Mated To My Mate's Worst Enemy (ARIA) novel Chapter 299

Chapter 299

Chapter 299

ARYADA

“I’m not defending her,” Ivory said. “I’m just acknowledging that the situation is more complicated than everyone wants to pretend. Yes, Aria made terrible choices. Yes, she betrayed Kael’s trust. Yes, she’s inadequate in ways that make being Luna difficult for her. But she’s also right that the pack has never given her a fair chance. Has never supported her without skepticism. Has never allowed her to make mistakes without using those mistakes as evidence that she should be removed.”

Through the curtain, I could hear voices. Pack members talking as they passed through the healing bay, their conversation carrying clearly enough that we could make out words.

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‘—what Aria said, though. It was true. We have been hypocritical about the whole thing.”

“That doesn’t make her right about deserving to be Luna,” another voice argued.

“No, but it means we haven’t been fair to her either. We’ve wanted her to fail from the beginning. Haven’t given her room to succeed.”

“She visited Damon! That’s not about us being unfair, that’s about her making terrible choices!”

“And we wanted Kael to cheat on her with Ivory. How is that better?”

The voices faded as they moved out of hearing range, leaving Ivory and me sitting in uncomfortable silence.

“The pack is divided,” Ivory said. “Some are hearing what she said and reconsidering. Others are just digging in harder on their original position. And I’m stuck in the middle trying to figure out what I actually want versus what I’m supposed to want versus what’s actually possible.”

“You should want what’s rightfully yours,” I said. “The position you earned. The partnership you built. The future you suffered for.”

“I should want Kael to be happy,” Ivory corrected. “And right now, I don’t know if that’s with me or with Aria or with some third option none of us have thought of yet. So I’m going to recover from this memory restoration. I’m going to process three years of experiences. 1st got back all at once. And then I’m going to figure out what I actually want rather than letting everyone else tell me what I should want.”

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She lay back down, clearly exhausted from even this brief conversation. “Thank

you for visiting, Elder Aryada. I appreciate your concern. But I need to rest now. And I need to do thinking alone rather than having everyone’s opinions and expectations pressing on me constantly.”

It was a dismissal. Polite but clear. Ivory wanted me to leave.

my

I stood, frustrated that I couldn’t get her to see what seemed obvious to me-that she deserved better than what she was accepting, that her nobility was keeping her from claiming what was rightfully hers.

But she was right that she needed rest. Needed time to process without everyone pushing their agendas onto her while she was still raw from memory restoration.

“Rest well,” I said. “And Ivory? Don’t let her inadequacy make you think you don’t deserve what you’ve earned. Just because Aria saved Kael doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice everything you worked for.”

I left before she could respond, before she could argue or correct or try to explain why my perspective was wrong.

The corridors were still filled with pack members processing what they’d heard in the stadium. I caught fragments of conversation as I passed-some agreeing with Aria’s accusations, others insisting she was just deflecting from her own failures, all of them working through complexity they hadn’t expected to face.

And I felt my rage settle into something colder. More calculated.

I couldn’t harm Aria directly. The restrictions on harming children of the moon were absolute. But I could make sure the investigation proceeded thoroughly. Could ensure that Nina found every piece of evidence about Aria’s visit to Damon, about what she might have said, about whether she’d been complicit in his escape or the ambush that followed.

Could make certain that if Aria was going to be removed from the Luna position, it would be through natural consequences of her own actions rather than through my direct interference.

That was allowed. That was within the rules.

And if those natural consequences happened to align with what I wanted-with Ivory finally getting what she deserved-then that was just justice finally being served.

I made my way back to the viewing chamber where the other Council members were still assembled, still discussing what they’d witnessed.

“She made her stand,” I said as I entered. “Called out the pack. Defended her position. Used her

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awakened power to make herself heard. And now we wait to see if it was enough.”

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