CHAPTER 391: THE BLAME

Nicholas~

I burst through the treeline, my paws skidding on the slick grass as the rain hammered down like a thousand accusations. The palace rose before me, its towering stone walls blurred by the downpour, but it was a beacon pulling me forward. My wolf form trembled with exhaustion and urgency, fur matted and heavy with water. With a grunt, I shifted back mid-stride, bones cracking and reforming in a painful rush that left me gasping on two legs. Naked and drenched, I stumbled toward the side entrance, the cold rain stinging my skin like needles.

"Nick, hurry," Leo urged in my mind, his voice a low growl laced with panic. "Something’s off. I can’t... I can’t sense her."

I froze for a split second, water streaming into my eyes. "What do you mean you can’t sense Winter? The bond—it’s still there, right? I can still feel the bond."

"Yeah, but It’s faint. Like she’s pulling away. Or... blocked. And Katrina—gods, Nick, I feel her pain. Don’t you feel it too? It’s ripping through our shared link. So much agony. What the hell is going on?"

My heart slammed against my ribs, a wild drumbeat drowning out the thunder. Katrina. I could feel the pain. So much pain. This wasn’t just about Winter anymore. Fear coiled in my gut like a serpent, twisting tighter with every step. I shoved open the heavy oak door to the servants’ quarters, grabbing a spare cloak from a hook and wrapping it around myself haphazardly. No time for proper clothes—I needed answers. Now.

The palace corridors twisted before me like veins of marble and shadow, but I knew every turn, every echo, every flicker of candlelight along those endless halls. I went first to Katrina’s room—the one we’d shared before the bond began to ease—but it was empty. No Katrina. No Winter. My stomach clenched. Without thinking, I spun on my heel and sprinted toward the east wing, where Winter and Vincent’s guest rooms were located. They weren’t too far from Katrina’s and mine.

The air was filled with the familiar scent of polished wood and the faint trace of lavender the maids always used. But beneath it, there was something sharper—an edge of tension that prickled against my skin, like the charged stillness before a storm breaks.

Servants hurried out of my path, their eyes darting nervously as I raced past. I must’ve looked wild—hair a mess, shirt half-open, breath ragged—but I didn’t care. My bare feet slapped against the cold marble, leaving a trail of damp footprints behind me as I ran faster, heart hammering, dread tightening in my chest with every step toward that door.

"Winter!" I called out as I reached her door, pounding on it with a fist that shook. "Winter, open up! It’s me—Nick. I... I freaked out, okay? But I’m back. We need to talk."

Silence. Deafening, gut-wrenching silence. I pressed my ear to the wood, straining with my enhanced senses. No heartbeat inside, no rustle of movement. Just the distant patter of rain against the windows.

"Leo, where is she?" I whispered, my voice cracking.

"Gone. The bond’s echo is fading outward—toward the forest maybe? But Katrina... her pain’s closer. Gym. Go to the gym, Nick. She’s hurting bad."

My heart felt as if it was being tugged towards different directions but I spun on my heel, dread flooding my veins like ice water. The gym was in the west wing, it was closer, a training hall where Katrina and I had sparred countless times, laughing and trash-talking. But now? Now it felt like marching into a battlefield. My mind raced with worst-case scenarios—had Vincent done something? Was this tied to Winter’s revelation and sudden disappearance? Gods, if I’d caused a chain reaction...

The double doors to the gym loomed ahead, slightly ajar. I could hear it before I saw it—soft, broken sobs echoing off the high ceilings. My stomach dropped. Pushing through, I scanned the room: weights scattered like forgotten toys, mats rumpled from some earlier session, the scent of sweat and tears hanging heavy in the air. And there, in the center, curled up on the floor like a wounded animal, was Katrina.

She was a mess—reddish-blonde hair plastered to her tear-streaked face, blue eyes red-rimmed and swollen. Her training gear was soaked, not from rain but from sweat and grief, clinging to her like a second skin. She clutched her chest, rocking slightly, as if trying to hold herself together. The sight hit me like a punch to the throat. Katrina, my fierce, unbreakable best friend, reduced to this?

"Kat?" I said, my voice barely above a whisper as I approached slowly, like she was a wild thing that might bolt. "Hey, it’s me. Nick. What... what happened? Are you okay?"

She lifted her head, and the look in her eyes—pure devastation mixed with blazing anger—stopped me dead. "Okay?" she spat, her voice hoarse and trembling. "Am I okay? Look at me, Nick! Do I look okay to you?"

I knelt down a few feet away, hands raised in surrender. "No, you don’t. Gods, Kat, talk to me. Leo said he felt your pain through the link. What’s going on? Where’s Winter? I did something horrible and I came back to apologize, but she’s not in her room—"

" Winter?" Katrina’s laugh was bitter, a sharp bark that echoed unnaturally in the vast room. She pushed herself up to a sitting position, wiping her face with the back of her hand, smearing mascara and tears. "Oh, right. This is all about Winter now, isn’t it? Your precious mate. The one you ran from like a scared little boy."

I flinched, the words landing like claws. "I... yeah, I freaked out. But I’m fixing it. Kat, please—"

"Fixing it?" She scrambled to her feet, wobbling a bit, her celestial magic flickering faintly around her like dying embers. Her blue eyes locked on mine, stormy and accusatory. "You can’t fix this, Nick! You’ve ruined everything. My life—it’s shattered because of you!"

Me? Ruined her life? The accusation slammed into me, confusion swirling with guilt. "What are you talking about? I don’t—"

"Don’t play dumb!" she shouted, her voice cracking on the last word. She stepped closer, jabbing a finger at my chest. "Vincent... he told me everything. About he and Winter being demons. About their family—our parents killed their mother, imprisoned their father. And you... you saw her true form and bolted. Rejected her. Just like that!"

"I didn’t reject her!" I protested, my own voice rising. "I was shocked, okay? Horns, red eyes—it was like staring at every nightmare story Mom and Dad ever told. But Leo talked me down. I came back to make it right!"

"Too late," Katrina whispered, her anger deflating into something raw and broken. Fresh tears spilled down her cheeks, and she hugged herself, shoulders shaking. "Vincent... he thought you’d reject Winter for good. And because of that, he... he rejected me. Snapped the mate bond. Said it was all a lie, that he was using me to get revenge on our family."

The words hung in the air, heavy as lead. Rejected her? Vincent— that calculating bastard—had broken the bond? My mind reeled, piecing it together. Winter’s revelation, my stupid run... it must have triggered Vincent to blow everything up. And Katrina was paying the price.

"Oh gods, Kat," I breathed, stepping forward to pull her into a hug, but she shoved me back, hard enough that I stumbled.

"Don’t touch me!" she cried, her voice a mix of fury and heartbreak. "This is your fault, Nick. If you hadn’t run—if you’d just stayed and talked to Winter like a man instead of a coward—Vincent wouldn’t have lost it. He wouldn’t have... have said those things. Wouldn’t have rejected me."

Her words sliced deep, each one a dagger to the heart. I felt it then—a shattering inside, like my chest was cracking open, pieces of me splintering into a million jagged shards. Katrina, my best friend since we were kids, the one who’d always had my back through every dumb stunt and brooding phase... blaming me. And she was right. My panic had set this domino falling.

"I... I’m sorry," I stammered, my vision blurring with hot tears. "Kat, I didn’t mean—"

"Sorry?" She shook her head, laughing through her sobs—a sound so hollow it chilled me. "Sorry doesn’t fix a broken bond, Nick. It hurts... gods, it hurts so much. Like half my soul’s been ripped out. And for what? Because you couldn’t handle the truth about your mate?"

I sank to my knees on the mat, the rubber cool and unforgiving beneath me. "Tell me how to fix it. Please. Winter’s gone—I can’t even sense her. And you... you’re my family, Kat. I can’t lose you too."

She turned away, her back to me, shoulders heaving. "You already have," she murmured, so softly I almost missed it. "Just... go find Winter. Maybe you can salvage that. But me? I’m done."

The gym felt smaller then, the walls closing in as rain lashed the windows outside. My heart—what was left of it—ached with a pain I’d never known. I’d come back to redeem myself, but all I’d found was ruin. And it was all on me.