Page 100 of Fated
Kai’s stomach twisted, a strange mix of emotions bubbling to the surface—jealousy, longing, guilt. He forced his gaze away from Lena, focusing instead on his father. The affection in Darius’s expression when he looked at her was foreign, so at odds with the hardened alpha Kai had faced off with over the years.
He watched as Lena moved on, attention turning to a crying pup nearby. She crouched to meet the little wolf’s gaze, voice soft and soothing as she wiped his tears. The pup fell into her arms, small frame trembling as she hugged him. Her presence was a quiet comfort amid the grief that filled the room.
“She’s everything we need. Everything we could be.”Orion’s voice vibrated through Kai’s bones, resonating with a truth he couldn’t deny.
His nails bit into his palm until tiny crescents of blood formed beneath the pressure. His lungs compressed, making each breath shallow as he watched Lena circle the room like sunlight he couldn’t bear to face. A physical ache spread beneath his ribs, cutting off the sensation as though his body refused him even that small comfort. He didn’t deserve her light, not when he’d brought so much darkness to his pack. He focused on the table where his father sat and continued toward them, movements stiff and guarded.
Magnus was the first to rise when Kai reached the table, pulling him into a crushing embrace. The larger wolf’s shoulders trembled, head dropping onto Kai’s shoulder.
“He should be here.” Magnus’s voice cracked. “It’s not fair. He was supposed to be here.”
Kai stiffened, throat tightening at the suffering radiating from his future beta. Magnus smelled of smoke and sweat, of dried blood that wasn’t his own. He’d been clearing bodies, Kai realized with a jolt. The future beta’s hands bore fresh cuts and burns, badges of honor from the fight and recovery efforts while Kai had been absent.
Orion responded instinctively, a low rumbling comfort vibrating between them—pack wolves consoling each other. The sound emerged from deep in Kai’s chest, too low for human ears to fully register but felt by Magnus’s wolf, Ranulf.
He slipped into memory—three young pups standing in the moonlight by the eastern ridge, their small hands stacked atop one another.“Blood and bone, fang and claw,”they’d whispered, the ancient pack vow transformed into their private oath.“We three will guard Bloodstone together.”
Elias had been the one to insist on it, after they’d coaxed a sobbing Ava—rescued from the rogue attack at Raven’s Crest—to sleep her first night in Bloodstone.
“I know,” Kai murmured, each syllable scraping his throat raw. “Elias was...” But he couldn’t finish. What right did he have to speak of Elias when he hadn’t been there to fight alongside him? When it was Magnus who had stood by their friend’s side while Kai had been safe in another territory?
When they pulled apart, Magnus’s shoulders slumped, and he swiped at his eyes before taking his seat. A flash of the old Magnus surfaced as he squared his shoulders, a silent testament to how they would all need to be stronger now. Kai turned to Darius, who rose and pulled his son into a brief but firm embrace.
“I’m glad you’re home, son,” Darius murmured. “I’ve missed you.”
Kai couldn’t bring himself to respond, only offering a tight nod before sitting down. He sank into his seat, shoulders curved inward, spine bowing. His voice was barely above a whisper as he finally asked, “What…happened?”
Darius recounted the events of the attack, tone laced with sorrow. The coordinated rogue assault. The destruction. The casualties. The loss of Elias, who had died protecting Ava. Alpha Caleb’s arrival with the Crescent Fang warriors helping to turn the tide in Bloodstone’s favor. Kai listened in silence, fists clenching beneath the table.
Each word felt like a knife slicing deeper into his chest. Elias—his future gamma and childhood friend.Gone. The guilt was suffocating, gnawing at his insides. He’d been away, indulging in his own happiness—indulging in his mate’s body—while his pack bled and burned.
Cranberries and rosemary cut through the dining hall’s heaviness—bright, sharp, alive—reaching Kai before he saw her.Orion alerted instantly, nostrils flaring to capture more of their mate’s scent.
Lena returned to the table, the steady rhythm of her heartbeat as familiar to him as his own. She sat beside him, body angled toward him, but he couldn’t bring himself to look at her.
“Do you need anything, Kai?” she asked softly.
He shook his head, the movement slow and almost imperceptible. “No,” he muttered.
She nodded once, voice steady but faint. “Okay…”
Her lips parted as though she wanted to say more. Instead, she leaned in, mouth brushing against his cheek, her exhale unsteady against his skin. The touch was fleeting, but it was enough to make Kai stiffen, body going rigid against her.
She pulled back gracefully, expression blank, though her scent spiked with something sharp—hurt, perhaps, or fear. Kai noticed the slight tension in her shoulders as she stood, the way her fingers curled into her palm before relaxing. She didn’t look back as she moved away, though she paused at the door, head tilting as if fighting the urge to turn around before her attention was consumed by comforting the other wolves scattered throughout the hall.
Orion’s grief erupted in a mournful howl that pulsed through Kai’s marrow, their shared consciousness bleeding sorrow until Kai couldn’t separate his anguish from his wolf’s.“She is strength.We are fools to push her away.”
Kai’s canines lengthened in response, a physical manifestation of his wolf’s displeasure. His stomach churned as shame and dread warred within him. He forced his focus back to the table, avoiding his father’s gaze as he studied him closely.
Maxim broke the silence, deep voice steady but somber. “We need to finalize the funeral rites for the fallen.”
The air around the table grew heavier as the conversation shifted to the grim task ahead. They discussed the ritual—burning the bodies on the pack’s sacred pyre and spreading their ashes on the ritual grounds.
“The pyre flames will carry them to Selene,” Maxim said. “It’s the way we honor the fallen—returning them to Her light, where their spirits can find peace.”
Kai’s gaze dropped to the table, images of the flames flickering in his mind. He could almost hear the crackle of the fire, feel the heat on his skin, smell the faint tang of smoke mingled with the earthy scent of ash. A creeping pain bloomed behind his sternum as the solemn duty of the ritual settled heavily on his shoulders.
He sat silently for most of the discussion, despair simmering beneath the surface. He nodded when necessary, throat too tight to form words.
