I staggered back from the doorway, my back hit the wall with a hard thud. My eyes darted from Kain's calm, smiling face to Jax's unconscious form.
"Stay away from me," I breathed, my voice trembling.
Kain's smile didn't falter. He held up his hands in a gesture of mock surrender. "Riley. If I wanted to kill you, you would already be dead. The siren would have finished you in the woods. Or I could have simply not stopped my scouts from tearing your apartment apart." He took a slow, deliberate step into the room. "I want to talk. That's all."
His gaze swept the cramped, locked bedroom with open disdain. "Come. Let's go outside. I detest these cramped, human spaces. The air is cleaner out there."
He turned and walked out into the main cabin, not even checking to see if I would follow. His confidence was its own kind of command.
Hesitantly, my heart hammering, I crept to the doorway. He was standing by the open front door, moonlight framing him. He glanced back at me.
"What did he do, Riley?" Kain asked, his voice softening with what sounded like real concern. He gestured around the cabin. He took a step closer, his intense eyes searching mine. "Is it the scar?"
Kain's eyes remained fixed on me, that same look of pity and understanding on his face. He took my silence as confirmation.
"It's the scar, isn't it?" he murmured, his voice almost gentle. He took a slow step toward me, then another, closing the distance between us in the quiet cabin. "The mark of the Aethelgard Bond. He uses it to hurt you. To control you."
He stopped just in front of me, his presence overwhelming. He didn't have that earthy scent like Kaek. He smelled of cold night air and something clean, like sandalwood. It was disarming.
"Let me see it," he said, his voice soft but leaving no room for refusal.
My breath hitched as my hand flew instinctively to my collarbone, covering the unmarked skin. It felt like the most intimate, vulnerable part of me. The source of my prison.
"It's… it's not there right now," I stammered. "It only appears when I…"
"When you disobey," he finished for me, his gaze knowing. "When you show a spark of the will he is so desperately trying to break." He reached out, his movements slow and deliberate, giving me every chance to pull away. His fingers gently brushed my hand aside.
His touch was cool. Precise. Nothing like Kael's searing grip.
"Show me," Kain whispered, his eyes holding mine. "Think of defying him. Think of running. Call the scar to the surface. Let me see the chain my brother keeps you in."
His words were coaxing the rebellion and pain to the surface. I felt a warmth bloom beneath my skin, a response to the very thought of defiance he was planting in my mind. The intricate, silvery lines began to etch themselves onto my collarbone, glowing faintly in the dim light.
Kain's eyes dropped to the mark. A strange, His unreadable emotion lickered to amusement, it was not pity anymore, but something darker. A mix of fascination and cold fury.
"There it is," he said, his voice barely a breath. His thumb hovered just above the shimmering skin, He didn't touch it but I could feel the chill of his proximity. "The proof of his tyranny."
He didn't pull his hand back. He let it fall to his side, his eyes were still fixed on the fading silvery lines on my skin.
"Does he tell you anything ?" he said, his voice still calm, but now laced with a thread of contempt for his brother. "Does he bark orders at you ?"
I couldn't deny it. My silence was confirmation enough.
"The Aethelgard Bond," he began, turning and walking slowly toward the fireplace, giving me space. He spoke very fluently, his words precise and clear. "It was not forged for cruelty. It was an alliance. My many-times-great grandfather's life was saved by your many-times-great grandmother. In return, he swore an oath of protection over her and her line, and her line swore an oath of service to his. It was meant to be symbiotic. A union of human resilience and wolfen strength."
He glanced back at me. "Kael would have you believe it is simply master and slave. A convenient lie for a brute."
He stopped by the unconscious Jax,with a sort of clinical disappointment. "He is binding you with fear and pain. A crude method. It creates a rebellious, broken tool." He looked at me, his gaze intense. "You are not broken. I can see that. You are simply… misinformed. And mistreated."
"But… the bond is to the Alpha bloodline," I said, the horrible realization dawning. "Not just to Kael."
Kain's lips curved into a small, approving smile. "You are quick. Yes! The oath is to the throne. To the rightful Alpha. And as the current reigning Alpha of the Bloodmoon Peak Pack…"
He didn't need to finish. The truth settled over me, cold and heavy. The silvery scar had answered to Kael's commands. But it would answer to Kain's, too. I was bound to them both.
He can command me
Riley what are you doing?
Riley you have to run he's a psycho
He raided your apartment you don't know how dangerous he is
"I am not my brother," he said, his voice softened, pulling me from my spiraling thoughts. "I do not believe in breaking People,I believe in… collaboration. You hold a power, Riley. A birthright. With me, I assure you, you would not be a slave locked in a bedroom. You would be an advisor. A respected part of the court. You would have a purpose, not just a function."
He walked back toward me, stopping a respectful distance away. His presence was no longer intimidating; it was compelling.
"Kael is a fugitive, clinging to a dead past. I am the future. I have built stability, order. And I can offer you the truth, the respect, and the safety he never could."
He extended his hand, not to grab me, but as an offer.
"So, I will not command you. I will ask you." His eyes, calm and confident, held mine. "Riley, I need you to come with me."