Chapter19
697 Words
Axel’s POV
I looked down at Kaida, my Kaida and for a moment, I wanted to fold into her touch. To let her soothe the ache in my bones.
But that ache wasn’t just pain anymore. It was fury.
“She’s already gotten to you,” I said, my voice low.
Kaida flinched. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
I turned away, teeth clenched. “It means I’m watching everyone fall for her spell. Kael. The others. Now you.”
She stepped forward, sharp. “You think I’m spellbound? That I’d abandon reason over some pretty, sad-eyed girl?”
“She has his eyes,” I said without thinking. “When she looked at me I saw it. The same hunger Kael has when he looks at her. And if he falls, Kaida, if he crumbles, everything we’ve built will fall with him.”
She stared at me, stricken.
“I’m not blind,” I added, softer now. “You care for her.”
Kaida hesitated. “I care because she’s lost. And because if you stopped seeing her as a threat for five minutes, you’d see she’s not the one tearing this pack apart.”
I didn’t answer.
Because in my gut… I still wasn’t sure she was wrong.
Kaida’s pov
“I love you,” I whispered. “I know you’re angry. And scared. But we can’t turn on each other now.”
“I’m not turning on you.”
“You’re shutting me out. You do it every time you’re afraid.”
He finally turned, slowly, his eyes tired, rimmed with silver. “I don’t want to lose you.”
“Then don’t push me away.”
We stared at each other. For a moment, the rage melted. His hand came up, brushing a strand of hair from my face.
“I hate this,” he said. “All of it.”
“I know.”
“I just want peace.”
“Then help her.”
His eyes hardened again. “Help her?”
“Yes, Train her, Watch her. Learn who she is now not who she was.”
“You think I can do that?”
“I think you’re the only one who can.”
He stepped back, running both hands through his hair. “Goddess, Kaida.”
“She’s trying to belong, Axel,” I whispered. “She’s trying to breathe in a world that should’ve broken her. Can’t you see how hard that is?”
His jaw tensed. “It’s not my job to care for her. It’s my job to protect this pack. And I will. Even if Kael won’t.”
“She’s not going away, Axel. And she’s not going to be locked in a tower for the rest of her life. If we don’t guide her, someone else will.”
“You sound like Kael.”
“Maybe that’s because for once,he’s right.”
Axel swore under his breath and turned away again. “I need air.”
I didn’t stop him this time. I just watched him leave, the door slamming shut behind him.
I didn’t know what scared me more…his words, or how much he believed them.
And I stood there, suddenly cold.
For the first time in years, I wasn’t sure if love was enough to keep us standing on the same side.
Later that night, Axel lay beside me, stiff and silent, while I stared at the ceiling.
Everything was unraveling.
Kael was falling. Axel was burning. And Lylah gods help her was in the center of a war she didn’t even know she started.
I rolled to face him. His profile was sharp in the moonlight, lips pressed into a stubborn line.
“I love you,” I whispered.
His eyes flicked to mine. “Even when I’m wrong?”
“Especially then.”
He huffed a breath. “I’m trying to protect you.”
“I know,” I said. “But sometimes, love doesn’t look like protection. Sometimes it looks like patience.”
We held each other’s gaze. And in the quiet, something softened between us.
But the war in his heart… it wasn’t over.
Not yet.
- Writer
