Page 88 of Fated
Caleb nodded, keeping his expression neutral. “I’ll help however I can.”
Darius exhaled heavily, shoulders sagging. “It’s about my son, Kai.”
Over the next several minutes, Darius laid bare the story of Kai and Ava. He spoke of their childhood friendship and how it had morphed into a romantic relationship, one that had grown increasingly obsessive and codependent over the years.
Darius’s jaw worked between sentences, muscles bunching beneath the skin. “I had my doubts early on in their romantic relationship. Ava’s influence over Kai was…troubling. When Althea, his mother, passed, Ava isolated him, made him believe that she was all he needed. I tried to guide him, to help him see what Selene wanted for him—a fated mate, a true partner—but Kai resisted. And the more I pushed, the more he clung to her.”
Darius’s voice softened as he recounted the events of the summit, though his tone still carried the depth of his burden. “When Kai found Lena, I thought it was the answer. Selene’s will, clear as day, but he…he planned to reject her. For Ava.” His hands tightened around the glass. “I couldn’t let that happen. I…I threatened him. Told him if he rejected Lena, he’d have no place in Bloodstone.”
The older alpha admitted to bringing Ava to the summit to force an end to their relationship, agreeing to send Kai to Moonshadow to keep them separated so he could focus on growing his bond with Lena, and how it had all unraveled in a disastrous confrontation.
He looked up at Caleb, eyes heavy with pain. “Lena was enraged. Ava was devastated. And Kai… Kai was shattered. Afterward, I was distant. I thought I was sparing him my anger, giving us both time to calm down, but…” Darius’s voice broke. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. “He sent me this.”
Darius played a voice memo, and Kai’s voice filled the room, raw and broken. The alpha-heir’s anguish was palpable. Caleb listened intently, compassion stirring for both father and son.
Fenrir’s voice hummed in the back of his mind.“Speak carefully, Caleb. A father’s strength lies in knowing when to guide and when to let go.”
When the recording ended, Darius’s frame vibrated with a barely contained tremor. His knuckles bleached white around the phone until the tendons in his wrist protruded like steel cables beneath paper-thin skin.
“I don’t know what to do anymore.” His voice broke as his hand raked through his hair. “Every instinct tells me to push him, to force him down the right path, but all I’ve done is drive him away.”
Caleb let the silence stretch for a moment before speaking. “Darius,” he began, tone measured, “it’s clear how much you care for Kai. That care has driven you to fight for what you believe is best for him. But you’re not just an alpha, you’re his father.” Caleb leaned forward. “Strength isn’t always in control. Sometimes it lies in stepping back, in trusting those you love to find their own path.”
Darius nodded, expression thoughtful. “Trust,” he murmured. “It’s not something that comes easily to me—especially since Althea passed.”
“No,” Caleb agreed. “But it’s something we all have to learn.”
Darius leaned back, eyes meeting Caleb’s. “I reached out because of you and Asher. You’re not fated, yet your bond strengthens your pack. I thought you might understand Kai’s position, help me see what I’m missing.”
Caleb’s lungs seized mid-breath, heat flooding his neck as he forced his spine straight. “What Asher and I share is everything,” he said softly, gaze fixed on a point beyond Darius. “When we realized we weren’t fated, we were afraid of what might happen when our mates appeared. That fear still lingers.” His fingers spread against his thigh. “But we trust in Selene’s plan.”
He returned his gaze to Darius. “My wolf has never discouraged me from sharing my life with Asher. I trust that whatever the future holds, he will always have a place in it. Selene’s will is bigger than us, Darius. It’s bigger than just fated or chosen bonds.”
Darius fell silent, the gentle afternoon light catching the tension in his expression. When he finally looked up, the tightness around his eyes had softened, shoulders lowering a fraction from their previously rigid set. “Thank you, Caleb. For your honesty. For your perspective. I have a lot to think about.”
Before Caleb could respond, Darius’s phone buzzed in his hand. The alpha frowned, glancing down at the screen. His expression hardened as he answered the call, posture straightening as he settled into the authority of his role.
“What is it?”
The voice on the other end was tinny and frantic, the words spilling out in a rush. “Alpha, Bloodstone is under attack. Rogues. It’s bad. We need you back.Now!”
Darius shot to his feet, weariness vanishing from his face as though it had never been there. “I’m on my way,” he said, ending the call. He turned to Caleb, urgency etched into every line of his body. “I have to go.”
Caleb stood, meeting the alpha’s gaze. “I’m coming with you.”
Darius paused—regarding the young alpha with a mixture of surprise and gratitude—then bounded down the steps of the packhouse, shifting on the fly, and racing towards the woods in the direction of Bloodstone territory.
Caleb followed, Fenrir’s consciousness pushing against the membrane between forms like water against a failing dam. The wolf’s hunger seeped through muscle fiber and sinew, saliva pooling beneath Caleb’s tongue as primal instincts overrode human restraint—the urge to hunt, to fight, to run igniting each cell from within.
There was no time to waste. Caleb’s telepathic call to Asher and Varek carried clear, concise orders. Minutes later, he stood at Crescent Fang’s border, a dozen elite warriors assembled at his back. He turned to address them, voice ringing out with alpha authority.
“We go to aid Bloodstone,” he said, gaze sweeping over the assembled wolves. “Our mission is to defend and protect. Do not attack unless provoked. Stay together, stay focused, and trust each other.” He paused, meeting each warrior’s eyes in turn. “I want you safe. I want you coming home to your families when this is done.”
A chorus of “Yes, Alpha!” rose from the group, their resolve clear in the set of their shoulders and strength of their response.
The shift began at Caleb’s core—his human form dissolving like salt in water as Fenrir’s ancient power claimed dominance. Bones crackled like kindling as they realigned, muscles stretched and thickened beneath skin that prickled with emerging black fur. The transformation completed with a rush of heightenedsenses—scents becoming landscapes, sounds transforming into visible vibrations.
Where Caleb had stood, Fenrir now loomed, massive and electric with purpose, coat a tapestry of gradient shadow in the dying sun. He threw back his head, letting loose a howl that echoed through the trees—a rallying cry, a promise of aid to their neighbor. Then, with a final nod to his warriors, he bounded forward, leading the charge toward Bloodstone and the battle ahead.
