Chapter 460: Borderline 2
CIAN
"No matter what happens." Gabriel’s voice ca steady despite the fear. "I’m fine with it."
Moira gestured for him to begin. Her hands ca up in a blessing pose, fingers pointed toward the ceiling.
"Say with : I swear my loyalty to Alpha Cian Donlon and to the pack of Skollrend. I swear to serve with honor and truth. I swear this on my life and on the goddess who watches over us all."
Gabriel drew a deep breath. I closed my eyes. My heartbeat thundered in my ears, impossibly loud in the cell’s silence. Each pulse felt like it might be counting down to divine retribution. To the goddess deciding that Gabriel was too tainted by Aldric’s presence to be allowed to live.
My mother’s hand found mine. When had she co down? I didn’t know. I didn’t rember hearing her footsteps on the stairs. But her fingers wrapped around mine and squeezed. Grounding
and keeping
present.
Gabriel’s voice filled the space.
"I swear my loyalty to Alpha Cian Donlon and to the pack of Skollrend. I swear to serve with honor and truth. I swear this on my life and on the goddess who watches over us all."
The words hung there. I waited for sothing to happen. For sothing as ridiculous as waiting for lightning to strike... For the ground to open up or so sign that the goddess had heard and passed judgnt.
Nothing ca.
All that really existed in this space was silence and the sound of my own breathing.
Gabriel finished the oath and sohow... He was still standing. He was still whole. He was... still himself.
I opened my eyes and found my uncle looking at
with an expression that broke sothing in my chest. Relief and joy and disbelief all tangled together. My mother released my hand, and we both rushed forward. We collided with Gabriel in a ss of arms and bodies and the desperate need to hold onto family that had almost been lost.
He hugged us back. His arms ca around both of us and held tight.
"Fuck, I was so scared." His voice cracked on the words. "I can’t believe that bastard is gone from my life and this world. I feel so free."
The three of us stood there in the cell. Just existing together. Just being alive and whole and together in a way we hadn’t been in far too long.
Eventually, we pulled back. My mother wiped at her eyes. I cleared my throat roughly.
"Let’s get you out of here and dressed properly."
I turned to Moira, who had stayed respectfully back during the reunion.
"Thank you."
She bowed again.
"I’ll leave you to catch up. The goddess has spoken. Alpha Gabriel is himself and no one else."
She swept out of the cell. The door stayed open behind her. Freedom already taking shape in physical space.
Gabriel looked down at himself. At the torn shirt and bloodstained pants he’d been wearing since the fight.
"I must look like hell."
"You look alive." My mother’s voice held fierce pride. "That’s what matters."
We walked together up the stairs. Back into light and open air. The difference between the dungeon and the main house felt more pronounced than usual.
Gabriel paused at the top of the stairs. His hand rested against the doorfra.
"I need to tell you both sothing."
The seriousness in his tone made my stomach tighten.
"What is it?"
"I don’t want to stay in Skollrend."
The words landed like physical blows. My mother’s sharp intake of breath said she felt them too.
Gabriel continued before either of us could respond.
"I want to see the world. I want to be untethered to politics and the weight of responsibility. I’ve spent my entire life being an Alpha’s son, then an Alpha’s brother, defined by position and duty and what was expected of ." He t my eyes. "Then Aldric took even that away. Took my body and my choices and my freedom. And now that I have it back, I just want to be myself for a while. Not Alpha Gabriel. Just Gabriel."
I wanted to argue. I wanted to list all the reasons he should stay. The pack needed experienced Alphas. He belonged here with family. Skollrend was his ho. But the words stuck in my throat because I saw the truth written across his face.
This wasn’t about abandoning us. This was about survival. About healing in the only way he knew how.
"Where would you go?" my mother asked quietly.
"I don’t know. Everywhere. Nowhere. Places where nobody knows my na or my history." Gabriel’s expression softened. "I’m not saying forever. Just for now. Just while I figure out who I am when I’m not trying to be what everyone else needs. Sick as it was, what Aldric did... It opened my eyes."
My mother reached out and took his hand.
"After what you went through, you deserve that freedom."
I looked between them. At my mother’s acceptance and Gabriel’s desperate hope. The anger I’d felt at the initial announcent drained away, leaving only understanding and a bone-deep weariness.
"You’ll co back eventually, though. Right?"
Gabriel smiled. It didn’t quite reach his eyes yet, but it was real.
"Eventually. When I’ve figured out how to be myself again."
"Then go." I stepped forward and gripped his shoulder. "See the world. Find yourself. Just don’t forget where ho is."
"I could never forget." Gabriel pulled
into another hug. Brief but tight. "I love you both."
"We love you too," my mother said.
Gabriel headed down the hallway toward the guest quarters. Toward a shower and clean clothes, and the beginning of whatever ca next for him. I watched him go until he turned the corner and disappeared from view.
My mother touched my arm gently.
"He’ll be alright."
"I know." I didn’t. Not really. But saying it out loud made it feel more possible. "He just needs ti."
We stood there for another mont. Then my mother headed in the direction Gabriel had gone, probably to help him gather supplies or offer more maternal wisdom. The hallway emptied out around .
I pulled out my phone, rembering the ntal note I’d made. Madeline. She needed to know about her father’s death. The longer I waited, the worse it would be when she eventually found out. If she had not already found out.
I scrolled through my contacts until I found her na. My thumb hovered over the call button because it was then that I half-rembered that she’d blocked , but things had long changed between us, so... I half-wondered if the block was still in place.
Only one way to find out.
I pressed call.
The phone rang once. Twice. Each ring felt longer than the last. I prepared myself for the automated ssage saying the number wasn’t available. I prepared for confirmation that she still wanted nothing to do with
or anyone connected to Skollrend.
Three rings ca.
Four...
Then the line clicked, and soone picked up.
"Hello?"
Madeline’s voice ca through hesitant and wary. Not blocked then. That was sothing at least.
I drew a breath and prepared, hating that I had to destroy whatever fragile peace she’d probably built for herself.
"Madeline. It’s Cian. I need to talk to you... About your father."
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