Chapter 9
1018 Words
Darius POV
I got there just in time to hear him say
“Your bloodline was believed extinct… until you.”
My steps slowed.
Not because I wanted to.
Because something in my chest… reacted.
Sharp and wrong.
Kaelira stood in front of him, unmoving.
Facing a Lycan like she’d done it a hundred times before.
No hesitation.
No fear.
No instinct to step back.
My wolf stirred immediately.
Too close.
I didn’t move.
Not yet.
I watched.
The Lycan stood just beyond the gates, eyes locked on her like nothing else existed.
Not the guards.
Not the pack.
Not me.
Only her.
“You’ve said enough,” Kaelira said, voice calm. “You will leave.”
Leave?
That was it?
My jaw tightened.
This wasn’t a negotiation.
This wasn’t control.
This was…Something else.
The Lycan didn’t move.
“I’ll return,” he said.
“You won’t be welcomed.”
“I’m not here to be welcome.”
A pause.
Then quieter
“I’m here because your bloodline wasn’t meant to survive.”
Something in my chest twisted.
My wolf growled low.
That wasn’t right.
That wasn’t..
He turned. Just like that and walked away.
No challenge, fight, no submission either.
Like he chose to leave.
Like he wasn’t finished.
The guards didn’t move.
No one stopped him.
Because no one could.
Silence stretched across the gates.
Then Kaelira exhaled softly.
Barely noticeable.
But I saw it.
And that’s when I stepped forward.
“What happened?”
Her head turned slightly.
Not fully.
Just enough to acknowledge I was there.
That was new.
Kaelira would have faced me before.
Always.
Now?
I was an afterthought.
“He’s gone,” she said.
Flat.
Controlled.
Like nothing just happened.
I stopped a few steps away from her. “That’s not what I asked.”
Her eyes met mine then.
Cold.
Steady.
Unbothered.
“He came. He spoke. He left.”
Lucian moved beside me. “What did he say?”
A pause.
Small.
But I caught it.
“Nothing important.”
A lie.
I knew it.
My wolf knew it.
“He called you by your bloodline,” I said.
Her gaze sharpened slightly.
So I did hear right.
“Then you were listening,” she replied.
“That wasn’t an answer.”
“And you’re not owed one.”
The words landed clean.
No hesitation.
No emotion.
Just the truth.
Something in my chest tightened.
Not the bond.
That was gone.
This was…
Different.
“You stood alone against him,” I said, voice lower now. “That concerns me.”
Her lips pressed slightly.
Not anger.
Not softness either.
Just… distance.
“I wasn’t alone.”
“You had no backup.”
“I didn’t need one.”
That pulled something in me.
Sharp.
I stepped closer without thinking.
“You don’t decide that alone.”
Her gaze didn’t waver.
“Yes, I do.”
Silence.
Thick.
Uncomfortable.
Final.
My wolf stirred again, restless.
She shouldn’t talk to you like that.
But she did.
And worse..
I had no right to correct her.
Because the bond…Was gone.
Completely.
“You should’ve informed me,” I said anyway.
Not as Alpha.
As something else.
Something I couldn’t name.
Kaelira tilted her head slightly.
Studying me.
“You felt it?” she asked.
The question caught me off guard.
“Felt what?”
“The bond breaking.”
My jaw tightened. “Yes.”
“And now?” she pressed.
I frowned. “Now what?”
“Do you still feel me?”
The question hit harder than it should have.
Because the answer was immediate.
“No.”
Her expression didn’t change.
Not even slightly.
“Then there’s your answer.”
She turned away.
Like that was it.
Like seven years meant nothing more than a question asked and answered.
“Kaelira”
She stopped.
But didn't turn.
“If you’re going to question my decisions,” she said quietly, “do it as Alpha.”
Something in my chest went cold.
“Because whatever we were before..”
She glanced back at me.
And this time…There was nothing there.
“…doesn’t apply anymore.”
Silence.
Heavy.
Final.
She walked past me.
Close enough for me to feel the absence again.
That hollow space where she used to be.
But as she passed..
My wolf reacted.
Suddenly.
Sharp.
A low growl rising in my chest.
Not toward her.
Not exactly. Toward something else. Something I couldn’t understand.
I stiffened.
What was that?
Kaelira didn’t react.
Didn’t pause.
Didn’t even look back.
Serenya followed her.
Maelin too.
And just like that…
She was gone.
Again.
Lucian exhaled slowly. “That… was different.”
I didn’t answer.
Because I was still trying to figure out what I just saw.
Seraphine stepped forward then, voice soft. “Darius… she’s fine. You don’t need to…”
“I know.”
My tone came out flat.
Too flat.
She hesitated.
Then reached for my arm.
“I’m here,” she said gently.
Her fingers touched my sleeve.
Waited. For a reaction. I felt it.
But nothing followed.
Just… emptiness.
I looked down at her hand.
Then back at her face.
And realized.. I didn’t feel anything.
At all.
Not even irritation.
I stepped back.
Her hand dropped.
Confusion flickered across her face.
“Darius…?”
I didn’t answer.
Because something else was louder now.
Inside me.
My wolf.
Restless.
Agitated.
Wrong.
We moved back inside, but the feeling didn’t fade.
If anything…It got worse.
I stopped in the middle of my office, breathing slow.
Trying to settle it.
It didn’t work.
“She’s fine,” I muttered. “She handled it.”
Silence.
Then..
A low growl.
Deep.
Unfamiliar.
No.
I froze.
My wolf didn’t sound confused anymore.
He sounded… certain.
“She’s not bound to me anymore,” I said. “It’s done.” Silence again.
Then
Clear.
Cold.
Final.
She is no longer yours. The words settled into my chest like a blade.
And this time.. There was no argument.
Because for the first time since she walked away
I believed it.
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