A blanket slides over me as I let out a breath.
The betrayal is still there. The hurt. The broken trust.
But so is this.
Mouse settles against my chest, purring in that low, resonant way that matches Kieran’s breathing. Linda drifts close, her worry finally easing. Somewhere near the cave entrance, Bob’s rigid posture softens — just slightly.
“I’m sorry.” Kieran’s words are so quiet I almost miss them. “For all of it. For everything I took from you. For every choice I made without asking.”
I don’t respond.
I’m not ready to forgive him. Not yet. Maybe not for a long time.
But I don’t pull away either.
And beneath the quiet — beneath the ancient calm he’s pouring through the bond — I feel something else.
His want.
Leaking through despite his control. That same pull I’ve been ignoring for weeks, now pressed against my bare back, wrapped around me in the dark. He’s trying to hide it. Trying to keep it locked down beneath centuries of discipline.
But the bond doesn’t lie.
He wants me. Has wanted me this whole time. And even now — even shielding me, protecting me, asking nothing in return — that want bleeds through like heat through cracked stone.
Something stirs low in my stomach. Inappropriate. Undeniable.
Not now,I tell myself firmly.Not yet.
But my body files it away. Remembers it. Stores it somewhere I’ll have to deal with later.
“Sleep,” Kieran whispers. “I’ve got you.”
For the first time since the bond purified, I believe it.
I close my eyes.
The bonds hum softly — six threads of warmth and want, muted now, bearable. Darian’s guilt. Finn’s complicated love. Malrik’s steady presence. Torric’s banked heat. Aspen’s gentle concern. And Kieran — Kieran’s ancient patience, wrapped around me like armor.
I’m not ready to forgive him.
But maybe I’m ready to stop running.
The thought follows me into darkness, and for once, it doesn’t feel like surrender.
It feels like the beginning of something centuries old.
Chapter 35
Malrik
The fire crackles.
For the first time in days, nobody is panicking.
Kaia is asleep in Kieran’s arms, her breathing steady, Mouse purring on her chest. Bob has settled near the cave entrance — still on guard, but his edges have softened into something almost relaxed. Patricia’s notebook is dim. Even Finnick has stopped his constant fidgeting, draped across a rock like a shadow-shaped cat.
And Callum is still unconscious.
