Kael POV

The wreckage around me was proof of my weakness. shattered glass, overturned furniture, the copper stench of blood smeared into the stone. My own hands wouldn’t stop trembling, knuckles split and bruised, the sting dulled only by the whiskey still burning in my veins.

I stayed on my knees, staring at them. Blood. My Gamma’s blood. My chest rose and fell in ragged bursts, but it wasn’t exhaustion. It was rage turned inward, eating me alive.

Every piece of destruction in this room was because of me. Because of my inability to let her go. Because I couldn’t give Aria safety, not without turning it into a weapon...