Because if Noah was still Noah, then… Holden was still Holden, right?
“Holden…” I whispered, running my fingers over my temple, trying to massage away the ache. His face flashed in my mind—the way he’d looked at me in the clinic, desperate, like he was ready to take on the world for me. It made my heart twist, and not in a good way.
Because even though I knew Holden would’ve done anything to keep me safe, the truth was… I didn’t fit here. Not really.
The ice pack slipped from my forehead, landing on the floor, but I didn’t move to pick it up. I was too busy trying to figure out where I went from here.Holden’s a bear.That’s what I’d seen—that’s what I’d been running from. He’d shifted right in front ofme, fought off those wolves, and then looked at me like… like he was scared I’d never look at him the same again.
“And maybe I don’t,” I admitted, my voice shaky. “Maybe I don’t know what to think anymore.”
It felt like my whole world had tilted—like all the pieces I thought I had figured out had been scattered, and now I was scrambling to put them back together. And the truth was, I wasn’t sure they would fit the same way again. I’d thought I was finally finding a place for myself, a home. I’d thought maybe Holden was it. But now…
I closed my eyes, letting out a slow breath. Were they all shifters. The whole resort. Hell, the whole damn town. And here I was, some guy who didn’t even know where he came from—who didn’t have a real family, a real home. Who the hell was I kidding, thinking I could belong here? Thinking I could have a place in this world that didn’t really belong to me?
“Maybe I should’ve just stayed in Charlotte,” I muttered, shaking my head. Maybe Chuck had done me a favor after all, screwing things up the way he had. Maybe it was my sign that I was never meant to stay—never meant to have any of this.
And yet, the thought of leaving made my chest ache. The idea of walking away from Holden, from everything I’d started to build here—it hurt. And that was the problem, wasn’t it? I didn’t fit, but I wanted to. More than anything, I wanted to belong here. To be a part of Holden’s world, even if it was a world I didn’t understand.
“Damn it,” I cursed, scrubbing a hand over my face. “What the hell am I supposed to do now?”
I sat there, staring at the ceiling, waiting for some kind of answer that never came.
I shouldn’t have been surprised when the knock echoed through my cabin. I knew it was coming—knew who was on the other side of that door before I even dragged myself off the couchto answer it. I paused for a second, staring at the door, then let out a shaky breath. Might as well get this over with.
When I opened it, there he was. Holden, standing there like he’d been ripped straight from my thoughts—which, considering how much space he took up in my brain lately, wasn’t too far off. His face was tight, worry etched into every line. His eyes were locked on me, searching for something.
“Bear,” I said, crossing my arms over my chest, because I had to say something, and what the hell else was there to say?
Holden blinked, taken aback for a second, and then his brow furrowed. “Are you pregnant?”
I looked away, biting my lip. It wasn’t exactly a yes-or-no question. Or maybe it was, but the answer wasn’t that simple. I shrugged, my gaze falling to the floor. “I don’t know. I think so.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” he asked, his voice soft, full of something that made my chest ache. He sounded… hurt. And I hated that.
I took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. “I hadn’t decided what I was going to do yet,” I admitted. “So, I didn’t want to find out and make it real. After all, I’m not exactly in a stable situation, am I?”
Holden’s face twisted, and he took a step closer, his hand reaching out like he was about to touch me, but he stopped just short. “Mylo, I’m so sorry,” he whispered, his eyes filled with regret. “I never wanted to make you feel like this. Like you couldn’t trust me, or like you weren’t safe here. I… I messed up. And I promise, I will never keep anything from you again.”
I looked up at him, meeting his eyes, and for the first time, I saw something there that I hadn’t allowed myself to see before. Vulnerability. Fear. He meant it. Every word. And that’s when I knew—really knew—that he wasn’t just saying this because he felt guilty. He was saying it because he wanted me to stay. Because he cared.
“Tell me everything,” I said, my voice barely a whisper.
Holden nodded, his shoulders sagging like a weight had just settled on them. He took a deep breath, and then he started talking.
He told me everything. About shifters. About how they worked, how they lived, the rules they followed. He told me about his family, about the town, about all the people I’d met who were just like him—who had this whole other side to them that I’d never known about. It was a lot. A whole lot. But I listened, because this was Holden. And I needed to understand.
And then he told me about James.
“I was twelve,” he said, his voice low, his eyes distant, like he was seeing back in time. “He was my best friend. We’d been friends since we were kids—we’d always been inseparable. And I… I thought I could trust him. I thought…” He shook his head, a sad smile tugging at his lips. “I thought I was doing the right thing. I thought he’d understand.”
I swallowed, my throat tight. “What happened?”
I knew this wasn’t going to go well.
Holden’s jaw clenched, his eyes closing for a moment before he looked at me again. “I told him. I broke the rule—the most basic rule of being a shifter. Keep the secret. But I told him. And he didn’t believe me. So, I shifted.”
My heart pounded, my stomach twisting as I watched the pain flash across his face. He took a shaky breath, his gaze dropping to the floor.
“He panicked,” Holden continued, his voice barely audible. “He ran. He wasn’t looking where he was going—he was looking back at me. I’d shifted into my bear. I thought… I thought it would be easier to believe, and we’d been friends forever. I figured he would just see me, so it wouldn’t be as scary, you know? But it wasn’t. And he ran.”
