Bloodbound to the Beastly King

Adina shook her head, the last of her restraint cracking. "It is exactly where I should be!" she snapped. "That is my child too, Thorne. Not just yours."

Silence fell hard between them. The tension was suffocating, that even the warriors closest to them shifted uncomfortably.

Thorne's gaze flicked briefly to the watching soldiers before returning to her. His expression hardened.

"Not here," he muttered.

He turned sharply and walked toward the deeper part of the woods.

Adina followed instantly.

The noise of the camp faded quickly behind them.

Thorne stopped abruptly, and Adina nearly stumbled into him.

He turned around, his face red with anger. "What were you thinking?" he snapped, the restraint from earlier gone. "Leaving the palace in that condition? After everything that just happened?"

Adina let out a shaky breath, her hands trembling at her sides. He couldn't even say it aloud. "In what condition, Thorne?" she shot back. "Say it. Say it properly."

"You just gave birth!" he barked. "You're barely healed, barely standing, and you chose to run into the forest?"

Adina scoffed. "To run? Run? As opposed to what, your majesty. Waiting and waiting and waiting while the guilt eats me up from the inside? While my thoughts go extreme, wondering if I've not just lost my daughter but also my mate?"

She shook her head. "I'm sorry, but I couldn't. I refuse to. I can't sit by and wait for you and her. I need to be useful, I need to do something. I need—"

"You could've died!" Thorne barked, his eyes blazing red. "You—You could've died. Why don't you ever listen to me? Why do you just—" he took a deep shaky breath, turning as he ran his hands through his hair.

For a moment, neither of them spoke.

Adina's chest heaved, her strength faltering, but she refused to fall apart in front of him.

"I caused this," she whispered suddenly, her voice crumbling. "If I had just listened to you… if I had destroyed the core like you said… Carter wouldn't have come. He wouldn't have taken her…"

Her breath hitched violently. "This is my fault."

"Stop."

She shook her head, eyes already clouding with unshed tears. "This is all my fault, and I know it—I just—"

"Enough!" Thorne growled, the sound echoing in the woods.

Thorne dragged a hand through his hair, his frustration spilling over in the motion. "I don't want to hear that," he muttered.

"But it's true!" she cried, "You asked me, and I didn't listen. I thought I was protecting everyone, and now—now look at what I've done!"

Her voice shattered completely. "He took her, Thorne," she choked. "He took our daughter."

Something in Thorne's expression flickered.

It was pain.

"You think I don't know that?" he said, quieter now. "You think I haven't gone over that moment over and over again in my head?"

His gaze locked onto hers. "I asked you where the core was," he continued, his voice rough. "And you told me it was gone."

Adina's lips parted, but no words came out.

"I trusted you," he said.

Adina physically recoiled, her breath catching in her throat. Trusted.

The silence that followed was heavy.

Then Thorne exhaled slowly, his shoulders dropping just slightly.

"I don't know how not to blame you," he admitted, his voice low, stripped of its earlier anger. "And I don't know how not to blame myself either."

"I've gone over that day, that moment over and over again. I can't—" his voice cracked, and he paused, swallowing. "If only I hadn't left that day. If only I listened to my instincts and pushed to stay with you. If I had just— Taken Carter out when I should've. If I hadn't given him so many chances. If I had just—" his voice cracked again.

Adina watched as he struggled with himself. It was just dawning on her how much they were both blaming themselves and drowning in guilt. They were both mourning differently.

Slowly, she stepped forward carefully, like he might shatter if she came too close too quickly.

"You didn't know," she said, her voice trembling. "None of us did."

Thorne let out a hollow breath, shaking his head. "I should have," he muttered. "That's my duty. That's what I'm supposed to do. Protect. See what others don't. And yet… I let him walk right under my nose for months. I left my sick and heavily pregnant mate alone. I—"

Adina shook her head, tears spilling out of her eyes. "No, you couldn't have known. We couldn't have known."

She swallowed hard, forcing the next words out despite how much they hurt. "If we keep doing this… blaming each other, blaming ourselves… we won't make it there in time."

Thorne didn't respond immediately. His gaze drifted past her, like he was trying to steady himself.

"She's alive," he said suddenly.

Adina stilled. Thessara had told her before they set out. She knew of his thoughts, and yet, hearing it from his mouth hit differently. It hit harder.

"She's alive," he repeated, firmer this time. "That blood… it wasn't hers."

Adina's breath caught in her throat. "Thorne—"

"I know what I saw," he cut in. "I know what I felt." His voice lowered. "Carter wouldn't kill her. Not yet. Not when she still has value to him."

Something inside Adina cracked open. Her knees almost buckled from it.

"She's alive…" she repeated under her breath, like she needed to hear it again to believe it.

Thorne reached out instinctively, his hand hovering for a second before finally settling on her arm.

The contact was brief, but it was everything.

Adina stiffened at the touch, her breath catching slightly. It had been so long since he'd reached for her like that.

Even now… even after everything… it was enough to ground her.

She shut her eyes, counting the hours until she could hold her pup in her arms. Thorne wrapped his arms around her shoulder, finally pulling her closer.