Chapter 74 – Torn in Two
Chapter 74 – Torn in Two
Kori’s plea hung in the air between them, fragile and desperate. Jared’s chest tightened as he looked down at her, still clinging to him like he was the only barrier between her and the storm.
“I would love nothing more than to give you that promise,” he said finally, his voice low, strained with the weight of the truth. “Gods, Kori, you don’t know how badly I want to tell you I’ll never let him go, that nothing will touch him while I breathe.”
Her breath hitched at the way his words cracked, her tears wetting the front of his shirt again.
“But…” Jared’s hand slid from her hair to cradle her jaw, forcing her to meet his eyes. “I don’t see another way around this. Alaric isn’t going to play fair. He won’t show us Michael unless he thinks we’re serious. And Carter’s the only thing he wants.”
The words hit her like a blade to the chest, and for a second, she forgot how to breathe. She searched Jared’s face for any hint of hesitation, any crack in his resolve that she could pry open—but all she found was a storm of conviction and torment warring in his eyes.
“You can’t mean that,” she whispered, shaking her head, her voice trembling as her nails dug into his arms. “You can’t actually be considering—”
“I’m considering everything,” Jared cut in, his tone sharp but not unkind. “Because if I don’t, we lose Michael. We lose our chance to get him back. And if that happens…” He shook his head, jaw clenched. “It’ll break Frank. It’ll fracture the pack. And it’ll haunt us all.”
Kori’s heart pounded like a drum in her chest, the dread curling in her stomach until it nearly made her sick. She stepped back from him, arms wrapping around herself as though she could hold all the pieces of her together.
For the first time since Jared had come back to her, doubt pierced her faith in him—not in his love, but in his path forward.
She swallowed hard, her voice breaking when she finally spoke. “And what about Carter? What about my son?”
Jared’s eyes softened, grief darkening his features as he whispered, “That’s the part that’s tearing me apart, Kori. Because if there were another way—I’d take it in a heartbeat.”
Kori pressed a hand over her mouth, trying to steady her breathing, but the tears slipped through anyway. She had promised herself she wouldn’t cry again in front of him, not when they were supposed to be strong together. Yet here she was, breaking apart piece by piece.
“Jared…” Her voice cracked on his name. “He’s just a boy. My boy. I can’t—” She shook her head hard, the words trembling in her throat. “I can’t risk losing him. Not again, not ever.”
Jared stepped toward her, his hand lifting as if to touch her, but he stopped himself. His chest rose and fell with a deep, steadying breath. “And I can’t risk losing Michael. Not when we’re this close to bringing him home. Kori, I swear to you—I won’t let anything happen to Carter. I’ll guard him with my life. Zeus will guard him with his. He won’t be alone for even a second.”
Kori let out a bitter laugh through her tears. “You can’t promise me that. You can’t promise me nothing will go wrong. You said it yourself—Alaric doesn’t play fair.”
“I know.” Jared’s jaw tightened, his gaze hardening even as his tone gentled. “But if we don’t move forward with Carter’s plan, we’ll never see Michael again. Do you want to explain to Frank that we gave up because the risk was too high?”
Her head snapped up, her glare sharp even through the haze of her tears. “Don’t you dare put this on me. Don’t you dare make me choose between my son and Frank’s mate. My father. That’s not fair.”
The words cut him, and she saw it in the way his shoulders slumped. He rubbed a hand down his face, his exhaustion showing through the cracks in his Alpha composure.
“I’m not asking you to choose,” Jared said quietly. “I’m asking you to trust me. To trust that I’ll find a way to keep Carter safe and get Michael back. Because if I don’t try, if we just sit here and do nothing—then we’ve already lost.”
Kori pressed her back against the wall, sliding down until she was sitting on the floor, her knees pulled tight to her chest. She didn’t have the strength to stand against him anymore, but she couldn’t bring herself to agree either. Her voice was barely a whisper when it came out.
“You’re asking me to believe in a miracle.”
Jared sank to his knees in front of her, close but not touching, as if afraid one wrong move would shatter her completely. His eyes burned with determination as he murmured, “No, Kori. I’m asking you to believe in me.”
Her breath hitched, her chest rising and falling too fast as she searched his face. His words should have been comforting, but all she felt was the sharp edge of fear cutting her open. She wanted to scream, to fight him until he saw reason—but the look in his eyes stopped her. That unshakable fire, that stubborn devotion.
Slowly, her knees loosened from where they pressed against her chest, and she let them fall. Her voice was barely audible, fragile and trembling, but it carried the weight of her breaking heart.
“I… I don’t know if I can,” she whispered. “But… I’ll try. For you. For him. For all of us.”
The relief that flickered across Jared’s face was small, fleeting, but real. He didn’t reach for her, didn’t press his victory—he simply dipped his head once, a solemn promise in the gesture.
“I’ll make it enough,” he murmured.
Kori closed her eyes, wishing with everything she had that those words could erase the dread coiled tight in her chest. But as much as she wanted to believe him, the silence that fell between them only seemed to echo with the ticking clock of what was to come.