Chapter 15

*Kael*

My wolf is out of control.

He tears through the forest like a force of nature, snapping twigs beneath his claws, ripping through bramble and brush. He howls when we break through into open air, and it echoes with a pain I can't contain.

He hates me.

Not in the way that burns quickly and fades.

In the way that stays.

In the way that means I’ve broken something sacred.

The bond is killing me. I thought rejecting her would break it, free me of the burden, and let me rule with clarity. But it’s only made everything worse. My wolf is at war with me. I can barely sleep. I can’t think. I can’t breathe without tasting her.

Aria.

Her name claws at the inside of my skull. Her scent is in my bed, my clothes, my skin. I see her when I close my eyes. Worse, I feel her. Like she never left. Like a part of her is still inside me, tearing through my ribs every second she stays gone.

Like the Goddess herself is punishing me, forcing down my throat how wrong I was.

We run until we reach the cliffs—until I’m too tired to rage. I shift, barely able to stay upright, breath ragged, bones shaking. Dax is already dressed, crouched near the supplies he brought, his gaze steady but heavy.

He tosses me water and clothes, and I catch them with shaking hands.

"You didn’t bring me out here just to run," I rasp.

He shakes his head. "No."

I sit heavily, the ground cool beneath me, but my skin burns. My wolf still snarls. Still wants to run back. To find her. To fix it. Like he can feel the boundary of my forest and the one she fled to. The one they say she was lost to.

But I can’t fix it. I shattered it. What does my wolf expect me to do?

Dax looks out at the trees, then finally says it.

"I went to see my mother."

My head jerks up. His mom is a touchy subject. "You never said."

"Didn’t know if it mattered. Not until now."

I already know where this is going. My gut churns. My wolf growls low, pacing just under the surface.

"What did she say?"

He hesitates. And the silence between us feels like a canyon about to open beneath my feet.

"Dax," I growl.

And then he says it.

The Nightshades. The alliance. The betrayal.

Each word slices deeper than the last.

My father didn’t win the throne. He didn’t earn it. He stole it. Slaughtered those who trusted him. Spilled royal blood to claim a legacy he didn’t deserve.

My fists curl, nails biting into my palms.

I want to tell Dax he’s wrong.

But I can’t.

Because I remember the battlefield. I remember the screams. The way he smiled when it was done. I was just a boy, hidden in the back, shielded from the worst of it.

But I saw enough.

I saw her.

Silver eyes. Moonlit hair. She fought like the forest itself had risen inside her. And she fell. I thought she died.

Lyriana.

Now Dax says she lived. That she escaped. That she was pregnant.

That she had Aria.

I sit down hard on the log at the edge of the clearing. My vision swims.

"If it’s true," I whisper, "then I rejected the heir to the Nightshade line."

Dax nods.

My wolf lunges inside me. Paces. Howls.

"I destroyed the one thing that could unite the old world and the new."

The words hurt more than any wound I’ve ever taken in battle.

And still, Dax says nothing. Because he knows. Because I already know.

"The council wants me to pick a Luna," I say, trying to laugh, but it comes out broken. "They think the bond’s been severed. That the throne needs an heir."

"You can’t," Dax says simply.

"I know."

But what else can I do? The kingdom needs strength. They need clarity. And all I have is chaos. Fuck why did I react so harshly. I dint think it through. 

"If she knows… if she comes back," I whisper, "she could challenge me. Take the throne."

"Would she be wrong to try?"

I want to say yes.

But I can’t.

Because deep down, I don’t believe she would.

I look at him. My brother. My shield. The one person who has stood beside me through every mistake.

"Would you follow her?"

His answer is soft.

Measured.

"If she’s the true heir. If the blood in her veins can heal what was broken. If she can restore the balance your father destroyed... Then yes."

The air leaves my lungs.

I stand, shaking, every muscle trembling. My wolf is ready to burst free, ready to tear through the trees and find her. But I hold him back.

Barely.

"You’d betray me."

"No. I’d serve the kingdom."

It’s the right answer. But it doesn’t make it hurt less.

Then he says the last thing I’m prepared to hear.

"My mother told me your father planned to capture Lyriana. To force her into bearing a child. To steal the magic of the Nightshades for your bloodline."

I freeze.

Something deep in my chest cracks.

"But my mother had just died," I whisper.

Dax doesn’t reply. His silence says everything.

I press my hands to my face. My throat burns. My wolf lets out a sound I’ve never heard before. Pain. Shame. Fury.

Was it ever mine to begin with?

Was any of it?

The crown. The respect. The kingdom.

Or was I just my father’s puppet? His tool to legitimize a stolen legacy?

I can’t look at Dax. I don’t want him to see this version of me—the one who doesn’t know who he is anymore.

I turn away.

"I’m not ready to lose everything."

His voice is soft and kind. "Then don’t. Find her. Fix this."

I nod.

Just once.

Because it’s all I have left.

And the terrifying truth is—

She might come back not as the girl I rejected...

But as the queen who takes everything from me.

And I don’t know if I’ll survive it.