Chapter 7: A love worth defying faith

Elara pov:

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I run hastingly out of the forest like im being chased.

The realization had hit me.

although im destinied to be with cassian. my heart only knows kieran and i dont think i can do anything differeent.

i had lost control for a second and let the bond taken over.

I returned home in a state of absolute shock.

Dumbfounded.

I didn't know what to think or what to do.

But there was one thing I knew with certainty.

From that moment forward, nothing would ever be the same.

Two days had passed since my mate bond had been awakened, and I had deliberately avoided going to the mansion.

I couldn't risk seeing Cassian.

I couldn't risk being near him.

Not when every instinct inside me was screaming that he was mine.

But he wasn't supposed to be mine.

He was Kieran's brother.

And Kieran was the man I loved.

Tomorrow night was Kieran's succession ceremony, which would take place under the light of the full moon. I hadn't seen Kieran in days.

I didn't know how to face him yet.

This secret I now keep.

A secret I had never imagined I would have to keep from Kieran.

I had never hidden anything from him.

Not once.

Yet now, I was carrying something capable of changing all our lives.

I had to tell him.

Before the succession.

He needed to hear it from me.

He needed to know that my mate bond had awakened.

And that his younger brother was my fated mate.

Just imagining his reaction made my stomach twist.

I didn't know how he would respond.

Would he hate me?

Would he hate Cassian?

Would he believe I had betrayed him?

Or would he understand that this was something neither of us had chosen?

The thought of losing him terrified me.

And even worse, I couldn't bear the thought of becoming the reason for a rift between two brothers who had only just reunited after being apart.

But no matter how frightened I was, Kieran deserved the truth.

I couldn't allow him to discover it from someone else.

I wanted him to hear it from my lips.

Even if the words shattered everything we had built together.

---

I finally approached the hall where I knew Kieran would be.

As I neared the doorway, I spotted him speaking with his father.

I stopped for a moment, gathering the courage I needed.

Then Kieran looked up.

His eyes found mine.

And immediately, his entire expression changed.

His face lit up.

That smile.

God, how I had missed that smile.

I hadn't realized how much I had missed seeing it until that very moment.

Kieran quickly ended his conversation with his father and walked toward me.

The closer he got, the wider his smile became.

When he finally reached me, he stopped in front of me, his eyes slowly taking me in as though he were making sure I was really standing there.

Then he pulled me into his arms.

His embrace was warm and familiar.

Safe.

He lifted me effortlessly off the ground, holding me tightly against him.

“I've missed you so much,” he murmured. “These past few days have been miserable without you.”

My heart clenched.

I forced a small smile.

He lowered me back onto my feet before taking my hand.

“Come with me.”

Before I could protest, he was already pulling me away from the hall and toward the doors leading outside.

---

We walked around the mansion grounds for a while, catching up on everything we had missed in each other's lives over the past few days.

Kieran talked.

I listened.

I tried to participate in the conversation, but my mind kept wandering.

Every few seconds, the same thought returned.

Why I had come here?

I had come to tell him the truth.

I had come to tell him about Cassian.

About the bond.

About everything that had changed.

But then I looked at Kieran.

And I saw it.

The spark in his eyes.

The genuine smile he had been missing for weeks.

The happiness that seemed to return whenever he was with me.

Those were the things he had lost the moment Father announced his succession.

The responsibilities of becoming Alpha had slowly stripped away the happy man I knew.

But right now, beside me, he was himself again.

Just Kieran.

The man I had loved for years.

The man who had always made me feel safe.

The man whose happiness mattered to me more than I wanted to admit.

And suddenly, I remembered exactly why I loved him.

My chest tightened.

How could I possibly be the person who destroyed that smile?

How could I be the reason he lost the little happiness he had left?

I couldn't.

I wouldn't.

My gaze fell to our intertwined hands.

Then a decision began forming in my mind.

I would avoid Cassian.

I would stay away from him.

I would pretend the mate bond didn't exist.

Maybe, with enough distance, I could silence it.

Maybe I could forget the pull.

Maybe I could choose Kieran.

Yes.

I would choose him.

I would choose the life we had built together.

I would choose the love I had known for years over a bond I had only just discovered.

For the first time, I made a decision that belonged entirely to me.

I would defy fate.

I would defy the laws that had governed werewolves for generations.

I would choose my own destiny.

Even if the Moon Goddess had already chosen it for me.

At least, that was what I believed.

Little did I know...

It was easier to defy fate in my mind than it was to defy the bond in my blood.

And the plans the Moon Goddess had in store for me were far more complicated than I could ever have imagined.