Chapter 118 Breaking Point

Chapter 118 Breaking Point
Logan POV.

Day five. Fourth encounter of the day. Both of us are exhausted.

"Logan." Rune says when I reach for her again. "I need to rest."

I immediately pull back.

"Fuck. I'm sorry. I'm being... I can't help..."

The words won't come. The fear. The desperation. The absolute terror of losing her.

It's overwhelming.

I break.

Control I've maintained for days finally shatters.

Rune pulls me into her arms. Reverses our usual roles. I bury my face against her shoulder. Shaking.

"I know you're scared." She murmurs. Strokes my hair. "I'm scared too."

"You're disappearing. And I'm watching it happen and there's nothing I can do."

"I'm not disappearing. I'm here. Present. Real."

"But your memories—"

"May fade. But my love doesn't. The bond doesn't. What we are to each other—that's deeper than memory."

I pull back to look at her.

"Every time you need me." Rune continues. "Every time you claim me desperately like this—it helps me too."

"How?"

"Because it proves I'm real. Present. Important to you. That even if I forget everything else, this—" She touches the mate bond between us. "—this remains."

Through the bond: her sincerity. Her own fear mixing with determination.

"Every time you touch me, you're creating new memory. Immediate. Visceral. Undeniable. You're giving me something to hold onto when everything else is blank."

My desperation serves both of us. Confirms for her she exists. Confirms for me she's still here.

"But I'm exhausting you."

"Yes." She admits with a slight smile. "But I'd rather be exhausted and connected than rested and alone."

I pull her closer.

We're both terrified. Both grieving. Both clinging to each other.

"Lilith's execution was three days ago." Rune says. Changes subject.

"I know."

"Freya is giving us intelligence on Viktor. His army movements. His ritual plans. Everything she knows."

"Yes."

"And we have forty-one days until the blood moon eclipse."

"Approximately."

Rune is quiet. Processing.

"So we have forty-one days to prepare. To strengthen the bond. To be ready for whatever Viktor throws at us."

"Yes."

"Then we'd better make every day count. No wasting time on fear or grief. Just... living. Loving. Being together."

She's right.

We can't stop the Oracle cost. Can't prevent memory loss. Can't avoid the looming battle.

But we can control how we face it. Together. Connected. Choosing each other every moment we have.

"I love you." I need her to hear it.

"I know. I feel it every time you touch me. Every desperate claim. Every gentle caress. The bond shows me everything."

"Even if you forget—"

"The bond will remember. That's what it's for. Connecting us beyond memory. Beyond logic. Beyond everything else."

She's right.

The mate bond is older than memory. Deeper than thought.

As long as that holds, we hold.

"Tomorrow we train. Prepare the pack for battle. Review Freya's intelligence."

"Tomorrow we fight." Rune agrees. "But tonight—"

"Tonight we hold each other."

"And build memories."

"Always building memories."

She pulls me down for a kiss. Soft. Sweet. Grounding.

Tomorrow we face reality. Tomorrow we prepare for war.

But tonight, we have this. Each other. The bond.

And for now, that's enough.