Chapter 26
Chapter 26
Lines in the Sand
Darius
I stood at the doorway, fists clenched.Alice lay unconscious, Kael’s hand still on her face, his expression soft in a way that made something in me want to snap. Her head rested against his leg, like she belonged there. Like she was his and not mine.
U couldn't take the sight. So I stepped inside, my voice a low growl. “What the hell do you think you’re doing with her?”Kael didn’t flinch. After he frowned at my presence like he found me irritating, he turned back to my woman.He didn’t even look up at first. Just gently moved her head onto the pillow and stood, slow, like I wasn’t a threat.“She passed out after burning a man alive,” he said. “You’re welcome to help, or you can get the hell out.”I strode closer, not bothering to hide the anger in my chest. “I came for her. You don’t get to play hero after ignoring every sign that she’s unraveling.”
Alice wasn't herself anymore. She always seemed weak and pale these days and it had me worried. He tilted his head. “She’s not unraveling. She’s remembering.”
Is that the rubbish he was using the justify the shit that Alice was going through? How blind was he to the fact that she was falling apart.“Right,” I bit out. “And you think that makes this okay?” I gestured to her, to the singed ends of her hair, the pale skin. “She’s in the middle of some prophecy nightmare, and you’re too busy pretending you’re not in love with her to see how much it’s killing her.”
Kael’s eyes finally snapped to mine, sharp and dangerous. “You want to talk about pretending? You kissed her, didn’t you?”I didn’t answer.He took a step forward. “You came into my pack—uninvited. You knew she wasn’t yours, and you still—”“I came for my mate,” I said flatly. “That’s not trespassing. That’s instinct.”“She’s not your mate.” He snapped like he had any right to.
“She could be.”
He laughed then. Not amused—cold and mocking. “You’re delusional. You think a bond formed out of confusion and lust is real?”My wolf snarled inside me, clawing to the surface. “And what you have is what? Destiny?”
Kael didn’t blink. “It’s older than that. There's so much involved in our bond, so much you can't comprehend.”I stepped up, close enough to feel the tension roll off him like heat. “You keep using the past like it’s proof you deserve her. You’re clinging to a broken story, Kael. Let it go.”He leaned in, voice dropping to a razor’s edge. “She called me by my true name. Not you. Me.”My jaw clenched. I could feel the shift stirring in my bones, just beneath the surface. My control slipped with every heartbeat.
“You may be one of the oldest wolves alive,” I said, “maybe even close to immortal—but that doesn’t make you stronger.”Kael smiled, slow and cruel. “Do you want to test that theory?”Ever since we met back in the woods on the night of the eclipse, we've been at each other's throats. And as much as I wanted to bring him to his knees, I had to admit he was strong.
Very strong.
“I want you to back off. She needs time. Not another power-hungry male dragging her into ancient wars.”
“You think I’m the danger?” His voice was low now, like thunder on the horizon. “You’re the one who nearly lost control in the forest. You think I don’t know how close you were to marking her out of desperation?”“You weren’t there.”
“You can never be sure. This is my pack after all.”That stopped me.My breath hitched. My hands curled into fists, and I took one step back, then another. The guilt hit like a blade.Before I could answer, a soft gasp pulled both our heads around.Alice stirred on the bed. Her eyes fluttered open, dazed and watery.
She sat up slowly. “What… what’s happening?”I moved first. “You fainted. The scout—he…”“He burned,” she whispered. “I saw it. He burned because I touched him.”I crouched by the bed. “You didn’t do it on purpose.”“But I did.” Her voice cracked. “I felt the heat rising before it happened. I didn’t stop it.”Kael moved beside me, quiet now. “It was a defense mechanism. A reaction to something inside him.”Alice looked between us, then sat up straighter, the fog in her eyes clearing. “You two were fighting.”We both paused. I almost felt like a kid about to be told off by his mother.
Her gaze sharpened. “How loud was it?”I swallowed. “Loud enough.”She looked at me, then Kael. “You can’t do this. Not over me. Not everytime.”Kael’s jaw twitched. “Then tell him to leave.”“Don’t put that on her,” I snapped. “She’s barely awake.”“Stop it!” she shouted, the force of her voice shaking something in the room. A lightbulb overhead popped.
We froze.
Alice exhaled hard, then covered her face. “I can’t keep choosing between you two. Not when I don’t even know who I am anymore.”I reached out, touched her hand. “You’re still you, Alice.”
She looked at me, something unreadable in her eyes. “No. I’m not. I’m someone else… someone ancient. And it terrifies me. I'm still yet to figure all this out.”
The door burst open.
Clara stepped in, breathless. Her eyes darted between all of us before settling on Alice.“The Council wants to see her,” she said.Alice blinked. “Now?”“They didn’t ask,” Clara said quietly. “They commanded.”Kael and I both rose at once, blocking either side of the bed like instinct.Alice looked from Clara to us. “What do they want from me?”
Clara’s expression said it all.“They think you’re the goddess.”And just like that, the room dropped into silence.The tension in my chest stretched like wire.Because this wasn’t about choosing between two wolves anymore.This was about surviving whatever the hell came next.