Bounded By Blood,Freed By Love

chapter 5

Chapter 4

The family wing was a prison disguised as luxury.

Marcus led me to a room three doors down from Kane's suite—close enough for protection, far enough to maintain propriety. The space was bigger than my entire apartment above the diner had been. Soft carpet, a massive bed, private bathroom, walk-in closet already stocked with clothes in my size.

"How did you—"

"Kane had them brought while we were in the council meeting," Marcus explained, looking uncomfortable. "He likes to be prepared."

"He knew how that meeting would end before it started."

Marcus didn't deny it. "There are guards posted outside. You're safe here."

"I'm a prisoner here."

"You're alive here," he corrected gently. "After what happened tonight, that's what matters."

After he left, I showered, watching pink water swirl down the drain as I cleaned the blood from my skin. The claw marks on my back were already healing—another gift of Alpha blood. In a few hours, there wouldn't even be scars.

I'd just pulled on a pair of soft pants and a t-shirt when someone knocked. Expecting Marcus or a guard, I opened the door.

Kane stood there, freshly showered, wearing jeans and nothing else. The moonlight from the hallway highlighted every muscle, every scar. A particularly nasty one ran from his left shoulder across his chest—claw marks that hadn't healed clean.

"We need to talk." He walked past me into the room without invitation.

"Come right in," I muttered, closing the door.

He stood by the window, looking out at the pack lands. "Viktor's declared war."

My stomach dropped. "Because of me?"

"Because he's been looking for an excuse, and you gave him one." He turned to face me. "He's claiming you're his by right of conquest. Says since your father's pack was dissolved, any Alpha can claim you."

"That's not how pack law works—"

"It is if enough Alphas agree with him." Kane moved closer, and I fought not to step back. "He's calling for a Gathering. All the northern packs. They'll vote on who has rights to you."

"I'm not property to be voted on!"

"No, but you're an unmated Alpha female with a powerful bloodline. In their eyes, that makes you a resource that shouldn't be wasted." His jaw clenched. "Half of them think you should be killed for your father's crimes. The other half want to use you to strengthen their own bloodlines."

"And what do you want?"

He was quiet for so long I thought he wouldn't answer. When he finally spoke, his voice was soft. "I want to know why you saved that little girl."

The change of subject threw me. "What?"

"You spent five years hiding. Being nobody. Safe." He stepped even closer, close enough that I could smell him—pine and rain and something wild. "Then you threw it all away for a human child you'd never met. Why?"

"Because she was innocent."

"So were you, when your father was executed. When your pack abandoned you. No one saved you."

The words hit like a physical blow. "Someone should have."

"Yes," he agreed quietly. "Someone should have."

We stood there in silence, the weight of old pain and older sins hanging between us.

"Tell me about that night," he said suddenly. "The night our fathers died."

"I wasn't there—"

"But you know something." His eyes searched mine. "You've been running for five years, but not just because of shame. You're afraid of something. What is it?"

I turned away, wrapping my arms around myself. "It doesn't matter now."

"It's the only thing that matters." He caught my shoulder, turning me back to face him. "Aria, what really happened that night?"

"I don't know!" The words exploded out of me. "I was with my mother. We were at home. Then the guards came, covered in blood, saying my father had gone mad, that he'd killed your father and been executed by your pack. By morning, our pack was dissolved, my mother was dead from grief, and I was alone."

"Your mother died?"

I nodded, throat tight. "Her heart gave out. The mate bond... when my father died, it killed her too."

Something flickered in Kane's eyes. "I didn't know."

"Would it have mattered?"

He didn't answer, but his hand was still on my shoulder, warm and steadying.

"My father wasn't perfect," I continued, not sure why I was telling him this. "He was hard, demanding, sometimes cruel. But he wasn't a murderer. He and your father were allies. Friends, even."

"Then why did he kill him?"

"That's just it—I don't think he did." The words I'd never spoken aloud finally escaped. "The guards who came that night, they weren't ours. I recognized one of them. He'd been exiled months before for challenging my father's decisions."

Kane went very still. "What are you saying?"

"I'm saying maybe both our fathers were murdered. Maybe someone wanted them both gone and used their deaths to destroy both our packs."

"That's a serious accusation."

"It's not an accusation. I don't have proof. Just... a feeling. And questions no one ever answered." I pulled away from his touch. "But it doesn't matter now. They're both dead. Our packs are both broken. Whoever did it won."

Kane was quiet for a long moment, then moved toward the door. "The Gathering is in three days. Viktor will make his formal challenge there."

"And then?"

He paused at the door, looking back at me. "Then I'll do whatever it takes to keep you out of his hands."

"Why?" The question slipped out before I could stop it. "Why do you care what happens to me?"

"Because despite everything, despite who you are and what your name means..." He seemed to struggle with the words. "You saved that little girl. You fought beside me tonight. And maybe, just maybe, you're right about our fathers."

He left before I could respond, the door clicking shut with a finality that echoed in the silence.

I moved to the window, looking out at the pack lands. Somewhere out there, wolves were preparing for war. Because of me. Because of sins that might not even be real.

A movement caught my eye—figures moving through the shadows near the tree line. Too coordinated to be random patrols. Too careful to be regular pack members.

As I watched, one figure separated from the others, moving toward the pack house. They stayed in the shadows, avoiding the lights, clearly not wanting to be seen.

They stopped directly below my window and looked up.

Even in the darkness, I could see the scar across their face. The same scarred rogue from earlier—the one I'd thought was dead.

He smiled, pressed a finger to his lips in a mockery of silence, then melted back into the shadows.

I should have called for the guards. Should have alerted Kane immediately.

But something made me hesitate. The rogue hadn't come to attack. He'd come to be seen. By me, specifically.

Which meant this was more than just Viktor wanting an Alpha female.

This was personal.

A soft knock at my door made me jump. "Aria?" It was a female voice, young and nervous. "The Alpha asked me to bring you dinner."

I opened the door to find a girl, maybe sixteen, holding a tray. She kept her eyes down, submissive, but I caught her sneaking glances at me.

"Thank you," I said, taking the tray. "What's your name?"

"Sophie, Miss."

"Just Aria is fine."

She looked up, surprised. "You're not what I expected."

"What did you expect?"

"Someone... scarier. Meaner." She blushed. "The older wolves, they tell stories about your father. About how cruel he was."

"He could be," I admitted. "But he was also protective of our pack. Especially the young ones."

Sophie bit her lip, looking like she wanted to say something else.

"What is it?"

"My grandmother was from your pack," she whispered. "She always said your father was set up. That someone wanted both Alphas dead."

My heart stopped. "Your grandmother—is she still alive?"

"No, she died last winter. But she kept journals. Lots of them." Sophie glanced nervously down the hall. "I shouldn't be telling you this."

"Sophie—"

"I have to go." She backed away quickly. "Enjoy your dinner, Miss—Aria."

She practically ran down the hall, leaving me standing in my doorway with a tray of food I no longer wanted and more questions than ever.

I closed the door, set the tray on the table, and tried to think. A survivor from my father's pack. Journals. Possible evidence of what really happened that night.

Another knock interrupted my thoughts. This time, I opened it to find Elena standing there, her perfect face twisted with hatred.

"We need to talk," she said, pushing past me into the room.

"Everyone wants to talk tonight," I muttered.

"I'm only going to say this once." Elena turned to face me, her blue eyes cold. "Leave. Tonight. Run as far and as fast as you can."

"If I leave, Viktor—"

"Viktor's not your biggest threat right now." She stepped closer, and I smelled something strange on her—something chemical and wrong. "There are people in this pack who would rather see you dead than mated to Kane. People with the power to make it happen."

"Is that a threat?"

"It's a warning. The only one you'll get." She moved toward the door, then paused. "Your father destroyed everything. Don't make the same mistake."

After she left, I locked the door and pushed a chair against it for good measure. The food on the tray remained untouched—I didn't trust anything anymore.

I lay on the bed, fully clothed, listening to the sounds of the pack house settling for the night. Somewhere, Kane was probably planning for the Gathering, for Viktor's challenge. Marcus was organizing defenses. Guards were patrolling.

And somewhere, a scarred rogue who should be dead was delivering messages to someone who wanted me to know I was being watched.

Sophie's words echoed in my mind. Her grandmother's journals. Evidence, maybe, of what really happened five years ago.

I must have dozed, because I woke to the sound of footsteps in the hall. Not the measured pace of guards. These were careful, deliberate, trying not to be heard.

They stopped outside my door.