"Rivik." His voice was quiet, respectful. The way he'd always spoken to me, even before I became alpha. Even when we were cubs wrestling in the dirt, he'd had that quality, steadiness, loyalty, the bone-deep trust in me. I never felt less like I deserved it than today.
"Daska." I stopped a few paces away, suddenly uncertain. We'd fought beside each other for years. Hunted together. Bled together. Pulled each other out of more bad situations than I could count. But we'd never been good with words, either of us. We showed what we felt through actions, through thewillingness to stand beside each other when everything went wrong.
Now I needed words, and I didn't have them.
He seemed to understand. He always had. He straightened slowly, letting his hands fall away from his pack, and faced me fully. "I'll keep her safe."
The words hit harder than I expected. My throat tightened, and I had to force myself to nod. "I know you will."
"I'll guard her with my life. Whatever comes, Rivik, I won't let anything touch her. I swear it."
"I know." The words came out rougher than I intended. "If I didn't trust you with her, you wouldn't be leaving this valley."
He laughed and I smiled, then his own faded and he sighed.
“I never wanted…" He stopped, shook his head. "She was never supposed to be just mine."
"She chose you."
"Because you pushed her toward me." His eyes snapped back to mine, fierce and pained. "Don't think I don't know what you did, Rivik. You could have claimed her as well. You should have claimed her. But you stood back and let me…"
I held his gaze. "Because she needed someone who could give her everything. No divided loyalties. No impossible choices. You can walk beside her without destroying yourself or abandoning your people." I paused. "I couldn't."
"So you're destroying yourself anyway." It wasn't a question. Daska took a step closer, his expression raw. "You think I can't see it? You think any of us can't see what this is doing to you?"
I didn't answer. Couldn't.
"She's your mate, Rivik." His voice was almost pleading now. "The bond, Great Mother, I can feel the edges of it when I'm near her, and it's not even mine. What it must be like for you…" He stopped, shook his head. "This is going to kill you."
"No." I kept my voice steady. "It won't. Because I'm an alpha, and I need to endure. For the pack."
"That's not endurance. That's a slow death."
"Then make it worth it," I said quietly. "Love her. Protect her. Give her the life she deserves. Make sure that what I'm losing means she gains everything."
Daska's face crumpled. For just a second, the warrior facade dropped away and I saw the boy I'd grown up with, the one who used to follow me into trouble, who'd stood beside me when my father died, when I became alpha, who'd never once questioned his loyalty even when it cost him.
"Brother," he whispered.
I stepped forward and pulled him into a rough embrace.
His arms came around me immediately, gripping hard enough to hurt, and I felt him shudder once against my shoulder. We stood there in the morning light, two warriors who'd survived everything the world could throw at them, breaking over something neither of us could fight.
"Thank you," Daska said roughly against my shoulder. "For trusting me with her. For letting me…" He pulled back, his hands gripping my shoulders, his eyes bright. "I'll spend the rest of my life trying to be worthy of what you've given me."
"You already are." I gripped his forearms. "You're a good man, Daska. The best I know. If anyone can make her happy, can keep her whole, it's you."
"I wish—"
"Don't." I squeezed his arms once, firm and final. "Don't wish it were different. Just make sure it's enough."
He nodded, but the grief in his eyes didn't fade. "You could come with us."
"No." The word came out harder than I intended. "I couldn't. The pack needs me here. Karik is still a threat, and I am the alpha. I can’t change that."
"Rivik."
"Take care of her." I stepped back, breaking contact before I could change my mind. "And when she looks back—" My voice caught, and I had to force the words out. "When she looks back and wonders, tell her I wanted her to be happy."
