The door clicked shut behind him.
The kind that pressed against his ribs like a blade.
Kieran stood there, frozen, his back against the wood as if barricading himself...not from the world outside, but from the storm inside.
He didn’t move at first.
It was easier when he pretended.
When he kept his tone cold. When he stayed behind walls. But here, alone with her, the act fell apart.
He had no script. No armor. Only silence. And her.
His chest tightened painfully as he walked forward.She lay still, too still, her chest rising in shallow breaths.He laid the wooden wolf and the crushed blue wildflower beside her pillow.
"I am sorry," he whispered, the words cracking like glass. "I don’t think I will ever stop saying that."
His shoulders shook. He tried to steady himself, tried to swallow the scream crawling up his throat.
"I scared a kid today," he whispered quietly. "He thought he had to protect you...from me..."
Kieran lifted his head and looked at her face again. No reaction.
A bandage was across her temple, a faint swelling under her eye. He reached out, fingers shaking, as he gently brushed a strand of hair off her face.
Another quiet sob escaped his throat!
Kieran dragged the chair beside her bed, not bothering to hide the screech of its legs. Maybe some part of him wanted her to wake. To yell. To curse him.
Instead, she lay there, curled slightly to the side like a wilted petal in winter. Even in stillness, she looked like a storm had passed through her.
He sat down.And for a moment...he didn’t move at all.
Didn’t speak. Didn’t breathe.
Then slowly, like a man breaking through chains, he reached forward and took her hand.
Her fingers were cold.
He wrapped his other hand around hers like a shield, like it would warm the blood beneath the skin. Like he could undo what had already been done.
His jaw trembled, clenched. He lowered his head, his forehead barely brushing the edge of her mattress, eyes squeezing shut.
"I don’t deserve to be here," he murmured, voice hollow. "But I had to come.I miss you so much, it feels like I am drowning."
His wolf stirred restlessly inside him. "Fix it," it cried. "Bring her back to us."
He had known exactly what he was doing when he agreed to Roanoke’s terms.But survival felt like ashes in his mouth now.
His grip on her hand tightened."Look at me," he whispered, voice cracking. "Just... look at me!"
This was his punishment.
"Nobody is there to save her."The boy’s words echoed in his skull.
A choked sound escaped him. He bowed his head, his forehead pressing against their joined hands.
A tear hit the back of her hand.
He did not wipe them away. He let them fall. Let them burn.
"Alpha..." He scoffed...the title tasted like poison now.
What good was an Alpha who could not protect the one person who mattered?
What good was a wolf who betrayed his own soul?
Kieran’s head was still bowed when he felt it...the slightest twitch of her fingers against his.
Then, like lightning through his veins...her grip tightened.
His head snapped up just as Autumn yanked him forward with surprising strength.
Kieran’s lips hovered inches from hers.
He hadn’t meant to be this close.
His hand still gripped hers, but it wasn’t just grief that rooted him there...it was desperation. A need so fierce it burned behind his ribs like fire.
"Please wake up," he begging with all that he had. "Please."
And then... She moved.
A twitch. A furrow of her brow. A whisper of breath catching in her throat.
Kieran tried to jerk upright. "Autumn..?"
But before he could let go, her body tensed.
She squirmed suddenly...confused.Then her eyes snapped open.
Her forehead slammed into his with all the rage of the universe!
Pain exploded behind his eyes.
Kieran reeled back, nose gushing, and nearly fell out of the chair.
"FUCK!!!" he gasped, clutching his face.
It burst out of him like a gut punch. Short. Shaky. Maybe a little unhinged."FUCKING HELL!You are awake," he said, blood trickling down his lip, smile crooked with disbelief.
She swung a pillow at his face...but missed.
He did not even flinch.
Still laughing softly under his breath, a hand over his bleeding nose, his other still loosely held in hers.
" Go fuck yourself,you moron! I hate you! You..Alpha fuckboy...man whore!" she yelled, trying to shove him off and only managing to punch his shoulder. "YOU ASSHOLE!" she roared, her voice hoarse but loud, her entire body trembling with rage. "GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE BEFORE I RIP YOUR GODDAMN THROAT OUT WITH MY TEETH AND RIP YOUR HEART OUT! GET OUT OF MY SIGHT!"
Because even half dead, she could still knock him on his ass.
"That’s my girl," he muttered under his breath, grinning through the blood.
"DID YOU JUST FUCKING CALL ME YOUR GIRL?MOTHERFUCKER !!! YOU ARE MARRIED TO MY SISTER!" Autumn shrieked, grabbing the wooden wolf figurine off the bed and hurling it at his head.
He ducked. Barely."I SWEAR TO GOD, KIERAN..."
At that moment, the door opened.
Mango walked in holding a bowl of herbs.She stood there, arms crossed, taking in the scene...
Kieran, bleeding profusely, still grinning like an idiot.
Autumn, panting, her face flushed with fury, one hand gripping the sheets like she was about to launch herself at him.
Mango blinked. "...You know, I was gone for literally twenty minutes."
"She HEADBUTTED me," Kieran said, blood still leaking. "I think I deserved it."
"Damn right you do!" Mango drawled. "Well...Glad to see you are feeling better, Autumn."
" ASK HIM TO GET HIS ASS OUT OF HERE. NOW! I CAN’T STAND HIS FACE! "
Mango rolled her eyes. "Alpha, unless you want her to rupture her stitches, I suggest you leave."
Kieran nodded, still smiling.
Autumn flipped him off. "AND STAY OUT, YOU SON OF A..."
Kieran turned to Mango, eyes gleaming.
"Don’t leave her alone again," he said, calm and low. "Ever."
Mango smirked. "Copy that."
Autumn hurled a bandage roll towards Kieran as he stood.
It hit the doorframe just as he stepped out.The door closed behind him, cutting off the rest of her filthy, beautiful tirade.
Kieran leaned against the wall, listening to her muffled cursing, his chest lighter than it had been in days.