Chapter Seventeen: Fractured Bonds
375 Words
The training grounds were littered with ash and blood. Pack healers rushed among the fallen, their hands glowing faintly as they tried to mend torn flesh and broken bones. The air reeked of smoke, iron, and grief.
I sat beside Kael in the healer’s den, my fingers clutching his hand as though letting go would mean losing him forever. His skin was pale beneath the bandages, his breathing shallow but steady.
“You should rest,” one of the healers murmured to me.
I shook my head. “Not until he wakes.”
The truth was, I couldn’t close my eyes. Because every time I did, I saw Damien’s face—smiling, certain, as though I was already his. The bond tugged at me still, sharp and unrelenting, like a chain digging into my heart.
Kael stirred, his golden eyes flickering open. Relief flooded me so quickly I almost sobbed.
“You’re safe,” I whispered, pressing my forehead to his.
He gave a weak, lopsided smile. “I told you… no one touches you while I still breathe.”
My throat ached. He had nearly died keeping that promise.
“Kael, I can’t—” My voice broke. “I can’t keep letting them bleed for me. Damien won’t stop. He’ll tear this pack apart piece by piece.”
Kael’s hand tightened around mine, surprising me with its strength. “You are worth every drop of blood spilled tonight. Don’t you dare think otherwise.”
But the guilt ate at me anyway. Around us, I heard the low keening of wolves mourning the ones we hadn’t saved. Their grief pressed against my chest until I thought I’d break.
Later, when Kael drifted back into sleep, I slipped outside. The night air was cold, the stars hidden behind thick clouds.
I sank to my knees, pressing my palms into the earth. “Tell me what I’m supposed to do,” I whispered to no one. “Tell me how to stop him before more die.”
But only silence answered.
And in that silence, a dark truth settled in my bones. If I wanted to end Damien’s reign of shadows, I couldn’t just hide behind Kael.
I would have to become the weapon he feared.
- Writer
