Page 71 of Fated (The Bonded Legacy #1)

CHAPTER FIFTY

KAI

T he ruins of the packhouse loomed around Kai.

Its charred wood and twisted metal creaking in the wind, each sound echoing the fractures of his resolve.

The sharp tang of ash clung to the air, mingling with the faint, metallic scent of blood that no amount of scrubbing could erase.

His boots crunched against the uneven ground—littered with shattered glass and splintered wood—as he wandered through the skeletal remains.

He’d left the dining hall without a word.

The oppressive weight of the somber celebration pressed against his chest until it felt like he might shatter.

The soft murmurs of gratitude, the laughter breaking through grief, felt like a foreign language.

He couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t think. Couldn’t face Lena’s golden- brown eyes, which now refused to meet his for even a fleeting second.

His fingers had trailed the wooden doorframe as he slipped out, the rough grain catching on his calluses. Outside, he’d gulped in the night air, each breath a desperate attempt to clear the suffocating sense of wrongness that had settled in his lungs.

Panic and guilt had consumed him when he’d arrived at Bloodstone after the attack.

He’d seen the devastation—the scorched lands, the burned homes, the bodies — chest compressing as the extent of the damage sank in, but nothing had prepared him for the sight of Ava lying motionless in the infirmary.

Her skin had been pale, breathing shallow.

The faint scent of blood and silver clinging to her a haunting reminder of what they’d lost.

Elias.

Kai’s stomach twisted as the image of his future gamma’s lifeless wolf seared itself into his mind. The memory of the pyre burned even brighter—Darius’s jaw clenched to breaking as the flames consumed Kael’s—Elias’s—remains, grief carving new lines into the alpha’s face with each passing second.

Kai’s boot connected with a charred support beam, sending it crashing into a pile of debris. The sound reverberated through the empty ruins but did nothing to drown out the accusation pounding in his head: I wasn’t here. I didn’t protect them.

He reached out, pressing a palm against the nearest wall. The soot was dry and crumbly beneath his touch as intrusive thoughts raked like claws against his ribs with each heartbeat.

In Moonshadow, Lena’s warmth had surrounded him with something he barely recognized—her smile like dawn breaking after endless night, her laughter unlocking chambers in his heart he’d forgotten existed.

For the first time in years, he’d felt the burden of his birthright lift.

And while he’d been discovering what freedom tasted like and slowly falling for his mate, his pack had been drowning in blood and ash.

Guilt had flooded his system like a slow-spreading poison the moment he’d stepped onto Bloodstone soil. It had churned and twisted inside him, mutating from regret to something darker. Something that tore at his insides with razor-sharp claws: anger .

Anger at himself for failing his pack.

Anger at how right it had felt to escape his responsibilities.

Anger at Lena for showing him a version of himself he could never truly be.

And he’d taken it out on her.

He’d let distance grow between them. Let his guilt and fear fester into something that pushed her away.

By the time he’d started thinking more clearly, Lena had already shifted her focus to the pack.

She’d thrown herself into caring for his people, planning the funeral rites, and easing Darius’s grief.

Kai swallowed hard against the knot in his throat as he thought of how Lena avoided him now.

He picked up a shard of glass, turning it over in his fingers as memories flashed across its surface like reflections.

The way her eyes would slide past his, gaze focusing on anyone else—Darius, the mourning pack members, Ryker, Jace—never him.

The glass bit into his thumb. A drop of blood welled up, and he watched it with morbid fascination, the sharp sting a welcome distraction.

He used to feel like he could see pieces of her soul in her eyes, like the bond had opened a door between them that no one else could enter. Now, all he saw was a wall. Her beautiful, golden-brown eyes, once warm and inviting, were now distant and guarded.

He wiped the blood on his jeans and tossed the glass aside, listening to it clink against the stone floor.

She didn’t stiffen or flinch when he entered a room, but her body language spoke volumes.

Her shoulders were always squared, arms crossed, or her hands clasped in front of her as though bracing herself.

When he’d tried to approach her, her voice became politely detached, like they were little more than acquaintances rather than lovers who knew the recesses of each other’s hearts.

The physical distance stung almost as much. When they’d brushed past each other, fingers accidentally grazing, he’d felt a jolt of lightning. But then she’d pull away, leaving him aching in the void where their bond used to sing.

He’d tried to reach her. Once, after a long day of preparing for the funeral rites, he’d waited for her outside the dining hall, hoping to catch her alone.

He was desperate to wrap her pinky in his.

To thank her. To close the gap any way he could.

She’d nodded at him, expression neutral.

Before he could say anything, she’d murmured something about needing to speak with Lyric and disappeared into the crowd.

She was there. Always there. But he couldn’t feel her anymore.

And it was all his fault.

“What did you expect?” Orion’s voice was like stone grinding against stone. “She’d wait patiently while you sulked and kept Ava’s claws in your skin? Your silence was your choice.”

“I didn’t choose this .” The words scraped Kai’s throat raw, ringing hollow in his ears even as they left his lips.

“No?” Orion’s presence surged forward, wild instinct crashing against human hesitation . “Then explain why you stand in ashes while mate slips away. Wolves don’t hesitate, Kai. They act .”

Kai’s fists clenched at his sides, the dull ache in his chest growing sharper as the bond with Lena twisted inside him. He didn’t need Orion to remind him of all the ways he failed—not just as an heir, but as a mate.

His control slipped, and he slammed his fist into a half-collapsed wall. Pain shot up his arm as debris rained down, the impact sending dust and ash swirling around him like accusations.

“What am I supposed to do?” The question directed as much at himself as at his wolf.

“Face her,” came Orion’s immediate response. “Stop hiding in pain.”

A piercing, restless energy vibrated beneath his skin.

He needed to move. To do something—anything—to keep the surges of guilt and anger at bay.

Kai shoved a broken plank of wood off to the side, the sharp splintering sound cutting through the night air.

His fingers burned from the rough edges, the grit clinging to his hands as he forced himself to focus on the physical task.

The faint crunch of footsteps behind him pulled Kai out of his thoughts. He didn’t have to turn around to know who it was. The cloying, floral edge of her perfume had already given her away.

“So, this is where you’ve been hiding.” Ava’s voice sliced through the stillness, sharp as the silver that had wounded their pack.

Kai straightened, hands tightening into fists at his sides. “I’m not hiding.”

Ava laughed, a short, bitter sound that grated on Kai’s nerves. “No, of course not. You’re just out here, alone, in the dark, while everyone else is inside—while I’m inside—dealing with the aftermath of the night you walked out on.”

Kai faced her. Something darker than frustration twisted her features, arms crossed like a shield over her chest as she stepped closer. The tension radiating from her shoulders made the space between them feel electric, dangerous.

“I needed air,” he said, each word measured and flat.

“Air.” Ava repeated. Her voice dripped with sarcasm. “How convenient. Because Kai, the ever-brooding future Alpha of Bloodstone, just couldn’t stomach a room full of wolves counting on him.”

The accusation hit hard, but Kai refused to let it show. He turned back to the pile of debris, crouching to pick up another broken plank. “What do you want, Ava?”

“What do I want?” Her eyebrows shot up, voice climbing with each word.

“I want to know why the hell you think you can just disappear. Do you have any idea how humiliating it was, standing there alone while Darius practically crowned her in front of everyone? Did you even think about what that did to me? The damage you’ve caused? ”

A muscle ticked in Kai’s jaw. The familiar pattern of the past week—her demands, his deflections, silences that stretched to breaking—threatened to repeat itself. Every day he’d swallowed the truth that sat like a stone in his throat: he wanted Lena.

“Damage?” The word came out sharper than intended. “What are you really talking about here, Ava?”

“I’ve known you since we were pups, Kai.

Don’t insult us both by pretending you don’t understand.

” She stepped closer, ice bleeding into her tone.

“What do you think everyone thought when they saw you leave me there? I’m supposed to be the one by your side.

I’m the one who’s always been by your side, and you made me look like a fool. ”

“You introduced yourself to Alpha Caleb as my girlfriend,” Kai snapped, temper flaring.

“You put me in an impossible position. Do you have any idea how much damage you’ve done to Bloodstone’s standing with Crescent Fang and Moonshadow by lying about our relationship?

Their trust in me isn’t a guarantee, Ava. ”