TRADING MY CHEATING HUSBAND FOR THE LYCAN KING novel Chapter 159

CHAPTER 10G WHY NAT

CHAPTER 106: WHY, NATHANIEL?-2

Not the claws that erupted from her fingers when Gale had his hands around her throat, impossible claws that omegas aren’t supposed to have.

What are you? What the fuck are you?

“Leave us.” Nathaniel’s voice is flat, commanding, the tone he uses when he’s not in the mood for arguments. The doctor opens his mouth to protest and Nathaniel cuts him off with a look that could freeze lava. “Now.”

The doctor leaves. The door clicks shut behind him.

And suddenly it’s just me and Nathaniel in this room that smells like antiseptic and blood, with too much silence and too many questions hanging between us.

I manage to drag myself into a sitting position, ignoring the way my muscles scream and my head pounds and my vision swims at the edges.

The memories are coming back in fragments now, broken pieces slotting into place one by one.

The convoy. The archers. Ember running out of the car screaming my name. The arrows punching through

my body. The shift that felt like being swallowed whole.

And Harrison.

Harrison on that ridge with his arm torn off, smiling at me like I’d just proven everything he’d ever believed

about me.

Harrison rolling himself off the cliff before I could finish what I started. Harrison escaping because-

“You stopped me.”

The words come out quiet, but there’s nothing quiet about what’s underneath them. Nathaniel meets my gaze without flinching, which only makes me angrier.

“Yes.”

“You injected me with something. You let him escape.”

“Yes.”

“Why?” The word rips out of me like a snarl. “Why the fuck would you do that? I had him, Nathaniel. I had my claws around his throat and you – you let him go. You let the man who tried to kill Ember walk away.”

“He didn’t walk anywhere. He threw himself off a cliff.”

“BECAUSE YOU GAVE HIM THE CHANCE.”

I’m on my feet before I realize I’ve moved, and the room tilts dangerously but I don’t care.

Nathaniel doesn’t back away, doesn’t even tense. He just stands there watching me with those calm,

< CHAPTERJOG WHY NATHANIEL 2

ealculating eyes like he’s waiting for me to finish throwing my tantrum so we can have a real conversation.

It makes me want to kill him.

“Killing Harrison would have been reckless,” he says, and his voice is so fucking measured I can feel my claws starting to extend. “That was exactly what that old bastard wanted. He was goading you, Knox. Every word out of his mouth was designed to push you over the edge, and you walked right into it.”

“He tried to KILL her-”

“And killing him wouldn’t have brought her back if she’d died.” Nathaniel’s voice sharpens just slightly, the first crack in his composure. “It wouldn’t have done anything except damn you. Damn all of us.”

“Damn me?” I laugh, and the sound is ugly even to my own ears. “He was breaking Gale out. He orchestrated an ambush on the Lycan King. He had elite hunters with silver arrows trying to put me in the ground. How the fuck is ending him UNJUST?”

“Because that’s not how you handled it, Knox.” Nathaniel takes a step closer, and there’s something in his expression now that I don’t like. Something that looks almost like pity. “You didn’t apprehend Harrison Crawford and bring him to justice through legal channels. You didn’t file a formal complaint with the

council or demand an investigation into the breakout. You chased him off–grid, shifted into something I’ve

never seen before, and massacred two dozen men before ripping his arm off with your bare hands.”

“He deserved worse.”

“Maybe. But that level of violence? For a transport violation?” Nathaniel shakes his head slowly. “That’s not justice. That’s not even revenge. That’s a king losing control because his emotions got the better of him. And this isn’t the first time, is it? This pattern of recklessness, this willingness to throw everything away it’s been recurring since Ember came into your life!

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Remi Winters

Thank you, my kind readers! And a huge shoutout for the gifts that came in yesterday – you’re truly so kind and sweet. Thank you! We’re at 15/20 chapters so far, and tomorrow is the last day of our 5–chapters–per–day sprint. Thank you for reading, for theorizing, and for letting me watch your beautiful hearts break Imao. Always trust the process – when in doubt, remember this book WILL have a happy ending regardless. I love you all. And if you want us hitting new milestones, don’t forget to vote! Click the #vote button – it leads you directly to moon ticket voting. Thank you for being here. Also, we’ve kept Top 20 for a few days now and I’m so incredibly grateful. You guys make this possible.

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