Page 75 of Fated (The Bonded Legacy #1)
CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE
LENA
T he buzz of conversation around them grated against Lena’s frayed nerves like shards of glass. The warmth of afternoon sun seeping through the tall windows was oppressive. Normally, the golden light would bring her peace, but today, it only amplified the storm swirling inside her.
The dining hall felt like a fishbowl, noise and movement magnified under an invisible but suffocating scrutiny.
Lena felt as if every curious glance and whisper between pack members was aimed at them.
The reality of their impending, indefinite goodbye pressed down on her like an immovable boulder.
This moment needed to be theirs alone—not something for the pack to dissect.
Then, she looked at him.
Kai’s emerald-green eyes, filled with something raw and unspoken, locked onto hers. Vulnerability and guilt etched into every line of his face.
Elara’s growl was soft but insistent. “He’s hurting. Mate hurts for us.”
He’s ending it , Lena thought, numbness spreading through her chest.
She’d expected this was coming, but the reality still felt like a slap. Her breath caught in her throat, and she had to remind herself to exhale. Her trembling hands curled into fists beneath the table, nails biting into her palms as she steadied herself and stood.
Her voice, soft yet firm, broke through the heavy silence between them. “Maybe we could step outside? Get some air?”
KAI
Kai trailed Lena through the hall, each step echoing with a sense of finality.
His breathing became shallow from the pressure of unspoken words building inside him.
As they emerged onto the patio, the warm sunlight and gentle rustle of leaves faded into the background, overshadowed by the pounding of his heart and the desperate need to speak.
Orion’s presence pulsed against his consciousness like a second heartbeat, urgent and insistent. “The bond is strained. I can barely feel my Elara.”
Kai stilled as the words struck home. Orion’s tone softened, but his voice was still laced with a quiet desperation. “Don’t let her leave without telling her the truth.”
The afternoon heat wrapped around Kai like a damp shroud, but something cold hung between them.
He studied Lena’s posture, gaze drawn to her arms curled defensively around her middle as her eyes fixed on some distant point.
The emotional distance between them yawned like a chasm, its depths uncertain and daunting.
Kai’s voice cracked as he spoke, the words tumbling out in a rush.
“I’m sorry,” he began, the apology raw and unvarnished.
“For everything. For failing you.” He took a step closer, hands flexing at his sides, as if grasping for something to hold onto.
“When you return, I want us to have the chance we deserve. To start over as mates, as your boyfriend, as whatever you need.” He swallowed hard. “Please.”
LENA
Lena turned to face Kai, face blank, mind reeling as his words hung in the air. The afternoon heat intensified, pressing against her back like a physical force.
His voice had trembled, emerald eyes glistening.
She felt like she was drowning in the depths of his yearning.
She’d expected him to end things, to walk away, but this.
..this was something else entirely. Her hands trembled at her sides as she struggled to find her footing.
She felt torn in two, pulled between hope and self-preservation as his words sank in.
For a moment, she let herself remember the countless times she’d longed to hear him say these things. Now, after everything they’d been through—the hurt he’d caused with the distance he created, and the insidious presence of Ava—it was too little, too late.
“Kai…” She swallowed hard, forcing herself to steady. “I’m not coming back.”
The confession erected a wall between them, and Lena felt the sharp hint of tears pricking at the corners of her eyes. She watched as Kai’s face fell, searching hers as if hoping to find a glimmer of doubt, but her resolve remained firm.
Elara’s presence flickered in her mind, voice trembling with anguish. “We’re hurting them. I sense my Orion’s panic. Do we have to leave?”
Lena hesitated, heart leaden with the gravity of her decision. “We have to, Elara. We can’t keep going on like this. The bond... It’s not enough.”
“Our bond was broken from the start.” Her voice wavered as she continued, “As much as I love you, it’s destroying us… It’s destroying me.”
KAI
The words slammed into Kai like a riptide—pulling him under, stealing air from his lungs and leaving him gasping.
A cold sweat broke out on his forehead, trickling down his temples like icy fingers.
The sound of his uneven breaths filled his ears as his ribcage pressed inward, each inhale scorching his lungs as he struggled to draw air.
She’s leaving me…
“No,” he choked out, shaking his head. “We said we’d take things slow. I can do better. Just…don’t give up on us.”
Orion’s energy was a steady ache, his voice a soft whimper. “Fight for mate. ”
Kai scoured Lena’s face, frantic for any hint of uncertainty.
She stood rigid but fragile, like glass about to crack.
Her hands trembled, fingers clenched into fists at her sides, shoulders rising and falling in an unsteady rhythm.
Her beautiful, golden-brown eyes—red-rimmed and brimming with tears—held a world of sorrow.
Her cranberry and rosemary scent, now tinged with bitterness, wafted up, making his gut twist with anguish.
I’m losing her… The thought screamed through Kai’s mind, fueling his desperation.
“You’re crying because you don’t want this,” he pressed on, panic spilling over. “Please, Lena. We can fix this. You can’t mean it.”
His hands shook as he reached for her, wrapping his pinky around hers. A gesture they’d used so many times to stay connected. One that now felt like his only lifeline. He needed her to feel it. To feel the connection, the rightness , between them. He needed her to hold on.
“You can’t give up,” Orion urged. “Prove it to her.”
“Let me come with you.” He scrambled, grip on her pinky tightening.
“I don’t even need to pack. We can go right now.
” He pulled their hands up and pressed them against his heart, eyes never leaving hers.
“We can talk on the way. Or Ryker and Jace can ride with us. It will be so good to be back home with you. I’ll help with Cian’s alpha ceremony, and then we can help Cian and Lyric plan their mating ceremony. ”
He leaned forward, forehead touching hers. “We’ll keep working on us. And when you’re ready, we’ll come back here. Mated and marked. We’ll take our place as the next Alpha and Luna of Bloodstone.”
Lena’s silence crushed him. He could barely hear her breathing. He lifted his head to meet her eyes. Her steady gaze driving home the truth he didn’t want to face.
This can’t be happening.
His legs gave out, the bond flaring painfully in his chest. “I love you. Not because of the bond. Because of you.” His voice dissolved into raw pleading. “ Please don’t leave me. I can’t do this without you.”
LENA
A crack split through Lena’s chest as she gazed into Kai’s face, heartbeat faltering before resuming with agonizing intensity.
She kneeled in front of him, wrapping a trembling hand around his.
The rough texture of the stone patio beneath her knees ground into her skin.
A physical manifestation of the pain reverberating between them.
Her voice broke as she whispered, “I’m sorry. I love you, too… I’m so sorry.”
The words felt like a betrayal, a cruel twist of the knife she’d already plunged into his heart. As she looked into his eyes, she saw the desperation, the fear, the love .
It was the love that nearly undid her, that made her want to retract her words and flee, but she knew she couldn’t. In that moment, Lena realized that leaving Bloodstone wasn’t enough.
Because Kai would never let her go.
Ava would never let him go.
And the more they all held on, the more heartbreak it would bring.
Lena recalled the promise she made to herself the night they’d returned to Moonshadow: I won’t sacrifice myself to save him .
I have to sever the bond. The thought echoed in her mind like a death knell.
Elara erupted into a cacophony of panic and despair. “No, no, no, Lena! Please, don’t do this! ” Then she called to Kai’s wolf: “ Orion! Orion, help me!”
Lena felt her wolf’s terror and desperation, a panicked spiral threatening to consume them both. The sound of Kai’s labored breathing was a brutal reminder of the pain she was causing him. She tried to block out Elara’s cries, but they pierced her mind like a thousand needles.
“My mate! Don’t take my mate away, please !”
Steeling herself, Lena spoke the words she knew would change everything. “I, Lena, daughter of Alpha Raelen of the Moonshadow pack, reject you, Kai, Alpha-heir of the Bloodstone pack, as my mate.” The rejection words tasted like ash, bitter on her tongue.
As she spoke, Lena felt the bond between them begin to fray, like the threads of a rope unraveling.
Each strand that snapped sent a searing pain through her body, as if layers of her skin were being peeled away in slow, excruciating strips.
The sensation radiated outward from her sternum, each thread’s separation leaving raw, exposed nerves in its wake.
Elara’s wails grew louder, more frantic, as the wolf thrashed in Lena’s mind, fighting violently against what was happening. “Orion, please! Don’t let me go!”
Lena steeled herself, knowing she had to see this through. She had to cut herself free, no matter how much it destroyed her.
KAI
Orion’s anguished howl erupted in Kai’s mind, a raw, guttural cry that shook him to his core. “Elara! Elara, no!”