Chapter 80 – The Shattering

Chapter 80 – The Shattering
“KORI!”

The house felt wrong. Too still. Too empty.

The air carried a coppery tang that made Zeus’s hackles rise and Jared’s stomach twist into knots.

Fear unlike anything he had ever known before gripped him by the throat.

And deep down, he knew—whatever he found upstairs, his life would never be the same.

Jared took the stairs three at a time, his boots pounding so hard the old wood groaned beneath the force. The scent grew stronger the closer he got—copper, thick, wrong. His gut twisted, his wolf howled in panic, and every step felt like it was dragging him toward his worst nightmare.

He slammed Kori’s door open with enough force to splinter the frame.

And froze.

“Kori…” His voice broke on her name.

She was sprawled on the bed, her pale skin slick with crimson, the sheets beneath her soaked through. The curtain whipped wildly in the night air from the open window, proof of the intruder’s escape, but Jared’s eyes couldn’t tear away from her. His mate. His world. Bleeding out right in front of him.

“No, no, no—” The words spilled out raw as he rushed to her side, dropping to his knees on the blood-stained mattress. His hands hovered over the gash across her stomach, shaking violently before he forced them down to press against the wound. Warmth spread between his fingers—her warmth—and he nearly choked on the terror rising up his throat.

‘She’s dying.’

‘Don’t you dare say it!’ Zeus’s voice tore through his mind, savage and broken all at once. ‘Don’t you dare give up on her. She is ours. We need her.’

“Kori, stay with me. Please, baby, stay with me,” Jared begged, his voice thick, cracking as he pressed harder, trying to stop the flow. His chest heaved, panic clawing up his ribs. This couldn’t be happening. Not her. Not like this.

Sam barreled into the room, skidding to a stop behind him. “Oh, gods—”

Jared’s head whipped around, eyes blazing. “FIND OUT WHERE EVERYONE WAS! HOW THE HELL DID THIS HAPPEN UNDER GUARD?!” The roar rattled the walls, full Alpha fury mixed with terror, his voice nothing short of lethal.

Sam didn’t argue. Didn’t speak. He spun on his heel and bolted down the hall, his footsteps already fading as he obeyed.

The moment they were alone, Jared bent low, his forehead pressing to Kori’s clammy temple as his bloodied hands held her together as best he could. “You’re not leaving me, Kori. Do you hear me? I can’t survive this world without you. You’re my other half. My world.” His tears fell freely now, streaking hot across his cheeks and dripping into her hair.

Her breath hitched faintly, shallow and fragile, and Jared’s heart shattered.

“Hold on, baby. Please… just hold on.”

Jared’s hands were slick, crimson dripping between his fingers as he pressed down harder, harder, harder—yet the blood still seeped through. It coated his skin, sticky and hot, the metallic tang burning his nose until he thought he’d choke on it.

“Damn it, Kori! Don’t you do this to me!” His voice cracked, breaking in ways it never had in battle, never had in all his years of facing death. He had no plan, no training for this. He could crush a man’s windpipe, rip a throat out in one swipe, but he couldn’t stop this. He couldn’t stop his mate from bleeding out beneath him.

He fumbled, half-mad, glancing around the room for something, anything to help. Bandages. Cloth. Medicine. But there was nothing—just blood-stained sheets and her too-still body. His pulse thundered, his lungs burning as panic stole the oxygen from the air.

‘We’re losing her.’ The voice slammed into his mind like a hammer, Zeus’s tone ragged, wild with fear. ‘Jared—listen to me. There’s one thing we haven’t tried.’

“What?!” Jared snarled out loud, his voice frantic, begging. “Tell me what to do!”

There was a pause. A hesitation that only made Jared’s stomach sink further. ‘We mark her. And then we feed her our blood.’

Jared froze, his breath caught halfway in his throat. “You’re insane,” he whispered aloud, his eyes darting down to Kori’s paling face. “That—she’s human. It could kill her.”

‘It could also save her.’ Zeus’s growl was desperate now, clawing at the edges of Jared’s mind. ‘You know the old ways, Jared. A wolf can heal their mate with their saliva, with their blood. We’ve seen it. Heard it. Our bite, our mark, it binds them to us, body and soul. Our Alpha power could be enough to keep her alive.’

“But she’s unclaimed!” Jared snapped, his voice cracking. His hands pressed harder into her stomach as he shook his head violently. “She hasn’t accepted us. She hasn’t agreed—”

‘Do you want her alive or not?!’ Zeus roared, slamming against his skull with all the force of his panic. ‘You’re sitting here, letting her slip away while you argue! She’s ours. She’s ours, Jared. And we’re losing her. This is the only way.’

Jared’s vision blurred, a red haze forming around the edges as tears filled his eyes again. His heart hammered painfully against his ribs as he looked down at her face—so pale, lips trembling as her breathing grew shallow.

“If we do this and it doesn’t work—” His voice was nothing but a rasp, cracked and broken. “She’ll die faster.”

‘If we don’t do this, she dies anyway.’

The truth of it hit like a blade to the gut, and Jared’s whole body shook. His wolf’s desperation tore through him, echoing his own until he couldn’t tell where his fear ended and Zeus’s began.

‘Mark her, Jared,’ Zeus urged, his tone breaking, almost pleading. ‘Give her our strength. Our life. She was made for us—if there’s even a chance it works, we have to try.’

Jared leaned down, his forehead pressing against Kori’s as his bloodied hands still tried, uselessly, to hold her together. “Gods, Kori… what if it kills you?” His voice cracked, the sound broken glass in his throat.

Her lashes fluttered faintly, a soft, pained whimper leaving her lips.

And Jared shattered.