snapped,“Get the fuck out of my room, Fritz.”
But he didn’t immediately leave. The moment seemed to sober between them, and Kyra’s exhaustion became that much more palpable.
“Do you think she’ll ever forgive me?”Fritz asked her softly, his question hurting her heart.
“Honestly? I don’t know,”Kyra replied. She’d talked to Quinn before the coronation tonight, their conversation brief. Quinn didn’t blame Kyra for what had happened, but my mate felt guilty nonetheless.
I should have seen signs of the truth, I kept hearing her say to herself.Some sort of inclination that none of it was real. Assuming that’s even true, anyway.
Her frustration concerned my wolf, making him want to shadow back to her that much more and offer her support in the form of his purr.
But neither of us could allow our wolves to further their bond. Otherwise, we might do something even more irreversible than what we’ve already done.
