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Sulien broke in quietly. "You should have told me, brother. At least I would have gone with you to see the witch."

Blaidd's mouth curved in something that wasn't quite a smile. "I cannot be sure, but I think Isolde opened the bunker," he said instead. "Because the wolf who called to her wasn't just anyone."

The room stilled.

"He was her lover on the side. Even changelings can fall in love, it seems," Blaidd said. "And twenty innocent wolves and cubs died because I didn't put an end to it myself."

"I wanted to die," he said hoarsely, guilt obvious in his eyes. "Not because my lifemate had perished, but because of the blood on my hands."

His gaze lifted to Maxen. "I had hoped you would kill me in that challenge," he admitted. "You are a good wolf. I thought…maybe I could finally find peace." He swallowed. "And then she was there."

Warmth flickered across his face as the memory took him.

"It was like being drenched in sunlight," he said quietly. "Fae—standing over me in wolf form, teeth bared, warning you to back away." His voice faltered. "How do you describe that kind of joy?"

"And then I wondered if my mind was playing tricks on me," he said softly. "Because how could I trust my wolf? He had been wrong before."

"So, I watched her. I was suspicious. I held myself back until it started to get harder," he admitted. "And harder."

He let out a shaky breath. "That was when I finally understood the matebond. I wondered how I could ever have believed that watered-down existence I lived was the real thing."

"My thoughts began to leak through the mindlink. And when we started dream-sharing as true lifemates do...I knew I had to leave."

The risks were too great.

"I couldn't reveal anything," he said. "I had to wait. Eight long, endless years until I was free."

"So, I began taking quests," Blaidd said. "I never slept when we were together. I watched her, but didn't use the mindlink. I dared not risk it."

His voice wobbled. "And I watched helplessly as she seemed to shrink more and more every time I came back. There wasn't a thing I could do. I had to ignore her pain."

A grieving silence followed for all those irreversible hurts.

"But Fae," he said, and his voice softened in a way that made Lisna's heart ache, "she was never a choice. She is my destiny."

He turned slightly, as though Fae stood before him even now.

"It is easy to lie to a pack," he said. "To elders. To friends. Even to my brother." His eyes lifted, bleak and full of self-hate. "But not to your lifemate."

A ripple of understanding moved through the room.

He turned to Maxen. "Tell me, could you hide something like that from Lisna?"

Maxen didn't hesitate. "No."

Lisna snorted softly, eyes knowing. "I know when he's lying," she said. "I feel it before he even opens his mouth."

Maxen gave a helpless, indulgent shrug. "I can't refuse her anything."

Blaidd nodded. "Exactly."

He looked down at his hands. "That's when I understood that only physical distance would work. Silence wasn't enough. Discipline wasn't working. I had to physically step back."

His jaw clenched.

"If I revealed anything—anything at all—the witch promised a plague. Sickness that would rot our lungs and curse the pack with a slow, painful death. She said that it would sweep through the pack before anyone could stop it."

A shudder ran through Lisna.