Chapter 113: Chapter 113

Kairos stared at me as if I’d lost my mind. I couldn’t blame him; the words coming out of my mouth felt foreign even to me.

“Adelie, what are you talking about? Why would you think that?” he questioned.

His skepticism was expected. The idea that someone who appeared so virtuous could be so vile was hard to swallow.

“That doesn’t add up,” he argued.

I folded my arms on the table, leaning in. “I know it doesn’t. He made sure it wouldn’t. But Esty sensed it. And so did the woman present at his birth,” I elaborated.

I didn’t hold back, sharing everything I’d learned from Magdalena and Esty. I may have gone into too much detail, but I needed him to understand the full picture.

He listened intently, his gaze never leaving mine. Everyone else in the room was equally captivated.

When I finished, Kairos was silent. He didn’t react, and I couldn’t read his emotions. “Kairos,” I whispered, “please say something.”

He took a moment before responding, as if he was coming out of a trance. “Why now?” he asked.

“Why not when I was a kid? When I was defenseless? He could’ve killed me then, when I had nothing. Why wait?”

His question was valid, but I suspected Archibald derived some twisted pleasure from watching Kairos suffer over time.

Esty chimed in. “As time went on, he grew tired of watching you live out his dream of leading one of the largest, most powerful packs.

“He saw you find your mate, and he wanted you to hurt. He held no grudge against your parents. His issue was with you. You were the Alpha he believed he should’ve been.

“You were his target all along. When you came to his pack to claim Adelie, he saw his opportunity to strike again. To destroy what was left.

“Even with the curse already in place, I believe he felt some control when you chose his pack member as your mate,” she explained. I hadn’t considered it from that angle before.

Archibald couldn’t have foreseen his pack member becoming Kairos’s mate. The idea that his most despised enemy had a second shot at happiness must’ve been unbearable.

I turned to Kairos. I knew this was a lot to take in, but he needed to know. “He’s done more to hurt you…,” I began, knowing he didn’t want to hear it, but he had to.

“Kairos, he manipulated Mia. She wasn’t always unstable. Do you know why she changed? She knew things about Archibald. Things he planned to do.”

He shook his head, refusing to believe me. “Mia decimated my pack. Murdered hundreds…,” he began, but I cut him off.

“She did everything to protect you. She never meant for things to end the way they did.” The room fell silent as everyone listened.

“She was madly in love with you. She would’ve done anything for you, even if it meant going behind your back. And she died without anyone understanding why.”

Kairos paused to collect himself. He rose and walked to the window, his hands hanging at his sides. I could tell he was wrestling with his inner demons, but he tried to maintain his composure.

I doubted he could convince anyone that he wasn’t feeling betrayed, hurt, confused, and heartbroken. “She was shielding you from Archibald’s attack.”

“She was attacking my pack. What does Archibald have to do with it?” he asked, his back to us. His impatience was understandable.

He’d killed his own mate with his bare hands because she’d lost control.

“Archibald did more than what met the eye. He cursed your pack, dabbled with forces beyond our understanding. He intended to harm you. That’s why he targeted Mia, why he silenced her.

“She believed he would keep his word and leave you alone…but he didn’t.”

I glanced around at the crowd. Now, even Esty and Maeve were hanging onto my every word, just as stunned as the rest. They had no idea where I had unearthed this information.

“Archibald was always the most benevolent Alpha. He looked after Adelie in the past,” he mused, seemingly more to himself than to me.

“He was a truly compassionate Alpha. I can’t recall a single negative thing about him,” I confessed, feeling a pang of guilt that my memories of him were all positive.

He cleared his throat, “So…” His voice faltered, so he tried again. This time, he returned to his seat. “What does that imply?” he queried.

I wasn’t entirely sure what he was asking. “Well…to lift the curse, we needed to identify who cast it on you,” I explained.

He stared at me. “Meaning what?”

Burton chimed in now. “If the person who cursed you is dead, it should resolve the issue.”

He sounded confident. But the situation was more complex than that. “What if that doesn’t alter anything for Kairos?” I questioned. “We're in the dark about the nature of the curse.”

Maeve interjected. “I doubt he will voluntarily disclose how to break it,” she stated, echoing my sentiment. We were still clueless.

Silence fell, but there wasn’t much left to say or do. “If killing him lifts the curse, then great.

“If not… Archibald remains a threat and the world will be rid of one less evil,” I declared, lifting my chin to feign confidence. I was far from it.

“And what becomes of the Alpha then?” Damian, one of the guards, inquired.

I glanced at Kairos. I didn’t want to voice it. But he met my gaze. He understood the implications.

He rose and surveyed us all. “Then it was an honor to serve with you all,” he declared.

All the pack members rose and followed suit, so I observed their actions closely. I noticed that Burton and Esty were also unfamiliar with this ritual, but they went along.

They all knelt on one knee and bowed their heads in respect to their Alpha. I followed suit, possibly for the last time. Esty and Burton didn’t kneel, but they bowed their heads in reverence.

We all rose and faced him.

“Prepare yourselves. Gather your strength. We are going to battle,” Kairos announced, and everyone gradually dispersed from the library. Dr. John and I lingered. He was prepping a syringe to sedate Christopher.

“I won’t be able to shift,” Kairos stated as the doctor approached him.

“You won’t. But if Christopher breaks free, it will exacerbate the situation. But you have a team,” the doctor reassured him, glancing at me.

He approached Kairos and brought the syringe to his neck. His neck was already marred with bruises from frequent injections.

Kairos locked eyes with me as his body was flooded with chemicals and a significant amount of silver.

I couldn’t discern if he still felt the same as he had earlier.

The doctor packed up his equipment and exited, closing the door behind him.

Kairos remained seated. It seemed like he needed time to adjust.

I retrieved Mia's letter from my pocket, staring down at it. “I…,” I struggled to find the right words.

“I discovered a box of Mia’s belongings. I stumbled upon it by accident. I thought it should have been with you, but she didn’t manage to deliver it. I…I’m sorry I read it.

“I didn’t realize it was hers, then I was too deep in to stop reading. I’m sorry,” I confessed, my gaze dropping to the floor, guilt gnawing at me for invading his privacy.

I handed him the letter. “The rest of the box is in your study… This is just the letter she intended for you to find.”

I could feel his eyes on me, but I didn’t have the courage to meet his gaze.

He carefully unfolded the letter and began to read. I made to leave, but he halted me. “Stay,” he requested, lifting his gaze to meet mine.

The letter wasn’t lengthy, so he finished it swiftly. Without uttering a word, he refolded the letter and tossed it onto the table.

He rose to his feet, but I was concerned it was too soon after his medication. “I don’t think you should…,” I began, but he crossed the distance between us and enveloped me in a firm embrace.

I didn’t hesitate to return his hug, holding him just as tightly.

I wasn’t sure why tears were streaming down my face. But it was just him and me. And if there was one thing I was certain of, it was that I didn’t need to hide my emotions from him.

“If anything happens to you…I won’t survive,” he confessed, still holding me close. He was referring to the upcoming meeting with Archibald. We had no idea how it would turn out.

“Let me accompany you,” I pleaded. I knew he would resist, but I couldn’t bear the thought of him going alone. Not when he was so vulnerable and not entirely himself.

“You should come with me,” he agreed, surprising me. “My guards will join us later. I don’t want to incite chaos immediately.” He released me from his embrace.

I felt a chill as he stepped away. He’d held me so close, then just let go. I was expecting more from him than a fleeting hug.

“We should get moving,” he suggested, his gaze fixed on his shoes, his hands tucked in his pockets.

I stood frozen. I couldn’t comprehend his feelings. Did he still resent me? Why wouldn’t he look at me?

I needed answers. And why not be a little selfish in times like these, when everything was falling apart? I stepped closer, tilting his face to meet mine and kissed him.

~Push me away if you need to. Curse me if that’s what it takes for me to understand.~

But he didn’t.

His hands clung to my jacket as he returned my kiss. I didn’t want to push him, so I pulled back.

But it was futile as Kairos leaned in again, kissing me fervently until we were both gasping for air.

He only stopped when we needed to catch our breath. He didn’t move away, but rested his forehead against mine, his hands still gripping my sides.

“Please don’t die,” he whispered. I couldn’t help but chuckle. So I laughed, but it quickly turned into sobs.

“You too,” I replied. He pulled back and wiped my tears away.

“We should get going,” he suggested as I reined in my emotions and we exited the library.

The start of the unknown. Of what had been tearing us apart… I didn’t know if we would make it through this. It could be a glorious victory, or a heart-wrenching funeral.