Chapter 98: Chapter 98

Adelie

They tried to corner me, but my fury took over, scaring them off. Smoke billowed from my fingertips, and a chilling wind swept in behind me. They recoiled, taken aback.

I didn’t dare glance over my shoulder. I couldn’t turn my back on my pack. But I did manage to catch a glimpse of the reflection in the window.

Behind me stood an army of shadowy figures. Skeleton-like creatures. I wasn’t sure of their power, but they were enough to scare the pack.

“Night walkers pack!” I yelled, demanding their attention. An eerie silence filled the house, probably the first since my departure.

“The man standing before you is not the Alpha Kairos you know. He’s been taken over by an evil entity,” I declared, but they remained skeptical.

“Where has your sense gone?” I questioned, my nose wrinkling in distaste.

“You’ve made fools of yourselves while your Alpha suffers. You’ve exploited his weakness. This pack is your home, and you’ve destroyed it.”

Their expressions shifted. They seemed to sober up, their anger flaring. I didn’t care if I was shaming them.

“The wolves from respected packs have turned into hideous creatures. Showing no respect for the moon goddess, for your own wolf souls.” I was relieved to see no children or elders present.

“Where are the elders and children? The ones who aren’t here?” I asked. I searched for someone to answer, but they were all too frightened.

Many of the wolves present were the ones who had brought food to my cell. Some had even smirked when setting my tray down. They remained silent, so I singled one out. “You.”

A woman cleared her throat. “The elders took the children and some women, and they left.”

“Left where?” I asked. “To Alpha Archibald?” I assumed they would seek refuge in his pack.

She shook her head. “They declared themselves as rogues.” They had left with nothing, choosing to run because it was better than staying here.

The elderly, who had survived Mia. They left while they still could. My heart ached for the children. Some were mere toddlers.

“Why did you all stay here?” I asked. “Why did they have the sense to save themselves and you didn’t?”

“Alpha isn’t hurting us,” she said. “He didn’t harm anyone. He invited us to his house.”

I laughed bitterly. “And you thought his behavior was normal? You thought him locking me up was normal? As if I would imprison him for my own amusement?”

I surveyed them. “And yet you all stand here, questioning my motives while I’ve done everything to protect you. You’ve shown me no kindness.

“You haven’t accepted me as your Luna. And right now, I’m not asking you to. But I am asking you to help your Alpha. Abandon your ignorance.

“Open your eyes and realize that your Alpha would never behave this way. He’s losing his mind while you laugh along.” No one could meet my gaze now.

“I ask that everyone leave this house and return to your homes. Rest and gather yourselves. I won’t tolerate you exploiting Alpha Kairos. Leave!” I commanded, waiting for them to depart.

I calmed down, causing the shadows and smoke to dissipate, and looked upstairs. I needed to find Kairos. I prayed he hadn’t done anything reckless or harmful.

I checked our room first, hoping to find him there. I searched the entire second floor, but he was nowhere to be found.

It felt like I had spent hours aimlessly wandering. It was only when I reached the attic that I felt a breeze and noticed the open window.

The day was giving way to night, and the temperature had dropped, causing goosebumps to form on my skin. I looked around, but he still wasn’t here.

I moved towards the open window, peering out into the darkness. He was nowhere in sight, but I could see the armory from here. The lights were off, but could he be hiding there?

Without a second thought, I dashed downstairs and out of the house, feeling more at home in the armory surrounded by nature than in the main house.

Esty’s voice echoed behind me. “Adelie!” I didn’t turn back or respond.

The armory door was slightly ajar. I pushed it open and found Kairos sitting there, his back to me, clad in a crumpled white shirt.

I left the door open behind me. The sound of metal clinking reached my ears. “Christopher?” I called out, unsure if it was him or Kairos.

He spun around, two daggers in his hands. One was a standard silver-tipped blade, but the other... The other was green. The same one Kairos had shown me, designed specifically for nymphs.

Particularly forest nymphs. Sure, I wasn’t immortal, and a regular blade could kill me. But this one was designed to inflict maximum pain.

I swallowed hard. “What are you doing?” I asked, stepping back. I was ready to summon roots from the ground for protection. I was no match for his strength.

His expression was icy. But then he let the green knife fall to the ground. The noise startled me. He adjusted the silver one in his hand, pointing it towards his chest.

I rushed towards him, placing my hands over his as the tip of the blade rested on his chest, piercing his skin.

His breath brushed against my face. His eyes locked onto mine. It was Kairos.

I reached up to touch his cheek. “Kairos,” I whispered, shaking my head. Tears streamed down my face. “I will fix you,” I promised him. “I will save you.”

But was I trying to convince him or myself? In that moment, I believed it wholeheartedly. There was no other option, no other outcome. I would save him.

“I will save us.” I forced a smile through my tears. I tried to pull the dagger away, but he resisted. “Please,” I whispered, resting my forehead on his shoulder. “Please.”

I tugged at the dagger again, and he suddenly let go. It flew out of my hand and clattered to the ground.

He wrapped his arms around me, pulling me down to the ground with him. His head rested on my chest as he sobbed.

He clung to me as if it was our last moment together, pulling me as close as possible. “I am so sorry,” he mumbled. “I never meant to hurt you.”

“I know,” I replied as he lifted his head to look at me.

“Not when I first met you. And not now. Yet I always end up hurting you.”

“We both seem to have a knack for hurting each other. But we always pull through. And this time won’t be any different,” I assured him, tears streaming down my face. “I will find out who did this to you, and I will free you.”

He shook his head. “There isn’t much time, Adelie,” he said. “Christopher brought me here. He wanted me to kill you.” He gently stroked my cheek. “You are not safe with me.”

“You know I won’t leave you. You’ll never get rid of me. No matter what, I will stay with you.” My words only made him cry harder.

“Adelie, I can’t hurt you,” he choked out. “I won’t be able to live with it. I don’t want to be like this. I don’t want to fear that I might hurt you. Please, Adelie. Save yourself from me!”

Instead of responding, I leaned in and kissed him. Our lips moved slowly, but he held me tightly. ~As if I could ever leave him.~ I ran my fingers through his curls.

It was only in this moment that I truly understood how much I craved his touch, how much I longed for the feel of his skin against mine. The thought of being without him was enough to drive me to the brink of insanity.

I pulled back, cradling his face in my hands. “I swear I’ll be careful. But you have to promise to hang on while I search for a cure.”

His lips curved into a smile. It was a sight for sore eyes, even though his own were weary.

“You won’t be careful. You don’t know how to be,” he said, his voice tinged with sadness. “That’s what scares me the most. Not the thought of me fading away, but the idea of not being there for you. Not being there to worry about you.

“Not being there to try and protect you from the consequences of your own recklessness. Not being there to tell you when you’re being foolish and naive.

“I know you don’t need me to rescue you, but I want to be there to try.

“I worry about you putting yourself in harm’s way. I want to be there to ask you what’s wrong when you come home upset. I’m scared that I won’t be there to worry about you when you tell me to trust you.”

His hands moved to my tear-streaked cheeks.

“I want to grow old with you, Adelie. I want to annoy you with my constant presence. I want you to get sick of how long we’ve been together. I want you to yell at me, to be angry with me. I want you.”

I held his hands in mine, my heart pounding in my chest.

“And you will have me. We will have each other. If you can’t trust me when I say everything is okay, then trust me when I promise that I won’t keep you in fear for long.”

His lips brushed against my collarbone in a feather-light kiss.

“You scare me, Adelie,” he murmured, pulling me down to lie with him on the cold floor.

He traced his finger up and down my arm.

“How much time do I have while you’re still in your body?” I asked.

He shrugged. “I don’t know.”

“When will I see you again?” I asked.

“I don’t know.” He let out a heavy sigh. “You should chain me up before Christopher does something.”

“Do you think he could?” He hadn’t done anything for this long. Maybe he just needed a body.

“He wanted me to kill you. I can feel him getting worse.” He closed his eyes. “You should alert the guards and put me in prison. Christopher could return any minute.”

And so I did just that, but with the help of the pack, we turned the weapon house into his cell. It was the only place where Kairos could be kept without losing his dignity.

Of course, he didn’t care for it. He still urged me to put him in prison. But I couldn’t bring myself to do it.

He was chained in such a way that he couldn’t reach the weapons displayed on the walls. There was a bed in the center of the room where Kairos could rest.

I asked the pack to leave us alone. Kairos was sitting on his bed, examining his wrists. The cuffs must have been chafing his skin.

I could already see his skin turning red, but he still insisted the guards tighten them. “Where do you keep your silver dagger?” he asked me.

“It’s…,” I tried to recall, but I must have left it at Esty’s house. “I…left it somewhere.”

He glanced at the weapons and pointed at a glass box on the wall. I walked over to it and carefully lifted the small hook that held the glass shut, taking out a dagger with a silver tip.

“Take the belt, too,” he added.

I walked back over to him. He took the weapon, placing it in the belt holder, then pulled me close and wrapped his arms around me. As he threaded the belt through my belt loops, he looked up at me.

“I know how careless you can be with yourself, and while you hold me in such high regard…

“I can’t trust my own judgment to protect you, or think I can stop myself before I hurt you,” he said, securing the belt. His hands lingered on my waist.

“I need you to have this with you always. It’s the least you can do.” His eyes met mine briefly before he looked away.

I dropped to my knees to level with him. “How can you expect me to use this against you?” I questioned. The thought of him hurting me was unimaginable. The idea that he believed I could hurt him was even more so.

He gave a half-smile. “Because we’re not the same, Adelie.” His eyes sparkled.

“I’d use every selfish part of me to end my own life before I’d ever consider ending yours. And what makes you stronger than me is that you could actually do it,” he confessed. I shook my head in denial.

“You claim everyone sees you as heartless, yet you act as if I’m incapable of love.” Did he think I didn’t love him as much as he loved me? If so, he was mistaken.

I loved him. I loved him more than anything else. Sometimes, I wondered if my love for him surpassed my love for life itself, for the very essence that kept me alive.

“It’s not about whether you’re capable of love… It’s about the fact that I’m too weak to exist without you, but you’re strong enough to live for both of us.” He pulled me closer, resting his head on my stomach.

If only he knew that his child was growing inside me. I couldn’t tell him yet. I had to find a cure for Kairos first.

He lifted his head to look at me. “Tell me honestly…” he began, but I knew that I had grown to fear the truth. “Is there hope for me?”

I wanted to lie to him, but… I kissed his forehead. “Our entire existence is built on hope, and I’m just asking you to hope one more time.”