Chapter 6: The Price of Freedom

The silence that followed my accusation was heavier than any chains. Kaelus did not try to explain. He simply stood there, his face an unreadable mask, the faint pulse of the bond between us a hum of shared misery. After a long moment, he turned and left without another word. The door closed with a finality that echoed in the hollow chamber of my chest.

That night, the bond, which had been a constant, low-level ache, flared into an agony I could no longer bear. It was no longer just a connection; it was a cage. Every beat of his heart, a drum of reminder that I was his prisoner, his asset. The cold calculation in his voice as he said “valuable prisoner” played on a loop in my mind, poisoning every memory of the fleeting warmth we’d shared.

I couldn’t stay. The need to escape, to put miles between us, became a physical compulsion, as vital as breathing. I had to sever this… this thing, even if it killed me. Perhaps that was the only way to be free.

Under the cover of a moonless night, I made my move. The guard was distracted. Using the last reserves of my vampire speed, weakened as I was, I slipped from the lodge and into the dark embrace of the forest. The moment I crossed the invisible boundary of the Silvermane territory, it felt like tearing a piece of my soul out.

A searing pain, white-hot and absolute, exploded in my chest. It was the bond, screaming in protest at the separation. I stumbled, clutching a tree for support, my vision swimming. I could feel it—a tangible, silvery thread stretching taut between Kaelus and me, and with every step I took, it frayed, sending waves of debilitating agony through my entire being. It wasn’t just emotional; it was a physical unraveling. A fever ignited in my blood, and a cold sweat drenched my clothes. My muscles trembled, refusing to obey my commands.

Keep going,I begged myself, dragging my body forward. Freedom is worth any price.

But the price was higher than I knew. The world began to spin. The familiar trees became monstrous shadows. The pain was a living entity, gnawing at my insides. I collapsed to my knees, vomiting nothing but bile. The bond wasn’t just a tether; it was a lifeline I had foolishly severed. Darkness crept at the edges of my vision, and the last thing I felt was not the cold forest floor, but a distant, frantic pulse of alarm through the dying thread—hisalarm—before everything went black.

Kaelus’s world shattered into a single, blinding point of panic. One moment, he was staring into the dying embers of his fire, trying to numb the constant, guilty ache of the bond, and the next, a pain so profound it was beyond physical tore through him. It was her pain. Her despair. And then, a terrifying… emptiness. A severance.

“Liliana!” Her name was a raw scream ripped from his throat, echoing in the silent lodge.

He didn’t think. Alpha command, political consequences, the watching eyes of his pack—none of it mattered. The primal part of him, the part that had recognized her as his mate, took over completely. He burst from his room, a silver-haired demon of panic, shoving past a startled Derrick.

“She’s gone,” he snarled, his senses stretching out, following the frayed, screaming remnants of the bond. “And she’s dying.”

He found her not far from the border, a small, broken figure curled on the damp leaves. Her skin was pale as death, cold to the touch, her breathing shallow and ragged. The bond, now that he was close, flared with a desperate, agonized light, weakly trying to reconnect.

“No, no, no,” he chanted, gathering her limp form into his arms. Her head lolled against his chest, and the sight of her, so powerful and fierce, reduced to this… it broke something inside him. The cold Alpha was gone. In his place was a man staring into the abyss of his own mistakes.

He carried her back to the lodge, ignoring the shocked and disapproving stares. He laid her on his own bed, the furs doing little to combat the deathly chill radiating from her. The healer came, shook his head, and spoke of bond rejection, of a price too high to pay.

Kaelus dismissed him. There was only one way.

With a hand that trembled slightly, he drew his dagger. He sliced his own palm, deep, letting the rich, potent blood of an Alpha well up. Gently, he parted her cold lips.

“Drink, Liliana,” he whispered, his voice thick with an emotion he could no longer name or control. It was beyond guilt, beyond duty. It was a desperate, clawing need for her not to leave him. “Please. I command you to live.”

He let his blood drip onto her tongue. Then, he held her close through the long, dark hours, his body curled around hers, trying to impart his warmth, his life force, into her. He whispered apologies into her hair, promises he didn’t know if he could keep, words that were for her alone, not for any council or pack. The bond, slowly, painfully, began to knit itself back together, fed by his blood and his raw, unchecked terror of losing her.

I awoke to warmth. Not the false warmth of a fur blanket, but a living, breathing heat surrounding me. My head was pillowed on something solid, and a steady, strong heartbeat thudded against my ear. The agonizing pain was gone, replaced by a deep, bone-weary ache and a strange, metallic taste in my mouth—the taste of him.

My eyes fluttered open. I was in Kaelus’s bed. And I was in Kaelus’s arms.

He was asleep, his face etched with an exhaustion so profound it made him look younger, vulnerable. Dark circles bruised the skin under his eyes, and his silver hair was disheveled. One arm was wrapped protectively around me, his wounded palm, now bandaged, resting against my back.

For a long, treacherous moment, I simply lay there, listening to his heartbeat, lulled by the rhythm. The bond hummed contentedly, a warm, steady glow that felt… right. The memory of his whispered pleas in the dark brushed against the edges of my consciousness—Please. Don’t go.

Then, the memory of the “valuable prisoner” returned, cold and sharp. This closeness, this care… was it just another manipulation? A more effective way to ensure his “asset” remained compliant?

As if sensing my wakefulness, his eyes opened. The stormy grey was clouded with sleep and a vulnerability I had never seen before. For a heartbeat, there was no Alpha, no jailer—just a man relieved beyond measure.

“Liliana,” he breathed, his arm tightening almost imperceptibly.

The tenderness in his voice was my undoing. It was the final, cruelest trick. I couldn’t afford to believe it.

I pushed myself away from him, scrambling to the far side of the large bed. The loss of his warmth was immediate and punishing. The bond whimpered in protest.

“Don’t,” I said, my voice hoarse but firm. I wrapped my arms around myself, creating a barrier he could not cross. “Don’t pretend this changes anything.”

The vulnerability in his eyes vanished, shuttered behind a wall of weary resignation. He sat up, running a hand over his face. “You almost died.”

“A price I was willing to pay for my freedom,” I retorted, the words tasting like ash. “Your debt is paid, Alpha. You saved my life… again. But I will not be your prisoner any longer. The next time I leave, I will succeed.”

I saw the flash of pain in his eyes before he could hide it. He had bared his soul in the darkness, and I had thrown it back in his face. He gave a curt nod, the Alpha fully restored. “As you wish.”

He stood and walked to the door, pausing with his hand on the frame. He didn’t look back. “The bond is stable. For now. But it requires proximity. If you try to leave again… the result will be the same.”

Then he was gone, leaving me alone in the warmth of his bed, surrounded by the scent of him, the ghost of his embrace, and the chilling certainty that I had just shattered something fragile and real, all to protect a heart that was already irrevocably bound to his. The freedom I craved felt emptier than ever.