“Don’t,” he rasped, his voice harsh with more than exhaustion. “Not right now.”
I froze, my chest aching. He wasn’t pushing me away because he didn’t want me. He was pushing me away because he was breaking, and he needed the pieces to scatter before he let anyone gather them up again.
I swallowed hard, nodding even though his eyes were still closed. “All right. Not right now.”
But inside, I made a vow. Not now, but soon. Soon, we’d have to face all of it: the curse, Gideon, Malore, and this raw wound between a son and his mother.
And soon wasn’t very long from now.
Because one truth rang louder than the rest as I watched him struggle to breathe, watched the silver wolf turned woman standing alone in the banquet hall, watched Stella and Frank’s words bite like truth into tender flesh.
We had very little time.
To heal wounds.
To mend families.
To unite the broken.
To lift Stonewick.
And I wasn’t sure we could.
Chapter Thirty-Five
Keegan’s weight sagged against the wall as his eyes remained closed. He looked like a man half in shadow, half in light, and caught between the strength he had always carried and the curse that was bleeding it from him day by day.
I stood there with clammy palms and breath uneven, as the words pressed against the back of my throat like fire.
I had to tell him.
Not just because secrets curdle when kept too long. Not just because time was slipping faster than I could hold it. But because Gideon was a thread in this knot, and pretending otherwise was just one more lie in a history already strangled with them.
“Keegan,” I said softly.
His lids fluttered, hazel eyes cracking open. He looked at me, and even exhausted, his gaze still pinned me as if he saw through the cracks I tried to hide.
“What is it?” His voice was rough, rasped low, but steady and kind.
He was beating back the darkness.
I swallowed hard. “There’s something you need to know.”
He pushed off the wall. “If this is about my mother.”
“It’s not.” My voice shook. “It’s worse.”
That got his attention. His brow furrowed, and his shoulders tensed like a wolf scenting danger.
“Maeve—”
“I’ve been hiding something,” I cut in quickly, before I lost my courage. “Not because I wanted to betray you. Because I didn’t know how to say it without breaking everything wide open.”
The hall seemed to tilt, every candle flame pulling tighter and higher.
My chest thudded so loud I was sure the walls could hear it.
“It’s Gideon,” I whispered.
