Chapter 58

Kane's POV

"Aurora!" I shouted, racing toward the smoking wreckage. Her car was crumpled against the rocky outcropping, metal twisted beyond recognition. Flames had already begun licking at the engine compartment, feeding on leaking fuel and oil. Time was running out.

As I approached the driver's side door, a shadow detached itself from the trees. A massive rogue wolf lunged between me and the car, teeth bared in a vicious snarl. The rogue was larger than most – clearly an enforcer rather than a typical scout.

"Get out of my way," I growled, feeling my eyes flash amber as my wolf surged beneath my skin.

The rogue answered with a guttural laugh. "Darian said you might come for her. No survivors – those were his orders."

My blood ran cold as pieces clicked into place. This wasn't just a random attack; Giana and the rogues had planned Aurora's death from the beginning. The sabotaged car, the coordinated ambush – all designed to eliminate her while providing plausible deniability.

"Last chance," I warned, my voice deepening as partial transformation began. I felt claws extend from my fingertips as my canines lengthened into deadly points.

The rogue lunged without warning, his massive form blurring with unnatural speed. I sidestepped, barely avoiding razor-sharp claws that would have opened my throat. Using the rogue's momentum against him, I grabbed his extended arm and twisted violently, bone snapping with an audible crack.

The rogue howled in pain but recovered quickly, spinning to face me with murderous rage. "She's as good as dead anyway," he taunted, circling warily. "The Alpha chose his real mate. Nobody's coming to save the rejected Luna."

My control slipped at those words. Years of calculated restraint shattered as rage flooded my system. The partial shift accelerated, bone and muscle reconfiguring as my wolf demanded release. I met the rogue's next attack with unleashed fury, my enhanced strength matching his raw power.

We collided in a blur of claws and fangs, bodies slamming against trees with enough force to splinter trunks. He fought with the desperate strength of one who knew failure meant death, but I moved with cold precision born of years of elite training. Where he relied on brute strength, I countered with tactical expertise.

A particularly vicious slash opened my shoulder to the bone, but I barely registered the pain. My focus remained absolute – defeat this enemy, reach Aurora. Nothing else mattered.

The rogue made a critical mistake, overextending during an attack. I seized the opportunity, driving my clawed fingers deep into his chest. The killing blow was swift and certain, delivered without hesitation or remorse.

As my opponent collapsed, I was already moving toward the burning car, ignoring my own wounds. The smell of smoke had intensified, now mixed with the unmistakable scent of Aurora's blood. The driver's door was crumpled inward, requiring all of my enhanced strength to wrench it open.

"Aurora!" I called, panic rising as I saw her trapped inside. Smoke had filled the cabin, and flames were spreading rapidly from the engine compartment. Her eyes were half-closed, consciousness clearly fading as smoke inhalation took its toll.

I reached in, assessing her injuries with practiced efficiency. Her leg was trapped beneath the collapsed dashboard, blood soaking through her jeans. Multiple lacerations marked her face and arms where glass had cut her, and her breathing was shallow, labored.

"Stay with me," I urged, working frantically to bend the metal pinning her leg. The heat was becoming unbearable as flames crept closer, singeing my hair and burning my hands as I fought to free her.

Above us, the battle between Raymond and the rogues continued, but not once did he look down toward the burning wreckage. His focus remained entirely on protecting Giana, who stood watching with calculated interest rather than fear.

With a final surge of strength, I created enough space to pull Aurora free. Pain flashed across her face as her injured leg moved, but I had no choice – the flames had reached the passenger compartment.

I lifted her with careful urgency, cradling her against my chest as I backed away from the vehicle. She felt impossibly fragile in my arms, her skin pale with blood loss and shock, her breath coming in shallow gasps.

"I've got you," I murmured, one hand pressing against the worst of her bleeding wounds. "Just stay with me."

Aurora's POV

Pain was my entire world. It radiated from my trapped leg, shot through my chest with each labored breath, throbbed in time with my heartbeat where glass had cut my skin. Through the smoke filling the car, I could barely make out the battle continuing above, Raymond fighting without once looking down to where I remained pinned.

Consciousness began to slip away as the smoke thickened, darkness creeping in from the edges of my vision. This was it, then – the end I had somehow known was coming since Giana entered our lives.

Then suddenly, impossibly, fresh air rushed in as the driver's door wrenched open. Kane's face appeared through the smoke, his expression a mixture of determination and fear as he assessed my situation.

"Aurora!" His voice penetrated the fog clouding my mind, pulling me back from the edge of unconsciousness.

I tried to respond, but could only manage a weak cough as smoke-filled lungs protested. The pain in my leg intensified as he worked to free me, metal groaning as he bent it away from my trapped limb. The heat from the approaching flames was overwhelming, blistering against my exposed skin.

"Stay with me," Kane urged, his hands moving with surprising gentleness despite the urgency of the situation.

I focused on his face, using it as an anchor against the pain and confusion threatening to drag me under. His features were set with determination, eyes glowing amber as his wolf lent him strength to bend metal that should have been impossible to move by hand.

When he finally lifted me from the wreckage, agony exploded through my body as my injured leg shifted. I bit back a scream, tasting blood as my teeth cut into my lower lip. Kane's arms formed a protective cage around me, his body shielding mine as he backed away from the burning car.

"I've got you," he murmured, his voice a lifeline in the chaos of pain and fear.

As we cleared the immediate danger zone, an explosion ripped through the air as the gas tank ignited. The shock wave knocked us forward, but Kane twisted mid-fall, taking the impact on his own body to protect me from further harm.

Debris rained down around us as he shielded me, hot metal and burning fragments striking his back and shoulders. Despite his wounds, his only concern seemed to be keeping me safe.

Through the haze of pain, I saw Raymond finally look down from the road, his wolf form pausing as he registered what had happened. He transformed back, called my name, and started down the slope, but the sound barely registered. All that mattered was the steady heartbeat I could feel with my cheek pressed against Kane's chest.

"Now he remembers you exist," Kane said bitterly as Raymond approached.

I drifted in and out of consciousness as they exchanged words, catching only fragments of their conversation.

"...didn't know—" Raymond's voice, uncertain and defensive.

"You knew," Kane's response, cold with fury. "You saw her car sliding toward that cliff. You watched it crash. You heard the impact. And you chose Giana anyway."

I forced my eyes open, needing to see Raymond's face as the truth of his choice was laid bare. His expression shifted from defensive to ashamed as Kane's words hit home.

"Kane," I whispered, my voice barely audible even to my own ears.

"I'm here," he assured me, his tone gentling instantly. "You're safe now."

My gaze drifted past him to Raymond, and in that moment, something fundamental shifted inside me. The mate bond that had caused me such pain flickered like a candle in strong wind. Looking at Raymond, I felt nothing but a hollow emptiness where love and loyalty had once resided.

As Kane carried me away into the forest, I summoned what little strength remained to grip his shirt, anchoring myself to his solid presence. Whatever came next, I knew with absolute certainty that the bond between Raymond and me had been severed—not by ritual or ceremony, but by his choice to leave me to die.

In its place, something new and unexpected had begun to form. Through the fog of pain and blood loss, I felt it—a connection to Kane that ran deeper than gratitude or physical attraction. Something that had grown quietly in the shadows while I'd been too focused on my failing bond with Raymond to notice.

As darkness claimed me once more, I gave myself over to Kane's protection, trusting him in a way I hadn't trusted anyone in a very long time.