Chapter 103. Infuriating

Chapter 103. Infuriating
Lia

"Hate to interrupt." Theron's voice cut through the moment. "But we need to move. Eastern reinforcements are regrouping. We've got maybe an hour before they come back in force."
Kai's hand fell away from mine. "Get me up."
"You need a healer…"
"Get. Me. Up." His Alpha command leaked through, undeniable.
Viktor and I hauled him to his feet. He swayed but stayed upright through sheer stubbornness, one hand pressed to his bleeding flank.
The walk back to Feril territory was a nightmare. We'd lost twenty warriors between both forces. Kira's body had to be carried, along with a dozen others. Every step was agony for the wounded, and we all knew the Eastern Pack could attack again at any moment.
But we made it to the border just as dawn broke.
The packhouse was chaos, wolves shouting orders, healers triaging wounded, guards doubling perimeter patrols. Someone tried to take Kai to the medical wing, but he refused until every warrior had been treated first.
Typical. Noble. Infuriating.
I ended up in a supply closet, too wired to seek actual treatment, trying to inventory what we'd lost and what we'd gained. The answer to both was: too much.
The door opened without warning.
Theron slipped inside and closed it behind him, his silver eyes finding me in the dim light. He'd cleaned up—wounds bandaged, blood washed away, fresh clothes that somehow made him look more dangerous than the combat gear.
"You're avoiding the healers," he observed.
"So are you."
"I heal fast." He moved closer, and I became aware of how small the space was, how alone we were. "You don't. You're still bleeding from the silver burns."
"I'm fine."
"Liar." His hand caught my wrist, turning it to expose the raw, blistered skin where the restraints had burned me days ago. "These need treatment or they'll scar permanently."
"I don't care about scars."
"I know. That's part of what makes you extraordinary." His thumb traced the edge of the wound, gentle despite his strength. "You wear your damage like armor. But Solnyshko, even armor needs maintenance."
"Did you come here to lecture me about wound care?"
"No." He released my wrist but didn't step back. "I came to say something I should have said at Silvercrest. Something I need you to hear before we go back out there and one of us doesn't come back."
My heart kicked against my ribs. "Theron…"
"I'm in love with you."
The words landed like a bomb in the small space.
"Not the idea of you," he continued, his voice steady, certain. "Not what you represent or what you could become. You. The woman who went feral and still found her way back. Who nearly destroyed a man's mate bond but stopped herself. Who chose to come here, to danger, to war, to an Alpha who doesn't deserve her, because she made a promise."
"Stop." My voice was barely a whisper.
"I know you love him. I know you've chosen him despite everything. And I respect that…I do. But I need you to know there's another option. That someone sees you for exactly who you are and doesn't need you to be anything else."
He moved closer, close enough that I could feel the heat radiating from his skin, smell the forest and blood and something uniquely him.
"Come with me," Theron said softly. "After this war, after we've dealt with the Circle, come to Silvercrest. Be my Luna. My partner. My equal in every sense of the word. I won't lock you up. Won't try to contain your power. Won't make you choose between being yourself and being loved."
"I can't." But even as I said it, part of me wondered what that would be like. To be with someone who celebrated my strength instead of fearing it. Who saw my hybrid nature as a gift rather than a curse.
"You can." His hand came up, cupping my face with heartbreaking gentleness. "You just won't. Because you're loyal to a fault, even when that loyalty is destroying you."
"Kai is my mate."
"Kai is your jailer who occasionally remembers he's supposed to love you." Theron's words were harsh but his touch remained soft. "And before you argue…ask yourself this: when you're in danger, when you're spiraling, when you need someone to see you and understand…who do you reach for?"
The answer rose unbidden: Him. I reached for Theron. Had since Silvercrest, maybe even before that.
"That's not fair," I whispered.
"No, it's honest." He leaned down, his forehead nearly touching mine. "And honesty is what you deserve. So here it is, all of it: I love you. I want you. And I believe you could love me back if you let yourself. If you stopped punishing yourself for surviving, for being powerful, for wanting more than scraps of affection from an Alpha too scared of his own feelings to give you what you need."
"And what do I need?" The question came out breathless.
"This."
Theron kissed me.
Not rough or claiming like Kai's kisses. Soft, questioning, giving me every opportunity to pull away. His lips moved against mine with aching gentleness, one hand still cupping my face while the other found my waist, drawing me closer but not trapping me.
It would have been so easy to melt into it. To let someone else carry the weight for once, to accept the escape he was offering.
For a moment, just a moment, I let myself feel it. The tenderness, the possibility, the promise of something easier than what I had.
Then the bond with Kai flared to life.
Not a gentle pulse but a violent surge of possessive fury. He felt this. Felt me in another man's arms, another man's kiss on my lips. And through our damaged connection, I felt his rage, his betrayal, his heart shattering all over again.
I shoved Theron back, gasping. "Stop. I can't…he felt that. Oh god, Kai felt…"
"Good." Theron's expression was fierce. "Let him feel it. Let him understand what he's losing by taking you for granted."
"You don't understand. He's going to…"
The door slammed open.
Kai stood in the threshold, and I'd never seen him look so feral in human form. His wounds were still bleeding through hastily applied bandages. His eyes had gone completely silver, wolf barely contained beneath skin.
"Get away from her." Each word was ice, death, absolute command.