Episode 18
1166 Words
The Price of Fate
The flames still danced in the fire circle, but the celebration had died.
All eyes were on the Moon Priestess as she stood still, radiant and immovable. Her gaze never wavered from Kael. The silence pressed thick between them.
Then, softly but firmly, she spoke, “Kael Draven. Come.”
It wasn’t a request. It was a summons.
Kael hesitated, casting a glance back at Isla. She looked confused but calm, her trust in him unshaken.
Vespera watched from the shadows, her smile brittle. The Elders leaned in, murmuring behind cupped hands.
Kael followed the Priestess into the inner sanctum—a sacred chamber carved of obsidian and glowing moonstone, where no lies could live.
“You already know why I’ve come,” she said without turning.
“I don’t,” he replied through clenched teeth.
She turned slowly. “You feel the change. The curse is unraveling—because of her.”
Kael’s fists tightened. “Isla isn’t a threat.”
“No,” the Priestess said. “She’s the cure. But cures always demand a price.”
He felt his pulse spike. “What price?”
“Her love will break your curse. She will restore everything fate stole from you. But with that bond awakened, her dormant blood—the Moonborn lineage—will rise. And it demands balance.”
His stomach turned cold. “Whose life?”
“You already know.” Her voice softened, cruel in its gentleness. “Her life for yours. That is the cost.”
Kael staggered back a step. “No. No, I won't let her die for me.”
“Then sever the bond. Tonight. Before she accepts it fully. Before the magic roots too deep.”
He shook his head. “She deserves the truth.”
“She must not know,” the Priestess warned. “If she chooses this willingly, the bond seals—and her death becomes fate.”
Kael turned away, agony twisting in his chest.
The Priestess stepped closer. “This is your burden now. Do not break her soul more than you must. But protect her—even if it means she hates you.”
He said nothing.
Because deep down, he already knew what he had to do.
Not as an Alpha. Not as a cursed soul clawing his way back to the light.
But as a man who had tasted something rare—something sacred.
Love.
His chest ached with the weight of it. The decision twisted through his ribs like a blade.
I can’t let her die, he thought. She’s done nothing to deserve this.
Not the curse.
Not the prophecy.
Not this fate.
All she ever did was love me.
When no one else dared.
When even I had forgotten how to love myself.
She saw something worth saving in the monster everyone else feared.
And now… to save her, he had to let her go.
His fingers curled into fists, knuckles white with restraint.
How do I look at her now?
How will she ever look at me again… after the promise I made to protect her?
The words he would speak tonight would not just sever their bond.
They would break her.
And bury the only good thing left inside him.
But still—he would do it.
Because loving her meant letting her live.
Even if she never forgave him.
***********
The fire circle was alight once more when Kael returned, but the mood had shifted. Eyes followed him with curiosity, unease. Vespera arched a brow from where she stood beside the Elders.
Isla stepped toward him, hopeful, beautiful in her silver-lined gown. Her smile was soft, tentative.
“You’re back,” she said quietly.
Kael stared at her, his face unreadable.
He touched her hand.
She didn’t see it coming.
“This was a mistake,” he said aloud.
The crowd stilled.
Kael’s voice rang out, cold and final. “I revoke the bond. You are not my Luna.”
Isla blinked. “What?”
The courtyard went silent.
She looked around, confusion blooming across her face. “Kael… what are you saying?”
But he didn’t look at her. He couldn’t.
“I never should have accepted the bond,” he said. “You don’t belong here.”
Gasps rang out.
Her mouth opened in stunned disbelief, but no words came.
“You don’t mean this,” she whispered.
Still, he said nothing. He turned away.
The silence shattered.
Murmurs broke out among the wolves.
“Did he reject her?”
“She saved his life!”
“I thought he loved her…”
Vespera’s lips curled into a pleased smirk, though her eyes glinted with something less certain. That wasn’t politics, she thought. That was heartbreak.
The Elders exchanged quick glances.
“We may have an opportunity,” one whispered. “To regain the pack.”
Kael walked away without another word.
And Isla stood in the middle of the fire circle, alone.
Her maid, Mira, ran to her. “Miss Isla—please….”
Isla shook her off. Her face was pale, her eyes wide and broken.
“No,” she choked. “He wouldn’t…”
But he had.
Isla ran.
Through the hall. Down the stone path. Past the wolves who stared in silence and confusion.
She didn’t stop until the fortress was far behind her.
The night wind lashed her cheeks as she reached the river’s edge, breath ragged. The stars above blurred behind tears. She sank to her knees, trembling.
Kael didn’t stop walking until the firelight was far behind him.
He reached the top of the northern watchtower, the only place high and quiet enough to hear nothing but the wind. His breath hitched the moment he was alone, his shoulders collapsing against the stone wall.
He’d done it.
He had severed the bond. Rejected her. Humiliated the woman he would have laid down his life for.
And it shattered him.
His hands trembled. Not from fear, but from the overwhelming pressure in his chest—something raw and unbearable. Rage. Grief. Helpless love.
He had sworn to protect her.
And instead, he had broken her.
Kael let out a growl, slamming his fist into the stone so hard his knuckles split. Blood dripped down his fingers, but he didn’t stop. He didn’t care.
“This is how monsters are born,” he whispered.
Because she would never look at him the same again.
Not after this.
Not after the betrayal she didn’t understand.
He tilted his head back to the stars, jaw clenched, eyes wet and furious.
“She was the only good thing left in me.”
And now she was gone.
And he had no one to blame but himself.
The mark on her skin pulsed dimly, like something unfinished.
“Why, Kael…” she whispered.
The question broke her, her voice cracking into the dark.
“Why?”
But only the river answered.
And it said nothing.
- Writer
