The Reaper's Wicked Obsession
Chapter 256: You Always Longed For a Mate

Chapter 256: You Always Longed For a Mate

"Bond?" Isadora questioned in confusion.

Logi gave her a knowing smile, and recognition struck her.

"Don’t worry, we didn’t explore anything deeper. The mate bond isn’t just about lovers, but connections that transcend anything, souls akin to one another. I’m glad that I could have him in my life, though I had little time."

Isadora’s gaze dropped as she tried to fight off the tears. Her heart broke more for Logi, knowing that he didn’t just lose a childhood friend. He lost a part of his soul.

She couldn’t imagine how he felt right now or the kind of grief he had to go through knowing he would never see Marek again.

It made Isadora wonder how she would feel when something happens to Kraven; however, as soon as the thought came through, she shoved it right back to the depths, not daring to think of it again.

But curiosity got the best of her, and she found herself asking a deep question. "What happens when you complete the mating ritual and one of you dies?"

Logi shrugged. "You become a lifeless being walking this realm, you live for a long time knowing a part of you is gone forever, like a missing organ and a scar that never fades. Even though the goddess Elska is very intentional, mates are rare because the despair of losing your soulmate is too much for a Fae to handle. I wouldn’t wish that on anyone," Logi explained, noticing how Isadora tensed up.

"Don’t think too much about it." He gave her a soft smile. "What you and Kraven share is special." But then he paused as if he had said something he shouldn’t have.

What if Kraven hadn’t told her yet, and he just made a mistake?

Isadora discerned his expression. "I know, Logi." She took her hand away from his and settled it on her lap. "He told me last night."

Logi released a relieved sigh. "I was hoping he would follow you everywhere after you’re bonded and—" he paused, leveling his gaze at her left hand. Where there should be their vows, but there were none.

They haven’t done the mating ritual? He wholeheartedly expected quick action.

"Isadora?"

"He doesn’t want to bond with me," she said as her words grew too heavy to form, sadness overwhelming her. "He said he would never."

Logi mumbled a curse under his breath. He should have known.

~♧~

Logi wandered through the woods in search of Kraven. When he found him sitting on a boulder close to the lake, he hastened his steps.

Hearing incoming footsteps, Kraven turned, but it was too late, because a punch landed on his face.

Kraven spat a mouthful of blood, rubbing his jaw, and rose to his full height, a bloodied smirk forming on his lips. "You never had the guts to hit me. I’m impressed."

Logi only grew angrier. "How dare you?" he boomed, the birds perched on top of the trees scurrying away.

"Isadora’s everything you could ever ask for, and yet you turn your back on her!"

"I did not turn my back on her," Kraven replied with a scowl. "This is none of your business; stay out of this." He turned.

"She knows the truth now, you’re just scared that she accepted you!"

Kraven halted but did not attempt to face Logi.

"She’s capable of loving you, Kraven, she’s capable of the bond. Dear gods! She’s capable of anything! Even you!"

Kraven’s jaw tightened.

"Why are you torturing her like this? Why did you tell her the truth only to reject the bond? What? Because your parents failed? You may be your father’s son, but you’re nothing like him. You’re just becoming a coward!"

In the blink of an eye, Kraven grabbed Logi by the neck and slammed him against the tree, the bark shaking upon the impact.

"I thought I warned you about that tongue of yours. Want me to rip it out?" Kraven seethed at his face.

"Your fears hold you back, Kraven." Logi continued, despite the predicament he was in. "Isadora isn’t the first you have pulled away from just because you’re afraid of the outcome."

Kraven flinched at his words.

"The real reason you didn’t take me on your five winter journey wasn’t because I was smart or that I would figure out what Raviel couldn’t."

"Stop talking," Kraven warned, grasping at the last straws of control.

Logi clutched Kraven’s hand. "You were afraid I would have done what you didn’t have the guts to do!"

Kraven growled and flung him into the air. Logi’s body collided with the ground, hard.

"Open that mouth again, and I swear to the seven gods I’ll rip it out!" Kraven bellowed.

Logi cackled, forcing his body to its feet while clenching his side. "I would have told her the truth without hesitation. You have always been afraid, Kraven Val Thrond, whether she accepted you or not. Because you accepted the bond the day you tethered, and you were afraid of being rejected because you knew she could never bond with a madman."

"Stop."

"But you were so obsessed that you couldn’t let her go or let her die, but you longed for something you thought you could never have. You longed for a mate."

"You’re wrong!"

"Am I? You claim your obsession outlives the bond, but you’re wrong. Your obsession has always been the bond. You wanted her the moment you laid eyes on her, but you weren’t capable of loving her, so you made her hate you instead."

"STOP!" Kraven summoned his dark weaves in the shape of a hand, and it clutched Logi’s throat and suspended him in mid-air.

Despite this, Logi was determined, and Kraven was reacting impulsively—exactly what he needed.

"She hated you, Kraven," Logi said, tears welling up in the corner of his eyes as the squeeze got tighter for him to bear. "But despite that hate, she saw your loneliness and that loneliness became hers," he forced out with a grunt.

Kraven’s fingers quivered, his weaves discerning his hesitancy.

"And then it all backfired, your devotion became hers, and Isadora fell for the madman. Even so, you became afraid again when the scars of your past came to haunt you. You longed for a mate, but you thought you didn’t deserve it. You became a slave to your fears."

Kraven gave up, his weaves retreating as he stumbled backward in disarray.

Logi groaned against the ground, forcing his aching body to sit and lean on the tree. He rubbed his neck, keeping his red eyes on Kraven.

"The dead shouldn’t scar you," Logi murmured as a tear slid down his face.

Those words were what Kraven first said to him when Logi was eaten alive by the demons of his past. It saved his life, so he was doing the same.

~♧~

"Alda!" Logi cursed. "I think I broke a rib." He clenched his side tightly.

He turned to Kraven, sitting beside him, watching the view. He hadn’t uttered a word since their heated conversation.

"I could have killed you," Kraven finally said.

"But you didn’t. I call that progress."

"Was it worth it?" Kraven asked sternly. "Saying those words to my face, knowing that I would kill you for it?"

"For Isadora, anything is worth it. Besides—

" Logi turned away, as his cheeks tinted. "You’re like a brother to me, I couldn’t watch you do something you would regret," he murmured.

Kraven’s ears twitched, hearing every word. Then a chuckle fled from him. "You’re crazy."

Logi shrugged. "Just like you."

Silence followed, but it was a comfortable one as the songbirds enveloped the air.

"Does this mean I can call you brother now?"

"Do that and I’ll rip your vocal cords with my bare hands."

"I’ll take that as a no."

~♧~

Isadora came back to that lake, where the stars reflected upon it.

Her hand dipped in, and her eyes closed briefly, loving the feel of the warm water against her skin.

"What are you going here, Isa?" She said, hating herself for coming back here when the memory of that night still burned in her head.

Isadora sighed softly, using the scarf that kept her warm to cover herself more. She rose to her full height and turned, freezing when she laid eyes on Kraven, leaning against a tree with arms folded.

He looked as if he had been there a while, watching her.

Isadora swallowed thickly, having no words to say. She wanted to walk away, but she found herself rooted in that position, waiting.

"Do you hate me, darling?"

"Yes," Isadora replied without hesitation.

Strangely, Kraven felt a squeeze in his chest. He had always been thrilled whenever he saw her hate for him, but right now his heart begged for something else.

"Say it again, and this time I want you to mean it."

Isadora scoffed. "Go away, Kraven." She turned to leave, but she found him suddenly standing in front of her.

Isadora stared at him unfazed. "Go away," She repeated, this time barely a whisper.

"I tried," he replied. "Many times, but even the Reaper cannot outrun his mate."