Page 69 of Fated
Orion’s voice faded, leaving Kai alone in the quiet of the ritual grounds. He stayed a while longer, letting the stillness settle him. When he finally rose, his movements were lighter, more purposeful. The coiled springs between his shoulder blades unwound one by one as his spine straightened with newfound resolve.
The run back to the pack house felt different—less like an escape and more like a return. Orion’s paws struck the earth with renewed confidence, each stride carrying Kai closer to something that felt like clarity. As he neared the edge of the trees, waning sunlight caught his fur, turning the black to midnight blue and making the silver highlights shimmer like starlight.
He shifted back into his human form as he reached the tree line, pulling on his sweats before slipping through the packhouse’s back door. He made it to his suite without encountering anyone, closing the door behind him with a relieved sigh.
Sitting on the edge of the bed, Kai grabbed his phone. His thumb hovered over his father’s contact, each second stretching as memories flashed—Darius’s proud smile at his first shift, the hardening of his expression when Kai mentioned Ava’s name, the disappointment etched in the lines of his face when they left the summit.
With a steadying breath, Kai opened the messaging app instead, still needing to say the words. Words he’d swallowed down at every family dinner, bitten back during every argument, choked on through every disappointed look from his father. Words that had grown heavier with each passing moon until they threatened to suffocate him from within.
He pressed the record button, voice quiet but steady as he began to speak. “Dad... I know I’ve disappointed you. And Iknow I’ve fought you every step of the way, but I need you to know that I’m trying. I feel the bond—it’s unlike anything I could have expected. It’s powerful, overwhelming, like it’s been stitched into the very fabric of my soul.” He rubbed his chest feeling the steady hum of the mating bond flare in acknowledgement. “But even with it...Ava holds my heart. She’s still there, Dad.”
His voice cracked, the sound raking his throat like gravel, but he swallowed the rising heat behind his eyes and pushed forward. “Everyone—Selene, you, even Orion—consistently dismisses my feelings, my love. Telling me that Ava isn’t right for me, that loving her is wrong. The only person who hasn’t, who’s even tried to understand, is Lena.”
Kai exhaled shakily, chest aching with the difficulty of his confession. “I don’t know how this will all work out, but I need you to know that I love you. I’ve always loved you and I’m sorry.”
He ended the recording and hit send, watching as the message was marked delivered. Minutes passed. Then a half hour. Nothing.
Each passing moment without response tightened the knot in his stomach. His father’s silence still pressed against his chest like a physical weight, but the pressure felt different now—less suffocating. Darius was a proud male, their relationship a tangle of expectations and disappointments, but the words were out there now, hanging in the digital space between them—the first thread in a severed connection.
Kai rose, his resolve strengthened by the communion he’d shared with Orion. He felt the familiar heft of responsibility settling differently as he stood—not as a burden, but as something he might finally be ready to carry. The reflection in his mirror showed someone changed, even if subtly. His emerald eyes held a new steadiness, and the tension that hadbeen etched into his features had softened into something more contemplative.
The sound of warriors training caught his attention as he stepped outside into the Moonshadow courtyard. Wolves from a pack not his own, yet somehow familiar in their movements and discipline. These were Lena’s people—the ones she’d grown up with, trained with. Understanding them might be the first step to understanding her.
He made his way to the training field, watching as the warriors paired off in practiced formations. Their fighting style differed from Bloodstone’s—more fluid, less direct—but the underlying principles remained the same. Pack strength. Unity. Protection.
A few warriors glanced his way, expressions a mixture of curiosity and wariness. He was, after all, an alpha-heir from another territory—a visitor whose presence carried significance beyond himself. Once, that recognition would have made him turn away. Now, it drew him forward.
“Need a sparring partner?” a sandy-haired warrior asked, shifting his weight forward, stance relaxed but ready. Kai recognized him as one of the wolves that had greeted them at the gate when they arrived in Moonshadow.
“I’d appreciate that,” Kai rolled his shoulders and stepped into the ring. “I’m Kai. Lena’s mate,” he said, extending a hand. The title fell naturally from his lips. Orion’s approval vibrated through his ribcage, a bass note of satisfaction rumbling beneath his human words.
“Holden,” the male responded with a firm shake. “And I know who you are. Regional royalty staking claim on our alpha’s daughter doesn’t go unnoticed.” Holden stepped back, quirking an assessing brow. “Let’s see if the proverbial Prince of the Pacific Northwest deserves to fight at Lena’s side.”
Kai snorted at the nickname but delighted in the challenge of proving himself beyond his bloodline. The essence flowingthrough his muscles felt different now. Not desperate or angry. Focused. Clear.
A good fight might burn off residual energy from his run, but as he squared off against the Moonshadow warrior, he realized it meant more. This wasn’t just about physical exertion—it was about engagement. About stepping into spaces that would one day bridge their two packs.
Every movement felt like progress toward the wolf he needed to become, the alpha his pack deserved.
And maybe, toward the mate Lena saw in him all along.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
LENA
Lena stood in her walk-in closet, holding up her third outfit option, frowning at her reflection. She was going for casual but a little sexy. She wanted to have an effect on him without looking like she was trying too hard because this wasn’t just another evening together. She had a date. A real one.
With hermate.
While ceremony planning had consumed her days this past week, her evenings had belonged to Kai. Late dinners after long hours of work had become their ritual. She smiled as she sifted through her clothes, remembering how they’d progressed from sitting across from each other to side by side, how she’d nearlystabbed him with a fork when he kept stealing food off her plate with an infuriating grin.
Tonight would be different. Lena was unable to suppress the flutter in her stomach as she thought about waking to find the note he’d slipped under her door:
Fire and beers tonight with the warriors. Be my date?
She’d scribbled back:
YES! Pick me up at 9.
