Chapter 38

Chapter 38: Chapter 38

Kael was quiet for a moment. When he spoke again, his voice was gentler than Soren had ever heard it. You gave her our mother’s pendant.

"I know."

You’ve never taken that thing off. Not once. Not since the day our mother put it around our neck and told us it would protect us.

"I know."

And you gave it to her without hesitating. Without thinking. You just... gave it to her. Because you couldn’t bear the thought of her going into that forest without something of ours to keep her safe.

Soren stopped walking. The trees around him were silent. The rogues were still circling, but they hadn’t found him yet. He had a moment. Just a moment.

"What are you trying to say?"

I’m trying to say that you’re already in love with her. You’ve been in love with her since the day she arrived. And all this time you’ve been telling yourself it’s responsibility, or duty, or the mate bond forcing your hand. But it’s not any of those things. It’s her. It’s the way she fights even when she’s exhausted. It’s the way she cries by the lake and then wipes her tears and calls you a jerk. It’s the way she looked at you just now, with her hand on your jaw and her lips inches from yours, like you were the only thing in the world worth looking at.

Soren closed his eyes. "Kael—"

You’re afraid of losing her. That’s why you’ve been holding back. You lost people before. People you loved. And you think if you don’t admit you love her, it won’t hurt as much if something takes her away.

"Does it ever get easier? The fear?"

No. But it gets less lonely. Because when you finally admit it, when you finally let her in you stop carrying the fear alone. She carries it with you. That’s what mates do.

A low growl rumbled through the underbrush. Closer now. The rogues had found him.

Soren opened his eyes. His grip on his sword steadied.

"When this is over," he said, "I’m going to kiss her."

Finally.

"Shut up."

I’m just saying. It’s about time.

The first rogue burst through the trees, and Soren met it with steel.

"He does this every time."

Nyra sat down heavily on the rough wooden chair inside the hut, her arms crossed tightly over her chest, her jaw set in a hard line. The single candle she’d found flickered on the table beside her, casting dancing shadows across the stone walls. Outside, the forest was silent again no howls, no clashes of steel, nothing but the wind and the darkness and the unbearable waiting.

"Every single time," she continued, her voice rising with frustration. "He sees me as a weakling. Someone he has to protect at all times. Someone who can’t fight her own battles. Someone who needs to be tucked away in a hut while he goes out and risks his life alone."

He’s trying to protect you. You know that, don’t you?

Luna’s voice was gentle, patient in a way that made Nyra want to throw something.

"Who said I need protecting? I don’t want him risking his life alone out there in the dark. I don’t want to sit here wondering if every sound is him coming back or him dying. I want to be out there with him. I want to fight side by side with my—"

She stopped. The word caught in her throat.

With your what? Luna asked innocently.

"Nothing."

No, no. You were about to say something. Something important. Something that started with an M, perhaps?

"Luna—"

Mate, Luna said, and Nyra could hear the smile in her voice, warm and knowing and utterly insufferable. You were going to say mate. You finally accepted he’s your mate.

Nyra’s face flushed hot. "No, it’s not like that. I didn’t mean it that way. I just—don’t contradict me, Luna."

Who’s contradicting who? Did I say anything? The innocence in Luna’s tone was absolutely infuriating. Or am I lying?

"You’re not lying. You’re just... being irritating on purpose."

I’m being accurate. There’s a difference. You called him your mate. Out loud. Well, in your head. But still. The words were spoken. The bond acknowledged. The—

"Shut up and let me think, Luna. Please."

Luna laughed, a warm, musical sound that echoed through Nyra’s mind like wind chimes on a summer evening. Fine. I’ll be quiet. But I want it noted for the record that I was right.

"Noted. Now hush."

Hushing.

Luna hushed.

Nyra pushed herself up from the chair and began to pace. The hut was small three steps from the door to the back wall, three steps back again. Her boots scuffed against the cold stone floor with each pass. The candle flickered wildly every time she walked by, as if her agitation was a physical thing that disturbed the very air.

Please be safe, she prayed silently, not to Luna but to the Moon Goddess herself. Please let him come back. Please don’t let him die out there alone in the dark. Not after everything. Not when we were so close to—

She stopped pacing. Pressed her palm flat against the cold stone wall.

Not when we were so close to kissing.

The memory of it burned in her chest. His face inches from hers. His dark eyes finally, finally looking at her instead of through her. The warmth of his skin beneath her fingertips. The way his breath had caught when she’d touched his jaw.

And then the howl. The interruption. The way he’d gone rigid and pushed her away and told her to hide.

"He always does this," she whispered. "He always pulls away right when we’re getting close to something real."

He’s afraid, Luna said quietly, breaking her promise of silence. Not of the rogues. Not of the fight. He’s afraid of losing you. He’s lost people before. People he loved. And he thinks if he keeps you at arm’s length, it won’t hurt as much if something takes you away.

Nyra closed her eyes. "That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard."

Love makes people stupid. You’re proof of that.

"I’m not—"

You’re pacing a hole in the floor of an abandoned hut in the middle of a cursed forest, praying to a goddess you just met, because the man you love is out there fighting rogues and you can’t bear the thought of him getting hurt. If that’s not love, I don’t know what is.

Nyra had no answer to that.

She walked to the window and peered out into the darkness. The stars were bright overhead, cold and distant and utterly indifferent. Somewhere out there, Soren was fighting. Somewhere out there, he was risking his life while she sat here and waited.

"Hurry back," she whispered into the night. "Whatever you’re facing out there, just hurry back. And don’t you dare die before I get the chance to kiss you properly."

That’s the spirit, Luna said approvingly.

"Shut up, Luna."

Shutting up.

The forest on the eastern side of the chasm was dark and cold, the last light of the sun fading behind the twisted canopy. Valeria walked at the rear of the group, her steps slower than usual, her body aching with exhaustion she refused to show. Every muscle screamed. Every breath burned. But she kept her spine straight and her expression composed.

The others had pulled ahead. Orion led the way with the map clutched in his bloodstained hands, his shoulders hunched against the cold. Silas walked beside him, cracking nervous jokes that no one laughed at. Draven was a dark, brooding presence at the center of the formation, his axe resting on his shoulder. Elias ghosted along the edges, silent as always.

"I need to stop," Valeria called out, her voice hoarse. "We need to rest."

Orion turned, his brow furrowed with concern. "We should keep moving. The extraction point isn’t far—"

"We don’t know how far it is. The map is unreliable, and we’ve been walking for hours. The forest is quiet. The rogues have retreated. We can afford a few hours of rest."

Orion exchanged a glance with Silas, then nodded. "Fine. We’ll find shelter."

They found it a short distance ahead an outcropping of rock that formed a natural shelter, protected on three sides from the wind. The boys set to work immediately, gathering firewood and arranging bedrolls and securing the perimeter with the practiced efficiency of soldiers who had done this many times before.

Valeria stood at the edge of the camp, staring into the darkness. Her skin felt grimy with dried blood and sweat and the lingering residue of fear. She needed to wash. She needed to feel clean again, even if only for a moment.

"The map shows a stream ahead," she said, not turning around. "If you walk forward for a bit. I’m going to find it."

"Alone?" Orion looked up from the fire he was building. "It’s not safe."

"I’m aware. That’s why Elias will come with me." She glanced at the quiet scout. "You’ll watch my back while I bathe?"

Elias nodded once. His expression was, as always, unreadable.

They armed themselves Valeria with her crossbow, Elias with his blade, and lit a lantern each before stepping into the darkness. The forest swallowed them quickly, the light of the campfire fading behind the trees until there was only the glow of their lanterns and the sound of their footsteps on the moss.

They walked in silence.

Elias was not much of a conversationalist. Valeria had always appreciated that about him. He was efficient, competent, and asked no questions. The perfect shadow. The perfect guard.

After nearly thirty minutes of walking, the trees began to thin, and the sound of running water reached their ears.

"There," Valeria said, pointing ahead. "The stream."

It was more than a stream. It was a small river, wide enough to swim in, its surface gleaming silver in the moonlight. The water rushed over smooth stones, and the bank was soft with moss and wild ferns. It was beautiful the kind of place that would have been romantic under different circumstances. The kind of place she might have brought Soren, once upon a time.

Valeria set her lantern down on the bank. "Wait here. Watch the treeline. Call out if you see anything."

Elias nodded and positioned himself with his back to the river, his blade drawn, his eyes scanning the darkness.

Valeria began to undress.

She pulled off her torn, bloodstained tunic first, letting it fall to the moss. Then her undershirt. Then her trousers. Each piece of clothing was a relief, a shedding of the battle, a return to something that felt almost like herself. The night air was cold against her bare skin, raising goosebumps along her arms and thighs.