Chapter 26: Lies Again

Adelie

Jasmin had left, leaving me alone with Kairos. I could feel him behind me, his presence growing closer. He halted, placing his hands gently on my shoulders.

I remained silent, not trusting myself to speak. My eyes were squeezed shut, fear gripping me at the thought of his touch on my mark. I didn’t want him to accidentally graze it. In any other circumstance, I would have craved his touch, but right now, it was the last thing I needed.

“What’s your plan for your father?” he asked softly, resting his forehead against mine. I found myself leaning into him.

“I don’t know.” I knew I’d figure it out, but I hoped it would be sooner rather than later. “What’s your plan to stay alive?” I asked, my tone harsher than I intended. I immediately regretted it. “I’m sor...” I began. I understood he was doing this for the pack, but I couldn’t bear the thought of losing him.

“Stop,” he interrupted, sighing in frustration. “I’m not sorry that I marked you. I’m not. Marking you was the best thing I could have done. But I am sorry for marking you at a time when I could hurt you the most. I have to do this, Adelie.”

He went on. “I have to go there. This isn’t the first time we’ve been attacked by vampires. Beta will be back today to tell us when.”

I turned to face him. “I know. And I know you believe it’s the right thing to do. You’re a great Alpha, Kairos,” I told him. I don’t think I’d ever said that to him before. “I don’t want you to worry about me in all this. But there has to be another way. What will your pack do without you?”

“They’ll have you,” he replied, taking my hands in his.

Tears welled up in my eyes. “What will I do?” I asked, my voice barely a whisper.

He didn’t respond. What could he say?

“I’ll go with you,” I declared. I never thought I’d willingly walk towards my own death. Love makes us do crazy things. It’s a beautiful tragedy when you’re willing to leave everything behind for the one you love. Suddenly, everyone else—family, friends—takes a backseat. Is it wrong to make one person your top priority?

Why do they say, Love life? Because when you’re in love, you see the world differently. A stranger becomes a part of you, a different version of you. You don’t have to like the same things or act the same way. Your other half completes you. Love life takes on a whole new meaning.

“Over my dead body, Adelie,” he said, his voice and eyes turning cold. His face was devoid of any expression, pale as a ghost. Was this the side of him I couldn’t defy?

I didn’t dare blink. I knew he wouldn’t hurt me. I didn’t need him to tell me I was safe with him—I felt it in my heart. But there was a line I knew better than to cross. No matter how close we were or how strong our love, Kairos was still my Alpha.

I remained silent, my breath hitching in my throat. Kairos must have noticed my reaction. He took a step back, looking awkward.

“I need to go to training. You’re welcome to join us if you want,” he said, sounding a bit taken aback. I guess he didn’t expect to react that way. If our roles were reversed, would I let him go? Of course not. I wouldn’t want anything to happen to him.

“I’m going to train alone,” I declared. He simply nodded, leaving me standing there without a goodbye kiss or even a hug.

He didn’t even meet my gaze before he left.

I can’t lose him. I can’t lose my mate. I’ve only just found him, and he’s already teetering on the brink of death.

I made my way to my usual training spot, but instead of Jasmin, I found Maeve. She was pacing back and forth, muttering something under her breath.

When she saw me, she made a beeline in my direction. “Oh, thank God you’re here,” she said, grabbing my hand and leading me away from the training area. I glanced back and saw Kairos watching us with a suspicious look, but he quickly looked away.

“What’s going on, Maeve?” I asked. “Is it something to do with James? Maya?”

She shook her head, speaking quickly and breathlessly. “I overheard your conversation. I didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but I was just there and...”

“Maeve!” I tried to soothe her, placing my hands on her shoulders. I knew how much she respected Alpha Kairos. “I know it's bad. The Alpha is going to the vampire coven and...”

“What?” She looked at me, shocked. I clapped a hand over my mouth. “He’s going to the vampire coven?”

I sighed. “I thought you knew that.” There was no point in hiding it now. “Yes, he’s going there to try and quench their thirst for werewolf blood.”

“Oh,” she said, her voice quiet and thoughtful.

“You were about to say something. If it wasn’t about the Alpha, then what?” I asked.

“Oh, right. Isn’t Jasmin helping you?” She asked.

I shook my head. “No. I don’t know what she’s hiding or why she won’t let me see my father, but I don’t think she means to harm me or anyone else,” I explained.

“Adelie! Jasmin isn’t good for you. She proved that this time,” she argued. But Jasmin had been helping me train all this time. I knew she wasn’t helping me now, but I hoped she had a good reason.

I didn’t want to argue with her. “What did you want to tell me?” I asked, changing the subject.

“I...I wanted to suggest something, but with the Alpha already going to the vampire coven, we can’t risk both of you,” she said.

“Suggest what? And risk both of us how?” I was curious now.

“If you want to see Death, the vampires might be able to help. They’ve saved some of the spells from the book,” she explained.

“The book they’re looking for?” I asked, and she nodded.

“They’d want something in return, of course. It could be your blood or the Alpha’s,” she said. “I thought maybe, with your powers, you could outsmart them. But now that the Alpha is also going, it might be more dangerous.”

Sometimes sacrifices have to be made for the sake of safety. “I could go alone,” I suggested.

Maeve raised an eyebrow. “The Alpha won’t let you. No mate would let his other half do that, and he’s the Alpha so...”

“He doesn’t need to know. I’ll go before him. If I survive, I’ll try to convince them to leave the werewolves alone. If not... I’m sorry, but... I have a bad feeling about this.”

I continued. “My dad has always been there for me. But now it feels like he’s gone, and this is about more than just me missing my father. He’s Death. He has powers. If something can keep him away, it’s more powerful than anything else.”

“Beta’s coming back today. He’ll let us know when the meeting is. I plan to go a day early. Maeve, I need you to promise me something,” I said, leaning in closer to her.

“Anything.”

“If I don’t come back, don’t let Alpha come looking for me. No matter what.”

Maeve nodded. “I’ll try.”

“I’ll do whatever it takes to keep this pack safe,” I declared.

“You don’t have to sacrifice yourself,” she argued.

“If it’s the only way, then I will. If I don’t come back, I need you to explain this to Alpha. And Maeve, no one else can know about this.” She didn’t respond, just nodded.

“Alright, let’s go train!” I said, trying to inject some excitement into the heavy atmosphere. I was already practicing my poker face for Kairos.

Lies. It seemed like all I did these days was lie, causing pain with my indecisiveness. But I had to lie this time, for Kairos’ sake. He wouldn’t let me go otherwise.

How convincingly happy could I pretend to be? At what point would the danger to myself become too great to hide?

I walked over to Kairos, who was instructing two men on the rules of combat. I noticed there were still members of the Dark Moon pack around, but Hans was nowhere to be seen. I assumed he’d already left, but I didn’t dare ask Kairos about it.

Kairos signaled the start of the fight and came to stand beside me. “Everything okay?” he asked.

“Yes. Why?” I replied.

“Maeve seemed tense when she was talking to you,” he said, looking at me suspiciously.

“Oh, she’s just worried about the fight I had with Jasmin,” I lied.

“Why would she care?”

I shrugged and bit my lip. “Maybe she just cares about me,” I suggested. But did she really? If she wanted to help, she must, right?

“Hm.” He chuckled and smirked. “Want to learn how to fight?” He didn’t wait for my answer, just assumed a fighting stance and waited.

“What?” I asked, confused.

“Go ahead. Throw a punch at me,” he said, causing my jaw to drop.

“Why would I do that?” I asked, still confused.

Kairos rolled his eyes. “I want to see what you can do.”

“You know what I can do. I can protect myself,” I reminded him, thinking of how I’d taken down that root creature.

“It would be beneficial for you to know how to fight. You might not always have time to use your powers. This could be good for you.”

“Kairos, I’m not going to hit you,” I protested.

“Just do it!” he insisted.

“No!” I half-shouted, feeling something unfamiliar stirring within me.

“I’ll try to block it,” he said, raising his voice.

“Try?! I don’t want to hurt you!” I argued, feeling a strange irritation in my gut.

“You won’t hurt me!” he insisted.

“You don’t know that!” Something was trying to break free from within me.

“Adelie! It’s part of the training!” His anger was rising, matching my own.

“I don’t need this training! I can protect myself just fine!” I could swear the grass was moving beneath my feet. My vision seemed to sharpen, allowing me to see every tiny detail.

A strange sensation coursed through me, making me shiver. I blinked, and suddenly I felt a powerful connection to nature. I felt stronger.

Kairos looked at me, confusion in his eyes, but quickly replaced it with his usual stoic expression.

It felt as though he was plotting his next move. And before I knew it, he was the one throwing a punch my way.