Chapter 94 CHAPTER 94
Celia slipped out of Lisa’s body the moment the ache in her chest sharpened into urgency. One heartbeat she was standing beside Liam and Lisa in the waterfall pool; the next she was shimmering out of the human realm entirely, pulled toward the place where Kael’s energy flickered like a failing flame.
The wolf realm greeted her with cold wind and dim, silver light. The sky above stretched in muted twilight, the endless horizon shifting with the shapes of distant, restless spirits. Celia ran, her paws barely touching the ground until she reached the mouth of the healer’s cavern.
Inside, Kael lay motionless on the bed of woven fur. His breaths were shallow, uneven - each inhale trembling as if even air had become too heavy for him to hold. The healer stood beside him, old eyes narrowed with both anger and worry.
“You reckless fool,” he muttered as Celia appeared. “Look what you’ve done to yourself.”
Celia rushed to Kael’s side, shifting into human form, her hands shaking as she touched his fur. “Kael,” she whispered, feeling the frightening coldness beneath her fingers. “What happened?”
The healer’s jaw tightened. “He spent the little strength he had trying to reach his human. He pushed beyond what his healing allowed. Now we’re back to the edge again - if not worse.”
Celia’s heart twisted painfully. “Kael, why would you…?”
His eyelids fluttered. Weakly, he turned his head toward her voice. Celia… The sound of her name was barely more than breath. She was draining him again… she was touching Sebastian… I had to stop it… I had to warn him…
“You nearly destroyed yourself,” the healer snapped. “Your bond was severed, your life-force split, and instead of letting the rift mend, you strain it until nothing remains. You should have waited. You should have healed first.”
Kael tried to lift his head, but his body trembled violently and fell still again. “Sebastian… was slipping. She was taking him again. I couldn’t let her empty him. Not when he’s already weakened because of me.”
Celia’s throat closed. “Kael… please stop. You can’t keep doing this alone.”
“There is only one thing that would restore him faster,” the healer said grimly, folding his arms. His gaze shifted to Celia. “His mate.”
The word cracked through the air like thunder.
Celia froze.
The healer continued, “A wolf’s energy restores quickest when they are fully bonded to their mate. True mates share strength, breath, life-force. One completes the other. If Kael were bonded, his healing would accelerate - he might even rise within hours.”
Silence stretched, thick and suffocating.
Celia’s pulse roared in her ears. “But...Sebastian rejected us. He rejected Lisa. The bond is gone.”
The healer shook his head. “Sebastian rejected Lisa. But Kael never rejected you. His heart never turned away. His bond is intact - fractured, yes, but alive.” He stepped closer. “If you accepted him here, in this realm, the bond could root itself. You would be mates.”
Celia felt the world tilt.
Kael’s breathing was barely audible now, soft whimpers caught in his throat.
And she loved him - she couldn’t deny it anymore, not after seeing him fight through death itself just to save Sebastian… just to protect Lisa. But love in her world wasn’t simple. Love was tangled up with bodies they didn’t control alone, destinies shared with the human halves they lived inside.
Her voice cracked. “If I bond with him… then Lisa will be bound to Sebastian again.”
The healer gave a slow, heavy nod. “Bonding wolves means bonding humans. Their spirits are one.”
The realization stabbed through her.
Lisa.
Her joy with Liam.
Her fragile chance at happiness after a lifetime of being hurt.
Her heart finally safe in someone’s hands.
Celia’s eyes burned. “I can’t do that to her. She finally has hope. She finally has someone who loves her. Someone she chose. I can’t rip that away from her just to save Kael.”
Kael stirred, trying to lift his head again. Celia… no…
But he was too weak to say more.
Before Celia could speak again, a cold gust rushed through the cavern, rippling the air. A large wolf appeared at the entrance - black as midnight, eyes blazing electric gold.
Rex.
The aura shifted the moment he stepped inside, fury already simmering across his face. “I felt your panic all the way from the human realm,” he growled at Celia. “What’s happening?”
The healer answered for her. “Kael’s fading. And she was considering bonding with him to save his life.”
Rex’s expression hardened instantly. He stepped between Celia and Kael. “No.”
Celia flinched. “Rex…”
“No,” he repeated, voice sharp as a blade. “Absolutely not. You’re not sacrificing yourself for him. And you’re not sacrificing Lisa’s chance at a new life.”
“That’s not your choice to make,” Celia whispered, trembling.
“It is when my sister is the one who will pay the price,” Rex snapped. His wolf eyes flashed brighter. “Kael is Sebastian’s responsibility. Sebastian rejected you both. He rejected Lisa. We owe him nothing. We owe Kael nothing.”
The words struck Celia like whiplash.
Kael let out a faint, broken sound.
Rex grabbed Celia by the neck. “You’re done here.”
“Rex… stop,” Celia pleaded, reaching toward Kael. “He’ll die…”
“He is already dying,” Rex said, voice cracking with something fierce and protective and unbearably sad. “And it is not your job…or Lisa’s...to save him.”
The healer looked away, unable to intervene.
Celia’s hand stretched toward Kael one last time, but Rex’s grip tightened, and the wolf realm dissolved around her in a swirl of dark wind.
She snapped back into Lisa’s body at the waterfall.
The world was bright again. Water shimmered. Liam was still beside Lisa, brushing droplets from her cheek, smiling softly as he asked her something she didn’t hear.
Celia reeled inside, breath shuddering.
Lisa felt the tremor instantly. “Celia? What happened? Why did you leave so suddenly?”
Celia swallowed the ache, pushing the truth down into the deepest part of her heart. Not here. Not now. You’re happy. You’re safe. I won’t ruin this for you.
“I’ll tell you later,” she whispered faintly, retreating to the back of Lisa’s mind.
But Lisa knew - she felt - that something terrible had happened.
Something that had left Celia shaking.