-this isn't

e scent of moss and packland stinging my nose like poison. My lungs

a

a

he sheer force of panic

as supposed to

puni

t

voice called behind

low me you

pha but Cade wasn't my Alpha and I'd be

ed just think

inst a tree, pressing my forehead to the bark. The cold b

ll vibrated under my sk

his presence there with me like a

given anythin

go to t

ight

body while my blood

wai

e howls faded. Until only the trees

ound of dirt with numb

ite lily re

favo

beside it. "I should've come back

n blurred. I brushed the d

el... seen. Safe." My voice cracked. "And

il. "Tell me this isn't fat

dead don

peak - because I knew

~

d Cade

e, arms resting on his knees, staring at nothin

up when I

alking. I didn'

d to rej

furrowe

ore it settles in. Bef

know it doesn't

we me

linc

o

feel worthless. I left my ent

kno

he words. Break th

can

as a sharp and bitter one,

didn't know. Back then.

t the part that terrifi

pped m

d you treated me like garbage. A

You think I haven't paid for what I did? Every damn day I've regrette

history because fate dec

ht, "but I get to fight for

rned

t to walk back into my life and expect grace j

expect

in you, break this bond. Because every second it stays, every hour it breathes between us, I'll remember the pain. The humiliation. Th

between us, unavoidable. Trying to pull us together like an invisible chain and suddenly my anger was gone

in his hu

it too?" Cade

was and also fighting it with eve

dered

ll want me t

es

y. "It'll hurt.

urvived

want to know

N

yl

ha

lose the chance to e

ked. "

n't hold any amusement. "Yo

," I

nd as convincing

until I've earned the right to. Or proven t

't get to decide

voice cut through

yl

fr

that

el standing at the base of the stairs, rain dripping

e'd run all the way fro

I breathed. Better question woul

e, sharp with confusion. "I... I realized I was an id

nie

n't care what world you come from.

nched again

me now, shoulders

He growled and Daniel

Ayla's fiancé

ze darkening before he bared his