Chapter 122

Kane's POV

Guilt's got claws, and it crawled inside me and stayed. Like something rotting in my ribs. I was hunched in a trashy bar booth, already finished with my first bottle. Whiskey wasn't helping, just warming the edges of all the bad.

Aurora had been here twenty minutes ago. She'd slid into the booth across from me with those eyes, the ones that could see through all my walls. The ones that were begging me to let her in.

"Kane, please," she'd said. Voice soft like she was talking to something wounded. Which I was. "Just talk to me. Whatever Raymond said to you, we can figure it out together."

I couldn't look at her. Couldn't let her see how close I was to breaking. How bad I wanted to tell her everything. About Raymond's threats. About the promises he'd made to destroy her if I didn't back off.

"There's nothing to figure out," I'd lied. Kept my eyes on the whiskey. "Just leave it alone, Aurora."

But she wouldn't. She never did. That's what made her dangerous. That's what made her perfect. That's what was going to get her killed.

"I know you're scared," she'd whispered. "But pushing me away isn’t getting us anywhere. Shutting me out won’t protect me."

She was right. She was always right. That was the problem.

When I finally looked up, she was searching my face like she could find the man she loved buried under all the fear. Maybe that's what terrified me most.

"I can't," I'd said. The words came out like broken glass. "I can't do this anymore."

She'd flinched like I'd hit her. Sat there for another minute, waiting. Then she'd gotten up and walked away. Didn't look back. Smart girl.

Now I was alone with Raymond's voice echoing in my head. That cold tone he'd used, like he was discussing the weather instead of promising to destroy the only thing that mattered to me.

"She may be mentally sound for now," he'd said, smile sharp as a blade. "But I'll take joy in dragging her back home. Then I’ll take her apart piece by piece until those rumors about the unstable Luna become truth. And you'll get to watch it happen, Kane. You’ll get a front seat to it all, and there won’t be a damn thing you can do to stop it."

The threat sat in my chest like a tumor. Raymond knew exactly where to stab. I was back there again—fifteen, finding bodies where parents should've been, feeling the world crack under my feet.

This place, this shitty bar? Made sense. Filthy floors, smoke thick enough to choke on, candles struggling like me. It was for people who'd already given up. I belonged here. I didn't even feel real anymore, just some sad wreck of a man hiding behind liquor and bad choices.

"Every weakness you have. I'll use it against you. I'll use her." Raymond's words circled my skull like flies on roadkill. And he wasn't wrong. I'd loved Aurora so loud and obvious it made her a damn target. They all saw it. He just said it first. He made it strategy.

He was sharp. Precise. And me? I walked right into it. Let him gut me with my own feelings. I was supposed to be trained for this, but training didn’t matter much when you're face-to-face with someone who's seen the inside of your nightmares.

Whiskey burned like punishment but didn't help. I hated myself in layers. I'd become the man I swore I'd never be. My parents died standing for something. And here I am folding like wet paper at the first push.

"Another," I said to the bartender. He didn't say anything, just poured. He knew the look.

The booze stopped numbing me and started sharpening things. That self-hate turned into a scalpel. I needed to end it. Had to. Before Raymond made good on his promises. The only way to save her was to make her hate me so much she'd run.

And like fate delivering exactly what I needed, here came Alpha Sarah's daughter.

Blonde. Ambitious. She slid into the booth like she'd been waiting on this moment. "You look like you could use some company."

I should've recognized the setup. Should've seen the calculation in her eyes. But I was too busy drowning to notice the sharks circling.

This was it. The cruelest thing I could do. The thing that would hurt Aurora so deep she'd never forgive me.

Usually I'd wave her off. Not tonight. Tonight I needed the weapon.

"Why not," I muttered. "Let's add another bad choice to the list."

She smiled like she'd caught something worth mounting. Her hand was on my leg before I could second-guess it. I didn't stop her.

The night? Empty. Plastic. Like biting into wax and pretending it's candy. Every kiss made me flinch inside. But I stayed. I let it happen. Because that's what Aurora needed me to be now—the monster who'd break her heart so completely she'd never come back.

I don't remember the room. Don't even remember her name. But Aurora's face haunted the dark. Her eyes from earlier tonight. Her voice begging me to trust her.

And the morning after? I couldn't look at myself. I hated my skin. I hated my breath. I'd given her the cruelest gift I could, a reason to run from me forever.

The mirror showed me everything I'd become. Hollow eyes. Stubble that couldn't hide the shame. I was a ghost of the man who'd once promised to protect her.

Then the girl dropped the bomb.

Alpha Sarah's daughter made sure it was loud. Public. Strategic. I saw Aurora's face across the room—she went pale like someone pulled the plug. Still stood tall though. That's what killed me.

Perfect. It was perfect. The most brutal thing I could've done, and it worked exactly like I'd planned. Aurora's face told me everything—she was done. Finished with me.

I did that to her. Took the strongest woman I ever knew and gave her exactly what she needed, a reason to run from the monster I'd become.

Alpha Martinez showed up. Disapproval written clearly across his face. "Congratulations," he said, voice sharp enough to cut bone. "You've destroyed the most important investigation in werewolf history because you couldn't manage to keep it in your pants."

Every word landed like a hammer. But he was right. And the shame of it? Knowing he saw it too. I used to want to be like him. Now I was the cautionary tale.

"The council's postponing the vote," he added. His words were ice. "Your conduct made sure nobody takes us seriously. You just handed the Rogue King the perfect distraction."

Everything unraveled in my head. The months of work. The truth we'd gathered. The evidence we bled for. All of it collapsing because I couldn't keep my trauma in check. Because I let fear turn me into a weapon against the only person who mattered.

Alpha Martinez looked at me like I was a ghost. Like someone he used to believe in but now didn't recognize. "Running won't fix this," he said finally. "But it fits."

He walked out. Left me in that stink of whiskey and failure.

I told myself I did it for her. That breaking her heart was protection. But the truth was uglier. Raymond was right about one thing, I was too weak to deserve what she gave me.

I sat there, hours ticking past, drowning in should-haves and what-ifs. Thinking about how my parents would hate this version of me. I hated him, too.

The war was tipping. Aurora was cracked. And I was alone. Exactly the way monsters like me are supposed to be.