Claimed by My Five Forbidden Mates

08-KNOXX

KNOXX VOLKARIS POINT OF VIEW

The room went quiet. His gaze moved from Lucien to Evren, then to Sylas and me. None of us met his eyes. Suddenly, the floor looked very interesting.

I scratched the back of my neck and glanced toward the window. Evren shifted in his chair and stared at the fireplace. Lucien crossed his arms and looked away.

Because the truth was simple. None of us would have done it. None of us wanted to tie ourselves to a mate we hadn't chosen.

We had spent years waiting for our true fated mates. That bond was supposed to be ours. It was supposed to be the one thing that belonged only to us, the bond that would awaken our full power and complete what was missing in our blood.

Taking Caidy as our mate would mean giving that up.

And none of us were ready to do that.

Malakai let the silence stretch before he spoke again. "That's what I thought."

I looked at him. His expression wasn't smug. If anything, he looked tired. "I made the decision because none of you were willing to make it. I stopped a fight before it started. That's all."

Evren gave him a flat look. "You make it sound very noble."

"It wasn't noble. It was necessary."

"Sure."

I looked between them and tried not to smile.

Malakai was usually impossible to read. He could stand in front of the entire council and make grown men forget how to breathe with one look, yet he rarely let any of us see what was going on in his head. Tonight, however, he was making things a little too easy. Ever since Caidy walked into this house, he had been acting like her personal guard, her lawyer, and her executioner all at once. He kept calling it duty and protection, but I knew my brother better than that.

And that made me curious.

Very very curious.

I pushed away from the table and looked at him. "So, there's something I'd like to ask."

Malakai gave me a warning look before I could even continue. "Don't."

I grinned. "You haven't even heard the question."

"I know you, Knoxx."

"That's fair." I glanced at Lucien, Evren, and Sylas before I looked back at him. "Was claiming Caidy really the only option?"

Malakai's expression tightened. "We already discussed this."

"No, you explained why you had to protect her. That's different." I folded my arms and tried to look serious, although the grin on my face probably ruined it. "I'm asking if there was another reason you were so damn quick to claim her."

His eyes narrowed. "What exactly are you implying?"

"Nothing."

"Knoxx."

"Fine. Maybe a little something."

Lucien immediately looked irritated. "Can you stop?"

I turned toward him. "I haven't even started."

"That's exactly what worries me."

Evren sighed from his chair. "For once, I agree with Lucien."

I placed a hand over my chest. "Wow. Look at us. Family unity."

Sylas shook his head. "You are making this worse."

"I'm asking a perfectly reasonable question."

"No," Sylas said calmly. "You're asking a dangerous question with a smile on your face."

"That's how I ask all my best questions."

Malakai rubbed his forehead. "Can we get to the point?"

"Gladly." I looked at him again. "You could have refused to claim her. You could have let Magnus take her, or you could have found another way to keep her here. Instead, you stood in front of the entire Great House and called Caidy your mate."

Malakai's jaw tightened. "Because it was the only way to stop Magnus from taking her."

"I know."

"Then what's the problem?"

I hesitated. The joke suddenly felt a little less funny.

The problem was that I remembered our time in the academy.

We all did.

Malakai and Caidy had always had something between them. Even back then, nobody could figure out if they wanted to kill each other or kiss each other. Knowing Malakai, it was probably both.

Then everything changed.

After what Caidy had done to us, Malakai cut her off completely. He never defended her. He never mentioned her. He acted like whatever had existed between them had never mattered.

So we stopped thinking about it.

Apparently, we were all idiots.

looked at him and gave him a crooked smile. "I'm just wondering if you really did it only because you had to."

Malakai's stare sharpened. "What else would it be?"

I opened my mouth, but Lucien beat me to it.

"Don't."

His voice was different this time.

I looked at him.

Lucien had gone completely still. His arms were crossed tightly over his chest, and his expression had lost all trace of amusement. He wasn't looking at me anymore. He was staring at Malakai.

I raised an eyebrow. "What?"

Lucien shook his head. "Just don't."

"Why?"

"Because you're making it sound like..." He stopped, clearly annoyed with himself. "Forget it."

Malakai frowned. "Like what?"

Lucien didn't answer, and that caught my attention. I glanced between them. "Oh."

Lucien's eyes narrowed. "Don't."

I couldn't help myself. "Don’t tell me you liked her before too?"

"You’re a f*****g i***t if that’s what you thought,” he immediately answered.

"It’s not my fault if that’s what I thought. We all knew Malakai liked Caidy before… right, everyone?”

Evren's gaze shifted to Malakai before he shrugged his shoulders. "He's right."

I snorted. "Thank you, Sylas. I knew there was a reason I liked you."

Malakai's expression remained unreadable.

Lucien frowned as he slowly shook his head. "That was years ago."

"Exactly," I said. "Which is why this is weird."

Lucien looked at Malakai again. "You were over her, right?”

Malakai's eyes moved toward him.

Lucien's voice grew firmer. "After what happened, you were over her. You made that very clear."

"I thought so too," Evren admitted.

Sylas nodded. "We all did."

I scratched my jaw. "Same. I figured you had finally gotten Caidy out of your head."

Malakai said nothing. And somehow, that silence bothered me more than an answer would have.

I leaned against the table again. "So imagine our surprise when you suddenly claim the woman you've spent years pretending you don't care about."

Lucien stopped and clenched his jaw. "It doesn't make sense."

"Why not?"

"Because she's Caidy."

The words came out with so much bitterness that even I stopped smiling. Lucien looked toward the stairs. "After everything she did to us, after everything her family did, you're telling me Malakai could still want her?"

Malakai's voice turned cold. "Watch your words."

Lucien immediately looked back at him. "Why? Am I wrong?"

Nobody answered.

Lucien shook his head. "No. This is exactly what I'm talking about. We spent years thinking you were done with her. You made sure we believed it. And now she comes back, Magnus threatens us, and suddenly she's your mate?"

"I made a decision."

"That's not what I'm asking."

Malakai's expression hardened. "Then ask what you want to ask."

I leaned closer and gave him a knowing smile. "Did you really just save her from Magnus..."

I paused for effect. "...or did you finally get the excuse you've been waiting for?"

Malakai's eyes turned cold. "Knoxx."

I laughed under my breath. "That's not a no."

Malakai looked at all of us as if he was seriously reconsidering why he had ever bothered keeping us alive.

I couldn't blame him.

But I wasn't done.

Whatever had happened between Malakai and Caidy at the academy might have been years ago, but judging by the look on my brother's face, maybe it had never really ended.

And that was the part that worried me. Because if Magnus had come here with a plan, and Malakai still had feelings for Caidy, then this wasn't just a political mess anymore.

It was personal.

And personal was always where things got ugly.