The Stand-In Queen Chapter 07
Kael stood in the yard, covered in road dust.
His silver-grey wolf-pelt cloak was stiff with frost from the ride. He must have galloped through the night.
His gaze passed over Lyra and locked onto me.
“Ayla.” His voice was hoarse.
I didn’t move. I only looked at him, as if he were a stranger.
He walked into the courtyard.
Lyra had already slipped away without a sound.
“I’ve come to take you back.”
He stopped a few paces from me. His eyes swept the bundle on the table, and a flicker of pain crossed his face.
“Those things… they’re not bargaining chips. They’re what you deserve.”
“Kael,” I said softly, “the Bond is already broken. What is there to take back?”
He stepped closer, urgent.
“Ayla, everything Elara wrote was a lie. I never called you a stopgap. That night I went to her, your parents begged me. They said she was emotionally unraveling, that she might do something reckless. I spent the entire night in the hall with them, trying to make her accept reality. I never crossed any line. I… I didn’t know she was capable of such malice, of weaving lies to wound you.”
His eyes were bloodshot, searching my face for any crack.
“Ayla, these six years… I was lost. Selfish. At times I was cruel enough to think you were stronger than her, better suited to endure the storms for me.”
“But I swear, I don’t know when it happened, but my heart changed. I love you. I have loved you all along. I was only a fool, blinded by the old obsession I couldn’t have. Not until you left did I realize I had already fallen in love with you. I can’t live without you.”
His voice was raw, his eyes red.
Once, I might have been moved.
Now, I only felt exhausted.
“Love me?”
I lifted my eyes, my voice flat.
“Kael, is this your love? The night of the rival pack attack, you pulled every Healer to save her dying lilies while I bled out on the floor of the side chamber? Is it braiding our hair before the Moon Goddess to buy yourself peace? Is it what you said in your study-that only Elara is worthy of bearing your heir?”
“Your later tenderness was built on how much blood I shed for you. On confirming that I was more obedient, more useful than she ever was.”
“Are you afraid of losing a convenient, compliant Luna? Don’t mistake need for love.”
With every word, more color drained from his face.
I watched him pale, and felt a strange calm.
“All those nights, you held me and said I was your Luna, your life.”
I spoke gently, but my eyes were barren.
“But I heard what you said in that study, Kael. I may be lowborn, but I am not blind, and I am not deaf.”
“No… no, it wasn’t like that!”
His voice broke, agony swallowing him.
“I admit I was despicable! I admit I used you at first! But the years we shared were real! The blood I’ve spilled for you lately, the madness, the regret, the nights that belonged only to us-do they count for nothing against one old mistake?!”
“They don’t.”
I didn’t hesitate.
“Kael, from the start this was a transaction. My family needed status. You needed a Luna to stabilize your rule. I needed to survive. The transaction is complete. The Bond is severed. We owe each other nothing. That is the best ending.”
I pointed toward the gate.
“Please leave. This place suits me. I only want peace.’
Kael stood there, as if every ounce of strength had been ripped from him.
He said nothing more. He only looked at me, deeply, then turned and walked away with heavy steps.
At the same moment, miles away, chaos was already erupting before the Pack Hall.
