17.2

Kalmin didn’t speak—he couldn’t. He’d always known purebreds hated hybrids. He’d carried that hatred himself. But to try and murder a toddler?
“Who?” he asked, low and strained.
Nuri rolled her eyes, but Kalmin’s expression hardened.
“Tell me who, Nuri.”
“Why does it matter?” she muttered, standing to grab the plates. “It was nearly sixteen years ago. Under a different alpha. You can’t punish someone for something that long ago—and even if you tried, no one would care. They didn’t then, and they wouldn’t now.”
“I care!” Kalmin barked, heart pounding. “How can you say that like it means nothing?”
Nuri jabbed her fork into the eggs so hard the plate shattered. Glass scattered across the table and floor.
“Don’t move. There’s glass around you,” Kalmin said, his voice tight. But her next words gutted him.
“You don’t care. You brought me here to make me kill myself. And now you expect me to believe you give a damn about a failed murder attempt sixteen years ago? Bullshit.”
Kalmin didn’t flinch. “You’re right. I did that. I won’t deny it.” He bent down, grabbing a broom and washcloth, sweeping up the shards. “But I am trying to change. I told you that. And I can’t do that without understanding what you’ve lived through. It’s why I want you to share everything when we merge.”
Nuri studied him. His soft green eyes brimmed with disbelief. His lip trembled slightly. He hadn’t known.
‘He looks like he’s going to cry, Nuri!’ Tempest whimpered, spinning in frantic circles inside her. ‘Don’t make him cry, please!’
‘Find out who it was, Kalmin. I don’t care when it was. I won’t stand for it!’ Rian growled.
“Who was it?” Kalmin asked again, dumping the dustpan into the trash. Nuri reached across and stole a piece of bacon from his plate.
“I can’t tell you.” Her eyes closed. She didn’t want Tempest to see his face—didn’t want her to feel it. “She told me not to upset you anymore. And that’s exactly what this will do.”
“It’s someone close to me?” Kalmin’s breath hitched. He’d thought maybe an omega, someone bitter and low-ranking. But a beta?
“You have to tell me.”
“I don’t have to do anything. And you can’t make me.”
“NURI!” Kalmin roared, slamming his fist down on the counter. “You just told me one of my betas tried to murder you. You think I want someone like that in my inner circle?!”
Nuri chuckled, dark and bitter. Like he wasn’t also a killer.
Kalmin growled, sliding into the chair across from her and pushing his plate toward her.
“I killed during the conclave. That’s not the same. Those lives were willingly risked to become alpha. Look me in the eye and tell me those are the same thing.”
“They’re not,” she said quietly. She inhaled, then exhaled slowly. “Are you sure you want to know? You can’t get mad because you don’t like the answer to a question you demanded.”
“I’m sure.”
‘I shouldn’t have said anything,’ she thought, staring into his eyes. ‘I let my anger win. And now I have to tell him one of his closest friends isn’t who he thought.’
“Gael.”
The word cracked something in him. His best friend. The one who organized the party where he met Nuri. Kalmin stood, stunned.
“Get in the car,” he muttered, already walking to the garage.
‘Gael?! I can’t believe it!’ Rian whispered, fury and grief bubbling beneath his skin.
“I couldn’t at first, either,” Kalmin admitted as he waited in the driver’s seat, foot tapping rapidly. “But thinking back… every time hybrids came up, he was the first to call for their eradication. I thought it was just hate. Not action.”
‘Why are we bringing Nuri?’ Rian snapped. ‘You want her to watch what I’m about to do?’
“We have to meet Moira when we’re done. Nuri’s resolved. We need to start.”
He held the door open for her as she stepped into the car.
“Once we’re done with what?” she asked nervously, clutching the door handle as Kalmin floored it down the drive. “What are you going to do?”
“It’s bold of you to assume Rian’s going to sit back long enough for me to do anything,” Kalmin laughed bitterly. ‘What are you planning, Rian?’
‘You already know.’
‘I know what you think you’re going to do. But Gael is our second for a reason.’
‘You think he’s a match for me?’
‘No. But he fights dirty. That’s why he didn’t make the conclave. And Nuri’s with us. I won’t put it past him to use her as a shield.’