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Lahat ng Kabanata ng Crowned in Fire, Baptized in Blood: Kabanata 41 - Kabanata 50

81 Kabanata

41

The car rolls to a slow stop outside the entrance to Mark’s pack square. It’s bright out, too bright, and loud with the high-pitched chaos of a kids’ party in full swing. Balloons bounce in the summer breeze. Music thumps from a speaker someone clearly thinks is a good idea. Kids are running in every direction like sugar-fueled lunatics, screaming and laughing.But all I can do is sit here, sweaty and hollow and aching in a way I can’t even explain.Caden’s thigh is pressed against mine, his arm draped behind me like it’s casual. It’s not. He’s been watching me like a hawk since we left the shop—tense, unreadable—but I’m too uncomfortable to fully care. My head’s foggy, my stomach’s rolling, and my clothes feel like they’re glued to my skin. Everything’s wrong and tight and hot.“Okay, we’ll just walk Granny to the door, then head out,” Mum says from the front, cheerful like it’s any other Sunday. She turns to look at us. “You alright back there, baby?”I nod, but it

42

Baylees POVBy the time Caden gets me through the front door, I’m not even human anymore.I’m sweat and tremors and sobs. I can’t tell if I’m burning or drowning in it. My skin itches, my head pulses, and every part of my body feels swollen with need — this loud, aching need to be touched, claimed, filled, anything.I scream into his neck as he carries me upstairs, my voice already wrecked from the banshee scream earlier. His arms tighten around me like I might break in half.“I’ve got you, baby. I’ve got you. Just hold on—”⸻BathroomThe cold hits before the water does. Caden practically throws me into the bathtub and drops to his knees beside me. The tap’s already blasting ice water. I sob as the shock slaps my skin.My clothes cling to me, soaked and sticky, but I can’t move to take them off. I try, but my hands don’t work. I just cry harder.“Off—off, please—get them off—I c-can’t breathe—”Caden doesn’t even hesitate. He grabs my shirt a

43

The door creaks open.Mum walks in, eyes flicking from me wrapped in a blanket on Caden’s lap to the state of the room, then back to me. She closes the door gently behind her, voice calm but urgent.“I just got off the phone with Caron,” she says carefully. “Baylee… we think we know why your heat won’t end.”My heart’s already pounding. Caden’s arms tighten around me.“It’s the contraception implant,” she says. “The bar in your arm. It might be blocking the final stage of the bond.”I blink at her, sweat sticking to my skin despite the bath and cold air. “Blocking it?”“It’s hormonal,” she says, crouching in front of us now, eyes soft. “It’s likely confusing your body. The bond’s trying to complete, but your hormones are sending mixed signals. Caron thinks if we remove the implant… the bond might settle on its own.”I sit up a little. My brain is foggy, like someone stuffed it full of cotton and static.“But what about—” My voice cracks. “I’ll get pre

44

Caden’s POVBaylee’s curled up in my arms again, warm and steady against my chest. It’s been fifteen hours, and I swear I still don’t know how we survived it. Her breathing is soft now, no more shaking, no more crying. Just stillness. Peace. Sleep.I kiss her temple again, needing to feel her, needing to remind myself she’s real and here and alive. The girl who burned through the worst heat we’ve ever seen and still clung to me like I was her safe place. Fuck, she is the strongest person I know.Footsteps hit the sand behind me. I don’t look—I already know it’s May. I can feel her before she speaks.She sinks down onto the towel beside us, legs folded up to her chest, oversized hoodie swallowing her frame. Her eyes are glued to Baylee.“She’s okay?” her voice is rough. Worried.I nod. “Better. Finally.”There’s a long pause. Then May exhales shakily and looks out toward the waves. “I thought she was gonna die.”“Me too.”She swallows. “I’ve never

45

I glance down at my phone, thumb hovering over the screen. The second I open the first message, I already regret it.Avi – “When are you coming home? Are you and May May dropping out?”My eyes roll so hard I nearly sprain something. Of course.Avi’s been passive-aggressively poking at me for weeks. Ever since Davi. She hated that I ended him—even though he was a traitor. Even though he nearly got us all killed. And now she only messages me when she wants answers or attention. Never to check in. Never to say “I’m proud of you”. Just constant poking.I type back, dry as hell.Me – “Finished school at 8, so not really dropping out. And when we come back, we’re getting sworn in. May will be Beta female. No time for homework when you’re helping lead an entire pack.”I hit send and barely get a breath in before her response pings.Avi – “She’s not even marked? That’s stupid. What if Ryan isn’t her true mate?”A growl builds in my throat before I even proces

46

I sigh, letting the heat of my anger finally drain out through my limbs. The bond has settled back to a steady thrum, but it still aches faintly from those long, unbearable minutes he wasn’t touching me.Caden kisses my temple gently, but I feel him hesitate before he speaks.“Hey,” he says softly, brushing a strand of hair behind my ear. “Why’d it hit you so hard? When I stepped out.”I pause, swallowing down the lump forming in my throat.“It’s not just the bond,” I say, voice rough. “It’s… everything.”He waits.I sit up just enough to see him properly. His hands remain resting gently on my waist like he’s tethering me there—like he knows I need grounding.“I just don’t know how the people I train with—who’ve seen me on my worst days—are ever going to see me as a Luna,” I admit. “I’m meant to protect them, but half of them still think I’m just Baylee. Just… cute little Baylee who reads too fast and gets nosebleeds when she banshee-screams. A freak with

47

He growls, low and seductive, like he’s already claimed what’s his—and isn’t above reminding me. In one swift move, he pulls the dress from my body, tossing it aside like it offended him.His lips trail a path down my chest, over my stomach, tongue teasing and teeth catching every few inches in ways that make my breath hitch. His hands stay clamped firmly around my ass, possessive and deliberate. Like he’s anchoring me here. Like I might float away if he lets go.Gosh, I’m soaked. He hasn’t even touched me properly and I’m already losing it.The bulge under his shorts is shameless, tight and proud. My wolf, Ailm, is practically panting.Take. Mate. Now.But I flip us with a smirk, watching his eyes darken as his back hits the lounge cushion. I straddle him, slow and teasing, just to assert a little control—not that I ever really have any around him. My fingers go to the buttons of his shirt, undoing each one agonizingly slow. I kiss every new inch of exposed skin

48

Caden jumps up so suddenly the bed creaks in protest. His eyes are wild, scanning me like he’s checking for bruises, burns—evidence of something I’d never hide from him. His hands glide over my arms, my waist, my thighs, gentle but frantic.“Caden,” I laugh softly, still breathless. “What are you doing?”He freezes, gaze locking onto mine, and I see the storm behind his eyes. His fingers twitch against my skin. “Did he—? Baylee, be honest. Did Cade hurt you?”I blink, surprised by the edge in his voice. “What?”“He pushed forward,” Caden rushes out, voice tight, almost panicked. “He wouldn’t let me back. I couldn’t stop him, I couldn’t control it. I tried. I—damn it, I tried.” His hands ball into fists like he’s punishing himself. “Tell me the truth. Are you hurt?”My smile fades, replaced by something quieter—something warmer. I kneel up on the bed, cupping his cheek in my palm, grounding him. His chest rises and falls in sharp, broken breaths. I stroke his skin

49

Caden grips my hand a little tighter than usual as we make our way toward the front of the yacht. The hallways feel longer now, quieter—like the boat is holding its breath.He leads us into the control room where the captain stands behind a wide console of glowing screens and antique brass levers. Everything looks normal. Too normal.“Something urgent’s come up with the company,” Caden says smoothly, offering the man a tight, polite smile. “We need to be back on land as soon as possible. Are we far out?”The captain pauses. Just a beat too long.His eyes flick to Caden’s hand—still linked with mine—then back to the horizon. “Of course, Mr. Moon,” he says, smiling, but the corners of his mouth twitch like the expression doesn’t quite fit. “We’re about two hours from the coast. I’ll turn her around now.”“Two hours?” I repeat in my head.Wrong.Everything about his tone, his body language, even the way the other crewman in the corner stiffens—it screams off

50

Caden drives us straight back to the private villa after Ryan drops us off at our car, cutting through the winding roads like a man possessed. No music. No talking. Just the slap of wet clothes against leather seats and the low, unsettled hum of the bond between us. Our wolves are stirring too much to rest. The danger’s passed, but every nerve in my body still screams like it hasn’t.Not that it has passed. Not really.I keep my forehead pressed to the window as we pull into the driveway. The warm night air should feel soothing, safe. It doesn’t. There’s something buried beneath my skin—like a warning that won’t shut up. That something’s coming. That this wasn’t over.Caden doesn’t speak as he kills the engine and immediately grabs his phone.“Call them.”I already am. My hand is shaking so badly I almost drop it.One ring. Two. Then—“Baylee?” Mum answers, breathless and already panicked.“Mum,” I whisper, and just like that, the walls I’ve been tryi

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