Ouroboros Spine the rocks and roots of the deepest hollow

Somehow he felt he should have known that this was the way their conversation was going to go. Yet it should have been something he expected, because of the closeness between his beta and their former alpha female. Mordecai could almost feel the temperature plummet as Kaname punctuated his words with a hint of glacial ice; the very temperment of his feelings towards the matter broke through his stony expression swiftly. Mordecai met that gaze with a tempered one of his own, hoping his unwillingness to be bent into apology would be enough to keep the anger Kaname felt right there. He did not, and would not, allow it to persist for long beyond their meeting.

“She made that decision herself,” Mordecai explained, sighing. “Believe me, it came as a surprise to me. Though I do realize I was not among her supporters recently.” But deeper than that, he was surprised she hadn't said anything to Kaname about it. For as close as they were and for what she wanted, Mordecai had made the logical assumption that they were involved, or were about to be in the coming weeks. Perhaps they had been for even longer than that, just in the sense that there were not words out there to describe the camaraderie they had. It was obvious to him that they were something, however.

“She conceded her title to me. I am surprised that she did not confer with you, though, and honestly it happened quickly enough that there would have not been time to summon you. Have you spoken with her since?” He imagined so, if only for the fact that they had not gone announcing it from the hilltops that she had decided to take her interests in other directions. For that, he wasn't about to spill the beans on the matter, on the off chance that it was not Kaname she had chosen as a potential suitor. Her business was her own and in spite of Mordecai's evident dislike of her, he respected her enough not to go sharing it around.