Chapter 175
Kaius
“I am doing the right thing,” I whispered to the empty room, as if speaking the words aloud might make them more convincing I closed my eyes, remembering the devastation on her face when I’d rejected her publicly, the way her hands had trembled as she’d pressed the gun to her own temple. The Lycan inside me raged against the chains of my control, demanding I go after her, reclaim what was mine, protect what I loved. But it was precisely that–my monstrous nature, my deadly heritage–that had forced this choice upon me.
“She would be safer this way.”
When I’d awakened to my Lycan nature, I’d known immediately what it meant–more power, yes, but also more danger.
I couldn’t fully control the beast within yet. And I wasn’t the only threat to her. Soren and Caleb made their stance brutally clear with that storm. Two elders with that much power wouldn’t hesitate to kill her just to hurt me.
And those Lycan hunters… They broke into our quarters specifically looking for me. They’ll keep coming now that they know what ! am. I’m the target. Anyone near me becomes a target too.
She can’t stay. Not another minute, Not another second. had to make her leave. Had to make her hate me enough to never look back. Her life depends on believing I never loved her.
The door burst open, slamming against the wall with enough force to crack the ornate woodwork. Frost stood in the doorway, his ice–blue eyes burning with a fury I’d rarely seen directed at me.
“What the fuck do you think you are doing?” he demanded, stalking into the room.
I didn’t bother rising, didn’t bother defending myself. Frost had every right to his anger. “What needed to be done.”
“You had to do that before all those people?” He circled me like a predator, his muscles coiled with barely restrained violence.
“It needed to be public. Convincing. Final.” I spoke each word carefully, my voice steady despite the storm raging inside me.
“You can’t let her go; we can’t–you would go in there and tell her it was all some kind of expensive joke, and you’ve changed your mind.” For the first time in our long friendship, I heard genuine pleading in Frost’s voice.
“Frost, listen to me. She is no longer safe here; there are many who want to hurt her to get to me, some of them are in this pack. You know that if there was any other way, I would have chosen that. I met his eyes directly, willing him to understand what this
decision was costing me.
“And do you think there wouldn’t be others out there who want her dead too? She can’t be on her own.” His concern was valid–I’d considered it myself, spent sleepless nights weighing every possible scenario.
“She managed to stay alive all these while in the Mistwood pack; she would survive.” The words tasted bitter, but I forced them out
anyway.
“Tell me that you would send soldiers along with her.” It wasn’t a question but a demand.
I shook my head slowly. “I can’t do that. They would figure out that this was only an act; I would have to make them see that I’ve moved on completely from her.”
Understanding dawned in Frost’s eyes, quickly followed by something darker. “So what? You find a new…
girl?
I didn’t want anyone; I could never look at any girl that wasn’t Elowen the same way.
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Chapter 175
“I’m afraid so, I said, and Frost lashed out. I had expected that, so quickly dodged. “Frost, do you remember what the elders did to Thalia? They are dangerous; I killed their members and had been abut to wipe them out of the face of this earth if they hadn’t escaped; think about what the would do to Elowen if they ever got their hands on her. I flinched; I didn’t want to think about it. Thalia was one of the most powerful elders I knew, and yet they had exploited her femininity. The tortures she had gone through, many she wouldn’t want to speak about.
I couldn’t let that happen to Elowen. Never.
“You love her.” The simple statement hung between us, a truth so obvious it barely needed saying.
“Then you would be right.” I wouldn’t insult him with a denial, not after everything we’d been through together.
“And what if I do love her? What if I think you don’t and would never deserve her?” Frost’s challenge was clear in his stance, in the subtle shift that prepared his body for attack.
w
I rose then, finally meeting him on equal footing. “Then you would be right again. I never deserved her. But I loved her enough to let her go–can you say the same?”
His fist connected with my jaw before I could react, the force of the blow sending me staggering back. I didn’t retaliate, didn’t even raise a hand to defend myself as he advanced for another strike.
“You arrogant bastard,” he snarled, landing another blow that split my lip. “You think sending her away alone is protecting her? You’re just protecting yourself from having to watch her get hurt!”
The accusation hit harder than his fists. Was he right? Was I simply sparing myself the pain of seeing her suffer because of me?
“Maybe,” I admitted, tasting blood on my tongue. “But she’s still safer away from me. And that’s all that matters now.”
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