The Cloak Around My Shoulders
1271 Words
Chapter 8
The Cloak Around My Shoulders
I stared at the black cloak in silence.
The attendant remained perfectly still, both hands extended respectfully while cold evening wind swept through the garden terraces behind her.
“He sent this?” I asked quietly.
“Yes, Luna.”
Luna.
The title sounded strange coming from someone outside Ashford territory.
Especially someone from Black Hollow.
I hesitated before finally taking the cloak from her hands.
Warmth instantly wrapped around my fingers.
His scent clung heavily to the fabric.
Smoke.
Dark pine.
Winter rain.
Danger.
The attendant bowed slightly. “The king also asked that no one disturb you.”
Before I could respond, she turned and disappeared back into the summit halls.
Leaving me alone again.
Only now, Draven’s presence lingered around my shoulders like something alive.
I should have returned the cloak immediately.
Instead, after several long seconds, I slowly draped it over myself.
Warmth surrounded me instantly.
My eyes closed briefly.
God.
That alone nearly broke me.
Because I couldn’t remember the last time someone noticed I was cold.
The realization hurt more than it should have.
I stepped farther onto the terrace overlooking the snowy cliffs below while moonlight spilled silver across the gardens.
Everything inside me felt tangled.
Kael’s jealousy.
Draven’s attention.
The fight in the corridor.
The terrifying reaction of my wolf.
Nothing made sense anymore.
A mating bond wasn’t supposed to weaken like this.
Wasn’t supposed to bend toward another Alpha.
Yet every time Draven looked at me…
something inside me answered.
Not fully.
Not completely.
But enough to frighten me.
“You smell like him.”
The voice behind me nearly stopped my heart.
I turned sharply.
Kael stood near the terrace entrance, his expression unreadable beneath the moonlight.
But his eyes—
his eyes were devastating.
Blood still marked the corner of his mouth from the fight with Draven, and several scratches cut across his knuckles where claws had partially emerged.
Yet none of that compared to the emotion pouring through the mating bond now.
Pain.
Raw and undeniable.
His gaze dropped to the cloak wrapped around my body.
The temperature around us seemed to drop instantly.
“I was cold,” I said softly.
The explanation sounded weak even to me.
Kael stared at the fabric like it personally offended him.
“You accepted something from him.”
Something sharp rose inside me then.
“Someone noticed I needed it.”
The words hit harder than intended.
Kael flinched.
Actually flinched.
The guilt that slammed through the bond afterward nearly suffocated me.
“I notice you,” he said quietly.
A hollow laugh escaped before I could stop it.
“No,” I whispered. “You noticed another Alpha looking at me.”
Silence.
Snow drifted slowly across the mountains beyond the terrace.
Kael stepped closer carefully.
Like approaching something wounded.
“Lyra…”
The roughness in his voice almost undid me.
Three years.
Three years loving this male.
Three years believing no one could ever stand where he stood in my heart.
And now I didn’t even recognize us anymore.
Kael stopped directly in front of me.
Close enough for warmth to radiate from his body despite the freezing air.
His eyes searched my face desperately.
“When did things become this bad between us?”
The question shattered something inside me.
Because he genuinely didn’t know.
Didn’t know when I started crying alone at night.
When I stopped waiting for him at dinner.
When the servants stopped respecting me.
When his silence started hurting more than words.
He truly hadn’t noticed.
That realization was more painful than cruelty ever could have been.
“Little by little,” I answered honestly.
Kael’s throat moved hard.
The bond between us pulsed weakly again.
Exhausted.
Frayed.
Still alive.
Fear flickered across his face at the feeling.
“You should’ve said something.”
I stared at him in disbelief.
Then anger finally cracked through my sadness.
“Are you serious?”
His jaw tightened.
“I’m saying I didn’t realize—”
“You didn’t realize your mate was disappearing?” My voice shook sharply now. “You didn’t realize another woman slowly took my place in our home?”
“That’s not what happened.”
“Then what did happen, Kael?”
The question echoed across the terrace.
He opened his mouth.
Nothing came out.
Because there was no explanation that fixed this.
Only damage.
Kael dragged a rough hand through his hair, frustration and guilt battling visibly across his face.
“She needed help.”
“And I needed my mate.”
The quiet honesty in my voice silenced him instantly.
I stepped back slowly.
“I tried to understand your grief. I tried to be patient. I tried to support you while losing you at the same time.”
Kael looked wrecked.
But I wasn’t finished.
“You stopped touching me.”
Pain flashed across his expression.
“You stopped sleeping beside me.”
His breathing roughened.
“You stopped choosing me in public.”
Every word landed harder.
“And eventually…” My voice cracked softly. “I stopped feeling like your Luna at all.”
The devastation on his face nearly destroyed my resolve.
Because I knew Kael loved me.
That was the tragedy.
He loved me while destroying me anyway.
The mating bond trembled painfully between us.
Then suddenly Kael reached for me.
Not aggressive.
Not possessive.
Desperate.
His hands settled carefully around my waist like he was afraid I might vanish.
The warmth of his touch nearly brought tears to my eyes.
This was familiar.
Dangerously familiar.
My body remembered loving him too well.
Kael lowered his forehead against mine shakily.
“I don’t know how to fix this,” he admitted quietly.
The confession broke my heart more than excuses would have.
Because it was real.
For one fragile moment, we simply stood there breathing the same cold air while grief wrapped around us both.
And then—
the mating bond pulsed.
Hard.
Not from Kael.
From somewhere else.
My entire body stiffened instantly.
Kael felt it too.
His expression darkened immediately.
A familiar scent drifted across the snowy terrace seconds later.
Smoke.
Winter.
Dark forests.
Draven.
Kael pulled away from me at once, fury rising beneath his skin again.
The Alpha king appeared near the lower garden stairs dressed in black, his eyes immediately locking onto the way Kael’s hands still rested around my waist.
The atmosphere turned lethal.
Again.
Draven climbed the terrace steps slowly.
Unhurried.
Confident.
Like a king approaching something already belonging to him.
Kael moved instinctively in front of me.
Protective.
Threatened.
Draven stopped several feet away.
His gaze moved once over me carefully.
Then settled on the cloak around my shoulders.
Something dark and satisfied flickered briefly through his eyes.
Kael noticed.
Rage rolled off him instantly.
“You’re testing my patience.”
Draven looked entirely unconcerned.
“I wasn’t aware you possessed any.”
“Leave.”
“No.”
The simple refusal sent tension crashing across the terrace.
My pulse pounded painfully.
This had to stop.
Before either Alpha could continue, Draven spoke again.
But this time—
he spoke directly to me.
“Did he apologize?”
The question froze everything.
Kael went perfectly still.
I stopped breathing.
Draven’s gaze never left mine.
“Did your mate finally apologize for breaking you slowly in front of an entire pack?”
The silence afterward was unbearable.
Because Kael hadn’t apologized.
Not once.
Not truly.
And judging from the way horror slowly crossed his face…
he had only just realized it.
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