Page 30 of Kael (Monsters & Mates #2)

“But not every Riftborn has bonded,” I say, grounding us again. “Not all of us have someone. Right?”

“Yet,” Jack says firmly. “That’s what I keep coming back to. What if they’re here? What if they just haven’t found each other yet? Like you. Or more likely, the humans have yet to be pulled into the rift yet.”

Solan folds his arms. “It would make sense. The bonding doesn’t just link two people—it changes them. Strengthens them. I’m stronger with Jack. Physically. Mentally. Energetically.”

Shanae nods slowly. “Same with me and Ril. It’s like we balance each other out, but more than that, I have their special skill set, and they are definitely stronger since we completed our bond.”

Varek hums thoughtfully. “Which brings us back to the rifts. We know that humans are the common denominator, since every single human here that we know of has bonded. And if your presence catalyses bonding that hasn’t happened in generations, it does sound like more than happy coincidence or simply fate. ”

Kael shifts beside me. “But why would someone control the rifts? What would they gain?”

Jack leans forwards. “That’s what we want to find out. If someone is manipulating the rifts, choosing who gets pulled through and when… they’re playing God… or fate maybe. And if they have a goal or an angle? We need to know what it is.”

I glance around the table, the gravity of it all settling like lead in my chest. “This isn’t just about our freedom anymore,” I murmur. “Or equality. It’s about control. About power. And about who’s behind it.”

Varek’s expression hardens with a slow nod. “We need more information. Proof. But you’re right. If this theory is true, then everything we thought we knew about the rifts… about it being a natural phenomenon… was wrong.”

Kael stays quiet beside me, but his hand brushes mine beneath the table. I don’t say anything. I just hold it.

The meeting stretches on, the weight of revelations growing heavier with every passing minute. As Jack, Solan, and Varek dive deeper into their theories about the rifts—about the possibility that they’re not natural phenomena but intentionally created—I notice Kael stills beside me.

At first, it’s subtle. A shift in his posture, a tension in his jaw. But I feel it through our bond, like a current humming under my skin. His disbelief spikes, not just as an intellectual reaction but emotionally—like he’s been dreading this exact conversation.

Jack leans forwards, his voice urgent. “If someone’s behind the rifts—if they’re being controlled—then we’re talking about targeted abductions, not accidents.”

Solan nods solemnly. “And based on what we know about fated bonds, maybe there’s a reason. Maybe humans are being brought here to restore what was lost. That or to provide the current rulers with more power.”

“Or maybe it’s nothing to do with the rulers or strengthening their forces. Maybe it’s someone pulling the strings to overpower and weaken them. To change society,” Shanae adds, her brow pulled down in thought.

What’s clear is we have no idea of the purpose or who’s behind it. It could be a million different things or explanations.

“Hell, maybe we’re wrong and—what was it that you called it, Varek? A nexus, right?” Jack prods.

Varek’s nod is slow, his gaze assessing. “Yes. I said Terrafeara, this dimension, is the centre, the nexus. A hive pulling threads from countless worlds into one chaotic web.”

“Well, it could just be that, but still the questions remain. The why and the how remain the same,” Jack says.

Varek listens, eyes narrowed, but when I glance at Kael, I catch something flicker in his expression. A ripple of guilt. And then… shame.

He doesn’t speak. He doesn’t fidget. But his emotions speak volumes. I don’t call him out. Not here. Not now. Not with all eyes on us.

Instead, I gently nudge reassurance his way through our bond, offering comfort. I don’t know what he’s hiding—or if he’s just processing something—but I trust he’ll tell me when he’s ready.

Varek leans back, fingers steepled. “If these rifts are being manipulated, it changes everything. Not just for us.”

Shanae’s voice cuts through. “But for the worlds people are being torn from.”

I wince. I have no idea what was left behind when I came here.

Something I need to talk to Jack about. But based on Shanae and the other humans here, we’ve all said the same: There’ve been no news reports of “monsters” roaming Earth, no abductions reported, no discussions about new slivers of world popping up.

So either there are some pretty phenomenal hush jobs from our respective governments, or something else is going on that we’ll never know.

Jack nods, grim. “We need to find out who—or what—is behind it. And what they want.”

Varek adds, “And we need to prepare for what it’ll mean when others find out. This isn’t just a Riftborn issue. This could shift the balance of every alliance we’ve made.”

Shanae studies Kael and me, her gaze lingering. “And now that you’re bonded and it’s almost complete… you’re already at the centre of that shift. As far as we’re aware, you’re the first home species, the first Glowranth to have bonded with their fated mate.”

The table falls into a heavy silence, but it’s broken—abruptly and quietly—by Jack.

“When we find out who’s behind the rifts,” he says, voice measured but firm, “my mission is going to be about finding a way back.”

The silence deepens, thickening. My heart stutters.

Back?

Home?

I swallow hard, vision clouding for a second as the images flash unbidden—my old bed with a spring mattress that squeaked if I shifted too fast, eating green curry on the couch while watching trash TV, and blue sky so vivid and endless, it made your chest ache.

But then… Kael.

My gaze shifts to him instinctively. My chest tightens. Could I leave him? Would I even survive it? Not seeing him for almost a day had made my skin itch and my soul twist in on itself.

“I won’t leave Solan,” Jack continues, cutting through my spiralling thoughts.

“But Jamie… he’s still a kid. He deserves a future where he’s not dodging blade tips and plants that want to kill him, where his life isn’t someone else’s rebellion.

” He turns to Varek, and there’s steel in his voice now.

“I don’t give a shit what anyone thinks about what Jamie’s ‘role’ could be.

He’s not a soldier. Not a pawn. If there’s a way to get him home… we’ll take it.”

It hits the table like a thunderclap. Even Varek looks taken aback, his luminous eyes narrowing slightly—not in judgment but consideration. The mood shifts. Heavy. Complex. Real. And the possibilities stretch out like a chasm in my chest.

Kael’s hand beneath the table is gentle, grounding when he squeezes lightly. He doesn’t speak, but the unease still ripples under his skin, through our bond.

I squeeze back. Whatever he’s not saying, we’ll get there.

As the group disperses from the meeting table, it’s clear there’s no solid plan yet. No grand solution. No dramatic declarations. Just a mess of questions, tension, and theories that are way too big to untangle in one sitting.

Varek moves off with Shanae to speak in hushed tones about the rift a few days ago—the same day Kael came here. As far as I’m aware, whoever came through the rift has yet to be found. Jack and Solan glance at each other before quietly stepping back towards the exit, giving me and Kael a moment.

Kael stays silent beside me, but his emotions aren’t quiet. Not even close.

The flicker of unease he tried to hide during the meeting has thickened, curling around us like fog. I feel it thrum through our bond—a mix of wariness, shame, and something more elusive… dread?

I place a hand gently on his arm. “Walk with me?”

He nods, but his jaw’s tight. We step out of the meeting room and into the corridor that cuts through the old bowling alley’s back. The moment the door shuts behind us, I slow to a stop and turn to face him.

“You were holding something back.”

Kael doesn’t pretend otherwise. He looks away, his shoulders tense. “I felt something. When they talked about the rifts. The theories. It wasn’t just disbelief—it was recognition.”

I study him. “You’ve heard something before?”

“There are whispers in the guard,” he says slowly, carefully. “Not facts. Not anything anyone speaks about openly. But I’ve picked up fragments… suspicions.”

“About the queen?”

His mouth is a grim line. “There’s speculation that Queen Serresta has found a way to influence the rifts. To decide who gets pulled through. That she’s… curating Riftborn for their abilities. For what they can offer Terrafeara—or her rule.”

I stare at him, breath caught. “And you didn’t say anything in there because…?”

“I don’t have proof,” he says, finally meeting my gaze.

“And I’m not sure how much I believe it.

I have enough knowledge of the queen to believe if she can gain power, she would absolutely tear through dimensions.

But pull fated mates together?” He shakes his head.

“Fated mates are strong. For her, dangerously so. She would not encourage any pairings here whose strength would rival her own or could potentially break the system.”

I press my palm flat to his chest, feeling the faint echo of my own heartbeat in him. “Okay. I kind of understand why you wouldn’t want to share more theories, and I trust your decision.”

Kael’s eyes soften, but the tension doesn’t leave him.

“I also felt something else in there,” I add, a little quieter now. “Like you were ashamed.”

He doesn’t answer immediately. He steps in closer, his voice barely above a whisper. “You were the only human who didn’t have a bond. I did that to you. For two years, I left you alone, because my duty to the prince came first.”

“But you felt me,” I say, hearing the raw edge of emotion in my own voice. “The second I arrived.”

We’ve been over this more than once, and I hope one day it all becomes a distant hurt.

Hell, not even that. Not even a small blip in our memories.

I’m all for focussing on the future, which actually surprises me even as I think it.

As let’s be honest, since being in Terrafeara, I’ve been living in the moment, grateful when I wake up in the morning.

My expectations have been pretty low.

He nods, grief flashing through his luminous eyes. “I felt you. And I turned away.”

It doesn’t hurt the way it used to. Not now, not after everything. But it still aches.

I wrap my arms around his waist, resting my head against his chest. “It doesn’t matter now. You’re here. We’re here.”

His arms come around me, firm and sure. “I won’t let anything pull you from me again,” he says.

Jack’s words about finding a way home flitter in the corner of my mind. I shut it down. That discussion will only lead to more hurt and uncertainty. I want neither in my life.

We stand like that for a long minute. Just the two of us, in this weird in-between place—caught between questions and conspiracy, the past and whatever the hell’s coming. Eventually, I pull back and smile, just a little. “I didn’t know I could feel someone this deeply. Even without words.”

He brushes his thumb under my jaw. “It’s more than bond. It’s you.”

Goddamn him and his Glowranth poetry. Who’d have thought a badass royal guard would have it in him?

And goddamn me for already being half in love.