Chapter Twenty-Five: Silk and Steel
336 Words
It starts with the guards.
Subtle at first.
The one who used to let me slip past the north perimeter with a nod—gone.
Replaced by one who won’t meet my eyes.
Then, the healer who would smuggle me tea at night stops showing up.
The scouts no longer report to me, even when I ask.
And worst of all—Elira is gone.
No goodbye.
No explanation.
Just... gone.
Kael’s doing.
I confront him in his tent, rage bubbling like poison in my chest.
“You’re cutting me off.”
“I’m keeping you safe.”
I laugh—sharp and joyless. “By treating me like a prisoner?”
He doesn’t flinch. “You were attacked. You were marked. There are Council eyes in the dark, and Elira is not what she pretends to be.”
“She’s more honest than you’ve been.”
“She left.”
“Because you made her leave.”
He doesn’t answer.
Just pours a glass of whiskey, sips it like he’s not burning the world around me.
“You don’t get to make that choice for me, Kael.”
“I do,” he growls, slamming the glass down. “Because if something happens to you, I’ll lose more than just you. I’ll lose the pack. You are the symbol now, Aurora. You’re not just a Luna—you’re the promise of survival.”
“You mean I’m leverage.”
“I mean you’re everything,” he whispers, walking to me.
I step back.
But he follows, hands gentle and voice low.
“I love you,” he says. “And I’m not letting anything tear you away from me—not even you.”
My breath catches.
Because he means it.
Because I believe it.
And because that love is starting to feel like chains dressed in silk.
He touches my face, and I don’t stop him.
But deep inside?
Something cracks.
And it sounds a lot like the shatter of trust.
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- Writer
