Mated to the Mad Lord-Chapter 340: Last words?

The more Violet spoke, the more it felt as if someone had taken a chisel to Cain’s heart and was slowly hammering away, piece by piece. Every word dug deeper, widening cracks that could never be mended. His chest rose and fell with ragged breaths, but he never looked away from her. His gaze burned redder, sharp as coals fanned into a wild blaze, and still she pressed on.

Her voice came steady, but her lips trembled between syllables, words escaping in small stutters that betrayed how much effort it took to force them out. 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

"It was never supposed to be permanent! I want to be free... free to live my life with my biological mother!"

The declaration cracked through the tension in the air like lightning, raw and merciless. Violet knew it was the truth that Cain would flinch hardest at, and indeed she saw it ripple across his features—the slight twitch at the corner of his mouth, the taut bristle in his shoulders.

"She’s my biological mother, Cain! Accept it—and let me go!" she insisted, her eyes shining with the kind of desperation that begged not for victory but for release.

Cain’s chest heaved, the air around him heavy with the simmering rage of a beast fighting to stay contained. His shoulders tightened further, cords of muscle coiling, ready to break free. The shadow of his other self pressed close, the wolf snarling just beneath the surface. His teeth clenched hard enough that his jawline sharpened into something cruel. A moment more, and he would abandon reason entirely.

Every breath he took rasped through clenched teeth, carrying the sound of fury. Anger radiated from him in waves, a pressure so tangible it warped the space around him.

And then—laughter.

Lady June’s voice rose like an ill-timed melody, a chuckle that lilted sharp as glass. She stood poised on the sidelines, eyes glinting with a dangerous amusement. The faint twinkle in her gaze was proof enough—she was relishing every moment of this disaster, feeding on Cain’s torment like fine wine.

Uva, watching from a safer distance, stiffened. Instinct told her that if a fight erupted here, being anywhere close would be suicidal. She had enough sense to stand far back, yet not so far that she could not catch every word flung into the storm.

Her sigh slipped out unbidden as her gaze swept from one side to the other. Violet’s face was tight with conviction and fear; Cain’s was twisted with betrayal. Uva understood why Violet did what she did—her longing for freedom, her claim of blood ties—but she also knew this was pushing too far.

Anyone but Cain, Uva thought grimly. Anyone but him. A man who has been betrayed, who has known nothing but loneliness and rejection, will not forgive this. He will not bend. All he’ll want... is to rip you apart.

But Violet was unyielding.

"I don’t want to see you anymore!" she spat, voice shaking now with both fear and defiance. "Find someone else to sleep with—or fuck, I don’t care!"

Her chest tightened as the words left her, but she forced them through clenched teeth anyway.

"I never once loved you—and I never will!"

The declaration shattered whatever thread of control Cain still clung to. Violet’s tears welled despite her stubborn grip on composure. Her vision blurred as her heart pounded.

Then—

A growl, so loud it seemed to shake the walls.

The sound snapped through her body, jolting her into icy fear. Her eyes widened as Cain’s form exploded into transformation. Bones cracked, sinews warped, his body stretching and reshaping into something monstrous. In the blink of an eye, he towered before her—massive, hulking, terrifying. His red gaze burned hotter, mouth gaping wide with an expression that promised only blood.

He lunged.

The ground trembled beneath the force of his stride, and in that instant Violet knew—he wanted nothing more than to shred her into pieces, to swallow her screams whole. It was not only fury. It was heartbreak turned feral, pain too vast to contain, channeled into violence. The only way to soothe the shatter in his heart and the storm in his head was to destroy the source.

Violet’s breath caught in her throat. Tears spilled freely now, coursing down her cheeks unchecked. The terror of his looming form, the fury etched into every claw and fang, broke her last defenses. She could do nothing but watch him close the distance.

And then—

A hand.

A sigh.

Lady June’s cool palm pressed firmly against Violet’s shoulder. A strange vertigo seized Violet’s body, her vision swimming, the world tilting violently sideways. Sounds dulled and warped, Cain’s growl fading into a muffled echo as her surroundings bled into obscurity.

The next moment, silence.

When her sight steadied again, Violet gasped. Cain was gone. The familiar square, the looming walls, the tension of battle—all gone. Instead, she and Lady June stood in a narrow alley of a completely different part of town. The air smelled different, older, laced with dampness and smoke. People bustled nearby, strangers passing with little interest, while she stood there stunned, her heart still hammering with the memory of Cain’s pursuit.

For a moment she almost forgot why she had been crying. She blinked at the sight of children darting past, women carrying baskets, the rough hum of a market in the distance.

And then a sound beside her snapped her back.

Lady June doubled over against the wall, coughing violently. The sound was guttural, painful, raw. Violet’s eyes widened as she saw blood trickle from the corners of her mouth, dark crimson staining her lips. Her body shook as if rejecting itself, heaving like she had swallowed poison.

Violet’s shock deepened when realization hit. We teleported.

The word seemed unreal even in her mind. She had read of such things only in stories, myths of great mages who could twist space itself. And now—she had lived it.

’Of course there would be consequences,’ she thought grimly, her gaze darting to the blood pooling at Lady June’s lips. She didn’t know the scientific mechanisms of such magic, but she understood enough: balance, harmony, cost. Carrying two bodies across space would demand impossible energy. The backlash was inevitable.

"Damn," Violet whispered aloud, her voice shaky.

She glanced around now, taking in their new surroundings properly. The buildings were worn, their stones chipped and weathered, the windows patched with uneven wood. The streets bore the signs of poverty—thin faces, ragged clothes, stray dogs weaving between carts. This was a poorer section of the city, far from the grandeur they had left behind.

She turned, her eyes widening as she tried to trace a line back to where they had come from. The distance was staggering.

It needed to be, she realized with a grim nod. If not, Cain would already be here.

A shaky breath left her lungs. She wiped her tears with the back of her sleeve, steeling herself.

She knew exactly what she had done. And she knew she would do it again. If it meant Cain could live—if it meant he would be safe, no matter how much he hated her—it was worth it.

He was strong. He was powerful beyond reason. But he was still poisoned. Until she found the cure, they could not be together.

I just need a year, she told herself. At most. Maybe less, if I’m not a complete fool when it comes to learning magic.

She only hoped the talent her mother had carried—the gift that made her name feared and respected—did not abandon her now, when Violet needed it most.

Beside her, Lady June finally eased her coughing with a deep swallow from a small vial she fumbled from her pocket. The liquid was thick and metallic-smelling, staining her lips further as she leaned against the cleaner part of the alley wall. Her breath wheezed as she rasped, voice hoarse from the strain.

"Let’s find a place to stay," she croaked. "Tomorrow... we’ll leave this city. Go somewhere safer, somewhere his nose won’t find us."

Her words were cracked, scraped raw from her throat, but the determination behind them held strong.

Violet nodded mutely. The expression on her face was one of reluctant acceptance—acceptance of a fate she had chosen and could not escape.

They found shelter soon enough. A small inn, unremarkable but sufficient. Disguise was necessary, and with a flicker of Lady June’s weakening magic, their appearances shifted—faces older, features blurred into anonymity. But the price of each spell showed itself in her mother’s body. She coughed again, blood flecking her sleeve, her eyes hollow with fatigue.

"Clearly," Violet thought grimly, "magic has its kickbacks. It isn’t all-powerful. Nothing ever is."

She accepted the room key from the innkeeper, her hands trembling slightly. Inside, the space was modest—two narrow beds, a cracked window, the faint smell of damp wood. Lady June collapsed onto one bed the instant they entered, curling herself tight beneath the blankets, her body giving in to exhaustion.

Violet stood by the door, staring at her. She didn’t want to admit it, but the sight tugged at something in her chest. For the first time since learning the truth, she felt something—small, dangerous, unwelcome—for her biological mother.

Almost sympathy. Almost... affection.

She clenched her fists.

She murdered a whole family, Violet. The thought screamed in her mind. She’s done worse, no doubt. Such a person cannot care for you. Do not forget that.

Her jaw tightened as she turned away, forcing the feeling back into its cage.