Kael meets my eyes, pain and regret swirling down them like ink. "She wanted to kill me slowly to force my pack's surrender and to end the war?"
I let out a stifled sob, and piteousness and betrayal swirled in a bitter stream. "In her mind, she saved you. She saved you from being ripped to pieces by your own pack and the Blackfang simultaneous. She knew only suffering could stop the cycle."
KAEL stands, his stomp wavering. He holds the pages tight, running his fingers over the runes that once damned him. "She — she loved me in her awful way.
I stretch out my arm and run my fingers across his scarred wrist where the mark, that was once hot and glowing, had been. "Twisted love — she worshiped that blood bond more than her life.
He exhales as pain and comprehension fill his face. "She's the villain and the martyr."
