Chapter 56 When Love Falters
The healers carried Lena out of the hall. Her limp body wrapped in enchanted cloth to contain the corruption.
The torches flickered back to life one by one, but the flames looked weak. Thin and trembling. As if the darkness inside Lena had stolen their strength.
Amanda stood at the threshold. Arms wrapped tightly around herself. Her palms still stung where the shadows had tried to slip beneath her skin.
Derek hadn't moved from beside her since he pulled her away from Lena. His hand hovered inches from her back. Never touching, yet radiating heat she could feel like a phantom caress.
No one spoke.
A heavy, suffocating quiet settled over the pack hall like a burial shroud.
Victor finally broke the silence. "She should be isolated. Whatever the Nightbringer planted in her... it's not done."
Derek nodded without looking away from Amanda. "Owen's reinforcing the barrier room. She'll stay there until we know more."
Cassius crouched beside the charred outline Lena's magic had burned into the stone. He ran a hand over the scorched marks. His expression dark. "It knows about the prophecy now. It knows about both of you."
A cold tremor slid down Amanda's spine. Derek's muscles tightened beside her.
Victor exhaled. "You two should rest. You've both taken enough blows for one night."
Rest.
Amanda felt as if every nerve in her body had been stretched until it hummed. Derek looked worse. Eyes shadowed. Shoulders tight. Skin pale beneath the torchlight. He watched her with the intensity of someone terrified the world might snatch her away if he blinked.
When they finally left the hall, the corridor felt too quiet. Too hollow. Each step echoed sharply. Amplifying the tension that pressed against them like invisible hands.
Amanda slowed. Rubbing her arms as the cool air brushed over her overheated skin. "Derek... what Lena said..."
"Don't." His voice was low. Cutting. "We're not talking about her. Not tonight."
"She warned us the Nightbringer wants to break our bond."
"And we are not going to let it." He said it instantly. Without hesitation.
"But ignoring the warning won't help either."
Derek suddenly stopped walking. The air between them vibrated with the force of his held breath.
"Amanda." He said it quietly. "I almost watched that thing drag you into itself. Do you want to talk about how fine I'm not?"
There was a tremor under his voice. Barely noticeable, but enough to make her heart twist.
Amanda stepped toward him. "I know you're scared..."
"No." His eyes snapped to hers. Burning with something raw. "You don't. You can't."
Her hand froze midair.
Derek dragged a hand through his hair. Fingers trembling. "I thought losing my wolf was the worst thing that could ever happen to me. But watching you collapse in front of me, seeing those shadows on your skin, I felt something inside me break."
His breath came out shaky.
"And now that thing wants you. It marked your sister to get closer to you. And you want me to pretend I'm okay?"
Amanda swallowed. "I'm not asking you to pretend. I'm asking you to trust that I'm not helpless."
"You nearly died."
"We both nearly died!"
"That's different."
"How?" She snapped it. "Because you're the Alpha? Because you're stronger? Because you think you're supposed to be invincible?"
His jaw flexed. "Because I can't lose you. I just got you, Amanda. I can't..."
"And you think losing you wouldn't break me too?" Tears burned at the edges of her voice. "You think this hurts less for me?"
The corridor suddenly felt too small. Too tight. She could hear both their breaths. The sharp inhale. The cracking exhale. The tension thick as smoke.
Amanda stepped closer until she could feel the heat rolling off him. "We're supposed to be partners."
"We are."
"Partners don't cage each other."
"I'm not..."
"Yes, you are." Her voice dropped. Soft but cutting. "Tonight, you made it sound like my only place is behind you. Like I'm breakable."
Derek's fists clenched. "You're twisting what I meant."
"No. I'm hearing what you're afraid to say."
His breath caught.
Amanda lowered her voice further. The air between them trembling. "You're scared. I get it. I am too. But fear doesn't give you the right to make decisions for me."
"And your decisions don't give you the right to throw yourself into danger." He shot it back. Chest rising sharply.
"My life means everything."
"Then stop risking it like it doesn't!"
"I'm not risking it. I'm using what I've been given! I'm trying to save this pack. Our pack."
He closed his eyes. Jaw tightening. "You think I want people to die?"
"No. I think you want me safe more than you want to win this war."
The words hit him like a blow.
"Don't do that." His voice cracked.
"Do what?"
"Make it sound like loving you is a weakness."
Amanda's heart clenched. "I never said that."
"You didn't have to."
The silence that followed was sharp. Icy. Fragile.
Finally, Amanda looked away. "We're exhausted. We're scared. Maybe we're saying things we don't mean."
Derek shook his head faintly. "Maybe we're finally saying what we've been avoiding."
A small group of warriors passed at the far end of the hall. She didn't need supernatural hearing to catch their whispers.
"They're fracturing."
"Then the darkness was right."
Amanda's stomach twisted. Derek stiffened, but instead of reaching for her, like he always did, he stepped back.
As if touching her might make the whispers true.
When they reached their room, Amanda's hands trembled as she touched the doorknob. Derek hovered in the doorway. Shoulders tight. Eyes shadowed with too many emotions.
He hesitated. Not seconds, but long enough for her to feel his internal war. His fingers twitched at his side. As if he wanted to reach for her but couldn't trust himself.
"I'll sleep in the study."
Amanda's breath broke. "Derek..."
He still couldn't look at her. His voice was low. Unsteady. "I need to think. And you need to rest without feeling like I'm smothering you."
Her throat burned. "That's not what I want."
"I know." A tremor ran through his voice. "But it's what we need. Tonight."
He stepped back. Slowly. Painfully. And left before she could stop him.
Amanda shut the door with trembling fingers. And the moment it clicked shut, her knees weakened. Tears spilled silently. Hot and violent. She sat on the edge of the bed. Clutching her chest as the mate bond pulsed with Derek's pain.
A sharp, broken pulse that echoed her own heartbreak.
In his study, Derek sank into a chair. Staring at the cold fireplace. His hand covered his face. Through the bond he felt every one of her tears like they were his own.
It only made the ache worse.
Neither of them slept.
Neither of them healed.
Their bond, once bright and unshakeable, stretched thinner with every quiet hour. And somewhere in the darkness...
The Nightbringer's whispers lingered.
Doubt.
Fear.
Suspicion.
Everything it needed to break them.
Morning came quietly.
Amanda woke to gray light filling the room. Her head ached from crying. The space beside her was cold and untouched. She reached through the mate bond instinctively.
And her heart lurched.
Derek wasn't in his study.
He wasn't anywhere in the house.
A folded note sat on the table.
With shaking fingers, she opened it.
Went to scout the enemy's movements. Back by nightfall. D.
Her stomach dropped. "Derek... why would you go alone?"
She rushed downstairs. Owen nearly collided with her. Eyes widening at her expression.
"Luna, he left before dawn. I thought you knew."
"I didn't." Her voice cracked. "Do you know where he went?"
"No. He didn't take guards. Didn't tell anyone."
Panic clawed at her chest. "Send search teams. Now."
Owen didn't hesitate. "Warriors, move! Four groups. North ridge. River path. Emberfang's old border. And the ravine!"
Amanda gripped the banister.
The mate bond pulsed.
Then flickered.
Then nothing.
A cold, hollow nothing that punched the air from her lungs.
Amanda's knees buckled. "No... no, Derek..."
Owen caught her. "Luna? What's happening?"
Her voice was barely a breath.
"The bond... it went silent."