Page 63 of Fated (The Bonded Legacy #1)

His nails bit into his palm until tiny crescents of blood formed beneath the pressure.

His lungs compressed, making each breath shallow as he watched Lena circle the room like sunlight he couldn’t bear to face.

A physical ache spread beneath his ribs, cutting off the sensation as though his body refused him even that small comfort.

He didn’t deserve her light, not when he’d brought so much darkness to his pack.

He focused on the table where his father sat and continued toward them, movements stiff and guarded.

Magnus was the first to rise when Kai reached the table, pulling him into a crushing embrace. The larger wolf’s shoulders trembled, head dropping onto Kai’s shoulder.

“He should be here.” Magnus’s voice cracked. “It’s not fair. He was supposed to be here.”

Kai stiffened, throat tightening at the suffering radiating from his future beta.

Magnus smelled of smoke and sweat, of dried blood that wasn’t his own.

He’d been clearing bodies, Kai realized with a jolt.

The future beta’s hands bore fresh cuts and burns, badges of honor from the fight and recovery efforts while Kai had been absent.

Orion responded instinctively, a low rumbling comfort vibrating between them—pack wolves consoling each other. The sound emerged from deep in Kai’s chest, too low for human ears to fully register but felt by Magnus’s wolf, Ranulf.

He slipped into memory—three young pups standing in the moonlight by the eastern ridge, their small hands stacked atop one another. “Blood and bone, fang and claw,” they’d whispered, the ancient pack vow transformed into their private oath. “We three will guard Bloodstone together.”

Elias had been the one to insist on it, after they’d coaxed a sobbing Ava—rescued from the rogue attack at Raven’s Crest—to sleep her first night in Bloodstone.

“I know,” Kai murmured, each syllable scraping his throat raw. “Elias was...” But he couldn’t finish. What right did he have to speak of Elias when he hadn’t been there to fight alongside him? When it was Magnus who had stood by their friend’s side while Kai had been safe in another territory?

When they pulled apart, Magnus’s shoulders slumped, and he swiped at his eyes before taking his seat.

A flash of the old Magnus surfaced as he squared his shoulders, a silent testament to how they would all need to be stronger now.

Kai turned to Darius, who rose and pulled his son into a brief but firm embrace.

“I’m glad you’re home, son,” Darius murmured. “I’ve missed you.”

Kai couldn’t bring himself to respond, only offering a tight nod before sitting down. He sank into his seat, shoulders curved inward, spine bowing. His voice was barely above a whisper as he finally asked, “What…happened?”

Darius recounted the events of the attack, tone laced with sorrow.

The coordinated rogue assault. The destruction.

The casualties. The loss of Elias, who had died protecting Ava.

Alpha Caleb’s arrival with the Crescent Fang warriors helping to turn the tide in Bloodstone’s favor.

Kai listened in silence, fists clenching beneath the table.

Each word felt like a knife slicing deeper into his chest. Elias—his future gamma and childhood friend. Gone . The guilt was suffocating, gnawing at his insides. He’d been away, indulging in his own happiness—indulging in his mate’s body—while his pack bled and burned.

Cranberries and rosemary cut through the dining hall’s heaviness—bright, sharp, alive—reaching Kai before he saw her. Orion alerted instantly, nostrils flaring to capture more of their mate’s scent.

Lena returned to the table, the steady rhythm of her heartbeat as familiar to him as his own. She sat beside him, body angled toward him, but he couldn’t bring himself to look at her.

“Do you need anything, Kai?” she asked softly.

He shook his head, the movement slow and almost imperceptible. “No,” he muttered.

She nodded once, voice steady but faint. “Okay…”

Her lips parted as though she wanted to say more. Instead, she leaned in, mouth brushing against his cheek, her exhale unsteady against his skin. The touch was fleeting, but it was enough to make Kai stiffen, body going rigid against her.

She pulled back gracefully, expression blank, though her scent spiked with something sharp—hurt, perhaps, or fear.

Kai noticed the slight tension in her shoulders as she stood, the way her fingers curled into her palm before relaxing.

She didn’t look back as she moved away, though she paused at the door, head tilting as if fighting the urge to turn around before her attention was consumed by comforting the other wolves scattered throughout the hall.

Orion’s grief erupted in a mournful howl that pulsed through Kai’s marrow, their shared consciousness bleeding sorrow until Kai couldn’t separate his anguish from his wolf’s. “She is strength . We are fools to push her away.”

Kai’s canines lengthened in response, a physical manifestation of his wolf’s displeasure. His stomach churned as shame and dread warred within him. He forced his focus back to the table, avoiding his father’s gaze as he studied him closely.

Maxim broke the silence, deep voice steady but somber. “We need to finalize the funeral rites for the fallen.”

The air around the table grew heavier as the conversation shifted to the grim task ahead. They discussed the ritual— burning the bodies on the pack’s sacred pyre and spreading their ashes on the ritual grounds.

“The pyre flames will carry them to Selene,” Maxim said. “It’s the way we honor the fallen—returning them to Her light, where their spirits can find peace.”

Kai’s gaze dropped to the table, images of the flames flickering in his mind.

He could almost hear the crackle of the fire, feel the heat on his skin, smell the faint tang of smoke mingled with the earthy scent of ash.

A creeping pain bloomed behind his sternum as the solemn duty of the ritual settled heavily on his shoulders.

He sat silently for most of the discussion, despair simmering beneath the surface. He nodded when necessary, throat too tight to form words.

Darius’s voice cut through his spiraling thoughts. “Magnus, you’ll oversee the preparation of the ritual grounds. Maxim and I will handle the pyre. Kai—”

“I’ll do whatever needs to be done,” Kai interrupted, words hollow and mechanical. “Just tell me where you need me.”

Darius hesitated, gaze softening as he studied his son. “For now, focus on yourself. Rest tonight. We’ll regroup in the morning.”

Kai didn’t argue. He lacked the energy to push back, and he knew his father was right.

The meeting ended. Magnus and Maxim excused themselves, shoulders heavy with the yoke of their assigned tasks. Kai began to rise, but Darius’s voice stopped him.

“Kai.” The plea was evident in his father’s tone.

Kai shook his head, cutting him off. “I can’t right now, Dad. I don’t have anything else left in me today. Can we do this tomorrow?”

Darius hesitated, a muscle ticked in his jaw before he nodded. “Tomorrow, then,” he mumbled. “But Kai…remember, you’re not alone in this.” His gaze darted across the room. Kai didn’t need to follow his father’s eyes to know they rested on his mate.

A flicker of something unnamable urged him to open up, to take hold of this fading lifeline. His jaw worked—searching for the words—but the day’s trauma clouded his thoughts. Instead, he offered his father a tight, almost mechanical nod and turned away.

The walk back to the dormitory was a blur. Exhaustion weighed down his limbs by the time he reached his room, each step a monumental effort. He collapsed onto the bed fully clothed, the mattress creaking under his weight, but sleep eluded him despite his bone-deep weariness.

His mind became a maelstrom of conflicting thoughts and memories.

Joy twisting into horror—Orion and Elara’s playful chase morphing into pups fleeing rogues, Orion’s triumphant howl as he mounted Elara warping to the anguish cries of wolves torn apart by merciless attackers.

Lena’s laughter became screams; the quiver of her pleasure corrupted by Ava’s sobs.

His lungs burned as guilt dragged him under, no surface in sight.

His pack had bled while he’d found joy in Moonshadow. The faces of the fallen flashed before him, their silent accusations clogging in his throat while memories of Lena’s touch lingered on his skin—comfort unearned, sanctuary unjustified while Bloodstone lay in ruins.

He vowed to rebuild Bloodstone with his father.

To help the pack heal and move forward. He would be the rock they needed, the alpha-heir they deserved.

And when the time was right, he’d forge a new path.

One that balanced his duty to Bloodstone with his desire and growing bond with Lena.

She was his future, his forever—but right now, his pack needed him more than she did.

The distance between us will be temporary , he told himself. A necessary sacrifice for now .

“Don’t run,” Orion growled within him. “We need her.”

Kai pushed the thought aside, but his wolf’s agitation manifested in a sudden itch beneath his skin, muscles twitching with restless energy.

Through his window, moonlight painted silver edges around the distant hospital helipad lights.

Before conscious thought could form, he was already moving, keys in hand, drawn back to the one place he might find momentary peace.

Fluorescent lights buzzed overhead, casting long shadows across the empty hospital corridors.

Orion’s heightened hearing picked up the night nurses’ whispered conversations as Kai slipped past their station.

He pushed open Ava’s door without hesitation, the now familiar antiseptic scent welcoming him once more.