Chapter 38: The Aftershock

The wind howled through the broken windows of the safehouse, stirring the scent of blood, ash, and sweat. But in the center of the destruction, time had slowed to a breathless, sacred stillness.

Kai sat between Adrian's legs on the couch, wrapped in a blanket that didn't quite chase away the tremble in his limbs. Adrian held him close, one arm around his waist, the other gently combing through his hair like he was memorizing the strands.

The world could wait. Healing couldn't.

"You're still shaking," Adrian murmured, brushing a kiss to the top of Kai's head.

Kai's voice was small, raw. "Not from fear."

Adrian stilled.

"I've never felt that much power," Kai whispered. "I thought I'd be terrified of you after what you did. But I'm not. I feel… safe."

Adrian let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding, leaning down to nuzzle into Kai's neck. "Good. Because I'd destroy a thousand more for that look in your eyes, lobo. You make me… want to be more than what I am."

Kai tilted his face toward him, catching the edges of Adrian's words with a soft smile. "You already are."

Adrian kissed him slow, lingering, reverent. No heat this time, just warmth. A seal. A promise.

But beneath the calm, the tension hadn't truly faded. Adrian's claws were still slightly extended. His fangs still pressed at the edges of his lips.

"I don't trust this quiet," Adrian said at last, eyes flicking toward the door.

Kai stiffened. "You think they'll come back?"

"They might not need to." Adrian leaned in, voice low and edged in steel. "They saw what I'd do for you. They'll use it. Twist it."

"So we go to them first," Kai said softly, surprising even himself.

Adrian turned, lips parting as he studied the wolf in his arms. "You're not that scared little thing they tried to break anymore, are you?"

Kai shook his head slowly. "Not anymore. I have something to protect now too."

Adrian smirked, slow and dangerous. "That's my boy."

A knock rattled the door. Not violent. Intentional. Adrian stood, placing himself between Kai and the sound. Blood still stained his hands.

"Stay back," he said coldly, eyes locked on the threshold. "If it's another trap, I'm tearing throats first, asking questions later."

The door creaked open…

And on the other side stood her.

Dark cloak. Ancient eyes. A scent of old magic and burnt incense.

"I'm not your enemy," she said calmly. "But if you want to survive what's coming, you'll need me."

Adrian narrowed his eyes. "And who the hell are you?"

The woman smiled, unshaken. "I'm the one who knows what Kai really is."

Adrian didn't lower his guard, not even when the cloaked woman stepped over the threshold with slow, measured grace. Kai rose behind him, clutching the blanket to his chest like a shield, his eyes narrowing with a wariness Adrian had never seen before.

"You're not a vampire," Kai said, voice barely a whisper.

"No," she answered, eyes glowing faintly in the low light. "And neither are you… not just a wolf, anyway."

Adrian growled low. "You're wasting my patience."

The woman tilted her head. "You can feel it, can't you? The pull of something ancient in him. The magic in his blood that not even his pack dared to name."

Adrian didn't move. "You have ten seconds to explain why I shouldn't rip out your throat."

She chuckled a sound like dried leaves brushing stone. "Because if you do, your little wolf will never survive what's coming."

Kai stepped forward then, one bare foot over the threshold of bravery and fear. "What do you mean?"

The woman looked at him with something like reverence. "You were born of two bloodlines your father, a pure omega wolf. But your mother… she carried something older. A lineage of guardians. Protectors of balance. Magic wolves, bred to stand between vampire and beast when the world began to rot."

Kai blinked. "That's a myth. A bedtime story."

"Yet here you are," she said softly, "alive, untamed… and awakening."

The words hit Kai like a punch. Adrian reached back, fingers brushing Kai's hand, grounding him in a moment that threatened to spiral.

"I don't care what he's becoming," Adrian said, darkly. "He's mine."

The woman smiled, something knowing in her expression. "Then protect him well. Because the moment they realize what he is… they'll come not to kill him"

"but to use him," Kai finished, his voice low.

A new silence settled. Not fragile like before. Heavier. Loaded with the weight of fate and war.

The woman turned to leave, her cloak brushing the broken floor. "I'll find you when the time is right. Don't let the darkness take him before I do."

And just like that, she vanished.

Adrian shut the door with a slam, then turned to Kai.

"I don't give a damn what blood flows in your veins," he said, walking toward him with a feral intensity. "You're mine, Kai. And nothing not fate, not prophecy, not war is taking you from me."

Kai looked up at him, heart hammering, lips trembling with too many words left unsaid.

"Then mark me," he said.

Adrian froze.

Kai stepped closer. "If I really am something more then I want my tether to be you."

Adrian's eyes turned crimson, his fangs elongating. Not out of hunger.

Out of devotion.