Chapter 7 Kaden's POV
I was reviewing the patrol schedules when the pain hit.
Suddenly a sharp ache tore through my chest. I dropped my pen and pressed my hand against my ribs, confused. What was happening?
"Alpha?" Ethan, my beta and closest friend, looked up from his seat across the desk. "You okay?"
The pain got worse. It spread from my chest to my side, then to my head. It felt like I was being hit, like fists were connecting with my body even though I was sitting perfectly still in my office.
Then my wolf reacted.
‘Mate! She's hurt!’
I gritted my teeth. "No."
"What?" Ethan frowned.
Another wave of pain crashed through me and I couldn't hold back the grimace. My ribs felt like they were cracking. My head throbbed like someone had struck me across the face.
‘She's in pain! She needs us!’ my wolf howled inside my mind.
"I don't care." I muttered.
Ethan stood up. "Kaden, what's going on?"
The pain intensified and suddenly my legs wouldn't hold me. I slid out of my chair and dropped to one knee, gripping the edge of the desk. I could feel her feelings for Elara through the bond. Every injury, every bit of pain, it was all flooding through our connection.
‘She's dying!’ my wolf screamed.
'We have to go to her!’
"Kaden!" Ethan was beside me now. "Is it the bond? Is it Elara?"
I didn't answer. I was trying to breathe through the pain, trying to block it out. I'd rejected her. The bond shouldn't be this strong anymore. It should be fading, not getting stronger.
But I could feel everything: the terror, the helplessness. And underneath it all, a desperate fear for something else, something important.
"Alpha, talk to me," Ethan said firmly. "What do you need?"
"Nothing." I was forced out. "It's nothing."
"That's clearly not nothing you are on the floor."
I pushed myself back up, using the desk for support. My whole body was shaking but I forced myself to stand. "I'm fine."
"You are not fine. Is Elara hurt?"
"I don't know, I don't care." The words came out harsher than I intended.
‘Liar!’ my wolf snarled.
‘You're feeling everything she's feeling and you know she's hurt badly!’
"Shut up," I said out loud.
Ethan watched me carefully. "Your wolf?"
I nodded, not trusting myself to say more. The pain was still there, pulsing with every heartbeat. I could feel her consciousness starting to fade, feel her slipping away somewhere dark and cold.
‘She's alone.’my wolf whimpered.
‘Please we have to help her.’
"She made her choice," I said quietly.
"What choice?" Ethan asked. "Kaden, what happened between you two?"
I sat back down heavily in my chair. "It doesn't matter. The bond is broken. What I'm feeling will fade eventually."
"Will it? Because you look like you're about to pass out."
He wasn't wrong, the pain was making it hard to think, hard to focus on anything else. But I couldn't give in to it. I couldn't let myself care about what happened to her. Not after what she did.
Except... she hadn't actually done anything. Had she?
I shook my head, trying to clear it. No. I'd rejected her for good reasons. I must have had good reasons.
‘You rejected her because you're an idiot.’ my wolf growled. ‘And now she's paying for your mistake.’
"Get back to the report," I told Ethan. "I'm fine."
Ethan didn't look convinced, but he sat down again. "The northern border has fifteen wolves on rotation-"
I tried to listen, I really did but all I could focus on was the bond, on the pain flowing through it, on the feeling of Elara's life force getting weaker and weaker.
Hours passed and the pain dulled to a constant ache in my chest, but it never fully went away. I snapped at Ethan when he asked if I wanted to take a break. I practically threw my gamma out of the office when he came in with a question about supply runs.
"You need to rest," Ethan said after the gamma left. "Or at least tell me what's actually going on."
"I'm working," I said flatly. "That's what's going on."
"You rejected your mate and now you're feeling her pain through the bond. That's what's going on."
I glared at him. "Drop it, Ethan."
"Fine. But you're making everyone miserable with this mood."
"Then everyone can stay out of my way."
Ethan sighed but didn't argue further. He knew when to push me and when to back off. This was definitely a back-off moment.
By evening, I'd almost managed to push the pain to the back of my mind. It was still there, always there, but I'd gotten better at ignoring it. I told myself it would fade completely soon. That the bond would die and I'd stop feeling anything from her at all.
I was signing the last patrol report when it happened again.
The pain came back stronger, sharper, worse than before. It felt like my head was being smashed against the ground. Like my ribs were breaking. Like I was drowning.
I gasped and the papers scattered across my desk. My vision blurred and I couldn't breathe.
‘She's dying!’ my wolf screamed. ‘Right now! She's dying and you're just sitting here!’
"Kaden!" Ethan was at my side instantly.
The pain was everywhere. In my chest, my head, my bones. And through it all, I could feel her terror, her desperation, her fear for something precious.
Then, just as suddenly as it came, I felt nothing. The bond went silent completely, utterly silent.
And that was so much worse than the pain.