LOGINKAELHer question hung in the air between us. I did not rush to answer, but my wolf stirred at her words, restless and eager, but I kept it controlled. I refused to let the bond dictate my actions."That is the permanent fix, Ava," I said slowly. "But we cannot afford it now. It would throw everything into chaos. The political families would view it as a scandal rather than a genuine bond. They would use it to gain favors and undermine the restructuring. You have been hiding your condition from the public. If we claim each other now, it would look like a desperate move rather than a natural progression. I have placed you as my political partner. That is what protects us for now."I watched her process my words. Her wolf stirred, a sense of disappointment radiating from her, but she understood. Even with her new discovery of lining the transactions to institutional and laboratory research, she did not feel dejected. She was stronger than that."But I will use another method," I said, c
AVA"What is it exactly?" Kael asked me.We had gotten to the airfield and seeing the metal just made me place a gentle hand on my head before I shook it left and right."It is nothing," I said.But the memories came anyway. The flight that had crashed. The summit. My parents almost dying. I blinked the images away, forcing myself to focus on the present.Kael noticed. He let go of my hand and moved closer, his eyes searching mine. "You are thinking about the crash."It was not a question. I did not answer. I just looked at the private jet ahead of us and let out a slow breath."I did not know we were going to fly. You should have told me," I said instead, keeping any form of brewing panic from my tone."The travel is short. It is a half hour flight to the northern territory. Driving would take too long and we do not have the luxury of time.""Alright. I…understand," I answered. Yet, I didn't move.But Kael did not take the luxury of treating me as if I had resolved with all my heart.
KAEL"There is something else I need to show you," I said. "But first, we need to meet with your parents about the retreat. After that, I will explain everything in detail. Understood?"This time, Ava did not resist. Not when my tone carried the kind of assurance that promised, unlike before, I was not going to keep her out of the information.I studied her a moment longer than necessary, the faint shadow still lingering beneath her eyes, the exhaustion she tried so hard to mask whenever she thought I was not looking. My wolf noted it too, restless, unwilling to let the matter rest for long."Understood," she said finally, and something in her tone told me she had already resigned herself to whatever came next, whether she liked the shape of it or not.***A regional assessment, I had called it, uncertain whether the name even fit what we were about to do."Yes, that is fine," Ava had said earlier, and I had nodded once before we made our way down to meet Grayson and Nova in the sitti
KAELShe had taken it as an insult, though even beneath her measured response, her body language was anything but calm.My eyes drifted, following her fingers as they drummed against the table, restless against her own nails. Until finally, they stopped. That was when my gaze moved back up to her fierce eyes, and I blinked away whatever had been rising in me before it could show."No. I am not going to do that," I said firmly, and her eyes, which had been closed, opened in surprise before narrowing into something closer to annoyance."I do not understand you. I do not understand any of this anymore, and I am really, really getting tired. Just tell me what I need to know so I can do what I have to do," Ava said. But I knew giving in would only work against us, not right now, not when she was already carrying more than she could process."Tell me this, Ava, and your answer will decide what I say next," I said, a shared desperation surfacing in me again, knowing that if she answered hone
AVA"Dear, what is wrong?" Mother asked from over my shoulder, but my eyes did not move to meet hers.I could not blame her for caring. It was not the caring that bothered me in the slightest, not when I had worked myself to the bone these past few days. I had every reason to. Vera had given me a hint I could not let pass, could not ignore, no matter how much I wanted to.Was this why Lucas had always been watching me?Was this why he had never once confronted me outright?Was this the real reason Vera had come back into my life at all?And the most important question I had yet to ask myself: what was Kael doing? I could not know, not when he still had not made contact, and with every hour that passed in silence, I was starting to feel as though I was losing my mind, or maybe it was only these headaches wearing me down, one after the other, until I could no longer tell the difference between the two.I placed a gentle hand against my head, as if to stop the throb from rising, and that
AVA"What?" I managed, but Kael's eyes had already darted back toward where my parents stood, his understanding that our time was brief."I cannot explain everything to you in a minute, but I will call you. Understand?" Kael asked.He did not wait to hear my answer before turning back to face my parents. The moment shifted, clarity dissolving into deeper confusion, and I was left pondering a bigger mystery than the one I already had. Victor opened the car door for Kael, and he entered, his expression still fixed on me through the window. I had not even heard Victor greet me, too caught up wondering what Kael had meant. Kael only observed me, and I could not tell what he was trying to read in my expression, before his car finally pulled away from the building.I walked toward Mother and Father. Mother, ever observant, called out to me. "Ava, is something the matter?" she asked, noticing my blank expression.I was not dumbfounded, only overwhelmed. The unexpected weight of Kael's words
AVAMy mother.The moment she heard my voice she turned to me. Her eyes got all teary, the anger she had just a minute ago disappearing.I forced a smile even though I was still feeling pretty tense inside."Mom, do not get so upset, " I said softly, trying to calm her down before things got worse.
AVAFrom the corridor, I listened to every word, a faint bitter smile slowly curling at the corners of my lips.Sister. That is what Lucas called me.After seven years of marriage in our previous life after countless nights spent in the illusion of tenderness after everything I had endured and sacr
AVAMy mother's face was a picture of shock when I told her I did not want to marry Lucas. She just stood there frozen. After a moment she let out a sigh. It was a sound that said she felt helpless."The wedding is all arranged, Ava," she said. "The invitations have been sent out. How can you say s
AVAThe light in my eyes got dim.So this was how it all ended? Again, like our fate was twisted.Smoke went down my throat thick and hard to breathe. My chest got tight with every breath. The flames came closer, eating up the walls, the ceiling, everything.I shut my eyes, maybe… This was for the







