Chapter 76 The Discussion
Kael pov
“Ryn”
"Where's Ryn?" I finally asked, noticing his absence.
"Scouting the perimeter." She pulled back slightly. "Making sure there aren't more rogues."
"Smart." I scanned the darkness. "These weren't normal rogues, someone sent them."
"Elias." She said it with certainty. "Your dear cousin who rules the pack that should be mine."
"Probably." I agreed. "Which means you're not safe out here."
"I'm not safe anywhere." She stepped away from me. "Elias wants me dead, your pack wants me gone. And you..."
"I want you home." I reached for her again. "Where I can protect you."
"I don't want your protection." Her flames flickered back to life. "I want my freedom."
"You can have both." I moved closer, my wolf demanding we reclaim our mate. "Come back to Darkfang. Let me make this right."
"How?" She laughed bitterly. "By locking me in a tower? Keeping me as your dirty secret while you rule?"
"By making you Luna in truth." I cupped her face. "By standing beside you as equals. By letting the pack see what I was too blind to recognize."
"What's that?" Her voice was barely a whisper.
"That you're the strongest person I've ever known." I leaned closer. "That you survived hell and came out burning. That I'm not worthy of you, but I'm going to spend every day trying to be."
"Pretty words." She said but didn't pull away. "But I've heard pretty words before."
"Then let me show you." I closed the last distance between us. "Let me prove it."
I kissed her before she could protest. Desperately, hungrily, like she was oxygen and I'd been drowning.
She resisted for half a heartbeat. Then she was kissing me back with equal fury, her hands fisting in my hair.
The kiss turned violent. Her teeth caught my lip, drawing blood. I grabbed her hips, pulling her flush against me.
"I hate you." She gasped against my mouth.
"I know." I kissed her throat. "Hate me all you want, just don't leave again."
"I should." Her hands moved to my chest, nails raking across skin. "Should let you rot in your guilt."
"You should." I agreed, finding the pulse point on her neck. "But you won't."
"Why not?" She arched into me despite herself.
"Because you need this as much as I do." I nipped at her collarbone.
She didn't deny it. Instead, she pulled my face back to hers, kissing me with bruising intensity.
We fell to the forest floor, still covered in rogue blood, surrounded by corpses. It should have been horrifying. Instead, it was perfect.
My hands found the tears in her shirt from the fight, widening them.
"This doesn't mean I forgive you." She bit down on my shoulder hard enough to draw blood.
"I don't deserve forgiveness." I pinned one of her wrists above her head. "But I'll take what you'll give me."
She was already wet. I shoved two fingers inside her roughly. She bucked, cursed, and raked her nails across my chest, leaving burning lines.
I pulled my hand free and replaced it with my cock in one brutal thrust. She screamed—rage and pleasure mixed—and wrapped her legs around me, heels digging into my ass, forcing me deeper.
I fucked her hard. No rhythm, no mercy. Just punishment and need.
She dragged her claws down my chest again, over and over, until blood ran. Every scrape made me drive into her harder. She met every thrust with her hips, taking me to the hilt, snarling my name.
Her moans were loud, broken, filthy. “Harder, you bastard—harder”
I gave it to her. Slammed into her until the ground shook beneath us.
She came first, back arching, pussy clamping down so tight I saw stars. Her nails dug into my shoulders and she bit my neck again, drawing fresh blood as she shook.
I followed right after, buried deep, spilling inside her with a guttural groan.
When we finally collapsed, both bleeding from various wounds, I pulled her against my chest.
"That changed nothing." She said quietly.
"I know." I held her tighter. "But it's a start."
"A start to what?" She traced the claw marks she'd left. "Hurting each other until the bond forces us together?"
"A start to me earning your trust again." I caught her hand, pressing it over my heart. "However long that takes."
"It'll take forever." She closed her eyes. "You destroyed me, Kael."
"Then I'll spend forever putting you back together." I kissed her forehead. "Piece by piece."
She didn't respond, just breathed against my chest while exhaustion claimed her.
I held her in that bloody clearing, surrounded by death, and felt the bond stabilize for the first time in days.
But I also felt her walls. Thick, impenetrable walls she'd built around her heart. Walls I'd forced her to build with my cruelty.
Ryn appeared through the trees, stopping short when he saw us.
"Is she alright?" He asked carefully.
"Physically." I stroked her hair gently. "Emotionally... I don't know."
“Mira is dead,” I said.
"You killed Mira." It wasn't a question.
"Yes."
"Good." He sat on a fallen log. "She deserved worse."
"Probably." I looked down at Lira's sleeping face. "But it doesn't fix this."
"Nothing will fix this quickly." Ryn's voice was honest. "She trusted you with everything, and you betrayed that trust repeatedly. That kind of damage takes time."
"I have time." I held her closer. "I have forever."
"Do you?" He gestured at the dead rogues. "Elias is hunting her. Your pack is divided. And Lira's done being the victim in everyone's plans."
"Then I'll support her being the victor." I met his eyes. "Whatever she needs."
"What she needs is to not need you." Ryn stood. "To be strong enough to survive without the mate bond propping her up."
"I know." The admission hurt. "But I can give her that. Can step back while she grows."
"Can you?" His skepticism was clear. "Because from where I'm standing, you're already breaking at the thought of her leaving again."
He was right. My wolf was howling to keep her, to never let her go. But Lira needed space to heal. To find herself outside of my shadow. Even if it killed me to give it to her.
"Take her back to your cabin." I forced myself to say. "Keep her safe while I handle Darkfang."
"You're not coming?" Ryn looked surprised.
"She needs time away from me." I carefully transferred her into his arms. "And I need to stabilize the pack so she has something to come home to."
"If she comes home." He warned.
"She will." I pressed a kiss to her forehead. "The bond won't let her stay away forever."
"The bond isn't enough." He started walking. "And you know it."
I watched them disappear into the forest, my wolf howling in protest. Then I shifted and ran back toward Darkfang.
Alone.
Because if loving Lira meant letting her go, then I'd do it.
Even if it destroyed me in the process.
But as I reached pack territory, I felt her wake through the bond. I felt her realize I was gone. And for the first time, I felt something other than anger in her emotions.
Abandonment. She thought I'd left her again. I almost turned back. I almost ran straight back to prove I'd never leave.
But Ryn was right. She needed to learn she could survive without me. So I kept running, even as the bond screamed in protest.