Chapter 113 - Irune POV
Chapter 113 - Irune POV
We made it back to the packhouse in no time, though the ride felt like an hour trapped inside my own heartbeat. I allowed myself the rare luxury of closing my eyes while Trinity’s head rested on my lap. Even unconscious, she felt like a wildfire curled against me… too warm, too vital, too necessary.
But she still hadn’t woken from whatever sorcery Ms. Kline used to incapacitate her. That alone told me the spell had been brutal. Trinity didn’t go down easily. And Goddess help whoever she swung at first when she came to—she was going to be furious.
Her eyes twitched beneath closed lids, mapping unseen worlds. Every few minutes her body tensed as if she were bracing for impact. Since the curses lifted, everything between us feels amplified. Her emotions surge through me like electric currents. I feel her frustration, her determination, her rage—sharpened, intensified, mirrored inside my own veins.
The mate bond has grown into something almost alive. Her scent wraps around me thicker, richer, intoxicating. And my need to touch her… it’s feral. I find myself stroking her cheek again and again, my thumb tracing the soft curve of her jaw. It’s the only way I know to anchor her while she walks through someone else’s mind.
But the longer she stayed under, the more a knot formed in my chest.
Who is she with in that dream?
What is she seeing?
And why does her body keep bracing like she’s about to shatter?
When we finally arrived, I lifted her easily into my arms. She curled into me instinctively, like her wolf recognized the motion even if she didn’t. I carried her up the stairs, past the portraits and goddess markings I had placed around the packhouse into my bedroom. I now realize the symbols that I could not get out of my head, that are engraved in every corner of the packhouse and territory, were all for her, in preparation of her, my Luna, my queen.
She’d never seen this room before. All the time we spent in dream realms, in sacred spaces, in hidden corners of ourselves… yet never here. The space was large, shadowed, carved in deep woods and darker fabrics—a room built for an Alpha long before I had someone to share it with.
Now that I had her… the place suddenly felt wrong. Too masculine. Too cold. Too empty of her.
I laid her on the bed gently. She looked impossibly small against the spread of charcoal sheets, but the power humming beneath her skin said otherwise.
Her power calls to mine. Even asleep.
I should shower, but the idea of leaving her—even for a minute—makes something inside me snarl. I can’t remember how we managed being apart before the curses broke. The bond feels like a living tether now, pulling taut if I move more than a few feet away.
So instead, I slide onto the bed beside her. I study the rise and fall of her chest. The soft twitch of her fingers. The faint gold sheen flickering beneath her skin.
Just as my eyes begin to drift closed—
A sound tears through her.
A sob.
A raw, broken thing that slices into my chest like a blade. My entire body goes rigid. The sadness pouring through the bond is suffocating. Not mine—hers. Heavy, sharp, drowning.
She’s waking up.
Without thinking, I gather her into my arms.
“Shh… You’re safe,” I whisper, but even I hear the strain in my voice.
She clings to me instantly, face buried against my chest, breathing me in like air after nearly drowning. Her heartbeat begins to settle. Mine follows.
When she’s steady enough, I tilt her chin up gently.
“What happened, love? Where did you go?”
Her eyes—still swimming with sleep and fear—lock onto mine.
“She’s gone… Irune… Kline is gone.”
Her voice breaks into a scream.
A cold spike of shock stabs through me.
“Stephen.”
“No,” she whispers hoarsely. “Not directly.”
Malik, who has been silent and coiled deep in my mind since the void, stirs with a low, rumbling growl. My anger spikes, but I keep my breathing controlled. For her.
She exhales shakily, the scent of her grief thickening between us. The more she breathes me in, the steadier she becomes. My wolf preens with pride, but I push the instinct down. She needs comfort, not possession.
She shifts, climbing into my lap, her head still resting against my chest as I stroke her locs. They feel like spun silk between my fingers, each strand grounding me.
“I tried to find her,” she whispers. “To stop her from doing something reckless. I knew she was planning something stupid—I just didn’t know what.”
My jaw tightens.
“Her and Raubtier went to Stephen’s camp.”
My hands pause.
“Raubtier was with her?”
“Yes.”
Her heartache hits me like a physical blow, blooming sharp and hot beneath my ribs.
“He’s gone too,” she chokes. “I saw… I saw him clearing the way for her. He took out so many of Stephen’s forces. But there are still dozens of hybrids. She made it to Stephen. She managed to injure him. It will take time for his wolf to heal from the wounds she gave him.”
I swallow a wave of fury and sorrow.
She said she’d buy us time. I knew it would be drastic, but I didn’t think it meant this.
Trinity’s fingers curl into my shirt.
“He has a powerful witch with him. She’s the one who killed Kline.”
Her breath trembles.
“The smile on her face… it was sickening. And I couldn’t do anything. I couldn’t help her. I could only watch.”
I cup her face, forcing her to see the truth in my eyes.
“I’m so sorry, love. I hate this as much as you do.”
Her breath steadies, golden flecks swirling in her irises.
“I know. I feel it now. With the curses gone… the bond is stronger. Clearer.”
She pulls back just enough to meet my gaze fully.
And there it is. The fury. The purpose. The deadly resolve.
“We have to put Stephen down,” she says quietly, dangerously. “We cannot allow him to live.”
Malik rises slightly in agreement.
“We won’t,” I promise, my voice low and absolute.
The bond burns bright between us, sealing the vow.