Chapter 24 - Patrick #2
The anger drains out of him slowly, leaving something exposed underneath. He looks young standing there, younger than his twenty-four years. The boy I raised is still in there somewhere, buried beneath layers of Thornridge conditioning and justified resentment.
“Bastian said you betrayed us for a woman.” Jonas’s voice has lost its edge. Now he just sounds tired. “He said you threw away everything we built because some Llewelyn female spread her legs for you.”
“Bastian is a liar who says whatever serves his interests. You know that.”
He scrubs a hand over his face. “I needed to hear you say it. I needed to know that all those years of you telling me family comes first actually meant something.”
“Caelan is my mate. My true mate. The bond between us isn’t something I chose or planned.
It just happened, and once it did, I couldn’t ignore it any more than I could ignore my own heartbeat.
But that’s not why I left Thornridge. I was already looking for a way out before I ever met her.
She just gave me a reason to stop waiting and start acting. ”
“Because you love her.”
“Yes.”
I can see my brother turning that information over in his mind, trying to fit it into the framework of everything he thought he knew about me. About us. About what loyalty and family actually mean.
“I don’t know how to do this,” he admits. “I don’t know how to be someone other than a Thornridge wolf. It’s all I’ve ever been.”
“That’s not true. You were a Silverbend wolf first. Our father’s son.
You just don’t remember it.” I reach out and rest my hand on his shoulder, the first physical contact we’ve had since the battle.
“Reeyan is going to help you learn about pack history. About where we really came from. About the kind of wolves our ancestors were before Mordaunt’s father destroyed everything.
You might find that the person you’re supposed to be isn’t as far away as you think.
I’m not leaving you again, Jonas. Whatever happens next, you’re my brother. That hasn’t changed. It never will.”
His eyes glisten, but he blinks the moisture away before it can become anything more.
Twenty-four years of Thornridge conditioning taught him that tears are weakness, and that lesson won’t disappear overnight.
But the fact that he’s feeling anything at all tells me the boy I knew isn’t completely gone.
“I don’t forgive you,” he declares. “Not yet. Maybe not for a long time.”
“I know.”
“But I’m willing to try. To see if there’s something on the other side of all this that’s worth fighting for.”
“That’s all I’m asking.”
The guards knock on the door to signal that Reeyan has arrived.
Jonas straightens his spine and composes his face.
The vulnerability I caught sight of disappears behind a mask I recognize all too well.
We both learned how to hide ourselves in Thornridge.
We both learned that showing your true face was an invitation for others to exploit your weaknesses.
Maybe someday, neither of us will need those masks anymore.
Reeyan enters and nods to me before addressing Jonas. “Your quarters are ready. I’ll show you where you’ll be staying.”
Jonas follows him out without looking back. I watch them go until they disappear around the corner, then I release a breath.
Caelan is exactly where I left her, leaning against the wall with her arms wrapped around herself. She straightens when she sees me.
“How did it go?”
“About as well as I could have hoped. He’s angry, hurt, and confused. But I think he’s willing to try.”
“That’s something.”
“It’s everything.” I take her hand and press a kiss to her knuckles. “Thank you for waiting.”
“Always.”
Footsteps sound down the corridor, and I turn to find Maeve approaching us. The Hysopp seer looks even more unsettling than usual, with her pale eyes fixed on Caelan like she’s seeing something the rest of us can’t.
“I need to speak with you,” Maeve says. “Both of you.”
Caelan frowns. “About what?”
“About what I saw. What I finally understand.” Maeve stops a few feet away from us.
“When Evangeline married you in the Hysopp territory, I told her she had to proceed despite your protests. I said you were the glue. I couldn’t explain what that meant at the time.
The visions don’t always make sense until after the events they predict have come to pass. ”
“And now?” I ask.
“Now I understand.” Maeve’s eyes move between us.
“Your bond with Patrick created a bridge, Caelan. A path for wolves who wanted out of Thornridge but didn’t know how to leave.
They saw Patrick choose you over his pack.
They saw him risk everything for something other than power or survival.
And it showed them that another way was possible. ”
Caelan shakes her head. “I didn’t do anything. Patrick is the one who—”
“Patrick couldn’t have done it alone. The mate bond amplified his conviction.
It gave him something to fight for beyond revenge or duty.
You were the catalyst. Without you, none of those wolves would have surrendered today.
They would have fought to the death, because that’s all Thornridge ever taught them to do. ”
I think about the twelve wolves who followed us into the trees. The shell-shocked expressions on their faces. The way they looked at me and Caelan walking hand in hand like we were proof that something better existed beyond Mordaunt’s cruelty.
Maybe Maeve is right. Maybe the bond between us did something more than just connect two people. Maybe it lit a beacon for others who were lost in the dark.
Maeve’s expression grows somber. “There’s something else you need to know. Something I saw in the visions but couldn’t piece together until now.”
“What?” Caelan asks.
“The traitor. The one who told Thornridge about your mission.” Maeve pauses. “It was your father, Caelan. Jordan Thornwick.”
The color drains from Caelan’s face. “What?”
“When Sera broke the curse, everything in Llewelyn territory changed overnight. The women your father had spent his whole life understanding suddenly became strangers to him. Your mother wanted a connection. Your sister wanted adventure. The entire matriarchal structure was in upheaval as generations of women tried to process emotions they’d never been allowed to feel.
And your father… He didn’t adapt. He preferred the old order.
He preferred women who didn’t demand things from him, who didn’t expect him to meet them emotionally, who didn’t question the quiet, comfortable distance he’d built his entire marriage around.
The curse never touched him directly, but its breaking destroyed the world he understood. ”
“So he sold us out to Thornridge?” Caelan’s voice is barely a whisper.
“He made contact with Mordaunt’s people months ago. He’s been feeding them information ever since. The extra patrols at the camp, the ambush in the riverbed—that was all because of him.”
Caelan looks like she might be sick. I reach for her hand, and she grips it so hard her nails dig into my skin.
“Where is he now?” I ask.
“He fled with Mordaunt when the retreat was called. They’re somewhere in the unclaimed territories, regrouping. He’ll face justice eventually. They both will. But not today. But your mother…she’s devastated. She would benefit from a visit.”
Caelan doesn’t say anything. She just stands there with her hand in mine and her face frozen in an expression of disbelief and betrayal. Her own father. The man who raised her. The man she trusted.
I know that pain. I know what it feels like to watch the people who were supposed to protect you become the ones who hurt you most.
Maeve slips away without another word. I guide Caelan down the corridor toward the room we’ve been sharing, and she follows without protest. She doesn’t speak until we’re inside with the door closed behind us.
“He was my father.” Her voice cracks. “How could he do this?”
“I don’t know.”
“People died today because of him. Trenton might die because of him. My own father helped Mordaunt. He chose Thornridge over his own daughters.”
I pull her into my arms and hold her while she shakes. She doesn’t cry. Caelan isn’t the crying type. But the tremors that run through her body tell me everything about the storm raging inside her.
“I’m sorry,” I mumble against her hair.
“It’s not your fault.”
“I know. But I’m still sorry.”
Eventually, the shaking stops, and she pulls back to look at me. Her eyes are dry, but something in them has hardened.
I lean down and kiss her. It’s soft and slow and full of everything I can’t put into words. Gratitude. Relief. The bone-deep certainty that whatever comes next, we’ll face it side by side.
When we finally break apart, Caelan rests her forehead against mine.
“So what now?” she asks.
“Now we rest. Tomorrow, we start rebuilding.”
She nods. “I can live with that.”
We climb into bed without bothering to undress. Exhaustion drags at every muscle in my body, and Caelan curls against my side with her head on my chest. Her breathing slows within minutes. Sleep claims her fast.
I stay awake a little longer, staring at the ceiling and thinking about everything that’s happened. The battle. The defectors. Jonas. The traitor who turned out to be Caelan’s own blood.
Mordaunt is still out there. Bastian is still breathing. The war isn’t over.
But for the first time in sixteen years, I have something worth fighting for. A mate who chose me despite everything. A brother who might someday forgive me. A pack that’s willing to give me a chance.
That’s more than I ever dared to hope for.