Chapter 82 — Fractured Edges

Chapter 82 — Fractured Edges
Sam hadn’t said a word since he’d stormed into the room. The only sound from him was his ragged breathing, heavy in the silence as he stood frozen just inside the doorway. Jared couldn’t bring himself to look at him—not yet. His whole world was beneath his hands.

Kori.

Her chest rose and fell in shallow, stuttering breaths. Her skin was pale, slick with sweat, but her pulse still tapped faintly against his bloodied fingers. That was all that mattered—until Sam’s sharp gasp cut through the air.

“Alpha,” he whispered hoarsely, “look.”

Jared’s head jerked down. At first, he thought it was a trick of the lamplight, the way it caught on blood and skin. But then his breath locked in his throat.

The wound—the deep, jagged tear across her stomach—was shifting. Muscles twitched beneath her skin, pulling together. Torn flesh drew close, knitting like threads drawn tight. Slowly. Tremblingly. But undeniably.

Sam took a step closer, his boots sticking to the blood-soaked floorboards. “That’s—” His voice cracked, disbelief thick in it. “That’s not possible. She’s human. She—”

“She’s mine,” Jared cut in, voice rough, unrecognizable even to himself. He pressed his hand harder over the healing wound, as if he could keep the fragile process from unraveling. His claws had barely retracted, his wrist still bleeding sluggishly from where he’d torn it open. “The mark… my blood… it’s working.”

Zeus rumbled inside him, the sound a mix of relief and awe. ‘Ours. She answered us.’

Kori stirred faintly, a soft sound rising from her lips, and Jared’s heart nearly split open at the fragile noise. Her lashes fluttered, though her eyes didn’t open.

Sam crouched opposite him now, his face pale as he stared at the wound drawing itself closed. “Moon above,” he whispered. “I didn’t think… I didn’t think that could work on a human. She—she shouldn’t…” He trailed off, shaking his head, unable to find words.

Jared dragged in a shuddering breath, his hands trembling as he brushed damp hair from Kori’s face. “I don’t care what should or shouldn’t be. She’s not leaving me. Not like this.” His voice dropped to a rasp, thick with relief and fury both. “Not ever.”

Sam swallowed hard, his throat bobbing. He finally lifted his gaze, meeting Jared’s eyes with a rare, raw honesty. “You saved her,” he said, as if he barely believed the words himself. “You actually saved her.”

Jared’s jaw tightened, his chest still heaving. He bent low, pressing his forehead to Kori’s damp temple, grounding himself in the faint warmth of her skin. “No,” he whispered fiercely, as much to Zeus as to Sam. “We saved her.”

The bond pulsed then—weak, unsteady, but there. Jared felt it like a faint tug at the edge of his soul, fragile as a thread spun from light. He clung to it with everything he had.

Jared sat hunched over on the edge of the bed, one hand spread wide across Kori’s stomach, unwilling to move even an inch. His palm hovered as though the slightest pressure might undo what was happening beneath his touch. He could see it—her flesh knitting together in trembling waves, skin pulling tight and pink where only minutes ago there had been a gaping wound.

Slow. Too slow.

Every second dragged his heart further into the pit of his stomach. He traced the path of healing with his eyes, memorizing each fraction of progress, terrified the process might suddenly stall and leave her bleeding out all over again.

His other hand smoothed over her body in slow, deliberate motions—her arm, her collarbone, the damp strands of her hair—half a caress, half reassurance that she was still here. Still breathing. Still his.

Zeus prowled inside him, frantic but quieter now, pressed against the bond as if by sheer will he could fuse Kori’s soul to theirs. ‘Stay, mate. Stay with us.’

The house groaned faintly around them, the kind of sound Jared might have dismissed on any other night. But then—footsteps. Doors opening down the hall. Mutters. Confusion.

The warriors.

They stumbled into the upstairs hall, their voices carrying. He caught the tail ends of phrases—
“—what happened?”
“—why was I—sleeping?”
“—can’t remember—”

Their confusion curdled into panic when they reached Kori’s door. Jared’s head whipped up, teeth bared, a snarl ripping from his chest before he even thought about it.

They froze in the doorway, staring wide-eyed at the blood-soaked floor, at Kori pale and unmoving in her bed, at Jared crouched over her like a predator ready to tear into the first throat that dared step closer.

No one moved. Not a single breath stirred the room.

Then Sam stepped in front of them all, planting himself between Jared’s fury and the men. His voice was calm, measured, but there was steel beneath it. “Alpha.”

Jared’s growl deepened, chest vibrating with it. His hand twitched toward Kori as though they might try to take her from him.

Sam didn’t flinch. Didn’t blink. “This wasn’t their fault,” he said firmly. “None of ours could fight what was laid over this house. You know that.”

Jared’s claws dug into the mattress beside Kori’s hip, shredding the fabric. “They were supposed to guard her,” he hissed, voice raw, ragged with terror more than anger. “She was bleeding out, Sam. Bleeding out, while they—” His voice cracked, the words breaking under the weight of everything he didn’t want to admit: how close he had come to losing her.

Sam’s gaze softened, though his stance didn’t. He kept his voice level, grounding. “And you saved her. You did what none of us could. Look at her, Jared. Really look.”

Jared dragged his eyes down again. The wound that had gutted her was nearly gone now, the last angry red lines sealing into nothing more than a faint scar. Her chest rose and fell evenly, no longer the desperate gasps of before.

The knot of rage inside him loosened only a fraction, just enough for his throat to unclench. He bent forward, pressing his lips to Kori’s temple, whispering against her skin. “Never again. I’ll never let this happen again.”

The warriors behind Sam shifted uneasily, but none dared speak. They didn’t have to. The sharp tang of their fear filled the room, and Jared fed on it, not as cruelty but as promise. Let them all remember this night—what it meant to fail their Luna.

But beneath the fury, beneath the dominance, was a deeper ache. A raw terror that hadn’t left him since he found her sprawled in blood. It chewed at his insides, tightening every muscle, sparking with every breath.

He couldn’t lose her. Not now. Not ever.

And the thought that he almost had… was enough to break him in two.