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"I will kill him," Sion said quietly, the words enunciated with the flat certainty of a vow already decided.

Lisna turned sharply. "Sion—"

"He has no right," Sion continued, gaze fixed somewhere beyond the table, beyond the house itself. "There are laws against it for a reason. Favouring another in a mating—humiliating one mate while the bond still exists—is not done."

Fae said nothing, just looked down at her chipped nails and red, work-worn hands..

"I should have seen it," he said hoarsely, his gaze on the floor. "You were never still. You followed me everywhere—up trees, into trouble. You'd sit for hours watching our uncle shape blades, asking questions no one else thought to ask." He lifted his head, pain sharp in his eyes. "And then...you became someone else. And I should have noticed."

Fae nodded. "And I should have spoken, not kept things to myself. I know that now."

"No one expected it," Sion went on, his jaw clenched. "Because a mate does not survive the death of their bonded. We thought you both would be special. You saved him."

"Blaidd survived because of his children," replied Fae, "not because of me."

The past as she imagined it rose unbidden, vivid and merciless.

Isolde—round with life, her laugh still echoing in the pack halls. Pregnant with their third when she was killed. Two lives lost in a single blow. They said Blaidd had felt it through the bond, the severing so violent it had dropped him where he stood. He had blacked out mid-battle, wolf screaming inside him as the link burned itself to ash.

By the time he came back to himself, the fight was over.

Victory had already been won without him, but at a great cost.

And yet he had lived. A thing unheard of.

And when Fae claimed him, she is a gift, they had whispered.

Chapter 9

Sion dragged them back to the present with a sharp breath. "He has not valued what was given to him," he said quietly. "The goddess does not spare mates lightly. To survive that loss—" He shook his head. "You were his goddess-given miracle."

Lisna's eyes shone. "We thought...we thought the second bond had saved him."

"It did," she said evenly as she set her mug down. "But he forgot that I am a living, breathing being, not his war prize to use as he pleases."

"He should have honoured you," Sion said, finally looking at her. His gaze was fierce, unapologetic. "He should have guarded you as fiercely as he guards that second breath he was allowed to take."

Lisna covered her mouth, tears spilling freely now. " I should have stepped in."

Fae stood. "No," she said gently. "You shouldn't have had to. This is not your fault…or yours, Sion. This one is squarely on Blaidd."

Her wolf stirred, not angry, just resolved.

She gathered the beaded chain Myra had given her, looped it once around her wrist. "What he does now is no longer mine to carry."

Sion rose, towering, lethal, and restrained only by love for his sister. "If he comes after you—"

"He won't," Fae said. "He doesn't care enough. He will find it a relief while I find a way to break these chains."

She walked them to the door.

Lisna clutched her hand, desperate. "You are my sister. You don't disappear from me again," she said fiercely. "Not ever."

Fae squeezed once, then let go without replying.

As the door closed behind them, her wolf pressed close again, steady and sure.

Soon, it promised. And this time, we will not look back.