CHAPTER FORTY FOUR

CHAPTER FORTY FOUR
Kade.
We’d been running for hours.
Trees blurred past in a smear of gray and green, branches tearing at my fur, damp soil giving way beneath my paws. Kael ran at my side, though he was silent I could feel the tension radiating off him, just like it boiled under my own skin.
Still no scent. Still no trail.
It was as though she’d been plucked from this world and erased, leaving nothing behind but the gnawing emptiness in my chest.
I skidded to a stop in a clearing near the eastern edge of the forest, shifting mid-movement. My bones cracked back into place, my breath heaving from both exhaustion and fury.
Kael shifted a second later beside me, his hands bracing on his knees as he caught his breath.
“She’s not here,” he muttered, eyes scanning the empty space. “It’s like she was never here at all.”
I clenched my jaw until it hurt. “That’s not possible. Keep looking. She was taken. I know it.”
“But by who?” he asked quietly. “And why would they cloak her scent so thoroughly unless they didn’t want her found?”
Because I knew the why and just didn’t want to get him involved in it. In her.
“I should’ve seen it,” He muttered bitterly. “I should’ve never let her out of my sight. I knew something was wrong the moment Vallore showed his smug face. I should’ve trusted my instincts.”
Kael stepped forward, resting a hand on my shoulder. “You’re not the only one who didn’t see it coming.”
“That doesn’t make it better.”
Silence stretched between us, heavy and raw.
I turned away from him, pacing through the clearing like a caged animal. “I promised her she’d be safe. I declared her mine. I swore I wouldn’t fail her.”
“And you didn’t,” I said. “They did.”
He stopped pacing.
He was right. But it didn’t feel like enough.
None of this did.
My wolf scratched at the inside of my skin, restless, angry, hungry for a fight we didn’t have yet. My fists curled at my sides.
“She’s out there,” I said. “And I swear on my blood—I’m going to find her.”
Kael nodded. “Then we keep going. No stopping. Not until she’s Kael nodded once. “Then we don’t stop. Not until she’s back.”
But then I stilled.
A question had been gnawing at me since the night she left.
I turned to him slowly. “Why did you tell her I rejected her?”
His back stiffened.
He didn’t answer. Not right away. Just stood there frozen.
I took a step forward. “You knew what she meant to me, Kael. You knew exactly what those words would do to her. So why?”
“I didn’t want to lie,” he said tightly.
“Bullshit.” I snarled. “You did it to push her away from me. Don’t lie to my face.”
“I did it,” Kael snapped suddenly, whirling to face me, “because you don’t deserve her!”
My eyes narrowed. His words slammed into me, fast and sharp.
He stepped forward, anger flashing in his eyes. “You messed everything up. All of it. You locked her out. Hurt her. Confused her. You didn’t even give her a chance to understand. And I—” He stopped, breathing hard, then pushed his fingers through his hair. “I’ve been there. Every single day. From the start. I’ve watched her break, and I picked up every shattered piece while you stood back pretending you didn’t care.”
I stepped into his space, chest heaving. “You crossed a line, Kael.”
“No, you did. The moment you made her yours, when you had no intention of keeping her. I did the only thing I could to protect her. You weren’t going to let her go, so I did it for you.”
“Protect her?” I growled. “Or protect yourself?”
His voice dropped. Bitter. Quiet. “Both.”
I froze.
Kael looked at me, his shoulders shoulders tense, jaw clenched.
“I actually—” his voice cracked a little before he steadied it—“I actually wanted, for once, something to be mine. Just once. Can you even understand that?” He shook his head. “Choosing her as your Luna crushed any bond I could ever have with her. You took that from me without even thinking of the consequences.”
My chest ached in a way I hadn’t expected.
“You were never supposed to want her.”
“I didn’t plan to,” he spat. “I just did. The more I saw her… the more I realized I was falling. And I knew she’d never look at me the way she looked at you. So I tried to kill it. I tried to pretend it
didn’t exist. But I’m done pretending now.”