The silence that follows is painful. Only Ivy’s breathing breaks it.
Finally, he says, quieter, “I think I should apologise for what I did to you. You were weakened, and I—I got swayed.”
I blink at him, startled by his disgusting honesty. “Youthinkyou should apologise? What makes you think you deserve my forgiveness?”
“I’m your mate. We’re bound by more than vows and actions and our children,” His voice cracks just slightly.
“Oh,” I say. “I thought you’d forgotten.” I glare at him. “So, what now? You’re afraid the pack is siding with me, so you come to fix things and cast Izel aside like how you cast me aside?”
He closes the distance between us and touches my arm. The bond flows through, taking my breath with it. “That night onthe full moon near the stream… I felt something when Emris nuzzled Nyx,” he whispers, his gaze watching me intently. He swallows. “He howled helplessly, and he was struggling to guide me. I haven’t—I haven’t heard him very clearly for a long time, Freya. He was always veiled, obstructed in some way. I knew it was wrong. That I wasn’t fully myself in my human form. I felt like a puppet, but since that night, and especially after the midnight howl, I can see things more… clearly.”
My heart races, and I find myself leaning into him. I wet my lips, gazing at that face—so familiar, so beautiful. Those piercing golden eyes with flecks of onyx in them that I loved admiring. Those thick brows I loved kissing. Now I hate it. I hate the control the mate bond has over me. I shrug him off and step back sharply. “Youdo notdeserve my forgiveness, Kade. Nothing you say will change what you did to me. Nothing will take back every cruel thing you said to me. Iwillclaim Silver Severance on the Blood Moon, and I will end our bond. That is what you deserve.”
His lips part, his brows creasing in guilt. He gulps again and looks away, no longer having the strength to meet my eyes. Ivy stirs then, mumbling in her sleep. I walk to her and kneel, pulling a blanket over her small body. The movement breaks whatever fragile thread held us.
I glance back at Kade. He’s still standing there, frozen, like he has been handed a mirror and sees himself for what he truly is for the first time.
His throat works again, but he doesn’t argue. He just leaves.
THE KING'S DEBT
Freya
The anger I felt during my conversation with Kade carries over to the next day, making me clench my hands into fists even as I watch Finn play from the railing above the yard.
Kade thought he’d pretend to be clueless, to be out of control with Izel, and get away with it? He thought he could soften me with his words and his fake, gentle touches, bringing up our mate bond? He doesn’t know there’s no softness in me left. At least, not for him.
I pace restlessly, my heart heavy. It’s not just Kade I’m thinking of. It’s also what’s coming next. The Conclave feels like a huge boulder rolling at me with a speed I’m certain will crush me. If the High Council is truly involved with Izel—through Elder Thane—what chances do I have? How would I know they haven’t rigged anything to make me fail on purpose? And will half the pack really follow meifI successfully claim Severance? If that does happen, delusionally so, it doesn’t sound anything like the prophecy Rowan told me about. The High Luna is meant to bring empires together. Not break them. Silvercrest isa centuries-old dynasty. It has seen numerous Alphas and High Lunas. Who am I to divide it?
My thoughts break when a strange scent hits my nostrils. It’s foreign, wrong… evil. Ahead of me, just above Finn, a dark blotch begins to form, hovering like an opaque cloud that keeps expanding.
Nyx growls deep in my chest.‘Move!’
The warning comes too late. Shadows bloom from the cloud itself—blotches darker than night, hovering and twisting like smoke with substance. They move down toward Finn, fluid and hungry, and he screams, stumbling to his feet. The boy in front of him runs to the side, saving himself.
I don’t think. I sprint down the stairs, running as fast as my feet can carry me and lunge, calling forth Nyx’s shield. But the clouds multiply, writhing, burning wherever they touch me.
“Finn!” I scream, reaching for him helplessly, though my eyes refuse to open. I groan in anger, commanding Nyx’s power. She offers it without bounds. I force my eyes open and see everything bathed in silver.
The first shadow hovers over Finn. I crash into it, hands outstretched, and it splits into three, licking my skin with black fire, passing through the shield with some resistance. Pain sears through me, hot and biting, and I stumble, pulling back—but more blotches swirl toward him.
The guards hesitate, frozen, unwilling—or too terrified—to step into the smoke.
“No!” I roar, throwing myself at him. Each shadow that touches me bursts into sparks that singe my arms, my face. My fingers curl, nails scraping sand and dirt, but I protect Finn’s body with mine, keeping him out of reach of the shadows.
Yet, Finn screams. “Mama!”
I twist, grab him, try to pull him back inside the keep—but another shadow wraps around his legs, coiling, hot and alive.Then another grabs my leg and drags us both to the edge of the yard. My hands strike, and tear using Nyx’s power, and yet, for every blotch I destroy, two more rise in its place.
My eyes close again, and when I open them, we’re in the woods. Out of the keep’s border.
Suddenly, a gust of wind hits us, dismantling the shadows momentarily. I see movements from the corner of my eyes. Dark figures pour from the forest, but not blotches—real, people.
Rowan?
Rowan.
He moves like a phantom. His sword arcs, clean and true, slicing through the smoky blotches. Sparks flare where steel meets phantom, and the shadows hiss, retreating before him. He barks orders; his rogues fan out, circling the yard but stopping just short of the boundary stones. Border law. They do not cross.
