"You don't know anything about me."
"I know you're causing problems for Lex. For the whole pack." Another step. "I know that right now, he's standing in front of everyone defending his choice to bring a human into our world. Some of them are listening. Some of them aren't." His smile sharpened. "Want to guess which side is winning?"
Jules's heart hammered against her ribs. "Lex can handle himself."
"Sure he can. But should he have to?" Stan tilted his head, studying her like a predator assessing prey. "All this trouble, all this division... and for what? A woman he barely knows? A human who'll grow old and die while he stays young?" He shook his head with mock sympathy. "You're not his mate, sweetheart. You're a distraction. A warm body to pass the storm with. He'll come around."
The words hit her right in the heart, but Jules refused to flinch. "You don't know what I am to him."
"Don't I?" Stan's eyes glinted. "I know he's never claimed you. If he had, I'd smell it. If you were really his, don't you think he would have done that by now?" He leaned closer, close enough that she could see the wolf lurking behind his pale gaze. "The kindest thing you could do—for him, for the pack, for yourself—is walk away. Before this gets any uglier than it already is."
He stepped back, that false smile returning. "Just something to think about."
Then he was gone, melting back into the trees like he'd never been there at all.
Jules stood frozen, her breath coming in short, sharp gasps that clouded the air. Her hands were shaking. Her whole body was shaking.
He's wrong, she told herself. He has to be wrong.
But the doubts were already crawling through her mind, finding purchase in every insecurity she'd ever had. Too much. Too talkative. Too clingy. Too everything.
Maybe Stan was right. Maybe the kindest thing she could do was disappear before she caused any more damage.
She made it back to the cabin on autopilot. Faye was still there, pacing by the fire while Adam spoke quietly into his phone. They both looked up when she entered.
"There you are! I was about to come looking—" Faye stopped, her expression shifting to concern. "Jules? What happened? You're white as a sheet."
"I'm fine." The lie tasted bitter on her tongue. "I just... I need to pack my things."
"What? No. Jules?—"
"Faye, please." Jules's voice cracked, and she hated herself for it. "I can't stay here. I can't keep causing problems for everyone. For Lex. For the pack. For you."
"You're not causing?—"
"I AM." The words burst out louder than she intended. She took a breath, steadying herself. "I am. And I won't do it anymore. I'll figure something out. I'll sleep on the cot in the storage room at the shop, or... I don't know. Something. But I can't stay here."
She moved past Faye toward the guest room—her room, for these few strange, wonderful, terrible days—and started gathering her things. There wasn't much. Some clothes. Her toiletries. Fred in his little sunflower pot.
"Jules." Faye appeared in the doorway, her voice soft now. "You don't have to do this. Lex cares about you. Really cares. I've never seen him like this with anyone."
Jules clutched Fred's pot to her chest like a shield. "Even if that's true," her voice wobbled dangerously, "the best thing I can do for him is leave him to his peace."
She couldn't say anymore. Couldn't voice the fear that had been gnawing at her since Stan's words had planted their poison.
Why hasn't he claimed me? If I'm really his, why hasn't he tried to sleep with me? He had every chance in the world last night.
"Oh, honey." Faye crossed the room and wrapped her arms around Jules, Fred and all. "He's trying to protect you. That's what these idiot wolves do. They think they have to handle everything themselves, fight every battle alone. It doesn't mean he doesn't want you. It means he wants you so much he's terrified of screwing it up."
"Or maybe he's already realized he made a mistake." Jules pulled back, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. "Either way, I can't stay here waiting to find out. I need to go. I need to think. I need..."
She needed Lex. But she couldn't have him. Not like this. Not when being with her meant tearing his whole world apart.
"At least wait until he gets back," Faye pleaded. "Talk to him first. You owe each other that much."
Jules looked around the small room that had become a strange kind of sanctuary for her over these last few days, at least until the tree made the roof leak.
She thought about staying. About waiting. About the possibility that Lex would walk through that door and tell her everything was fine, that he'd handled it, that they could figure this out together.
